Max Blecher
Encyclopedia
Max Blecher was a writer from Romania.
His father was a well-to-do Jewish merchant and the owner of a porcelain shop. He attended primary and secondary school in Roman, Romania
. After receiving his baccalaureat
, Blecher left for Paris to study medicine. Shortly thereafter, in 1928, he was diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis (Pott's disease
) and forced to abandon his studies. He sought treatment at various sanatoriums: Berck-sur-Mer in France, Leysin
in Switzerland and Tekirghiol
in Romania. For the remaining ten years of his life, he was confined to his bed and practically immobilized by the disease. Despite his illness, he wrote and published his first piece in 1930, a short story called "Herrant" in Tudor Arghezi
's literary magazine Bilete de papagal. He contributed to André Breton
's literary review Le Surréalisme au service de la révolution and carried on an intense correspondence with the foremost writers and philosophers of his day such as André Breton
, André Gide
, Martin Heidegger
, Illarie Voronca, Geo Bogza
, Mihail Sebastian
, and Saşa Pană
. In 1934 he published Corp transparent, a volume of poetry.
In 1935 his parents moved him to a house on the outskirts of Roman where he continued to write until his death in 1938. During his lifetime he published two other major works, Întâmplări în irealitate imediată (Adventures in Immediate Unreality) and Inimi cicatrizate (Scarred Hearts), as well as a number of short prose pieces, articles and translations. Vizuina luminată: Jurnal de sanatoriu (The Lit Up Burrow: Sanatorium Journal) was published posthumously in part in 1947 and in full in 1971.
2. Întâmplări în irealitate imediată (Adventures in Immediate Unreality)
3. Inimi cicatrizate (Scarred Hearts)
4. Vizuina luminată: Jurnal de sanatoriu (The Lit Up Burrow: Sanatorium Journal)
's list of Notable Books.
2. Scarred Hearts, Henry Howard (trans.) London: Old Street Publishing (2008) ISBN 13: 978-1-90584-718-1
3. Poem "Pastoral," Victor Pambuccian (trans.) http://wordswithoutborders.org/article/pastoral/
2. Aventures dans l'irréalité immédiate, Marianne Sora (Trans.), Paris: Editions Denoel (1972)
3. Vernarbte Herzen, Ernest Wichner (Trans.), Frankfurt: Suhrkamp Verlag (2006) ISBN 978-3-518-22399-4
4. Acontecimientos de la Irrealidad Inmediata; la Guarida Iluminada: Diario de Sanatorio, Joaquín Garrigós (Trans.), Valencia: Aletheia (2007) ISBN 978-84-932877-4-0
5. Cuerpo transparente, Joaquín Garrigós (Trans.), Barcelona: Rosa Cúbica (2008) ISBN 978-84-88927-21-7
6. "Occurrence in the Immediate Unreality", Alistair Ian Blyth (Trans.), University of Plymouth Press (2009) ISBN 978-1-84102-207-9
7. "Corpo transparente/Corp transparent", Fernando Klabin (Trans.), (n.t.) Revista Literária em Tradução, nº 1 (set/2010), Fpolis/Brasil, ISSN 2177-5141
His father was a well-to-do Jewish merchant and the owner of a porcelain shop. He attended primary and secondary school in Roman, Romania
Roman, Romania
Roman is a mid-sized city, having the title of municipality, located in the central part of Moldavia, a traditional region of Romania. It is located 46 km east of Piatra Neamţ, in the Neamţ County at the confluence of Siret and Moldova rivers....
. After receiving his baccalaureat
Baccalauréat
The baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
, Blecher left for Paris to study medicine. Shortly thereafter, in 1928, he was diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis (Pott's disease
Pott's disease
Pott's disease is a presentation of extrapulmonary tuberculosis that affects the spine, a kind of tuberculous arthritis of the intervertebral joints...
) and forced to abandon his studies. He sought treatment at various sanatoriums: Berck-sur-Mer in France, Leysin
Leysin
Leysin is a municipality of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, located in the district of Aigle.-History:Leysin is first mentioned around 1231-32 as Leissins. In 1352 it was mentioned as Leisins.-Geography:...
in Switzerland and Tekirghiol
Techirghiol
-Etymology:The name is derived from the Turkish Tekirgöl which means "the lake of Tekir".According to a legend, a blind and crippled old man named Tekir and his old donkey reached the shore of the lake by mistake...
in Romania. For the remaining ten years of his life, he was confined to his bed and practically immobilized by the disease. Despite his illness, he wrote and published his first piece in 1930, a short story called "Herrant" in Tudor Arghezi
Tudor Arghezi
Tudor Arghezi was a Romanian writer, best known for his contribution to poetry and children's literature. Born Ion N. Theodorescu in Bucharest , he explained that his pen name was related to Argesis, the Latin name for the Argeş River.-Early life:Along with Mihai Eminescu, Mateiu Caragiale, and...
