#michelle gallen

[mmepastel]

Un livre épatant. Irlandais. (Il semblerait que j’aie un net penchant pour la littérature irlandaise, les preuves s’accumulent.)

C’est un roman que l’on est triste de quitter. Et pourtant, voici le tableau : Majella, vingt-sept ans, vivant dans le lotissement d’un bled paumé de l’Irlande du Nord avec sa mère alcoolique, sans son père, disparu depuis plus de dix ans, travaille tous les soirs dans un Fish & Chips. Sa grand-mère vient de se faire assassiner. L’histoire se situe dans un passé proche, les années 2000 environ, mais les « Troubles » ont laissé des marques indélébiles.

On pourrait s’attendre à un truc misérabiliste. Il n’en est rien. Tout d’abord, on a la liste des choses que Majella aime, plutôt surprenante, puis celle, infinie, des choses qu’elle n’aime pas, qui se déplie sur tout le livre, mais qu’elle pense pouvoir résumer par « les autres ». Majella est une jeune femme étrange. Elle est hyper sensible, surtout sur le plan des sensations, qui font comme obstruction au reste. Elle aime les choses nettes, bien rangées, bien propres, la simultanéité de la sonnerie du micro ondes avec le jaillissement des toasts hors du grille-pain. Ce genre de choses. Elle n’aime pas les néons, les fortes lumières. Elle n’aime pas bavarder, dire des banalités. Elle se nourrit quasi exclusivement de ce qu’elle fait frire au Salé ! Pané ! Frit ! où elle travaille, ce qui a aggravé un embonpoint qui ne la gêne pas tant que ça.

Le roman se déroule sur la semaine qui suit l’enterrement de sa grand mère, et chaque chapitre correspond à un jour ; se déroule alors son quotidien, axé principalement sur le travail à la friterie, qui est bien monotone, avec son lot de gestes répétitifs, et ses clients eux-mêmes peu variés (la population de la petite ville, surtout la frange pauvre et alcoolisée) ainsi que leurs échanges réglés comme du papier à musique. Dans n’importe quel livre, on s’ennuierait ferme. Or ici, on se marre tout du long. Car on apprend à plonger dans la psyché du personnage, en décalage avec son entourage, presque asociale, et pourtant tellement maligne. Une interview de l’autrice m’a révélé une clef du roman, que je n’avais pas saisie dans un premier temps ; sans trop vouloir dévoiler, je résumerai l’explication partielle du personnage de Majella en disant qu’elle est neurologiquement atypique. Elle a donc recours à des stratégies pour vivre à l’extérieur de son lit (qui est son vrai refuge), en plein monde bruissant de rumeurs, grâce à des rituels, des tics, des attitudes de repli. Mais malgré toutes ces difficultés, elle est principalement courageuse, volontaire et ultra futée. Elle a renoncé à plaire, ce qui ne l’empêche pas d’avoir une vie sexuelle plutôt épanouie, mais la dispense de toute mascarade sociale ; elle méprise les artifices. Elle trouve que 95% des échanges sont stupides et inintéressants, ne manque pas de voir clair dans le jeu de toutes les manœuvres des uns et des autres. Elle se contente du strict minimum pour fonctionner avec ses proches. Elle comprend mal l’humour, mais elle est désopilante avec sa franchise et son exaspération qui affleure sans cesse.

L’air de rien, elle en accomplit des choses ; elle bosse dur, dans un boui-boui peu gratifiant, essuie les remarques salaces des clients avec bonhomie, encaisse les regards méprisants de ses anciennes camarades de classe, s’occupe de sa mère, supporte la disparition de son père adoré, le deuil de sa grand-mère aimée, les commérages incessants à ce sujet, prend des décisions, répare des portes, évacue les gêneurs. Elle a appris à ne compter que sur elle-même. En cela, le livre est profondément féministe, sans même que son héroïne ne s’en rende compte. Elle trace sa route, à sa façon. Une façon étrange, déconcertante, mais résolue, finalement solide. Sa tristesse est présente, mais presque entièrement tenue en respect par son aversion pour l’auto apitoiement et sa volonté d’avancer, même si la destination est confuse.

