En otro país

by David Constantine, Celia Filipetto Isicato (Translator)

Un hombre, casado desde hace décadas, recibe una extraña noticia: lejos, en otro país, se ha hallado el cuerpo de la que fue su novia de adolescente, quien murió en un trágico accidente en los Alpes mientras él la acompañaba. El hielo, ahora fundido, ha conservado intacto su pasado. Así arranca este volumen de relatos que indagan valientemente, desde lo cotidiano, en temas como el recuerdo, la pérdida o el aislamiento, a través de unos personajes que, con sus carencias emocionales y contradicciones, poseen al lector instantáneamente. Este libro supone la cumbre narrativa de David Constantine después de treinta años de producción y está llamado a convertirse en un clásico moderno.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Media Tie In, Contemporary, English Literature, British Literature

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2005

About the author

Born in 1944, David Constantine worked for thirty years as a university teacher of German language and literature. He has published several volumes of poetry, most recently, Nine Fathom Deep (2009). He is a translator of Hölderlin, Brecht, Goethe, Kleist, Michaux and Jaccottet. In 2003 his translation of Hans Magnus Enzensberger's Lighter Than Air won the Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation. His translation of Goethe's Faust, Part I was published by Penguin in 2005; Part II in April 2009. He is also author of one novel, Davies, and Fields of Fire: A Life of Sir William Hamilton. His four short story collections are Back at the Spike, the highly acclaimed Under the Dam (Comma, 2005), and The Shieling (Comma, 2009), which was shortlisted for the 2010 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. Constantine's story 'Tea at the Midland' won the BBC National Short Story Award 2010, and won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award in 2013 for the collection (Comma Press, 2012). He lives in Oxford where, for ten years, he edited Modern Poetry in Translation with his wife Helen (until 2011). David's short story 'In Another Country' has been adapted into 45 Years - a major Film4-funded feature film, directed by Andrew Haigh and starring Tom Courtenay & Charlotte Rampling. This film won two silver bear awards at the Berlinale International Film festival in February 2015. David is also the author of the forthcoming novel, released by Comma Press, The Life-Writer.

Reviews

[Mevsim Yenice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sıkı bir öykü takipçisi olarak en bayılarak okuduğum öykü kitaplarından biri Başka Bir Ülkede. David Constantine’in öykülerinin öyle bir etkisi var ki, az önce bulutların tepesinde bir zeplinde dolaşıp anı yaşarken, biraz sonra toprağa diz çökmüş geçmişin kirli çamaşırlarını eşelerken bulabilirsiniz kendinizi.
Ne yerdeyim ne gökteyim modundan hiç çıkmadan okudum bu kitabı. Her öykünün kendi içinde başka ruh halleri yaşatmasının yanında, aynı öyküde başka başka hislerin arasına dalıp çıktım. Kimi zaman dalgalara kafa tutarken kimi zaman içine çekildiğim bir girdaptan sağlam çıkabilmek için kelimelerle boğuştum. Bir Paris'teydim bir Atina'da, İrlanda'nın yeşil arazilerinden birinde ya da. Tasvirler o kadar yerli yerinde ve güzeldi ki, sahiden oradaydım işte. Bana kalırsa tam bir "atmosfer" dersi kitabı. Atmosfer kendiliğinden nasıl oluşturulur sorusunun cevabı bu kitapta benim için. O nedenle zaman zaman canım bu öyküleri okumayı çekiyor, o pis, karmaşık, dibe çakılmaya da yüzeye çıkmaya da ramak kalmış ruh halini özlüyorum resmen. Bu sebeple de "zamanı hiç geçmeyen" öykülerden Constantine'nin öyküleri bana kalırsa.
Öykü severlerin kaçırmaması gereken bir kitap. Gönül rahatlığıyla tavsiye ediyorum.

[Radioread · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zeka, yetenek, kurgu, tutku, şiir ve fazlası... Bu paslanmaz çelikten, keskin ağızlı öykülerin yazarı sevgili Bay David Constantine'in önünde saygıyla, hürmetle eğiliyorum. Öyküleri okurken aklıma düşen bir diğer olağanüstü Bay David'in (Foster Wallace), son yıllarında bu eserden bir okuma mutluluğu devşirdiğini hayal etmekten kendimi alamıyorum.

Kitabın akıp giden nefis Türkçesi için İnci Ötügen'e ayrıca çok çok teşekkürler.

[Banu Yıldıran Genç · Rating 5 out of 5]

bir şair ilk öykü kitabında nasıl bu kadar usta olabilir, bilmiyorum. yetenek mi öne çıkar bu durumda çalışma mı?
david constantine kurduğu mükemmel atmosferlerle ve insan ilişkilerinin en ince noktasını araladığı öyküleriyle bu senenin en iyi kitaplarından biri oldu benim için.
ince bir kitap olmasına rağmen günde üç öyküden fazla okumak mümkün olmadı mesela, uzun uzun sindire sindire okunan satırları hazmetmek gerekiyor çünkü.
üçlü ilişkiler birçok öyküde kendini gösteriyor ama hep farklı bir açıdan... özellikle kitaba adını veren öykü ve son öykü, unutulmaz nitelikte.

