1. Interview with Soren Gauger

    Lemon Hound has posted an interview with Soren Gauger, translator of I Burn Paris, mixing in a review of the book as well.

    From Soren: “I have a lot of sympathy for the early Marxism of Central/Eastern Europe, and I believe that some of the most profoundly humanist and moral writing emerged from writers involved in it (Aleksander Wat, Victor Serge, early Ilya Ehrenberg, Mayakovsky). It makes no difference that this humanism was often expressed through a kind of disgust – it remains a defense of the human spirit much more compelling than anything we have in our day, and a rare example of political writing that never becomes mawkish or cloying.”

    From the review: “The translation … appears in a moment when materialism and avarice are at their zenith, social unrest is spanning continents, and the disparity of wealth is at its largest point since, well, the original publication of I Burn Paris that saw Polish émigré author Bruno Jasieński escorted to the French-German boarder and warned not to return.”

    Read the full version here.

  2. Things Bruno Jasieński

    A couple of interesting reviews of I Burn Paris have come out recently:

    3:AM Magazine

    Necessary Fiction

    Over at Press Board Press they have been gradually putting up Jasieński’s poems in the original Polish and in English translation by Mila Jaroniec. Three have been posted to date:

    “The Walk”

    “They Ran Him Over”
    (shades of The Legs of Izolda Morgan)

    “Marseillaise”

    Hopefully there will be more to come. It’s good to see Jasieński finally getting some attention.

    A prose piece by Soren Gauger, translator of I Burn Paris, has been posted on their site as well:

    “Presidential Drift”

    * Portrait of Jasieński by Tytus Czyżewski

  3. freundevonfreunden: I Burn Paris If you ever wish to fill up your apartment with out-of-this-world beautiful books, simply go to Twisted Spoon Press. The Prague-based press literally only publishes books that are worthwhile to publish. Besides making outrageously good-looking book covers, the content of these contemporary bibles don’t shy away either. From avant-garde to surrealism to perhaps some Kafkaesque themes, literates will find home here.  Recently having read, I Burn Paris by Bruno Jasieński, this Czech House keeps the expectations satisfied. A must-read. Even just to feel the smooth pages and be excited about the words’ layout. 

    freundevonfreunden:

    I Burn Paris

    If you ever wish to fill up your apartment with out-of-this-world beautiful books, simply go to Twisted Spoon Press. The Prague-based press literally only publishes books that are worthwhile to publish. Besides making outrageously good-looking book covers, the content of these contemporary bibles don’t shy away either. From avant-garde to surrealism to perhaps some Kafkaesque themes, literates will find home here. 

    Recently having read, I Burn Paris by Bruno Jasieński, this Czech House keeps the expectations satisfied. A must-read. Even just to feel the smooth pages and be excited about the words’ layout.