Majella est une boule de volonté, une femme unique, une forteresse opaque. On l’aime, sincèrement, pour son honnêteté incroyable et revigorante.

NB : livre remarquablement traduit par Carine Chichereau (le langage est fleuri, plein d’expressions typiquement locales et étranges).

NB 2 : le livre, par son originalité et une forme de pugnacité dans le caractère de l’héroïne, m’a fait penser à Milkman, d’Anna Burns, autrice irlandaise citée en début du roman. Deux livres que je ne suis pas près d’oublier.

[arcimboldisworld]

Rent - Theater St. Gallen 07.04.2024

Rent - Theater St. Gallen 07.04.2024 #musical #hiv #aids #newyork #rent #jonathanlarson #matthewwild #louisatalbot #christophbönecker #rezension #musical #vorstellungsbesprechung #konzertundtheatersanktgallen

Fast 30 Jahre nach der Uraufführung ist das Musical “Rent” von JONATHAN LARSON am Theater St. Gallen zu sehen. Erzählt wird das Leben einer Gruppe junger Künstler:innen auf der Suche nach Liebe und Akzeptanz, der Hoffnung auf Erfolg und ihren Kampf gegen HIV, zu einer Zeit, in der diese Diagnose noch den Tod bedeutete. “Rent” basiert auf Puccinis “La Bohème” und somit ist der Besuch dieser St.…

[professorpski]

Threads of Power: Lace from the Textilemuseum St. Gallen

This well-illustrated book edited by Emma Cormack and Michele Majer accompanied an exhibition at Bard Graduate Center gallery and was named best art book of 2022 by the New York Times. It is a serious study in multiple chapters by various authors covering the rise of lace as an industry in early modern Europe, going through the centuries and the different traditions and countries, up to the modern era. If you are interested in the development of lace, you will find it fascinating. It is being sold at a substantial discount online when I last checked.

Here you see a woodcut from 1556 that offers up a pattern for lace; then a needle-lace and bobbin-lace collar which may be date from 1600 and or 1880, which is the most intriguing dating; a portrait from the chapter on how lace showed up--stiff and regal--in Spanish portraits in the 16th and 17th; lastly bobbin-lace coverlet from Brussels which has palm trees as well as the more common flora.

The exhibition can still accessed online here and it offers many images as well as some video of lace-making: https://exhibitions.bgc.bard.edu/threadsofpower/

[read-alert]

Figured that now that I've got a bookblr, I should make a post about the Read the World Challenge I'm doing! I'm reading a book primarily set in every country, doing my best to focus on authors from said country, though I will read diaspora authors if that's not feasible. Also some of the books from early on were from diaspora authors because I was pulling from books I had already read; I'll likely read more books from those countries in the future if I can. I've got 52 countries so far, and I'll list the titles and countries under the cut

USA- Kindred by Octavia Butler- 5⭐️

Canada- The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline- 5⭐️

Trinidad and Tobago- The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull- 3⭐️

Brazil- Where We Go From Here by Lucas Rocha trans by Larissa Helena- 5⭐️

Argentina- Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica trans by Sarah Moses- 5⭐️

South Africa- The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden- 3⭐️

Nigeria- Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor- 4⭐️

Liberia- Dream Country by Shannon Gibney 5⭐️

France- Romance in Marseilles by Claude McKay- 2⭐️

UK- Watership Down by Richard Adams- 5⭐️

Ireland- Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen- 4⭐️

Qatar- Love from A to Z by SK Ali- 4⭐️

Iran- Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram- 4⭐️

China- The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu trans by Ken Liu- 5⭐️