[Korcan Derinsu · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

Daha önce “Midland’da Oteli’nde Çay” kitabını okuyup hayran kaldığım David Constantine’in bu kitabı, ilk üç kitabından seçilmiş öykülerden oluşuyor. Öykülerde yine her açıdan çeşitlilik var. Duygudan duyguya, mekandan mekana koşuyoruz ama her öykünün bıraktığı his o kadar kuvvetli ki ister istemez okurken yavaşlıyorsunuz. Yani sindirilmesi gereken öykülerle karşı karşıyayız. Yazarın üslubuna ve peşinde koştuğu bu duygusal ağırlıkla barışabilirseniz öyküleri sevmemeniz imkansız. Ancak o bağ kurulamadıysa da sevmek bir o kadar zor. Ben seven taraftayım. Favorilerim “Başka Bir Ülkede”, “Kırmızı Balon” ve “Kayıp”.

[Aletheia · Rating 3 out of 5]

5.0

David Constantine escribe muy bien y pule, suda y trabaja cada uno de los relatos hasta darles una forma que él considera conveniente. Habrá sufrido esta colección de relatos una barbaridad.

Pero exactamente de qué nos quiere hablar, se queda en el limbo; ese mismo limbo de sus personajes aislados por iniciativa propia en su mayor parte.

El lenguaje es una maravilla, pero cuánto esfuerzo innecesario. Más vida y menos academia.

[Konserve Ruhlar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bir şairin penceresinden dünyayı görmek böyle bir şey olmalı. Sıradan bir gün batımını, yağmuru, nehrin akışını, masasında çalışmaya dalmış bir kadının saçlarına yansıyan güneşi, bir atın yüzünde dünyayı kavrayabilecek bir anlam bulmayı ve duyguları yağmurla, karla anlatmayı öyle güzel yapmış ki hayran olmamak elde değil.

Bir Paris Hikayesi, Başka Bir Ülkede, Otoportre, Gerekli Güç ve Kırmızı Balon en sevdiğim öykülerdi. İnci Ötüken'in incelikli çevirisi de takdire şayan.

Kitaba adını da veren Başka Bir Ülkede öyküsünü Andrew Haigh filme uyarlamıştı. 45 Yıl isimli filmde ingiliz oyuncu Charlotte Rampling oyunculuğuyla göz dolduruyor. Çok severek izlediğim filmlerden.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprised to see that I did not review this. A rich discovery, for me, of a new author. A very varied group of short stories, some better than others (as always happens in a collection), with an emphasis on themes of aging, loss and isolation. Several stories, including the brilliant, heartbreaking and original title story, were among the best things I've read this year.

[Hakan · Rating 2 out of 5]

İngiliz yazar David Constantine'in 2015'de basılan bu kitabı daha önce yayılanmış dört kitabındaki öykülerden bir seçmeymiş. Şiirleri ve Almanca'dan yaptığı şiir çevirileriyle de bilinen bir yazarmış.

Hakkında çok övücü şeyler duymuştum. O açıdan biraz hayal kırıklığı oldu. Öykülerin genelde boğucu bir havası var. Üslup için de aynı şeyi söyleyebiliriz. Hüzünlü, kederli şeyler okumaktan kaçınan biri değilim. Ama bu temaların işleniş tarzı, fazla kasılması, bana pek hitap etmedi. Üslubunda şairliğini belli ediyor yazar. Ama öyküyle şiirin kesişmesi her zaman kararında bir terkip oluşacağı anlamına gelmiyor. Bu kitap da bunun bir örneği bence. Akan bir metin değil.

Kitapta en hoşuma giden öyküler ise Tea at the Midland (bence en iyisi), The Necessary Strength ve Mr Carlton oldu.

Bu arada Metis'in Türkçe olarak aynı adla bastığı kitabın ise bir derleme olmadığı ve esasen Constantine'in 2005'de yayınlanan "Under the Dam and Other Stories" adlı kitabının çevirisi olduğu anlaşılıyor. O zaman niye özgün adıyla değil de kitaptaki başka bir öykünün başlığıyla yayınlanmamış anlamadım ve yadırgadım. Zira Metis çok titiz, iyi bir yayınevi. Bir yanlışım varsa da düzeltilmeye hazırım.

[J.J. Garza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Serie de cuentos contemporáneos que tratan de temas contemporáneos: soledad, aislamiento, melancolía. Muy bonitos y bellamente escritos, sólo que nada revolucionarios y muchos de ellos ni siquiera conmovedores.

