Bryan Alistair Charles
@bryanacharles.bsky.social
Writer in midst of disorienting midlife free fall / Author of a novel, a memoir, and a book about Pavement written for 33 1/3 / Broken Hearts Are Blue guitarist / Amateur Proust scholar bryanalistaircharles.com
Pinned
On Translating Proust and the Art of Not Reading Ahead
Le devoir et la tâche d’un écrivain sont ceux d’un traducteur. –Marcel Proust, Le Temps retrouvé * The duty and the task of a writer are those of a translator. –The Past Recaptured, tra…
lithub.com
I wrote about Proust in translation/the new IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME for @literaryhub.bsky.social.
Featuring a chat with @avecsesdoigts.bsky.social, whose stunning vol. 2 translation, IN THE SHADOW OF GIRLS IN BLOSSOM, is out now!
lithub.com/on-translati...
#proust
#booksky
Featuring a chat with @avecsesdoigts.bsky.social, whose stunning vol. 2 translation, IN THE SHADOW OF GIRLS IN BLOSSOM, is out now!
lithub.com/on-translati...
#proust
#booksky
An astonishing bolt from the past.
My old band Fletcher (1994-96) turned up on a website devoted to obscure MI punk rock.
That's me on vocal/guitar.
This was in the dead heart of my Jawbreaker fixation.
As will be quite clear to certain listeners.
michigangraveyard.blogspot.com/2026/02/flet...
My old band Fletcher (1994-96) turned up on a website devoted to obscure MI punk rock.
That's me on vocal/guitar.
This was in the dead heart of my Jawbreaker fixation.
As will be quite clear to certain listeners.
michigangraveyard.blogspot.com/2026/02/flet...
FLETCHER - Fletcher
Format: 7" Year: 1995 Genre: Indie / 90s Emo Dig Up The Music HERE Check Out A Song!
michigangraveyard.blogspot.com
February 6, 2026 at 7:23 PM
An astonishing bolt from the past.
My old band Fletcher (1994-96) turned up on a website devoted to obscure MI punk rock.
That's me on vocal/guitar.
This was in the dead heart of my Jawbreaker fixation.
As will be quite clear to certain listeners.
michigangraveyard.blogspot.com/2026/02/flet...
My old band Fletcher (1994-96) turned up on a website devoted to obscure MI punk rock.
That's me on vocal/guitar.
This was in the dead heart of my Jawbreaker fixation.
As will be quite clear to certain listeners.
michigangraveyard.blogspot.com/2026/02/flet...
Reposted by Bryan Alistair Charles
@maxmcguinness.bsky.social writes in search of Proust’s legacy in Ireland: “If it makes sense to speak of an Irish Proust, it is as one strand within the wider continental perspective that frames his Search.”
An Enduring Source of Inspiration: In Search of Proust’s Legacy in Ireland
Ireland remained neutral during the Second World War and drew up plans to resist possible attack by Nazi Germany or Britain. The authorities were also preoccupied by a different kind of foreign inv…
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February 2, 2026 at 8:30 PM
@maxmcguinness.bsky.social writes in search of Proust’s legacy in Ireland: “If it makes sense to speak of an Irish Proust, it is as one strand within the wider continental perspective that frames his Search.”
Reposted by Bryan Alistair Charles
Forthcoming from New Directions in October: my translation of LONDON by Louis-Ferdinand Céline! Probably the most difficult book of all the 50+ books I've translated, for many reasons...
February 5, 2026 at 11:37 PM
Forthcoming from New Directions in October: my translation of LONDON by Louis-Ferdinand Céline! Probably the most difficult book of all the 50+ books I've translated, for many reasons...
I have read this one! And the cover absolutely nails it. very excited about this long-awaited follow-up by one of my favorite writers.
Cover Reveal 🚨 “Acid Green Velvet” by Grace Krilanovich is coming from Two Dollar Radio and Seven Stories Press on September 8, 2026. Read more about the book and how its cover, designed by Eric Obenauf, came to be here:
buff.ly/jTlZvOU
buff.ly/jTlZvOU
February 5, 2026 at 11:47 PM
I have read this one! And the cover absolutely nails it. very excited about this long-awaited follow-up by one of my favorite writers.
Some great performances in genre movies recently.