Taiwan- Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen- 4⭐️

Japan- Confessions by Kanae Minato trans by Stephen Snyder- 3.5⭐️

Norway- Survival Kit by AH Haga- 4.5⭐️

Germany- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak- 4.5⭐️

India- The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi- 4⭐️

South Korea- The Mermaid from Jeju by Sumi Hahn- 4⭐️

Columbia- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez trans by Gregory Rabassa- 4⭐️

Ghana- Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey- 4⭐️

Turkey- 10 Minutes and 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak- 4⭐️

Russia- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy trans by Louise Maude- 4⭐️

Sierra Leone- The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna- 4⭐️

Austria- The Wall by Marlen Haushofer trans by Shaun Whiteside- 5⭐️

Zimbabwe- Nervous Conditions by Tsiti Dangarembga- 5⭐️

Venezuela- It Would Be Night in Caracas by Karina Sainz Borgo trans by Elizabeth Bryer- 4⭐️

Chile- The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende trans by Magda Bogin- 5⭐️

Sri Lanka- Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai- 4⭐️

Singapore- How We Dissappeared by Jing-Jing Lee- 4.5⭐️

Malaysia- Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf- 3.5⭐️

Egypt- A Master of Djinn by P Djèlí Clark- 4.5⭐️

Sudan- Ghost Season by Fatin Abbas- 4.5⭐️

Antigua and Barbuda- At the Bottom of the River by Jamaica Kincaid- 4⭐️

Ukraine- The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh- 5⭐️

Bahamas- Learning to Breathe by Janice Lynn Mather- 4⭐️

Cuba- The Black Cathedral by Marcial Gala trans by Anna Kushner- 4⭐️

Dominica- The Autobiography of My Mother by Jamaica Kincaid- 3⭐️

Bangladesh- Djinn City by Saad Z Hossain- 4⭐️

Mexico- Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia- 4⭐️

Jamaica- Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn- 4⭐️

Vietnam- Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai- 4.5⭐️

Australia- Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko- 4⭐️

Israel- Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa- 4.5⭐️

Palestine- Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa- 5⭐️

Costa Rica- Where There Was Fire by John Manuel Arias- 4.5⭐️

Uruguay- Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis- 5⭐️

Dominican Republic- Tentacle by Rita Indiana trans by Achy Obejas- 2.5⭐️

Republic of the Congo- Broken Glass by Alain Mabanckou trans by Helen Stevenson- 2⭐️

Czech Republic- The Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař- 2.5⭐️

Honduras- Turtles of the Midnight Moon by María José Fitzgerald- 4.5⭐️

[goalhofer]

2024 olympics Switzerland roster

Athletics

Charles Devantay (Zurich)

William Reais (Chur)

Timothé Mumenthaler (Geneva)

Felix Svensson (Versoix)

Lionel Spitz (Adliswil)

Jonas Raess (Zurich)

Jason Joseph (Basel)

Julien Bonvin (Sierre)

Tadesse Abraham (Geneva)

Matthias Kyburz (Rheinfelden)

Ricky Petrucciani (Locarno)

Simon Ehammer (Stein)

Emma Van Camp (Bern)

Annina Fahr (Schaffhausen)

Catia Gubelmann (Zurich)

Lena Wernli (Zurich)

Julia Niederberger (Buochs)

Giulia Senn (Bern)

Géraldine Frey (Zurich)

Salomé Kora-Joseph (St. Gallen)

Mujinga Kambundji (Bern)

Ditaji Kambundji (Bern)

Léonie Pointet (Jongny)

Audrey Werro (Fribourg)

Rachel Pellaud (Biel/Bienne)

Valentina Rosamilia (Aargau)

Yasmin Giger (Romanshorn)

Fabienne Schlumpf (Wetzikon)

Helen Eticha (Geneva)

Sarah Atcho-Jaquier (Lausanne)

Angelica Moser (Andelfingen)

Pascale Stöcklin (Basel)

Annik Kälin (Zurich)

Badminton

Tobias Künzi (Würenlingen)

Jenjira Stadelmann (Bern)