Me gusta mucho el mensaje que traen al final todos los libros del asteroide: ‘Desde Libros del Asteroide agradecemos su lectura de este libro y le pedimos que, si le ha gustado, lo recomiende a otro lector’

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Constantine is an expert in precision: precision in language, in image and in character. His story "The Necessary Strength" illustrates vulnerability better than anything i've ever read, and it brought me to tears. At the same time, there is a dream-like quality to these stories, and there is wonder: he gives the reader a dictionary of light, a field guide to the sea and the lost map of human nature. I worry that this will sound hyperbolic, but I don't remember ever relating to or empathizing with characters as much as i do through these stories. The protagonists or the subjects of the stories are often broken and they know it. Or they are attempting to heal. this was my introduction to Mr. Constantine's writing. I will seek out more of it, especially his poetry. This work is, above all, a work of poetry.

[Neşet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Son iki öykü kaldı kitapta, dayanamayıp 5 yıldız veriyorum.

''Bir Paris Hikayesi'' bir tek bana mı kötü geldi?

[belisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

anlatımını izlemek zor, boğucu...
uzun uzun konuşmasına rağmen az anlatıyor çok uzatıyor yine de akılda kalan karakterleri var

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Constantine moves into my top ten
short story writers list with this heady work.

[katy ktp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Every time I read short stories I am grateful that they weren’t made into long ones

[Tim Love · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title story (alluding to "the past is another country"?) is about an old, childless couple whose life is disrupted by a discovery caused by melting snow far away. The author doesn't skimp on the symbolism - the old man reads that in Switzerland they fear that global warming will cause all the melted water to "come down at once one day" just like the disruption in the relationship. We're told (as well as shown) that "His unease was palpable". It's a moving story. It's unclear how confused the man is before the disruption.

"The Mermaid" features another old (childless?) husband, and again depicts the mixture of dependence and independence within a long-term relationship. As the backcover says, there's a "piece of driftwood a beachcomber chooses to carve into his idea of perfection"; a trope used elsewhere, generalised.

In "Trains", the 2 main characters both have a thing about trains. They live under a train track and can sense the vibrations of a train miles away. The man kills himself under a train. The woman marries a signalman. The characters are quirkily interesting, and narrational viewpoint's unusual.

"The necessary strength", like "In another country" has a husband who escapes in the loft. Like "The mermaid", it has a husband with an artistic hobby that requires isolation from his somewhat unsupportive wife. She plans to leave him. As in earlier stories, the odd non-Realism line sticks out - "His face was alert and lit with the idea of loneliness and productive suffering". A horse often comes close to their house, pressing its head against their window. What does it represent for each of them? He's an artist - he once found the skull of a horse and drew it. As for her, "Admiration, her instant first feeling, ran over rapidly into terror of his mastery and power, as he came down the slope and between her and the fence ... He was the bodily apparition of every dread: the dread of utter weakness, of total disability, or the shame and helplessness of being lame, the dread of dependence". And yet, the horse saves her in the end.

"The Loss" has a man who thinks he's lost his soul but hasn't died. He recognises others who are like him. I wasn't keen on it.

In "Memorial" some ex-students of a gay don meet after his funeral, comparing notes. Lots of monologuing. Not for me.

In "The Cave" 2 middle-aged people cautiously forge a relationship. Here, as in other stories, quote-marks aren't used in dialogue. It can be a little confusing -

Owen gave her some wine. We don't know much, do we? About one another, I mean.
We don't ask, said Lou. I would always tell you if you asked. But saying that
she thought, I'm an entrance into nothingness so put your questions softly or
the earth will open up. But you, she said, I always supposed you must be very
deep and now you tell me there's a grown-up daughter in you, so I was right.
Owen shrugged. Except she's not, he said. Her absence is. I like you in that
dress.

Here's an example of the narrator/symbolism intervention -

In the way that human beings are bound to, Lou was thinking, What is this like? And ideas
came to mind, rough gestures towards the thing itself: like a heart and a pulse,
though not of any beast she knew; like an engine, the thrumming of a steady - but varied -
working; like an oven, a furnace, if you could think of its cold as heat. But it was
easier to compare this thing whose utterance was close and that was really of the earth,
to phenomena she would never be anywhere near and was at liberty merely to imagine. The background noise of space, for example, the aural context of all the galactic debris
still dispersing. So Lou spun ideas, as any human would, to try to say what the sound of the
cave was like; but in the midst of her ideas, despite their interference, she knew
with a thrill of horror, that what she was listening to, though nameless, was familiar. So
reading a poem, often what dawns on you is a thing you knew already but had forgotten or didn't know well enough and now the lines with a vengeance will remind you and make you know it this time close and true.

At times in this and other stories there's a rough, almost unfinished feel to the writing, the symbolism raw. Here's the ending

I was going to say, said Owen, that we can walk across to the gritstone from here, if you like, all the way back to my house, if you would like. I looked at the map while you were seeing to yourself. That is exactly what I would like, she said. And will it be warm? I'd say so, he said. In an hour or so. Good, said Lou. I want some sun. I know I look funny at the moment, bundled up. But things will improve as we go along, you'll see.

"Wishing Well" continues the theme, adding a remote chapel, a cemetery, a secret tunnel and an ending which goes "There's a lot you down know about me. Come back with me now quickly. There are things I can't say in the daylight, but I will say them in the dark when we have slept together".

