Perceval Press

I found this at Perceval Press.

Free while supplies last!

TWILIGHT OF EMPIRE: RESPONSES TO OCCUPATION New 2nd Printing with a foreword by Howard Zinn
Contributors: Lynsey Addario, Fadhil al-Azzawi, Medea Benjamin, Tiosha Bojorquez Chapela, Kristina Borjesson, Anne E. Brodsky, Mike Davis, Jodie Evans, Tahmeena Faryal, Sandra Fu, Amy Goodman, Amir Hussain, Eman Ahmed Khammas, Naomi Klein, Mark LeVine, Yanar Mohammed, Viggo Mortensen, Christian Parenti, Jerry Quickley, Omid Safi, Lauren Sandler, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, Nadia Yassine, Howard Zinn Now that the Bush administration's occupation of Iraq has become more about enforcing the economic and political objectives of a corporate elite and less about disarming a dictator that used to be an American ally and had nothing to do with the tragedies of 9/11, a spirited and informed analysis of the conflagration -- and its various casualties -- is needed more than ever. Twilight of Empire fulfills that growing hunger for desperately needed on-the-ground truth and context far from the talking-head misinformation offered by conventional media outlets. Many of the contributors have seen the devastation of American imperialism in Iraq first-hand. Code Pink's Jodie Evans, who traveled to Baghdad directly before and after the war, explains the stratification between American economic interests and Iraqi helplessness that is the occupation's chief characteristic. Yanar Mohammed, Anne Brodsky and RAWA's Tahmeena Faryal chronicle the abuse of Muslim women by both American occupiers and the increasingly fundamentalist Middle East citizenry. Ambassador Joseph Wilson -- no stranger to the Bush administration's wrong-headed execution of the invasion, as well as the last American official to meet with Saddam Hussein -- condemns the secrecy, shortsightedness and subterfuge at the heart of the president's campaign for war in Iraq. Twilight of Empire also widens the scope of the occupation, connecting the dots and spotting the disturbing trends of economic opportunism at the heart of America's current foreign policy. Mark LeVine finds troubling similarities between the occupation of Iraq and Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, award-winning journalist Kristina Borjesson explains the invaluable hijacking of American mainstream media that made executing the war politically feasible, Naomi Klein breaks down the administration's alarming war profiteering through multinationals like Halliburton and Bechtel, and more. The book is filled with harrowing narratives from photographer Lynsey Addario. Twilight of Empire refuses to shy away from the disconcerting state of Baghdad's infrastructure, the architectural and cultural devastation of Iraqi cities, and the mounting dissatisfaction with an American provisional authority seemingly disinterested in the safety, health and well-being of the society which it aims to liberate and democratize. Twilight of Empire is ultimately an unflinching look at the corporate greed and manipulation at the bottom of what may be the most bungled foreign policy project in United States history. With the bodies piling up and no success in sight, Americans can no longer and sit idly by while their elected (and unelected) leaders gamble their future away. Twilight of Empire is a call for transparency and truth from an esteemed assemblage invested in putting the chaotic Iraqi puzzle together for those who are interested. This is the second printing which includes a new forward by Howard Zinn. ISBN 0-9763009-0-7, softcover, 9.5 x 6.5 inches, 130 pages $14.95 | Free while supplies last

That sounds like a very interesting book, Lil Star.

Wow, I am blown away by Perceval Press adding a tribute to the Canadiens Hockey team. But I think that the 100 years is next year. Oh well, I am sure all Habs fans are just warming up including Viggo.

Go Habs Go!

Edited: Canadiens 1909-2009 but the buildup to the centenaire is now happening.

I see it as positive proof that he reads his own fan boards.

A Marcel Proust quote was posted on Perceval Press that when translated by Google sounds a bit weird.

Can anyone make anything out of this:

Quote :

There are moments of life
or a kind of beauty is born
the multiplicity of problems
that assail us.

Here's the version posted on PP:

Quote :

Il y a des moments de la vie
ou une sorte de beauté naît
de la multiplicité des ennuis
qui nous assaillent.
-Marcel Proust

Let's see if I can help with the Proust quote:

Il y a des moments de la vie
ou une sorte de beauté naît
de la multiplicité des ennuis
qui nous assaillent.


I would translate this as follows:

There are moments in life
when a kind of beauty is birthed
from the multiplicity of woes (miseries)
that plagues us.

My translation is way too literal though because the French suggests that we come across (or find) moments -- not a matter of 'when' but more as 'where' -- see the use of 'ou' which is missing the accent on the 'u' by the way. That's why Google had difficulty with the translation I think.

So I think what Proust is saying is that it is up to us to try to find beauty out of continuous misery. Then again with Proust who knows for sure.

That's beautfully said Kal. I agree with you intupratation.

Thank you, Lil Star although each time I read it I feel like I've missed it somehow.

You're very welcome, Vigs.