Canoeing

Martin Dougoud (Geneva)

Alena Marx (Bern)

Climbing

Alexander Lehmann (Bern)

Cycling

Stefan Bissegger (Weinfelden)

Marc Hirschi (Ittigen)

Stefan Küng (Wil)

Alex Vogel (Frauenfeld)

Mathias Flückiger (Bern)

Nino Schurter (Tursnaus)

Cédric Butti (Thurgau)

Simon Marquart (Zurich)

Elise Chabbey (Geneva)

Noemi Rüegg (Schöfflisdorf)

Linda Zanetti (Lugano)

Elena Hartmann (Grisons)

Aline Seitz (Basel)

Michelle Andres (Baden)

Alessandra Keller (Ennetbürgen)

Sina Frei (Männedorf)

Nikita Ducarroz (Sonoma County, California)

Nadine Aeberhard (Bern)

Zoe Claessens (Echichens)

Equestrian

Robin Godel (Fribourg)

Felix Vogg (Waiblingen, Germany)

Steve Guerdat (Elgg)

Martin Fuchs (Zurich)

Edouard Schmitz (Wangen An Der Aare)

Pius Schwizer (Oensingen)

Andrina Suter (Schaffhausen)

Mélody Johner (Cheseaux-Sur-Lausanne)

Fencing

Alex Bayard (Sion)

Pauline Brunner (La Chaux-De-Fonds)

Golf

Joel Girrbach (Kreuzlingen)

Albane Valenzuela (Dallas, Texas)

Morgane Métraux (Lausanne)

Gymnastics

Luca Giubellini (Rebstein)

Matteo Giubellini (Rebstein)

Florian Langenegger (Bühler)

Noe Seifert (Sevelen)

Taha Serhani (Hutwill)

Lena Bickel (Ticino)

Judo

Nils Stump (Uster)

Daniel Eich (Fribourg)

Binta Ndiaye (Bern)

Pentathlon

Alexandre Dällenbach (Saint-Denis, France)

Anna Jurt (Bern)

Rowing

Scott Bärlocher (Würenlos)

Dominic-Remo Condrau (Zurich)

Maurin Lange (Bern)

Jan Plock (Zurich)

Patrick Brunner (Zurich)

Kai Schaetzle (Lucerne)

Joel Schurch (Schenkon)

Raphaël Ahumada (Lausanne)

Jan Schäuble (Bern)

Andrin Gulich (Zurich)

Roman Röösli (Neuenkirch)

Tim Roth (Zurich)

Célia Dupré (Plan-Les-Ouates)

Lisa Lötscher (Meggen)

Fabienne Schweizer (Lucerne)

Pascale Walker (Zurich)

Aurelia-Maxima Janzen (Bern)

Sailing

Elia Colombo (Bern)

Arno De Planta (Pully)

Yves Mermod (Zurich)

Sébastien Schneiter (Bern)

Elena Lengwiler (Hinwil)

Maud Jayet (Lausanne)

Maja Siegenthaler (Spiez)

Shooting

Jason Solari (Malveglia)

Christoph Dürr (Zurich)

Nina Christen (Stans)

Audrey Gogniat (Le Noirmont)

Chiara Leone (Frick)

Swimming

Tiago Behar (Lutry)

Antonio Djakovic (Frauenfeld)

Thierry Bollin (Bern)

Roman Mityukov (Geneva)

Noè Ponti (Locarno)

Jérémy Desplanches (Geneva)

Nils Leiss (Geneva)

Lisa Mamié (Zurich)

Tennis

Stan Wawrinka (Stans)

Viktorija Golubić (Zurich)

Triathlon

Adrien Briffod (Vevey)

Max Studer (Kestenholz)

Sylvain Fridelance (Vaud)

Julie Derron (Zurich)

Cathia Schär (Lavaux-Oron)

Volleyball

Tanja Hüberli (Thalwil)

Nina Brunner (Steinhausen)

Esmée Böbner (Hasle)

Zoé Vergé-Dépré (Berne, Germany)

[lakecountylibrary]

Read -> Reading -> To-Read

Here's what's been in Beth's TBR pile lately!