After 2 stories where couples venture to an isolated symbolic location, "The Shieling" features a couple who imagine a solitary place where they go alone (leaving each other notes) or together. I like it.

"Charlis" was a strange mix of religion and suicide, with "Is there an internet in Heaven?".

A couple (he's married, she isn't?) who having an affair are bickering in "Tea in the Midland", alluding to Odysseus and whether an artist's morality should affect one's opinion of their work, but actually, we assume, criticising each other. Beyond the window there are kiteboarders, which the 2 people have differing opinions about. We're given an analysis of the debate -

He heard this as recrimination. She had left the particular argument and moved aside to his more general capacity for disappointing her. He, however, clung to the argument, but she knew, even if he didn't know or wouldn't admit it, that all he wanted was something which the antagonisms that swarmed in him could batten on for a while.

This story won the BBC short story award. I wasn't convinced.

In "Strong Enough to Help" a poetry-obsessed loner is questioned for a survey. I didn't get the point.

In "Goat" - a voluntary female social worker and a Canon on the brink of resigning visit a squatter suffering from priapism. She takes off her top, plays a reed pipe, and things get weird - "Her playing attuned him immediately to all the hidden ways and energies of water. He felt those biding their time in the frozen pipework of the abandoned school, felt them keenly, from the deep municipal mains up to the stray ends in Goat's own privy, all of them waiting for warmth so that they could whisper, murmer, chuckle and exult in anarchy once more. That intricate life in waiting was made palpable to him as Fay played". The Canon removes his dog-collar and throws it like a hoop over the squatter's protruding problem. She leaves Goat a notebook so he can write it up, but he has an accident and dies. An interesting piece.

"An Island" is much the longest piece - a sequence of letters to an unknown addressee, or at least diary entries. They show the island as a microcosm - people blown off course like birds - and as a source of parables - the arch builder ("stone-rainbow on its own two heavy feet, because the halves of its bodily curve had met and all desire to fall became the will to last miraculously for ever"), the family-tree maker, etc. It turns out that the narrator used to be a monk (Several of the male characters in the book could have been monks, happy to live in bedsits, seeking the spiritual in the everyday - light, or water). The ending's unsatisfying, though I liked much of the story.

In "Mr Carlton", a recent widower gets stuck in a jam. He gets out of the car and finds himself with a newly pregnant woman and a man whose wife and kids have left him. They spend perhaps hours watching an old, contented couple in a road-side house. "The light coming over out of the west was golden now and almost level. All visible things partook of it and became truly themselves". The old couple are seen in their bedroom, which makes the widower sad.

"Under the Dam" - again people live close to a train track. Again the man's an artist. The couple are happy - "Palpable happiness, real as the heavy earth". Then there are coy hints of a menage a trois. When they move to the country "the onus on her felt as vast as the opening hills". Will things turn out ok?
"She knew that much, but it appeared impenetrable and induced in her passivity and a fatalism, under which, like a spring making for daylight, ran the irrepressible force of self-asserting life". The river "recovered and rattled along with the dam behind it like a fading nightmare". But Seth kills himself anyway.

In "Asylum" the therapist, a recent widower, interviews a girl in an asylum. She's encouraged to write a story - about refugees and asylums. Doesn't work for me.

Overall? There are no family units. The stories are person/couple-centred, the city/landscape a source of symbolism; plot a sad necessity. Similar to the way that full-rhyme is sometimes considered too obvious nowadays, being replaced by half-rhyme, so it's common in stories to submerge the symbolism, disguising it beyond recognition. Certainly you wouldn't want characters drawing attention to it, or worse, the narrator waxing lyrically about it. Like the distant trains in these stories, or impending storms, one can sense from afar the arrival of long, gushy flurries of long sentences, the underlying apotheosis. As reviewers have said, he's "always attuned to the interplay between the tangible and the invisible" (Wall Street Journal) and his "writing is rare today, unafraid to be rich and allusive and unashamedly moving" (The Independent). It takes some getting used to. The re-used symbols don't worry me, nor the re-used themes. The repeated combinations of these are more problematic.

[Gonca Gül · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her hikaye sonrası upuzun ve derin bir roman okumuş hissi ile kitabın kapağını kapatıp, düşünmem gerekti. Her birinde büyülü bir dil ve etkileyici kurgu bir araya gelmişti. Hangi hikayeyi daha çok sevdiğimi seçemeyecek seviyedeyim ama sanırım en çok Bay Mercer’ın kalbini özleyeceğim; kitaba adını veren hikayenin karakteri.
Öykü severlerin kitabı başucu kitabı yapacağına eminim.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

From BBC Radio 4 - Drama:
Tom Courtenay reads this story in which a young woman falls to her death in the Alps. Sixty years later, the man who accompanied her receives a letter. A body has been discovered. But what was the relationship of these two naïve teenagers? And how will memories of their flight from Nazi Germany affect this man's relationship with his long suffering wife?

