Carte recomandata printre altii si de Oprah Winfrey, iar daca nu ma inseala memoria, chiar atunci am decis sa o achizitionez. Asta se intampla inaintea evenimentelor black lives matter.
Mi s-a parut o carte intresanta, iar latura magica m-a suprins si a completat povestea intr-un mod placut. Pe parcursul cartii am fost debusolata de evenimentele inspirate din istorie si fictiune, atat de bine e scrisa cartea ca mi-au trebuit momente de reculegere in care sa cuget asupra a ceea ce am citit.
Ca in toate cartile mai dense in continut, am gasit pasaje care mi-au atras atentia, concomitent prin simplitatea exprimarii si complexitatea continutului. Am lasat mai jos cateva astfel de fragmente. Sa va inspire si sa va dea de gandit!
<<“We have our own world down here – our own ways of being and talking and laughing, even if you don’t see me doing much of neither. But I got a choise down here. And it ain’t great, but it is ours. Up there, with them right over you… well, it’s different.” >> pag. 22
“Avem lumea noastra aici jos – felul nostru de a fi si de a vorbi si de a rade, chiar daca nu ma vezi facand mult din niciuna. Dar am o alegere aici jos. Si nu este grozava, dar este a noastra. Acolo sus, cu ei pazindu-te… ei bine, este diferit.”
“But I now knew the truth – that Maynard’s folly, though more profane, was unoriginal. The masters could not bring water to boil, harness a horse, nor strap their own drawers without us. We were better than them – we had to be. Sloth was literal death to us, while for them it was the whole ambition of their lives.” pag. 35
“Dar acum stiu adevarul – ca prostia lui Maynard, desi mai obisnuita, nu era originala. Stapanii nu puteau face apa sa fiarba, inhama un cal, nici sa-si stranga propriile izmene fara noi. Noi eram mai buni ca ei – trebuia sa fim. Lenea reprezenta moartea pentru noi, in timp ce pentru ei era toata ambitia vietii lor.”
<<“[…]I like to think there was law once, the older folks speak of such a time, and though I have not known it, I can feel all the changes. A man is blooming inside me , Georgie, and I cannot shackle him. He know too much. He seen too much. He has got to get out, this man, or he cannot live. I swear I fear what is coming. I fear my own hands.”>> pag. 61
“Imi place sa cred ca odata a fost lege, batranii vorbesc despre astfel de timpuri, si desi eu nu le-am cunoscut, pot simti toate schimbarile. Un barbat infloreste in interiorul meu, Georgie, si nu il pot impiedica. El stie prea multe. El a vazut prea multe. El trebuie sa iasa, acest barbat, sau nu poate trai. Jur ca mi-e frica de ceea ce urmeaza. Imi e frica de propriile maini.”
“You have to remember what I was: not human but property, and a valuable property – one learned in all the functions of the manor, of crops, read, capable of entertaining with my tricks of memory. I was known for my industry, for my steady disposition, for my rectitude. And it would not be hard.” pag. 87
“Trebuie sa iti amintesti ceea ce am fost: nu om ci proprietate, si o proprietate valoroasa – una invatata in toate functiile conacului, de recolta, citit, capabil sa distrez cu trucurile mele de memorie. Eram cunoscut pentru harnicia mea, pentru dispozitia mea constanta, pentru rectitudinea mea. Si nu ar fi greu.”
“They grow together, and as the play hours decline, the ritual changes. They are both weaned on the religion of society, of slavery, which holds that for no particularly good reason one of them will live in the palace, while the other will be condemned to the dungeon. It is a cruel thing to do to children, to raise them as though they are siblings, and then set them against each other so that one shall be a queen and the other shall be a footstool.” pag. 98
“Ei cresc impreuna, si pe masura ce orele de joaca scad, ritualul se schimba. Sunt amandoi crescuti in religia societatii, a sclaviei, care considera pentru nici un motiv deosebit ca unul din ei va locui in palat, in timp ce celalalt va fi condamnat in temnita. Este un lucru crud pe care sa-l faci copiilor, sa ii cresti ca si cand ar fi frati, si apoi sa ii stranesti unul impotriva celuilalt, astfel incat unul sa fie regina, iar celalalt suport pentru picioare.”
