EXERCISES IN STYLE

EXERCISES IN STYLE

May 24, 2025 | BOOKS

I read Raymond Queneau’s Exercises in style in the version edited by Stefano Bartezzaghi, Super ET edition by Giulio Einaudi Editore with French text opposite and preface by Umberto Eco, thanks to my colleague.

The first edition dates back to 1947, Éditions Gallimard.

I quote Eco‘s words: an episode of everyday life of disconcerting banality and ninety-nine variations on the theme in which the story is retold by putting all the rhetorical figures to the test.

You surely are very familiar with figures of speech, whereas I, on the other hand, unfortunately have to admit that I learned them with my son while he was studying them.

We both attended a technical institute, off course the syllabuses have changed, but I believe it is also a matter of luck in having the right teachers.

Anyway, delving into language is something that always fascinated me, I was amused to discover how Queneau managed to narrate the same scene in ninety-nine different ways.

Actually the versions would be more, in the course of revisions Queneau added, but also removed, because for him the number had to remain the same: ninety-nine.

Exercises in style but not only that: Bartezzaghi illustrates the number game because everything is a logical balance:
Raymond = 7 letters
Queneau = 7 letters

the second name is also 7 letters = Alfonse

7×7 + 1 7×7

that one in the middle, the same one that is missing to reach a hundred, what do you think it represents?

Exercises in style, but not only that: the inspiration comes from music and more precisely from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations, or thirty variations for harpsichord.

Matatavitatau,  La regina gioiosa:  feel free to add details if you wish.

Exercises in style but not only that: even fantasy, Eco himself defining the Lipogram as the most typical example of “perfectionism” admits the temptation to try to produce twenty-one versions of it, as well as proposing further exercises.

Speaking of lipograms, Luisa is a master, click on the Words and Music and Stories link. 

And you? Are you a perfectionist?

Have I whetted your appetite for style exercises?

Do you remember the nose monologue in Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac?

Which subject/object would you choose instead?

 

CAFÉ RACER

CAFÉ RACER

Nov 16, 2024 | MOTORS, MOTORS

Café Racer: two words that encapsulate a world.

It is difficult to give a precise description, but the origin of the term is sure and takes us to England at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s.

In particular, the Café that gave rise to this definition is the Ace Café built on London’s North Circular Road to cater to a clientele of travellers.

The catalysts for bikers were the location, the 24-hour non-stop opening and the fact that the café was the place to listen to rock and roll. 

While young people across the Atlantic race down the roads of California as depicted in the now legendary Thunder Road from Grease, in England young people have to settle with motorbikes, which they process as much as ‘ grease lightning’ to compete in speed races.

These are the boys of The Ton generation: that is, the boys who want to reach 100 miles per hour.

To reach The Ton and win the challenges, the motorbikes are lightened to make them faster.

These particular motorbikes parked outside the Ace Café become Café Racer’s motorbikes.

Since then, the evolution has been multifaceted and ranges like the firmament, so much so that it does not fit into any precise definition.

Café Racer

Many motorbike manufacturers produce models in expressly Café Racer versions.

Did you have a chance to visit the EICMA in recent days?

For example, the following were presented:

Triumph Thruxton café racer par excellence final edition hand-painted trim and top-level equipment.

1100 Sport Pro Ducati Scrambler®, café racer style in the retro on-off segment, state-of-the-art electronics.

Continental GT 650 Royal Enfield dynamic stance and collected riding position, hallmarks of a traditional café racer. 

And more

Honda CB1000R
BMW Nine T Racer
Moto Guzzi V7

do you want to go on?

Are you a biker?

What is your favourite bike?

I look forward to your stories, in the meantime here is a ride in the places I often like to tell you about. 

This is the café racer according to my husband: The Bat.

SPRING? WHITE SHIRT!

SPRING? WHITE SHIRT!

Mar 23, 2024 | FASHION

 

Spring? White shirt!

Don’t you think so?

I have a real soft spot for white shirts and I guess you could call me an “addict.”

My wardrobe houses a number of them that have grown over the years.

I always like the white shirt, in any version, be it classic or Sangallo.

I find the white shirt a crosswise garment, suitable in every season, but when spring arrives it becomes a passepartout for lightness of dress and thought.

From the most typical cut to versions made particular by a detail, the white shirt knows how to be a touch of elegance and simplicity.

How do you feel when you wear your white shirt?

Which model do you prefer?

Would you like to look back together at some outfits that have become unforgettable?

For example, I would say that the Mia Wallace version is the most iconic.

Uma Thurman dances perfectly at ease in the asymmetrically cut shirt: slouchy, long points at the front and cufflinks.

Miranda Priestly obviously top fashion, the criss-crossed version is always very refined.

Julia Roberts frames the image of beauty with a knotted shirt in Pretty Woman. 

Meg Ryan distractingly American in “French.”

Audrey Hepburn thoroughly glamorous in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Dolores O’Riordan deeply essential.

Vivienne Westwood extravagant and brilliant.

Hermione Granger magical collegiate and Debbie Harry rock schoolgirl.

Will you add more examples of famous looks yourself?

Harper’s Bazaar quotes Marylin Monroe and for 2024 chooses the Peserico proposal.

How about retro style instead?

Giorgio Armani always perfect, this is one of his creations shown at Fashion week. 

Vogue publishes a roundup from the fashion shows.

At this point it is only right to quote Franca Sozzani and her famous phrase:

All women aspire to be elegant and, without understanding the true meaning of this term, they buy, in a lifetime, tons of dresses, bags, shoes. Then a woman arrives at a dinner party wearing black dinner jacket trousers and a white silk shirt, a perfect classic, and you notice her.

It is no coincidence that Franca chose a white blouse for her first cover in 1988.

Which white shirt do you choose for this spring?

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