David Constantine's masterful story of unearthed memories, In Another Country was the inspiration behind the recent Oscar-nominated film 45 Years starring Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/b075...

[Gurkan Gulcan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hikayelerinin kurgusu, anlatmayıp göstermesi, bazen birden çok defa okumayı gerektiriyor. Anlamı çok derinlerden bulup çıkarmak kömür madenciliğinden farksız. Her hikayeden mutlu bir yorgunlukla çıktım. Belki gelecekte tekrar okurum..

[El · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can see that these stories are beautifuly written and that the language used is exquisite but I just didn't enjoy them and gave up after reading about two-thirds of them. I ordered the book from the library after watching the film "45 Years" to see what the source material was like and that was interesting to compare but the rest of the stories just didn't grip me. The overall air of melancholy was relentless and I realised I was just waiting for some light relief to brighten the gloom. But I can understand why others have feted this book so try it for yourself.

[Jenny K · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first six stories are lovely, a real pleasure to read. They feel mature and present. The writer is also a poet, and it shows in the beautiful, complex language. You have to read slowly, carefully, and thoughtfully. The dialogue does not seem realistic, but it doesn't matter, as it feels like you are in a different world, lugubrious, rich, and emotional.

The second half of the book seem to comprise of early works, still discovering his style. The stories are a bit experimental, a bit clumsy, wandering, and without much meaning. I felt no desire to read them completely and so did not.

[Robert Wechsler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very special collection. Each story is different, unexpected, and well put together in every way.

[Mary Curran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written short stories published by Windsor's own Biblioasis. Would love to read Constantine's novel: Davies.

[Catalina]

DNF at about 20%. The stories are not without merit but as a collection...is really, really hard to read. In fact it took me weeks to read the first 3 stories. Despite my best intentions I can't keep reading this.

[Richard Leis · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Constantine's short stories in this collection are fascinating. They are full of images and thoughts and they meander across beautiful landscapes while their characters contemplate death and life. I loved several of the stories and the rest, though somewhat opaque to me, were generally thought-provoking, evocative, and beautifully written.

Let me start with my favorites. I picked up the collection specifically for the short story "In Another Country." I had read an article about how it was loosely based on a tragic true story and was being adapted into a movie titled 45 Years. The idea is immediately compelling: a long, apparently happy marriage is abruptly threatened by news that a body has been found in the ice. What follows is the deterioration of mind and marriage. "In Another Country," in addition to being a compelling drama is also a very tense read, somewhat like a thriller or horror even without those trappings.

Constantine doesn't use quotation marks or separate dialogue into separate lines. He also uses lots of run-on sentences and incomplete sentences. In the stories I enjoyed the most, this didn't bother me in the slightest. In more opaque stories, I struggled. The effects of these techniques are the frequently disturbing proximity of thought and speech and a blurring between characters. In "In Another Country", I would say the lack of quotation marks heightens the emotions of the characters and the mood of the story. These are characters who have been married many decades, who can practically finish each other's thoughts, and are only now confronting something that poses a real danger to their marriage. Their dialogue and the growing madness and the unsettled past blur together in a frightening way. When the cliff of emotions and sanity is finally breached, it's because of a small but important detail that comes to light. "In Another Country" is an incredible story, masterfully crafted, and well worth the price of this collection.

"The Mermaid" is another favorite of mine. In addition to a strong sense of setting, a compelling domestic drama, and sharply drawn characters, "The Mermaid" stands out because of the metaphors Constantine chooses and the way he brings back objects mentioned earlier that have even greater import later in the story. A nativity scene carved out of pieces of wood stands out in particular. There are many lines I love in this story. Speaking about wreckage the protagonist hopes to salvage from the shore after a storm: "the breakers coming in like friendly hounds with timbers in their mouths." To describe the loss of his sense of time: "the sky outside either lightening or darkening." To describe losing himself in his art: "After such work he came into his own house like a stranger." I found the ending a little strange, and I'm not quite sure what parallels Constantine was working with, but "The Mermaid" really stood out for me.

My cynical mind suggested to me that "Strong Enough to Help" would turn out to be a horror story, but it was really a sweet story about being drawn out of isolation and finding love. I also really enjoyed the darker "Under the Dam" with its vivid descriptions of a viaduct and a dam and complex relationships. And the last story in the collection,"Mr. Carlton", left me with tears in my eyes and a strong sense of place.

I think the stories that worked best for me were those that really focused on setting and pulled back occasionally from the dialogue and thoughts of the characters. Stories I struggled with were often close to stream of consciousness, ended abruptly after little forward movement, or described people and settings I couldn't immediately identify with or picture. "Asylum" was one of these. It's set in a mental asylum but I couldn't get a good sense of the place and the characters didn't really have an arc, though I think the end was supposed to be hopeful. "Wishing Well" seems to be tracing the start of new love, but I didn't really understand the characters or why one in particular was telling the stories she was telling. I couldn't quite grasp what was important about this story.

