THE STORY OF KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON

THE STORY OF 'KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON'

In the spring of 1939, during the build-up to war with Germany, the British Government commissioned a series of propaganda posters. These posters were intended to offer  the  public reassurance in the dark days that lay ahead. They were required to be uniform in style and were to feature a special and handsome typeface, making it difficult for the enemy to counterfeit.

They used teh crown of George VI as the only graphic device and had just two colours.

Of the three final designs that went out to production only, the first poster carried the slogan 'Your Courage, your Cheerfulmess, your Resolution will bring us Victory'.

The second poster had the words 'Freedom is in Peril, Defend it with all your Might'. But the third design, of which over two and a half million posters were printed, simply read 'Keep Calm and Carry on'.

The first two designs were distributed in September 1939 and appeared up and down the country in shop windows and railway platforms.

But the Keep-Calm posters were held in reserve, intended for use only in times of crisis or invasion.

In the end the poster was never officially issued and it remained unseen by the public until a copy turned up more than 50 years later. It was found in a second hand bookshop called Barter Books, in the North East corner of  England.

Barter Books was begun in 1991 by a couple, Stuart and Mary Manley. The building used to be an old Victorian railway station. Huge rows of stacked shelves now stand in the place where the tracks would have been. But the station's old tearooms and waiting-rooms are still there.

It was in 2000 that Stuart found the poster in a box of dusty old books that had been bought at auction. Mary liked it so much she had it framed and put it up by the shop till, and it proved so popular with the customers that a year later they began to sell copies.

Since that time the poster has been reproduced, parodied and trivialized and has become a truly iconic image of the 21st century.

It is hard to say exactly why such a phrase from a bygone decade would have so much appeal and resonance now. Its design is considered simple and timeless and is now commonly recognizable. However, it is perhaps the words on the poster that people find the most enchanting. Like a voice out of History, it offers a very simple, warm-hearted message to inspire confidence in others during difficult times and it's something that should never fade from fashion: To Keep Calm and Carry on.

LAS HORAS DISTANTES / KATE MORTON

Las Horas Distantes, de Kate  Morton

Todo comenzó con una carta. Una carta que llevaba más de cincuenta años perdida en una saca de correos.

la relación entre Edie y su madre nunca había  sido muy cercana, pero cuando un domingo por la tarde llega a su casa una carta escrita hace muchos años y enviada desde el Castillo de Milderhurst, en Kent y Edie ve cómo su madre comienza a llorar, comienza a sospechar que la distancia emocional de su madre puede tener su origen en algún suceso de su pasado.

Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial la madre de Edie había sido evacuada de Londres y acogida por la poco convencional Juniper Blythe en Milderhurst Castle, donde ésta residía con sus dos hermanas y su padre, un famoso escritor, autor del cuento clásico "La verdadera historia del hombre de barro". En el enorme y espléndido castillo, la madre de Edie descubre un nuevo mundo del que le costará separarse más adelante.

Así que, 50 años después, Edie se acerca al Castillo de Milderhurst y poco a poco se sumerge en la vida y la historia del edificio y la familia que lo habita, descubriendo más de lo que hubiera imaginado.

Las horas Distantes tiene mucho de novela tradicional británica, con influencias de  las hermanas Brönte, un estilo gótico y oscuro, un estilo complejo y elaborado.
A continuación dejo algunos de los comentarios que se han escrito sobre el libro: 
 «Una apasionante novela de misterio y amor. […] Las respuestas dejarán a los lectores atónitos».
Publishers Weekly
«En la tradición de las novelas góticas clásicas, Las horas distantes es un cautivador viaje, un misterio cuyas revelaciones, muy bien dosificadas, proporcionan una lectura sorprendente y profundamente gratificante».
Booklist
«Memorias, intriga y secretos de familia entretejidos en un absorbente laberinto de tramas complementarias que nos arrastran a una lectura llena de fuerza, ternura y emoción. Con un estilo ágil y envolvente, Kate Morton nos conmueve con una magnífica historia difícil de olvidar».
María Dueñas, autora de El tiempo entre costuras
«Kate Morton, […] en la tradición de literatura clásica anglosajona, es el último fenómeno literario. […] Atrapa a los lectores con lazo por su manera de contar gustosa, minuciosa, victoriana».
El País Semanal

(La novela la he acompañado en la foto  de un clásico británico,  "Bread and butter pudding", del que podéis encontrar  la receta, como de costumbre, en Comer Guapamente).

Y para que la tercera novela de Kate Morton no sea diferente de  las demás, también os dejo el video en el que presenta la historia y debajo está la transcripción  de sus palabras. Para practicar....