Amanda Seyfried in The Housemaid
Ralph Fiennes in The 28 Years later films
Bill Skarsgård in the overlooked Dead Man's Wire
...and now a fantastic fully-committed-to-the-madness Rachel McAdams in Send Help
Amanda Seyfried in The Housemaid
Ralph Fiennes in The 28 Years later films
Bill Skarsgård in the overlooked Dead Man's Wire
...and now a fantastic fully-committed-to-the-madness Rachel McAdams in Send Help
February 1, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Some great performances in genre movies recently.
Amanda Seyfried in The Housemaid
Ralph Fiennes in The 28 Years later films
Bill Skarsgård in the overlooked Dead Man's Wire
...and now a fantastic fully-committed-to-the-madness Rachel McAdams in Send Help
Amanda Seyfried in The Housemaid
Ralph Fiennes in The 28 Years later films
Bill Skarsgård in the overlooked Dead Man's Wire
...and now a fantastic fully-committed-to-the-madness Rachel McAdams in Send Help
Reposted by Bryan Alistair Charles
I got tired of lugging that single-volume brick around. So look what I got! So handy, only 7 x 4.25". And such pretty covers too. (The brick, shown for reference, measures 8.125 x 5.5".) Direct from #Gallimard. #Proust #Proustsky
January 27, 2026 at 9:07 PM
I got tired of lugging that single-volume brick around. So look what I got! So handy, only 7 x 4.25". And such pretty covers too. (The brick, shown for reference, measures 8.125 x 5.5".) Direct from #Gallimard. #Proust #Proustsky
A brief overview of the translation of a single word in #Proust
"nostalgique"
Le Côté de Guermantes
"...mon imagination monotonement nostalgique."
Moncrieff (and Moncrieff/Carter), The Guermantes Way
"...my monotonously lovesick imagination."
"nostalgique"
Le Côté de Guermantes
"...mon imagination monotonement nostalgique."
Moncrieff (and Moncrieff/Carter), The Guermantes Way
"...my monotonously lovesick imagination."
January 26, 2026 at 5:35 PM
A brief overview of the translation of a single word in #Proust
"nostalgique"
Le Côté de Guermantes
"...mon imagination monotonement nostalgique."
Moncrieff (and Moncrieff/Carter), The Guermantes Way
"...my monotonously lovesick imagination."
"nostalgique"
Le Côté de Guermantes
"...mon imagination monotonement nostalgique."
Moncrieff (and Moncrieff/Carter), The Guermantes Way
"...my monotonously lovesick imagination."
#childhoodcinema
Eastowne 5 Kalamazoo MI. I saw countless movies there from (at least) RAIDERS/LOST ARK all the way through 1990s change to 2nd run dollar theater. Would go back to things like TOP GUN 2-3 times. (had first kiss there during 18 AGAIN!, 1988)
Eastowne 5 Kalamazoo MI. I saw countless movies there from (at least) RAIDERS/LOST ARK all the way through 1990s change to 2nd run dollar theater. Would go back to things like TOP GUN 2-3 times. (had first kiss there during 18 AGAIN!, 1988)
January 10, 2026 at 8:50 PM
#childhoodcinema
Eastowne 5 Kalamazoo MI. I saw countless movies there from (at least) RAIDERS/LOST ARK all the way through 1990s change to 2nd run dollar theater. Would go back to things like TOP GUN 2-3 times. (had first kiss there during 18 AGAIN!, 1988)
Eastowne 5 Kalamazoo MI. I saw countless movies there from (at least) RAIDERS/LOST ARK all the way through 1990s change to 2nd run dollar theater. Would go back to things like TOP GUN 2-3 times. (had first kiss there during 18 AGAIN!, 1988)
"Poets imagine that we rediscover our previous selves momentarily when we return to a garden or house where we lived in our youth. These are quite capricious pilgrimages that can bring disappointment as much as elation. It is far preferable to find *within ourselves* the particular places
December 29, 2025 at 6:02 PM
"Poets imagine that we rediscover our previous selves momentarily when we return to a garden or house where we lived in our youth. These are quite capricious pilgrimages that can bring disappointment as much as elation. It is far preferable to find *within ourselves* the particular places
Currently reading: FOX by Joyce Carol Oates ( @joycecaroloates.bsky.social ) whose use of quotation marks and exclamation points is "sui generis"--unrivaled, and exquisite! I say this with admiration, it's a hard one to put down.
December 22, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Currently reading: FOX by Joyce Carol Oates ( @joycecaroloates.bsky.social ) whose use of quotation marks and exclamation points is "sui generis"--unrivaled, and exquisite! I say this with admiration, it's a hard one to put down.