In revisiting these stories for this review, I find I appreciate all of them very much, and some I struggled with are beginning to make more sense now that I've had some time. Some of the difficulty could be because I'm American and Constantine is a British writer. The relationship between his characters and the landscapes seemed decidedly European to me, though I'm not really sure what I mean. I also think he is making very complex and adult observations about people and their relationships, and perhaps I'm a little too immature and inexperienced to grasp these details.

Reading what is difficult is such a powerful way to learn, though, and I loved the experience of reading this book. There are some books that are fine to give up on (sorry, The Complete Cosmicomics) and there are others that reward you after you struggle with them. I will want to return to "In Another Country" and the others stories someday, to see what they have to say to me then.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I realize how basic this sounds, but I will never again read a book that doesn't use quotation marks. It's such a pretentious literary device and it makes the reader do more work so the author can feel like an artiste. I just have so many other books to read from authors that are willing to meet me halfway when it comes to readability. That's just where I'm at in life. Sorry.

[Gonzalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Constantine es traductor, poeta y narrador, y todo ello queda perfectamente reflejado en los relatos que componen En otro país (Libros del Asteroide), una selección de sus mejores obras breves, publicadas por primera vez en España.



Partamos de la premisa de que un libro de relatos no ha de guardar necesariamente una coherencia interna, menos aún si no se trata de un volumen concebido por el propio autor como un conjunto, sino que responde a una recopilación de su obra breve para ser presentada en otros países. Y, sin embargo, los títulos aquí recogidos, tienen una unidad tal, tanto en lo temático como en lo estético, que ha de responder necesariamente a un talento natural del autor para este género, con unas cualidades soberbias para dibujar los rasgos de sus personajes a través de breves palabras, a veces solo sugeridas, y en los que la complicidad con el lector es un requisito inquebrantable y que se ha de renovar página a página.



Porque no de otro modo se debe afrontar la lectura de En otro país. Cada narración requiere de una confianza ciega del lector, que éste se deje llevar, ignorando al principio todo cuanto sucede, disfrutando de ese sentimiento de incomodidad por creerse retratado que en ocasiones le invadirá al transitar por estas páginas, pero rindiéndose finalmente a la intención de Constantine y a su hermosa prosa.



En cierto sentido, todos estos relatos siguen una serie de pautas que pueden explicar su unidad. En todos ellos, el peso de la acción y el argumento recae en dos personajes principales y, en casi todos ellos, una cierta incomprensión, incluso extrañeza, levanta su parapeto invisible entre ambos. También en cada uno de ellos nos asomamos a una soledad que nadie parece romper pese a la compañía mutua, sea por oscuros secretos del pasado, por la pérdida de la naturaleza humana, por la muerte o por el hartazgo.



En todos ellos el final viene a ser un cierre en forma de interrogante, una proposición al lector, una sugerencia apenas esbozada, nunca impuesta. Y para todos ellos viene a ser importante una relectura tras ese final.



Veamos como paradigma el primer relato, del que no desvelamos más de lo que ya se menciona en la solapa del volumen. Un anciano recibe una carta en la que se le comunica la aparición del cuerpo de una joven caída desde lo alto de una montaña en un glaciar hace unos sesenta años y que el calentamiento global ha dejado al descubierto, en su tumba de hielo transparente, tal y como era en su portentosa juventud.



Y esta noticia cae como una bomba en la vida del anciano que ha de revivir aquellos días y que, de algún modo, se siente en la obligación de hacer partícipe a su mujer, que ha vivido con una versión de la historia algo azucarada y rebajada pero que ahora intuye la magnitud del engaño del que ha sido objeto. Y no es que el matrimonio se venga abajo, éste se funda en una relación de mera compañía, sin afecto especial, sin apego propio. Y, sin embargo, cómo puede una octogenaria luchar contra el fantasma de una joven que, plenamente conservada, congelada para el futuro, se hace presente en su matrimonio roto, un fantasma que ocupa toda la casa y contra el que no puede luchar, ya no. Y es un fantasma que también dice mucho de su marido, incluso de los motivos que le llevaron a casarse con ella, mismo color de pelo, mismo signo zodiacal, muchas coincidencias pero que, tantos años después de su casamiento, poco importan ya.



O avancemos tan solo ligeramente el argumento del siguiente relato, La fuerza necesaria, en el que se nos describe cómo una persona pierde su alma, no como en el mito de Fausto o en la leyenda de Robert Johnson, simplemente la pierde. Y es entonces cuando la echa en falta, cuando comprende lo diferente que es, y cuando comienza a reconocer a otros como él y a sentirse extraño, alejado, a entender la importancia de lo perdido y la imposibilidad de comunicación con su mujer, sus hijos.



Y así hasta catorce relatos, todos ellos hermosos, todos tristes, sin excesivas concesiones, con mucha poética entre sus líneas, como puede esperarse de un autor que ha sido profesor de Literatura y que también publica libros de poesía, por lo que sabe trasladar de un género a otro sus mejores virtudes.