I like this quote. Sometimes, even in the darkest times of our lives, we can find something positive. This reminds me of the book The Road. There is a lot of darkness in this story but isn't it the true nature of human beings to strive to find the light (silver lining?). You know for such a fallible species we are truly remarkable or can be, I think.

My francaise is limited but looks to be a good translation to me, Kaldhar. Is this man always so intellecutally inclined? I gotta know.


Ruth

Oops, wrong topic
BRB

I am always pleased with the poems PP (Viggo) posts on his home page. This one had me go in search but could not find an english title but did find a description of it on a blog. Here is what is said of the poem:

Quote :

This poem is a farewell. About someone leaving his loved ones with their lives, work, people, surroundings, joys, hopes and fears, and without him. Without his questions or answers, without his doubts, without his childlike qualities, but also without his wisdom. But he promises that he is not abandoning them as he will be in unexpected places keeping them company: in an old tree, in children's smiles, in the shadows and in their dreams, where he hopes they will be able to look each other in the eyes.

So with the aid of an on-line translator and this very nice description I translated it below. Is it not beautiful?


Farewell Number Three

I leave you with your life

your work

your people

with your setting suns

and your dawns



sowing your confidence

I leave you with the world

defeating the impossible

safe with no assurance.



I leave you watching the sea

deciphering yourself alone

without my blind questions

without my broken response.



I leave you without my doubts

poor and badly injured

without my immaturities

without my expertise.



But neither do you not create

on foot juntillas quite

do not believe that ever you create

this to be false abandonment.



I will be where less

Than you will expect me

for example

in an ancient tree

bowing darkly.



I will be in the distant

horizon without time

in the trace of touch

in your shade and my shade.



I will be distributed

in four or five (pibes?)

of those that you mirás

and at once they follow you



and I hope to be

in your sleep dream time

waiting for your eyes

and watching (for) you.



*********************************************
Here is the Spanish one from PP

Chau número tres

Te dejo con tu vida
tu trabajo
tu gente
con tus puestas de sol
y tus amaneceres.

Sembrando tu confianza
te dejo junto al mundo
derrotando imposibles
segura sin seguro.

Te dejo frente al mar
descifrándote sola
sin mi pregunta a ciegas
sin mi respuesta rota.

Te dejo sin mis dudas
pobres y malheridas
sin mis inmadureces
sin mi veteranía.

Pero tampoco creas
a pie juntillas todo
no creas nunca creas
este falso abandono.

Estaré donde menos
lo esperes
por ejemplo
en un árbol añoso
de oscuros cabeceos.

Estaré en un lejano
horizonte sin horas
en la huella del tacto
en tu sombra y mi sombra.

Estaré repartido
en cuatro o cinco pibes
de esos que vos mirás
y enseguida te siguen.

Y ojalá pueda estar
de tu sueño en la red
esperando tus ojos
y mirándote.

-Mario Benedetti


Bit of a spoiler

If anyone has read the book The Road I think the book would finish so beautifully with this poem at the end. It is quite special.

That looks like a decent translation to me, Aithne. Although I'd not heard of Benedetti before becoming a VM fan I appreciate the exposure and even though can't understand Spanish I know that making the effort to try to understand his poems have always been worthwhile.

More than appreciating the kinds of poetry Viggo posts at PP is knowing that he's taking the time to indulge in the finding and reading poetry. He's had a hectic last couple of years and with more to come. Glad he's sharing them with the world as well as some of the sentiments he may be feeling as the movie scenes are filming. That's only a guess of course. But it's nice to think this way.

That's great Aithne and Vigs, I'll leave the Spanish translating up to you both. It's a big help. And with those extra couple of words it now makes better sense.


A prose poem recently posted on PP by Baudelaire. Almost makes you wonder if it is truly about windows or the windows to the soul which are the "eyes".

Quote :

Les Fenêtres

Celui qui regarde du dehors à travers une fenêtre ouverte, ne voit jamais autant de choses que celui qui regarde une fenêtre fermée. Il n'est pas d'objet plus profond, plus mystérieux, plus fécond, plus ténébreux, plus éblouissant qu'une fenêtre éclairée d'une chandelle. Ce qu'on peut voir au soleil est toujours moins intéressant que ce qui se passe derrière une vitre. Dans ce trou noir ou lumineux vit la vie, rêve la vie, souffre la vie.

Par-delà des vagues de toits, j'aperçois une femme mûre, ridée déjà, pauvre, toujours penchée sur quelque chose, et qui ne sort jamais. Avec son visage, avec son vêtement, avec son geste, avec presque rien, j'ai refait l'histoire de cette femme, ou plutôt sa légende, et quelquefois je me la raconte à moi-même en pleurant.

Si c'eût été un pauvre vieux homme, j'aurais refait la sienne tout aussi aisément.

Et je me couche, fier d'avoir vécu et souffert dans d'autres que moi-même.

