My Swedish publisher, AB Bonniers Förlag, have compiled a CD with music from my new book. I am, of course, very touched. It can be ordered here: adlibris
It goes without saying that I love this music. There are two very special pieces on this cd:
Firstly the commissioned adagio from the Sonata itself, the Sonata to Miriam. Swedish composer Alexander Ekroth- Baginski has done a wonderful job of transfering my words into music. It is just … well, listen!
The second special piece on the cd is the Passacaille by Szymon Laks. It exists, as far as I know, only in one other recording. Listen and sink into the music!

 

Stockholm in December 2007

‘For a writer, the experience of living in a number of countries is an enormous boon. You can only understand the world if you see it from several sides. My latest book, which came into being in France, unfolds in a special geographic space: Those events which take place in Prague are seen through West European eyes, while what happens in France is seen through the eyes of Prague. It is an encounter of two worlds.’

Milan Kundera

  

Karekare in January 2008

The second novel as it will look when it is published by Albert Bonniers Förlag next year.

‘But words must be found, for besides words there is almost nothing –’
Szymon Laks, from the overture to ‘Music of another world’

The days are short. Time flies. Nothing gets done. The process of procrastination is taking its toll. I have given myself a deadline since nobody else has. Problem is, I don’t respect myself. Sunday, the deadline is Sunday. And into the darkness I wander…

The snow vanished over night and the crows returned to finish off the elderberries on the tree by the rubbish shed. The world is still, poised between seasons. My task is still undone. I have come to realize that one part of my resistance has to do with how I view this manuscript. To me, it’s not words on paper, or on my hard drive. It’s real characters, real stories. It is as hard for me to change them as it would be to try and change the character or the past of a loved one. Read the rest of this entry »

The first snow arrived this morning. Large flakes slowly falling and melting quickly as they touched the ground. It’s not the season, the gradually vanishing daylight or the cold. It’s my own inability to face the task…