Ex-Libris

é iniciada aqui uma cadeia de literatura pela blogosfera portuguesa. a iniciativa foi de barrie do the pink bee, que fez o primeiro post a 7 de março, e foi-me passada pelo guy do non tibi siro para lhe dar "o sabor do sul da europa". espero que a sigam.


(...)
Cale-se de Alexandro e de Trajano
A fama das vitórias que tiveram;
Que eu canto o peito ilustre Lusitano,
(...)
Camões

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Because I was born in this beautiful country, which gave birth to so many good writers, I was asked by Guy, from non tibi spiro, to help keep this European bloggers chain of books and pass it through Portugal. All we have to do is answer a few simple questions and pass it to three other bloggers, explaining why we have chosen them. Nice and easy so far. Even I can do that, I think…


You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?

My first impulse was to say Fahrenheit 451 - by Ray Bradbury to pretend I was leaving in a fictional world that really was. Then I thought about O Corpo Iluminado by David Mourão Ferreira - Great poems written in big letters and great drawings. You would burn happily.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

No, I prefer to have a crush with someone I can touch :)

The last book you bought is:

Ensaio sobre a Lucidez - Saramago, obviously. now i have to read it.

The last book you read:

Diálogos Sobre a Fé (Dialogues on Faith) Eduardo Prado Coelho and D. José Policarpo (the Portuguese Cardinal) - A very nice book I bought as a gift, but never did. So I started reading it, in the hope that I would understand why the greatest bastards keep going to church. Still don’t know, but you got to have faith.

What are you currently reading?

I mostly read books that are presented to me. I’m about to finish Eugen Herrigel - Zen in the Art of Archery, and have just started to read “Don’t Give Up Your Dreams” because a very good friend of mine said it was good for me.
I keep handy the poetry of Ary dos Santos and Fernando Pessoa (A Mensagem), which I open and read randomly. We can’t do that with novels, unfortunately

Five books you would take to a desert island.

The universe is vast, even bigger if you are on a desert island. I am not an expert in portuguese literature. Hope someone else in the chain is. If you want to enjoy literature you can go to http://cultura.sapo.pt/noticias_detalhe.asp?id=1573, and find out more about Iberian literature. Personally, I would go for something more classical:

* Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion – my son says they are great and I have promised to read them. May be with a bit of magical wisdom I could get out of it, but - main thing -one must keep one’s promises.
* Mafalda by Quino It is impossible to pass the time without a sense of humor.
* The King Amaz'd, by Gonzalo Torrente Ballester - Great book. I am grateful to the person who lent it to me when I was in hospital, a few years ago.
* I would take the complete works of Bocage, so I could say all sorts of bad words, jokes to laugh like a madman and poems to cry like a baby.
* I would also like to take something, or everything, by José Cardoso Pires. He should also have won the Nobel.

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?

I know now why Prime Ministers never get good ministers! Nevertheless, here are my choices and why.
* Someone who really knows something about Portuguese culture from outside Portugal.
* Then, some one popular.
* Finally, and since Guy wanted some flavor of (hot) southern Europe I though of a spicy southern dish.

And the winners are?
* A coisa da micas. Based in Germany, I hope she will spread the chain to different places, preferably with views from the outside.
* Blogotinha, a very popular Portuguese blog. I hope she will persuade some of the big bloggers to take part in this chain.
* Erotismo na Cidade. Creativity and sensuality has the name of this very promising Portuguese writer. I hope we’ll find out which writers have influenced her most.