{"id":10298,"date":"2017-04-24T20:18:50","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T00:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=10298"},"modified":"2017-12-23T12:25:02","modified_gmt":"2017-12-23T16:25:02","slug":"episode-215-charif-majdalani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-215-charif-majdalani","title":{"rendered":"Episode 215 – Charif Majdalani"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Virtual Memories Show 215: Charif Majdalani<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Episode_215_-_Charif_Majdalani.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

“Proust tried to explain how we live in subjective time. Both our work is about the transformation of society, but he seems nostalgic about the time before. I’m not nostalgic for that period. I’m more interested in how societies reach their peak and then fall down.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Charif Majdalani<\/a> has been called the Lebanese Proust, thanks to his series of novels chronicling the modern history of his home country. He joins the show this week to celebrate the first American publication of his wonderful novel, Moving the Palace<\/a> (New Vessel Press). We talk about the the dynamic of French and Arabic languages, Lebanon’s fixation on the eternal present and its sense of living under the volcano, his process of escaping his literary influences, why he needed to get away to France to gain perspective on home, and what he wants to do on his first trip to America. Give it a listen!<\/a> And go buy Moving the Palace<\/a>\"\"!<\/p>\n

“Lebanon is living through repetitive history. Problems never find resolution, so we go from crisis to crisis.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n