Nase Novine, December 27, 1978

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By Douglas НШ
Anyone susceptible to ideas of exchang-ing
urban bustle, decay and inhumanity
for pastoral peace, self-sufficien- cy and
healthful exercise down on the farm ought
to read 'the first chapter of Aritha van
Herk's novel — the winner of the $50,000
Seal Books award for a first novel by a
Canadian. Or even its first two words. But
that's not to say they shouldn't read the
rest of Judith as well. All in all, it's worth
reading.
Judith Is a --decorative young western
Canadian woman who was raised on an
Alberta pig farm, then made her way to a
city where she became a successful secre-tary
in a smooth office.
But her father has died and the farm
has been sold, and her affair with her boss
goes sour. So she deserts the city, buys a
pig farm of her own, and settles in with a
barnf ul of pregnant sows and a spirit full
of both panic and determination. The
novel opens shortly after she has taken
Poezija
Dvije toihe
sazrijeuanja
I kratke noci su duge pruge sna:
Stalno otimanje: gle, korov grriize
Iza mene yz pomoc vjetra!
possession; her past is recounted in fre-quent,
fragmented time shifts, which the
reader is to piece together as he or she fol- lows Judith's nervous and exhausted
progress towards mastering farm life.
I was not troubled by the time shifts
into Judith's past, and there are a few
acidic and well-manag- ed feminist lessons
in the scenes from office life and affairs
with the boss. Certain quasi-poetic- al ele-ments,
however, almost spoil her book.
I don't mean solely the descriptions of
the setting and landscape,4 though these
often enough wax a little purplish. Worse
Is the old pathetic fallacy, within which
the pigs themselves are almost made into
a sort of Greek chorus. The reader is
invited to share the pigs observation and
perception of Judith's progress, and even
to share their (wordless, which is some-thing)
commentary.
It wasn't necessary. A few of the minor
characters may be fairly stock stere-otypes,
but others are fully realized. And
the character pf Judith.herself is superbly
Posustah. JoS par koraka do vjecnosti.
Hyatam se za oblake. Prazan zamah ruku
Niz tljelo vlaga. Okovan sam blatom.
Ta gdje je'sunce? Galebovi lete u
raznim pravcima. To zima ide,
A ja nijesam sazribi Pojedene su
Jabuke sve: Boie me njedra. Ruke
Sa busenom srasle. Da ii 6u predi --
Preko ovog svijeta? Da Ii 6u
Da se obogatim smijehom dana joS?
Hi 6e me kratke no6i sahraniti
U darobnom i mukotrpnom snu,
Pitam se. Prije budenja.
A u javi san postade siduSan.
Jer Java Je mlaz vlastite krvi
u Ijepoti koju ле mogu da shvatim...
Daniel Pixiades
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Hana Gartner's new co-ho- st Take 30 this season CBC-T- V, weekdays p.m., Harry Browri formerly of Marketplace. I
veteran of CBC radio and television, Harry Brown replaces
Paul Soles who moves host CBC-TV- 's new late night talk and 1
entertainment show Canada After Dark. ,Hana and Harry
entertain afternoon viewers with' film and studio features I
social issues', lifestyles and personalities.
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managed — all her strengths, weaknesses,
contradictions, guilts, fears, abilities, all
the fully developed nature of a very
human woman. This is the core of van
Herk's achievement — and the central
reason, surely, why she has been the first
winner of the Seal Books award.
Along with the award — $10,000 cash
prize and $40,000 guaranteed against
royalties — her book is being published in
the United States (Little, Brown) and Brit-ain
(Andre Deutsch). And next year, the
novel will be published in paperback by
Seal, Corgi and Bantam. All in all, quite a
windfall for the 24-year--old recent gradu-ate
of the University of Alberta.
In years to come, I don't doubt, van
Herk will cringe and redden a little upon
rereading some of the more "poetical" ex-cesses
in this debut novel. But by then, I
also don't doubt, she will have a good few
more awards and acclaim.
D Qouglas Hill is a western Canadian,
writer and journalist, at present literary
editor of the weekly Tribune in England.
Kad stignu
plakanja...
Ne pita me, Sta me boll
kad stignu dani plakanja
pustl, da mi suze teku poput reke
I da sa sobom odnesu moj bol.
II
Flju6e vetar besomudno .
u dimnjaku naSeg praznog doma,
a a pla6em, Sto me tamo nema
da svojim dahom ugrijem na§ dom.
Ill
I zato. . . ne piaj me Sto me boli
kad stignu dani plakanja
pustl, da pladem dugo i tiho.
dok sa suzama ne ode moj bol.
Rozallja Dlvjakovid
(Chicago)
Jesen
darii
Nekad sam volela jesen
zbog zrelog groida i mirisa dunja,
Zbog hrizantema darobnih boja,
zbog rumenog ii$6a, na svakom
koraku
zbog Skripe kola u uskdm sokaku,
zbog mirisnih jabuka u njedrima,
zbog pesme igre na prelima...
Ne, sad je ne voiim vi§e,
jer vreme nikad da zbrlSe
sedanje na dan kada sam odlazfla
I na pragu jeseni izgubila svoj mir.
Rozallja Divjakovid
(Chicago)
N
Aritha Van Herk.
Za rezervacije teletonirajte na
Galebova pe$ma
Galebovi beli mili
Kraj vode se okupili
Raduju se kori hleba
Galebove hranit treba
Kad sam njima hleba dala
КНби, vidu: hvala', 'hvala.
Za6as su se okupili
Hleba jedu ptice mile
KH6u, v!6u, kruie, lete
Ja sam sretna kao dete.
Sre6a,
Mole II sre6a da se kupi
Koliko treba da se plati
Ne, novae i zlato
Dijamanti i dragulji
ne dine sre6u.
Sre6a iz oka sja.
Slobodanka Progovac
Tebi
Gledaj-me- ,
na vatri Tvojih odiju
ho6u da se grejem,
isti takav uzvratidu Ti lar.
Veruj mi,
jer samo onda iiveti je vredno
bez vere
sve je prazan dar.
Nedaj se,
jer dovek bez nade,
dovek je bez isrede
pa bio on prosjak Hi car.
Voli me,
jer jubavi uvek mi je malo
i vremena
da z"tvim za taj dar.
Rozallja Dlvjakovi6
2elite Ii pravu domacu hranu?
Ako je odgovor "DA" — posetite nas za rudak svakog dana
Izmedu 11.30 am i 2.30 pm.
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rostilja.
Veceru serviramo od 6. pm do 1 am.
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8 pm do 1 am.
Disko e btvoren od srede do subote od 1.30 do 5 ujutro, a
nedeljom od 10.30 pm do-- 2 am.
Pjostoji takorfe I mogucnost organizovanja banketa i svadbi.
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'
r (Л iM'i--
a
spratu)