Peut-être me direz-vous: "Es-tu sûr que cette légende soit la vraie?" Qu'importe ce que peut être la réalité placée hors de moi, si elle m'a aidé à vivre, à sentir que je suis et ce que je suis?

-Charles Baudelaire (1821- 1867)

And here I have translated into English:

One who looks from outside through an open window, never sees as many things as one who looks through a closed window. There is nothing more profound, more mysterious, more plentiful, more ominous, more alluring than a window lit by a candle. That which we see in daylight is always less interesting than what happens on the other side of the glass. In this blackness or lightness life lives, life dreams, life suffers.

Over the wave of roofs, I notice a mature woman, already wrinkled, poor, always bending over something and who never goes out. From her face, her clothing, her gestures, with almost nothing, I have created this woman’s story, or rather her legend, and often crying I recount it to myself.

If it had been an old man I could have created his just as easily.

And I go to bed proud having lived and suffered another’s besides myself.

Perhaps you will say to me: “Are you sure this legend is true?” Does it matter what reality is outside of me if it has helped me to live, to feel that I am and what I am?

Ah who wants to start a new thread: 'recipes Viggo would like'?

Could we start with the one on PP home page? Maybe he is so tired of filming and being away from home he needs a little domesticity in his life. Viggo you're a god!

(betcha it's related to that damn soccer team SL )

While Viggo exhibits in Iceland interesting to note that Georg Gudni is currently exhibiting in New York.

You may or may not know that a couple of years ago Viggo and Georg had a joint exhibit in Los Angeles. Perceval Press also published a wonderful book titled 'Strange Familiar' of his paintings and drawings which you can read about here: http://www.percevalpress.com/gudni.html?-session=pp_sc:415DA3460ce480EE68RRm3ACDA3A

I have this book and would like to share that it is a book I pick up often off my coffee table. Viggo also has included a very thought provoking text in this book which is a nice backdrop for the books' art.

Here from Iceland Review Online

Quote :

More North Gallery Opens in Tribeca, New York

More North, a major new gallery space in Tribeca, New York, opened on Thursday. The inaugural exhibition features the “haunting landscapes” of critically-acclaimed Icelandic artist Georg Gudni, running from May 10 to July 12.


snip...


Speaking of Gudni’s work, art critic Jon Proppe commented, “Only a very insensitive viewer could fail to experience the magic in Gudni’s painting, even when the subject is not the great and awe-inspiring natural formations that Icelanders never tire of showing to visitors from abroad: the waterfalls, volcanoes and moss-covered lava fields.”

Imagine what a treat it must have been to see the exhibit at the Track 16 gallery together Viggo's wonderful photographs.

Thanks to Emeraude for passing on a link to some photos of Viggo, Gudni and even one of his paintings, from the Strange Familiar opening:

http://www.artistinterviews.com/news-viggomortensen.htm

Besides up and coming movies, some things to look forward to from Perceval Press home page:

Quote :

Perceval Press has a number of books presently in various stages of planning, editing, and design. Some are more complicated to put together than others, and will take longer to complete and prepare for printing. Among the projects that we are involved with and are considering for publication in the coming year are books by Layla Mackay (an artist from New Zealand), Sara Solati (a writer from Iran), ), a third installment from Mike Davis (whose Land of the Lost Mammoths and Pirates, Bats and Dragons we previously published), an anthology of new Argentine poetry, and a book about the painter Minerva Chapman. Next from Perceval, to be released at summer's end, will be photographer Robert Whitman's Mostly People, a new poetry collection from California poet Scott Wannberg, Otra Isla Para Miguel (our second book from Cuban artist Henry Eric), as well as The Future States Atlas, from artist Dan Mills. We thank you for your interest, patience, and patronage.
-Viggo Mortensen.

Once again Perceval Press home page features a quote from Marcel Proust:


Sans doute peu de personnes comprennent le caractère purement subjectif du phénomène qu'est l'amour, et la sorte de création que c'est d'une personne supplémentaire, distincte de celle qui porte le même nom dans le monde, et dont la plupart des éléments sont tirés de nous-mêmes. -Marcel Proust

Wow it's a humdinger to translate. But I gave it a shot without trying to infuse it with my own interpretations. Not sure if I managed it.


"No doubt few people understand the purely subjective nature of the phenomenon which is love, the kind of creation that it makes of that other additional person, distinct (changed? apart?) from that which the world knows him (her), and of which most of their elements are actually drawn from our own selves."

Proust's quote has a bit of ring to it that sounded familiar. Then it occurred to me and I scrolled down to the bottom of PP's home page.

Quote :

L'une des clés d'une relation amoureuse est de respecter la maladie que l'autre porte en lui.

Love is just an illusion (delusion) then? Self-deluding?



Is it me or is this is a very bleak outlook on one of the most vital and wonderful of human emotions?