's literary magazine Bilete de papagal. He contributed to André Breton
André Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
's literary review Le Surréalisme au service de la révolution and carried on an intense correspondence with the foremost writers and philosophers of his day such as André Breton
André Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
, André Gide
André Gide
André Paul Guillaume Gide was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism between the two World Wars.Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide...
, Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
, Illarie Voronca, Geo Bogza
Geo Bogza
Geo Bogza was a Romanian avant-garde theorist, poet, and journalist, known for his left-wing and communist political convictions. As a young man in the interwar period, he was known as a rebel and was one of the most influential Romanian Surrealists...
, Mihail Sebastian
Mihail Sebastian
-Life:Sebastian was born to a Jewish family in Brăila. After finishing his secondary studies, Sebastian went on to study law in Bucharest, but was soon attracted to the literary life and the exciting ideas of the new generation of Romanian intellectuals, as epitomized by the literary group...
, and Saşa Pană
Sasa Pana
Saşa Pană was a Romanian avant-garde poet, novelist, and short story writer.-Biography:...
. In 1934 he published Corp transparent, a volume of poetry.
In 1935 his parents moved him to a house on the outskirts of Roman where he continued to write until his death in 1938. During his lifetime he published two other major works, Întâmplări în irealitate imediată (Adventures in Immediate Unreality) and Inimi cicatrizate (Scarred Hearts), as well as a number of short prose pieces, articles and translations. Vizuina luminată: Jurnal de sanatoriu (The Lit Up Burrow: Sanatorium Journal) was published posthumously in part in 1947 and in full in 1971.
Major works
1. Corp transparent (Transparent Body)2. Întâmplări în irealitate imediată (Adventures in Immediate Unreality)
3. Inimi cicatrizate (Scarred Hearts)
4. Vizuina luminată: Jurnal de sanatoriu (The Lit Up Burrow: Sanatorium Journal)
Translations
Max Blecher's books have been translated into English, French, German, Spanish, Czech, Hungarian, Dutch and Swedish. The German translation of Inimi cicatrizate, Vernarbte Herzen in German, was number one on Die ZeitDie Zeit
Die Zeit is a German nationwide weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism.With a circulation of 488,036 and an estimated readership of slightly above 2 million, it is the most widely read German weekly newspaper...
's list of Notable Books.
English translations
1. Adventures in Immediate Unreality, Jeanie Han (trans.) (2008)2. Scarred Hearts, Henry Howard (trans.) London: Old Street Publishing (2008) ISBN 13: 978-1-90584-718-1
3. Poem "Pastoral," Victor Pambuccian (trans.) http://wordswithoutborders.org/article/pastoral/
Notable Translations in other Languages
1. Aus der unmittelbaren Unwirklichkeit, Ernest Wichner (Trans.), Frankfurt: Suhrkamp Verlag (2003) ISBN 978-3-518-22367-32. Aventures dans l'irréalité immédiate, Marianne Sora (Trans.), Paris: Editions Denoel (1972)
3. Vernarbte Herzen, Ernest Wichner (Trans.), Frankfurt: Suhrkamp Verlag (2006) ISBN 978-3-518-22399-4
4. Acontecimientos de la Irrealidad Inmediata; la Guarida Iluminada: Diario de Sanatorio, Joaquín Garrigós (Trans.), Valencia: Aletheia (2007) ISBN 978-84-932877-4-0
5. Cuerpo transparente, Joaquín Garrigós (Trans.), Barcelona: Rosa Cúbica (2008) ISBN 978-84-88927-21-7
6. "Occurrence in the Immediate Unreality", Alistair Ian Blyth (Trans.), University of Plymouth Press (2009) ISBN 978-1-84102-207-9
7. "Corpo transparente/Corp transparent", Fernando Klabin (Trans.), (n.t.) Revista Literária em Tradução, nº 1 (set/2010), Fpolis/Brasil, ISSN 2177-5141