Yesterday I went to see new AVATAR 3D. And it was...another Avatar picture, stunning to behold in the moment but with (imo) dull characters, story, & dialog; guaranteed not to linger in memory.
Then in the evening watched NOUVELLE VAGUE which was great fun--Jean S & Belmondo actors were uncanny!
Then in the evening watched NOUVELLE VAGUE which was great fun--Jean S & Belmondo actors were uncanny!
December 22, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Yesterday I went to see new AVATAR 3D. And it was...another Avatar picture, stunning to behold in the moment but with (imo) dull characters, story, & dialog; guaranteed not to linger in memory.
Then in the evening watched NOUVELLE VAGUE which was great fun--Jean S & Belmondo actors were uncanny!
Then in the evening watched NOUVELLE VAGUE which was great fun--Jean S & Belmondo actors were uncanny!
Listening to INXS' Kick for the first time in...decades? possibly. Album brimming with inescapable smash hits--but as I sit studying LP cover (front & back) I increasingly fixate on the fact that amid all the leather & usual cool rock poses there is... a guy riding a skateboard in midair
December 22, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Listening to INXS' Kick for the first time in...decades? possibly. Album brimming with inescapable smash hits--but as I sit studying LP cover (front & back) I increasingly fixate on the fact that amid all the leather & usual cool rock poses there is... a guy riding a skateboard in midair
Last 5 movies watched:
Stolen Kisses, Truffaut, 1968
Antoine et Colette, Truffaut, 1962
The Battle of Algiers, Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966
Vice Squad, Gary Sherman, 1982
After the Hunt, Luca Guadagnino
Currently reading Shirley Jackson's Hangsaman--one of the best books I have read for some time
Stolen Kisses, Truffaut, 1968
Antoine et Colette, Truffaut, 1962
The Battle of Algiers, Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966
Vice Squad, Gary Sherman, 1982
After the Hunt, Luca Guadagnino
Currently reading Shirley Jackson's Hangsaman--one of the best books I have read for some time
December 6, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Last 5 movies watched:
Stolen Kisses, Truffaut, 1968
Antoine et Colette, Truffaut, 1962
The Battle of Algiers, Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966
Vice Squad, Gary Sherman, 1982
After the Hunt, Luca Guadagnino
Currently reading Shirley Jackson's Hangsaman--one of the best books I have read for some time
Stolen Kisses, Truffaut, 1968
Antoine et Colette, Truffaut, 1962
The Battle of Algiers, Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966
Vice Squad, Gary Sherman, 1982
After the Hunt, Luca Guadagnino
Currently reading Shirley Jackson's Hangsaman--one of the best books I have read for some time
Reposted by Bryan Alistair Charles
Oh yeah!! I am beyond thrilled to have the honor of an advance copy of Grace Krilanovich's new novel!!!
November 26, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Oh yeah!! I am beyond thrilled to have the honor of an advance copy of Grace Krilanovich's new novel!!!
!!! Been waiting for this...
November 17, 2025 at 7:05 PM
!!! Been waiting for this...
excited to continue my immersion in the Oxford #Proust. When first reading the Search in 2003 I struggled with this one, after the delicious seaside atmosphere of vol. 2, which I had greedily inhaled. Set the Search aside until 2014, & by then I was ready for Proust's vast social canvas.
November 12, 2025 at 8:55 PM
excited to continue my immersion in the Oxford #Proust. When first reading the Search in 2003 I struggled with this one, after the delicious seaside atmosphere of vol. 2, which I had greedily inhaled. Set the Search aside until 2014, & by then I was ready for Proust's vast social canvas.
At @citylightsbooks.bsky.social. A national treasure. Proust shelf features multiple translations/volumes of The Search plus related works. Including of course the new Oxford Proust, which includes @avecsesdoigts.bsky.social's gorgeous translation of vol. 2.
#Proust
#booksky
#Proustsky
#Proust
#booksky
#Proustsky
November 1, 2025 at 8:39 PM
At @citylightsbooks.bsky.social. A national treasure. Proust shelf features multiple translations/volumes of The Search plus related works. Including of course the new Oxford Proust, which includes @avecsesdoigts.bsky.social's gorgeous translation of vol. 2.
#Proust
#booksky
#Proustsky
#Proust
#booksky
#Proustsky
"The whole spark of writing the book emerged from a joke prompt, one of several I had on a list. 'Ancient Egypt High School,' things like that. I had written 'Slutty Teenage Hobo Vampire Junkies' on the list and a classmate said, 'You should write that.'”
fantastic interview w/ one of my faves...
fantastic interview w/ one of my faves...