El peso de la espiritualidad en los personajes de estos relatos es notable. Afloran monjas, meras beatas, clérigos, pero también profesores solitarios que supieron marcar impronta en sus alumnos, que recuerdan sus experiencias en la tapia del cementerio en su último día. Y es que la muerte es una presencia tangible en muchas de estas narraciones. Ejemplar es el relato en el que un hombre recién enviudado, queda atrapado en el atasco de una autopista por un supuesto accidente ferroviario y que, desde el arcén, contempla absorto la vida imperturbable de una pareja de ancianos que viven su vida a la vista de todos los conductores. Y no sabemos si siente frustración, envidia secreta o una reconciliación absoluta con la vida, una comunión con el espíritu humano, ni si esta contemplación le sirve de viático salvífico o de expurgación de dolores profundos, porque todo queda tan solo enunciado, y es el lector quien ha de reconstruir los pedazos restantes.



Hablar de En otro país supone no poder pasar por alto la importancia de la traducción a cargo de Celia Filipetto, que ha logrado un texto sugerente, armonioso, sutil y delicado, como entiendo debe ser el original.


Son obras como ésta las que permiten sostener que, en gran medida, desde el siglo pasado, el peso de la mejor tradición literaria ha ido migrando progresivamente de la novela al relato, con una infinidad de autores magistrales, que han sabido suplir las limitaciones de espacio propias de este medio narrativo, poniendo de manifiesto que no siempre los giros impredecibles al final del texto son la esencia misma del texto, la idea de que son obras menores, de mero entreno, que carecen de la profundidad propia de textos más extensos. En suma, autores como David Constantine renuevan su compromiso con un género que aún tiene un gran recorrido por delante y que termina por resultar más versátil y personal que muchas novelas. Acercarse a este libro es una forma de compromiso también por parte del lector, una forma de aprendizaje, un ejercicio de conciencia y de admiración.

[Wurm200 · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Constantine
Wie es ist und war
Kunstmann

Autor: David Constantine, geb. 1944, ist britischer Autor, Dichter und Übersetzer. Er hat dreißig Jahre lang deutsche Sprache und Literatur in Durham und Oxford gelehrt, und von 2003 bis 2012 mit seiner Frau die Literaturzeitschrift Modern Poetry in Translation herausgegeben. Neben preisgekrönten Lyrik- und Short Story-Bänden und zwei Romanen hat Constantine Übersetzungen aus dem Deutschen veröffentlicht, u. a. von Goethe, Hölderlin, Kleist und Brecht. Constantine lebt in Oxford und Scilly. (Quelle:Kunstmann)

Anmerkung: Da in diesem Buch 17 verschiedene Geschichten erzählt werden, werde ich an dieser Stelle nicht wie üblich eine kleine Inhaltsangabe schreiben.

Das Buch besteht aus insgesamt 17 mehr oder weniger lange Erzählungen, die keine Kapitel, jedoch aber Absätze besitzen (einzige Ausnahme ist hier eine Erzählung kurz vor dem Ende, diese hat zwei Kapitel). Die Absätze sind stets mit einem “~” voneinander getrennt. Die Titel der Erzählungen sind immer sehr gut gewählt, sodass der Leser diesen in jeder der Erzählungen wiederfindet. Der Titel einer jeder Erzählung steht nicht nur zu Beginn einer neuen Erzählung, sondern zusätzlich auch noch auf der unteren linken Seite, der rechten Buchseite. So weiß man als Leser stets, wo man sich gerade im Buch befindet. Neben diesem Titel befinden sich auch die Seitenzahlen und das nicht wie üblich auf jeder Seite einzeln angegeben, sondern beide Seitenzahlen stehen nebeneinander mit einem “/” voneinander getrennt. Auch wenn die stetige Angabe des Titels die Möglichkeit schafft, auch nach längeren Pausen wieder ins Buch zu finden, so sollten große Pausen nach Möglichkeit ausgelassen werden. Die Geschichten sind nämlich nicht immer sofort zu verstehen und erfordern teilweise ein konzentriertes Lesen. Die Länge der einzelnen Erzählungen ist aber recht gut gewählt, sodass man schnell zum Ende einer Erzählung kommen kann. Dabei sollte man jedoch nicht einfach so durchs Buch hasten, sondern jede der Erzählungen auch auf sich wirken lassen. Die Erzählungen selbst beinhalten dabei oftmals etwas Trauriges, aber gleichzeitig auch etwas Schönes. Haben dazu oftmals noch die Ferne/Abgeschiedenheit aber auch Schönheit als Thema. Was beim Lesen eventuell zu Verwirrungen führen kann, ist die Tatsache das die Dialoge in dem Buch nicht durch “” gekennzeichnet sind. So muss man immer recht gut aufpassen, wer, was und wann gerade sagt (besonders beim direkten “Schlagabtausch” der Charaktere). Das Buch erfordert es nicht, von vorne bis hinten gelesen zu werden (auch wenn ich es nur empfehlen kann), sondern man kann sich seine gewünschte Erzählung heraussuchen (dank Inhaltsverzeichnis auch sehr leicht zu bewerkstelligen) und allein diese lesen.

