LETTURE ESTIVE
"Sammler in a mental whisper said, ‘Well, Elya. Well, well, Elya.’ And then in the same way he said, ‘Remember, God, the soul of Elya Gruner, who, as willingly as possible and as well as he was able, and even to an intolerable point, and even in suffocation and even as death was coming was eager, even childishly perhaps (may I be forgiven for this), even with a certain servility, to do what was required of him. At his best this man was much kinder than at my very best I have ever been or could ever be. He was aware that he must meet, and he did meet – through all the confusion and degraded clowning of this life through which we are speeding – he did meet the terms of his contract. The terms which, in his inmost heart, each man knows. As I know mine. As all know. For that is the truth of it – that we all know, God, that we know, that we know, we know, we know." Mr Sammler's Planet di Saul Bellow, del 1969 o giù di lì. L'ho letto per la prima volta e mi ha scosso profondamente: la sua mente intelligentissima, che incessantemente indaga nel mistero della vita, con le parole scava nella carne, nel corpo dell'uomo. E con una grande comprensione, accettazione, a volte piacere altre dolore. Nelle condizioni del suo contratto con Dio doveva esserci anche la bontà e mi pare proprio che come scrittore l'abbia rispettata.


PAROLE
slush pile: manoscritto non richiesto di autore sconosciuto. "According to the OED, the first occurrence of 'slush pile' was not in reference to what we commonly now know as unsolicited manuscripts from unheard-of (and often insane) aspiring authors. It appeared in January 1907, when the Washington Post published an article accusing J.H. Seward & Co. 'of fraudulently obtaining refunds of customs on fruits imported into this country.' Apparently, when government inspected the piles of 'waste fruit' - or 'slush' - they found…. theawl.