Romansh, a dying language, is spoken by about 60,000 people these days, concentrated in eastern Switzerland. It somehow evolved from the Latin of the ancient Romans. Most natives of the area also speak Italian and the Swiss version of German. There is no "Swiss" language. Amalia, a fellow resident of the Atlantic Towers co-op complex, recently donated several books to me, among them The Curly Horned Cow: An Anthology of Swiss-Romansh Poems and Stories edited by Reto R. Bezzola. I skipped the poetry and concentrated on the stories. Since most take place in rural areas, I asked Amalia if all Romansh lived in such places. She said no. All but one of the tales are slices of life. Many involve animals. Almost all of the characters are believers, Christian. The longest story, 40+ pages, The Mayor of Valdei by Gian Fontana, is the most interesting. It deals with a town that frowns at outsiders, that fines citizens who marry people from other villages. Its backward ways eventually lead to ruin. Tragically, Fontana died young, not even reaching 40. The most elegant piece, Blackberries by Cla Biert, is a what-might-have-been tale. The others lack a polish probably lost in translation. Here's the first line, rich with imagery, of Blackberries: "Furrow after furrow, the plough bites its way through the soil, folding back the earth in big black slices that break up and crumble into the hollow of the plowed row..." The last piece, Tube to Nowhere by Clo Duri Bezzola, is set in the London underground and reads like an episode of The Twilight Zone. Curiously, none of the characters are immigrants. The book is listed at Amazon, lacking a picture of the cover, ranging in price from $5+ to $167+. No one has posted a review. Since I haven't read the poetry, I won't either. As far as the stories go, I rate the collection three on a scale of five.
RIP Dwight Clark, 61, who succumbed to ALS. He had a fine career with the 49ers and was on the receiving end of one of the NFL's greatest moments, dubbed "The Catch," hauling in Joe Montana's floater at the back of the end zone with under a minute left, leading to a 28-27 victory over the Cowboys in the 1982 NFC championship game. It was the beginning of San Francisco's long run of excellence. Drafted in the tenth round, Clark was a member of two Super Bowl champions, and named All-Pro twice. He led the league in receptions in '82. He played eight seasons, caught 506 passes, 48 for touchdowns. Gone way too soon. Well done, sir.
My thanks to the gentlemen who bookended today's session of the floating book shop, buying thrillers by Dan Brown, James Patterson, Robert B. Parker and Brad Thor, and a DVD of The Cutting Edge (1992).
My Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Vic-Fortezza/e/B002M4NLJE
Read Vic's Stories, free: http://fictionaut.com/users/vic-fortezza
No comments:
Post a Comment