Cover: Das Hardcover des Buches ist mit Stoff überzogen und fühlt sich recht gut in den Händen an. Die Farben bestehen allein aus Blau und weiß. Auf der Vorderseite sehen wir einen weißen Bereich mit blauen Linien, der aussieht wie ein Fingerabdruck. Der Rest des Covers ist Blau mit horizontalen weißen Linien. In der Mitte befindet sich ein weiß umrandetes Rechteck, das mit blau gefüllt ist, indem sich der Titel des Buches befindet (die Umrandung lässt sich auch leicht mit den Fingern ertasten). Dieser Titel hebt sich durch seine weiße Farbe sehr gut ab. Die Innenseite des Covers ist ebenfalls blau und besitzen weiße Punkte, wodurch leicht der Eindruck eines mit Sternen behangener Himmel entsteht (dies würde auch recht gut zu den Erzählungen im Buch passen, die oftmals an schönen Orten in der Ferne/Einsamkeit spielen).

Fazit: Ein Buch, in dem sich beim Lesen alles wieder findet, Ferne, Nähe, Trauer, Kummer, Sorge und mehr. Jeder der Erzählungen ist dabei in sich geschlossen und regt beim Leser selbst, zum Nachdenken an. Jede der 17 Erzählungen ist es dabei wert gelesen zu werden und wird dem Leser sicherlich in den Bann ziehen können. Von mir gibt es 5/5 Sterne.

Klappentext: David Constantines Erzählungen sind einmalig: Zutiefst poetische, mal zarte, mal aufwühlende Bilder und eine klare, scharfe Beobachtung der archaischen Kräfte, die im Menschen und in der Natur wirken, zeugen von seinem untrüglichen Gespür für die Schönheit und Sonderbarkeit der Welt. Der Körper einer Frau, seit Jahrzehnten im Eis konserviert, bricht aus der Vergangenheit in die schon fünfzig Jahre währende Ehe der Mercers ein und bringt sie ins Wanken. Dem erfolgreichen Investmentberater Mr Silverman kommt seine Seele abhanden, aber niemand stört sich daran. Lou findet bei Owen Zugang zu der verblüffenden Schönheit der Natur, jenseits der ausgetretenen Pfade einer gewöhnlichen Liebesbeziehung. Die Atmosphäre dieser Erzählungen nimmt sofort von uns Besitz. Der Alltag ist den Menschen bedrohlich geworden, sie sind isoliert, belastet von unausgeprochenen Bürden, und suchen Halt im Ungewissen. Was genau es ist, dem sie um jeden Preis ausweichen oder nachjagen wollen, bleibt meist ungesehen, in weiter Ferne – wie der konservierte Körper der Frau aus »In einem anderen Land«, der im schmelzenden Eis eines Schweizer Gletschers darauf wartet, entdeckt zu werden. Die Landschaft und die Natur aber bergen Möglichkeiten der Erlösung, Orte der Zuflucht und kleine Schätze, die Trost spenden können – wie das Stück Treibholz, das ein Strandgutsammler auswählt, um daraus seine Idee von Perfektion zu schnitzen. Diese siebzehn ausgewählten Short Stories aus mehr als zwei Jahrzehnten zeigen, warum David Constantine als »vielleicht bester zeitgenössischer Autor dieses Genres« (The Reader) gesehen wird. Ihre verzaubernde, eindringliche Sprache ist zugleich aufrüttelnd und »stark genug, um zu helfen« (Giorgos Seferis). (Quelle: Kunstmann)

Autor: David Constantine
Titel: Wie es ist und war
Verlag: Kunstmann
Genre: Erzählungen
Seiten: 320
Preis: 24,00
ISBN: 978-3-95614-198-0

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[Ian Plenderleith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crushingly brilliant stories. There's a story called 'Trains' that I can't even begin to describe that's been haunting me ever since I read it. He takes his ideas to some off-road location and tugs at them like a cat toying with a mouse. Another story, 'The Loss', describes some investment banker type who one day just loses his soul and has to keep plodding through life without one - I once had an idea for a short story about a banker accidentally taking his conscience to work and all the hilarious consequences thereof, but I never got around to writing it and it's just as well because it would have been nothing like as masterful as this. Superbly crafted work.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why didn't I know about Constantine's writing before now? Like most short story collections, this is best read by the story, just one per day. They are too rich and sometimes devastating to absorb at a faster pace. The writing is poetic without seeming self-conscious, and the understanding of people and nature is marvelous. I'll read this more than once. "The Cave," "The Loss," and "The Mermaid" were especially fine.

[Rebecca Rosenblum]

Definitely a book best read slowly--I was quite enjoying reading one story at a time between other things, but then I finished the other things and read the second half in a gulp, which was too much. The stories are gentle, slow, and quiet, with a strong undercurrent of dread--hard to be surrounded by that for too long at a stretch. But gorgeous writing and a unique viewpoint, not to mention a unique set of geographical circumstances, described in great detail.