van den Charlotte Broeck Knihy

A prize-winning Belgian poet explores the nature of creative endeavor—the godlike ambition, the crushing defeat of failure—through the stories of thirteen tragic architects. In thirteen fascinating chapters, Charlotte Van den Broeck goes in search of buildings that were fatal to their architects—architects who either killed themselves or are rumored to have done so. They range across time and space from a church with a twisted spire in seventeenth-century France to a theater that collapsed mid-performance in 1920s Washington, DC, and an eerily sinking swimming pool in the author’s hometown. Drawing on a vast range of material, from Hegel and Darwin to art history, stories from her own life, and popular culture, Van den Broeck brings patterns into focus as she asks, What is that strange, life-or-death connection between a creation and its creator? Threaded through each story is the author’s meditation on the question of suicide—what Albert Camus called the “one truly serious philosophical problem”—in relation to creativity and public disgrace. The result is a profoundly idiosyncratic book, breaking ground in literary nonfiction, as well as providing solace and consolation to anyone who has ever attempted a creative act.

A spellbinding new talent explores the dark side of creativity through the stories of thirteen tragic architects 'What a sensible, intelligent and beautiful book' Stefan Hertmans, author of War and Turpentine In thirteen chapters, Belgian poet Charlotte Van den Broeck goes in search of buildings that were fatal for their architects - architects who either killed themselves or are rumoured to have done so. They range across time and space from a church with a twisted spire built in seventeenth-century France to a theatre that collapsed mid-performance in 1920s Washington, DC., and an eerily sinking swimming pool in her hometown of Turnhout. Drawing on a vast range of material, from Hegel and Charles Darwin to art history, stories from her own life and popular culture, patterns gradually come into focus, as Van den Broeck asks- what is that strange life-or-death connection between a creation and its creator? Threaded through each story, and in prose of great essayistic subtlety, Van den Broeck meditates on the question of suicide - what Albert Camus called the 'one truly serious philosophical problem' - in relation to creativity and public disgrace. The result is a profoundly idiosyncratic book, breaking new ground in literary non-fiction, as well as providing solace and consolation - and a note of caution - to anyone who has ever risked their hand at a creative act.

Zes Vlaamse en zes Duitse dichten werpen een blik over de Belgisch-Duitse landsgrens en reflecteren over de respectievelijke buren. Ze verrassen de lezer met twaalf originele gedichten, geschreven vanuit eigenzinnige perspectieven en persoonlijke ervaringen. De reis gaat van de Belgische kust via de Westhoek en de Ronde van Vlaanderen naar Keulen, Berlijn en Leipzig. Allemaal in het gezelschap van Bach, Von Humboldt, Van Ostaijen en Jean-Marie Pfaff, maar ook van Louis Seynaeve, Ondineke en Mutter Courage. Kortom: levendig poëtisch grensverkeer. De bundel wordt bezorgd door Ine Van linthout en Stefan Wieczorek, de vertalingen zijn van Erik De Smedt en Stefan Wieczorek. 0.