✅ Just Finished:

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

This magical novel is a love letter to books, readers, authors, libraries and bookshops. Traveling between 1922 and a modern timeline, Woods captivates the reader by weaving magic with reality. She builds extremely strong, passionate and complex women in Opaline, Martha and Madame Bowden while keeping in line with the events evolving around them. Small but special appearances by James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway will delight readers, as will locations in France, England and Ireland.

Last Call at the Local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz

A charming rom-com, especially perfect for March (set in Cobh)! Raine and Jack's charisma and connection will have readers chuckling and cheering. Jack has OCD and runs the LOCAL pub. Raine has recently dropped out of medical school, copes with ADHD and travels the world playing music. Full of lovable characters, readers will breeze through this novel and feel full-hearted after.

♾️ Currently Listening: Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen

Perfect match for viewers of series Derry Girls. Maeve Murray and her friends work in the local factory as they await the results of their exams and what they hope will be the start of their new lives—away from their small town and The Troubles.

🔮 To Read: We Don't Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland by Fintan O'Toole

I'm looking forward to reading this author's viewpoints on growing up in a changing Ireland. The prelude indicates a promising journey through his experiences.

See more of Beth's recs

[fashionbooksmilano]

Threads of Power

Lace from The Textilmuseum St.Gallen

Edited by Emma Cormack and Michele Majer

Bard Graduate Center, New York 2022, 418 pages, 22,5 x 26,8 cm, ISBN 9780300263497

euro 70,00

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

Around 150 objects from our extensive collection will be presented in the USA for the first time. The  Bard Graduate Center in New Yok, in cooperation with the Textile Museum in St. Gallen, shows the development of European lace from its beginnings in the 16th century to the present day.

On display are some of the world’s finest examples of handmade needle and bobbin lace worn by the rich and powerful at the courts of Spain and France. The “Threads of Power” exhibition, which runs through the end of the year at the Bard Graduate Center Gallery, will take a look at hand embroidery made by women, the development of etching embroidery, known as guipure lace, as well as on those of the embroidery machines. Current innovations in lace production such as laser cut or 3D printed lace used in contemporary haute couture will also be explained. A highlight are the costumes on display, for example by Michelle Obama, who wore a dress made of St. Gallen lace at her husband’s first inauguration.

The exhibition was curated by Emma Cormack, Bard Graduate Center; Ilona Kos, curator, Textile Museum St. Gallen; Michele Majer, Bard Graduate Center.

22/05/23

orders to:     booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

ordini a:        booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

twitter:          fashionbooksmilano

instagram:   fashionbooksmilano, designbooksmilano tumblr:          fashionbooksmilano, designbooksmilano

[rogersandclarke]

tagged by @anythingbyadriannelenker for this reading questionnaire! i have also been getting back into reading lately, so thank you :)

last read: persuasion by jane austen! i have really been into austen’s work as of late, her style entrances me.

currently reading: mostly reading portrait of a thief by grace d. li for my friend’s book club, also occasionally the white album by joan didion.

next reads: northanger abbey, another austen! so excited for this one. i think it’ll be funny. also potentially stargazer by laurie petrou or factory girls by michelle gallen. :)

& tagging some mutuals i tend to see talk about their reading!

@columbosunday @csny @barstoolblues @hotcassavetessummer @tagomago @crushyourback

[hpldreads]

Travel to Ireland with one of these adult fiction books!

Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen

The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan

An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor

Absolution by Murder by Peter Tremayne

[harasccfinds]

Celebrity Sims 1 heads by XM Sims

(left to right from top to bottom: Kim Min (actress), Kim Nam Joo (actress), Gallen Law (actor), Kelly Chan (singer), Jang Dong Gun (actor), and Michele Reis (actress))

download here -> x

[hotnew-pt]

Yakin anuncia elenco - St. Gallens Witzig nomeado para a seleção nacional pela primeira vez - Esporte #ÚltimasNotícias #Suiça

Hot News Tor: Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund), Philipp Köhn (Mônaco), Yvon Mvogo (Lorient). Defesa: Manuel Akanji (Manchester City), Nico Elvedi (Mönchengladbach), Ulisses Garcia (Marseille), Becir Omeragic (Montpellier), Ricardo Rodriguez (Betis Sevilla), Silvan Widmer (Mainz), Cédric Zesiger (Wolfsburg). Meio-campo e atacante: Michel Aebischer (Bolonha), Zeki Amdouni (Benfica Lisboa), Breel…

[fictionophile]

Throwback Thursday - "Big Girl Small Town" by Michelle Gallen #BigGirlSmallTown #IrishFiction #ReadingIreland #BookReview #ThrowbackThursday

The Throwback Thursday meme was created by Renee over at It’s Book Talk (who seems to be taking a blogging hiatus). She made this meme to share some of her old favorites. Although all bookbloggers have an endless TBR pile, we seldom take the time to reflect back and post about some of the great reads from a few years ago. Sharing book recommendations is one of my most favorite things to do! I…

[skillstopallmedia]

Follow the multiplex live from 6:45 p.m.

20:43 It’s over for this 6:45 p.m. multiplex of the knockout stages of the Europa League season 2022/2023!!! Here are the results: Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Ferencvaros, AS Roma 2-0 Real Sociedad, Sporting 2-2 Arsenal, Union Berlin 3-3 Union Saint-Galloise 20:39 Union Berlin 3-3 Union St. Gallen!!! Goal for Union Berlin!!! In the Belgian penalty area, Union Berlin player Michel adjusts the visitor…

[wellreadwyvern]

🧣JANUARY READS🧣 Never too late? The first half of February was a little rough, so I’m slow to post my January Wrap-Up. I enjoyed every book I read last month, but some stood out more than the rest. 🏆FAVORITE BOOKS🏆 🌟The Night Travelers by Armando Lucas Correa is a beautifully written multi-generational historic novel. 🌟Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House is a magical, dark academia fantasy full of mystery. The secret societies, ghosts, and multiple twists made this one of my top reads. ✨RECOMMENDED READS✨ ⭐️Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen looks back at life in Northern Ireland during “the troubles.” ⭐️Wade in the Water by Nyani Nkrumah deftly turns the white savior trope on its head. ⭐️House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland is full of creepy gothic atmosphere. ⭐️Maame by Jessica George follows a young woman who breaks free of her family’s constant needs and begins to build a life of her own. ⭐️The Family Outing by Jessi Hempel is an intimate memoir about family secrets and overcoming trauma on the path to self-actualization. #bookreviews #bookrecommendations #topreads #bookclubreads #netgalleyreads #letstalkbooks #readersofinstagram #booknerd #readmorebooks #bookstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/Co4uVTyhtN0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[women-writing-women]

Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen

It might seem odd to classify as “humorous” a book that starts off about a horrific crime, but Majella’s narration has a dry, original, quirky point of view that is hard to classify as anything else. Having grown up at the end of and the aftermath of the Irish Troubles, Majella is used to bombs and soldiers and the gossip of a neighborhood that doesn’t trust one another. She’s stuck looking after her alcoholic mother and working in a fast food restaurant and clings to her simple comforts and lists to move through her days. You see her start to reach out and claim her own little bits of independence throughout the book and can’t feel anything but so proud of her for finally establishing boundaries and meeting her own needs. Michelle Gallen has written about how re-reading her portrayal of Majella, and the traits of her own personality reflected in there, helped her to realize and then seek out an autism diagnosis for herself, which is a pretty fantastic legacy for a book character to have. All in all, it’s a book that’ll draw you in to the gossip and dramas of a small town that’s so used to mistrusting anything different.