It started with a letter; a letter that had been lost for a long time.

The Distant Hours begins with Edie Burchill, a young woman who is visiting her parents for lunch, when a mysterious letter, lost for fifty years, drops through the mail slot.

Edie's mother breaks down upon reading whom it's from: Juniper Blythe, of Milderhurst Castle and so, a mistery is sparked.

Edie determines to learn the truth about her mother's secret past and is drawn into the wartime world of the three Blythe sisters, elderly spinsters now living together still in the crumbly castle in which  they were born and raised by their father, Raymond Blythe, author of the children's gothic classic, The True Story of the Mud Man.

I was a third of the way into writing a different story when the sisters Blythe started whispering in my ear. I tried to ignore them, but they were insistent, and eventually I agreed to give them one week.

I set aside my other project, temporarily, in the hopes that the sisters would be in that way appeased, that I might silence them and convince them that they had to wait till next time.

I wrote the first chapter of The Distant Hours, in which the lost letter arrived and Edie learns the name Juniper Blythe, in one night, and by the time I went to bed I knew I wouldn't be returning to the other project. I couldn't. It was clear to me that this was the story I had to tell. That happens sometimes, and I've learnt it is best not to ask questions, rather just to hold on tight and follow the story where it leads.

The Distant Hours was a labour of love. I wrote intensively, coming out of her occasionally before disappearing again once more beneath the novel's surface. The characters are dear and real to me and the story brought together a number of my favourite things: a crumbling castle, a family of sisters, a love of books and reading, the haunting of the present by the past, thwarty love, ghostly shivers, mistery, memory and secrets.    

VIDA DE PI /LIFE OF PI / YANN MARTEL

Vida de Pi de Yann Martel

(Aunque yo he leído el libro en versión original, la traducción se encuentra sin problema en las librerías. Debajo he puesto también el comentario en inglés y un vídeo de una entrevista con el autor . Supongo que porque mi faceta de profesora del idioma de Shakespeare irá saliendo cada vez más....)

El autor, Yann Martel,   pasó varios años en la India visitando todo tipo de templos y leyendo historias de naúfragos, actividades que dieron como resultado la excelente historia que hoy os presento.

En el libro conoceremos a Piscine Molitor Matel (Pi), hijo del director de un zoo en Pondicherry (India). Pi tiene 16 años y un tremendo interés en conocer todo lo posible sobre las diferentes religiones y no tiene ningún problema en profesar el cristianismo, el hinduísmo y el Islam al mismo tiempo.

En la primera parte de la obra, a la vez que conocemos al adolescente Pi, encontramos párrafos muy interesantes sobre el comportamiento  animal.

Su padre decide emigrar a Canada, desmantela el zoológico y vende la mayor parte de los animales pero aquellos de los que no logra desprenderse no duda en llevárselos a Canada en el mismo barco en el que viajan él y su familia.

El barco naufraga y tenemos en un bote salvavidas a Pi como único superviviente junto a una cebra, un orangután, una hiena y ¡un tigre de Bengala! (de nombre Richard Parker).

Logra sobrevivir 227 días y cómo lo consigue es la parte principal del libro... hay que leerlo.

A mí me ha entusiasmado.

Life of Pi  by Yann Martel

Life of Pi is a fantasy adventure by Yann Martel. The writer, though nearly by accident, was born in Salamanca, his father being at the time a diplomat for the Canadian Government , posted those days in Spain. Martel is usually reported as being Canadian.

He studied philosophy in Canada and  has spent part of his time in India visiting temples, churches and zoos and has devoted two years to the reading of religious texts as well as castaway stories.

In Life of Pi we find a main character, Piscine Molitor Matel (a funny name with some hidden implications). He is an Indian boy from Pondicherry and he is the narrator and the main character of the story.

He was born a Hindu but his desire to explore spirituality leads him to become a Christian, Muslim and Hindu all at the same time. It has to do with one of the main topics of the novel: the idea of God over the idea of religions.

His father is the director of a zoo in Pondicherry and this is the set of the first part of the the book, where we can find some very interesting paragraphs and even chapters on animal psychology.

When Pi is sixteen his father decides to set off to Canada with his family so they embark on a Japanese cargo with some of the animals they had not been able to sell . But the boat sinks , Pi is the only survivor and finds himself on a lifeboat in the company of a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a Bengal tiger called Richard Parker.

Pi survives 227 days  adrift and..... there is the story..... which you should read.... I won't tell any more ...

It has been turned into a theatre play and the film adaptation , directed by Ang Lee,  is scheduled to be released in Spain, hopefully, by December 2012.