<<“That day I wandered the near-country with only my thoughts. I walked, but never ran. A notion gnawed in me. This people were so low that they would divide a father from his only son. “>> pag. 131
“In acea zi m-am plimbat in imprejurimi numai cu gandurile mele. Am mers, niciodata n-am fugit. O notiune a rabufnit in mine. Acesti oameni erau atat de josnici incat ar fi despartit un tata de singurul lui fiu.”
<<“The mind of a woman is weak – this was the word, you see. But now they say That any and all who would aspire to the rank of lady must have some touch of the book. But not too much. No hard study. Nothing that might injure The delicate and girlish mind. Novels. Tales. Proverbs, that sort of thing. No papers. No politics.”
“Mintea unei femei este slaba – acesta a fost cuvantul, vezi tu. Dar acum spun Ca oricine si toate care aspira la rangul de doamna trebuie sa aiba o oarecare educatie. Dar nu foarte multa. Fara studii dure. Nimic din ce poate sa prejudicieze Firea delicata si feminina a mintii. Romane. Povesti. Proverbe, tipul asta de lucruri. Nu ziare. Nu politica.”
“But I have not let them dictate to me, Hiram,” she said, holding the envelope. “And I have not simply read, my boy. I have learned their language and custom – even those that should be beyond my station, especially those that should be beyond my station, and that has been the seed of my liberty.”>> pag. 166
“Dar nu i-am lasat sa imi dicteze, Hiram,” a spus ea, tinand plicul. “Si nu am citit pur si simplu, baiatul meu. Le-am invatat limbajul si obiceiurile – chiar si cele care ar trebui sa fie dincolo de controlul meu, in special cele care ar trebui sa fie peste controlul meu, si aceasta a fost samanta libertatii mele.”
<<“These people, I know them well,” Corrine said, shaking her head. “Whatever agreement they have with Georgie, I promise you that they trust a freeman less than the slave. And Georgie is a known liar, even in their service, a man who bends under power.[..]”>> pag. 175
“Acesti oameni, ii cunosc bine,” a spus Corrine, dand din cap. “Orice intelegere ar avea cu Georgie, iti promit ca au mai putina incredere intr-un om liber decat intr-un sclav. Si Georgie este un mincinos cunoscut, chiar si in serviciul lor, un om care se indoaie in fata puterii.”
“The Underground would give me no chance to reconsider, for though we all dreamed of going north, all sorts of fear might overrun a man when the dream descended into the real. There is always a part of us that does not want to win, wants to stay down in the low and familiar.” pag. 185
“[Reteaua] Underground nu mi-ar da nici o sansa sa reconsider, pentru ca, desi am visat cu toii sa mergem catre nord, tot felul de frici ar putea depasi un on cand visul coboara in realitate. Exista intotdeauan o parte in noi care nu vrea sa castigam, care vrea sa stea retrasa in saracie si familiar.”
“Watching that little girl encouraged in her pursuits, rewarded in whatever genius she had – and we all had some – I saw all that had been taken from me, and all that was so regularly taken from the millions of colored children bred to the Task.” pag. 207
“Privind acea fetita incurajata in preocuparile ei, rasplatita in orice geniu ar fi avut – si toti avem cate ceva – am vazut tot ce mi-a fost luat, si tot ceea ce era luat in mod regulat de la milioanele de copii colorati crescuti in randul sclavilor.”
Cum spuneam, mi-a placut cartea, o incursiune intr-o alta lume, o alta cultura, un alt timp. Pe scurt, o recomand. Si pentru ca autorul mi-a starnit interesul, urmatoarea lectura semnata de el va fi Between the World and Me, care deja asteapta pe raftul bibliotecii.
Va doresc inspiratie sa gasiti numai carti pe plac!