New interview in Southwest Review!! I‘m talking Charlie Smith, figure drawing, the new novel and more!
Many thanks to Mike Corrao for the great questions, and B.R. Yeager for editing a killer issue.
Many thanks to Mike Corrao for the great questions, and B.R. Yeager for editing a killer issue.
New from our horror issue:
On the reissue of her cult classic THE ORANGE EATS CREEPS, out now via @twodollarradio.bsky.social, Grace Krilanovich talks w/ Mike Corrao 💥
🎨 @nicolerifkin.bsky.social
southwestreview.com/volume-110-n...
On the reissue of her cult classic THE ORANGE EATS CREEPS, out now via @twodollarradio.bsky.social, Grace Krilanovich talks w/ Mike Corrao 💥
🎨 @nicolerifkin.bsky.social
southwestreview.com/volume-110-n...
October 29, 2025 at 7:26 PM
"The whole spark of writing the book emerged from a joke prompt, one of several I had on a list. 'Ancient Egypt High School,' things like that. I had written 'Slutty Teenage Hobo Vampire Junkies' on the list and a classmate said, 'You should write that.'”
fantastic interview w/ one of my faves...
fantastic interview w/ one of my faves...
Found this lovely copy of THE LEMOINE AFFAIR, comprising Proust's pastiches of Flaubert, Balzac, etc., at Walden Pond Books, Oakland. Translated by the great Charlotte Mandell @avecsesdoigts.bsky.social & published by @melvillehouse.bsky.social
#Proust
#Proustsky
#Proust
#Proustsky
October 28, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Found this lovely copy of THE LEMOINE AFFAIR, comprising Proust's pastiches of Flaubert, Balzac, etc., at Walden Pond Books, Oakland. Translated by the great Charlotte Mandell @avecsesdoigts.bsky.social & published by @melvillehouse.bsky.social
#Proust
#Proustsky
#Proust
#Proustsky
October 27, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by Bryan Alistair Charles
Alfred Dreyfus; a painting by Maira Kalman
On Devil’s Island | Maira Kalman
Museum Visit: A Maira Kalman painting of Alfred Dreyfus
buff.ly
October 24, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Alfred Dreyfus; a painting by Maira Kalman
Watched the George Lazenby Bond film, which I had never seen. I had low expectations but it was very good! Better than the last couple of Connery movies. Yes Lazenby is rather stiff but once Bond arrives at the evil clinic it really moves. Bonus points for Telly Savalas as Blofeld.
October 24, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Watched the George Lazenby Bond film, which I had never seen. I had low expectations but it was very good! Better than the last couple of Connery movies. Yes Lazenby is rather stiff but once Bond arrives at the evil clinic it really moves. Bonus points for Telly Savalas as Blofeld.
"...nothing can penetrate the armour of my sadness, my conviction that all those pages are execrable, a sort of indigestible nougat which sticks between one's teeth."
Marcel Proust, June 1905, in a letter to a friend who wrote to express admiration for his essay "Sur la lecture"
#Proust
Marcel Proust, June 1905, in a letter to a friend who wrote to express admiration for his essay "Sur la lecture"
#Proust
October 22, 2025 at 4:46 PM
"...nothing can penetrate the armour of my sadness, my conviction that all those pages are execrable, a sort of indigestible nougat which sticks between one's teeth."
Marcel Proust, June 1905, in a letter to a friend who wrote to express admiration for his essay "Sur la lecture"
#Proust
Marcel Proust, June 1905, in a letter to a friend who wrote to express admiration for his essay "Sur la lecture"
#Proust
Saturday night stopped at Moe's 10 minutes till close and found this-- @groveatlantic.bsky.social -- I read the Beckett Trilogy circa 2012 the same way I eventually completed THE SEARCH 2 years later--10 pages every morning first thing--(p.s. love you Barney Rosset & Dick Seaver!)
#proust
#proustsky
#proust
#proustsky
October 13, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Saturday night stopped at Moe's 10 minutes till close and found this-- @groveatlantic.bsky.social -- I read the Beckett Trilogy circa 2012 the same way I eventually completed THE SEARCH 2 years later--10 pages every morning first thing--(p.s. love you Barney Rosset & Dick Seaver!)
#proust
#proustsky
#proust
#proustsky