Kissirtu kullimkien

by Lara Calleja

Hemm spazji u rkejjen li għalkemm kulħadd jaf bihom, l-istorja tagħhom ma jafha kważi ħadd. Xi stejjer minn dawn qegħdin jintradmu għal dejjem fost tħaffir, torrijiet u żviluppi ġodda li m’għandhom xejn x’jaqsmu ma’ passat li jgħid ħafna stejjer. Stejjer tiegħek, tagħha u tiegħi u ta’ eluf oħra li ġew qabel u li għad iridu jiġu wara.

Id-dar tal-larinġ għaddiet minn erba’ ġenerazzjonijiet. Issa? Sfrundawha. Minflokha kantun flettijiet. U lil Rożi? Minn ħajja trankwilla f’dar viċin ix-xatt, tefgħuha thewden fuq sodda li ma kinitx tagħha. U min qatt seta’ jobsor li anke f’xifer irdum dwejjaq, għafet tinbet ħbiberija?

Dawn huma stejjer li jfittxu t-tama fost it-trab, il-kalma fost it-tkissir, u ċ-ċans ta’ bidla fost kruha li taqtagħlek nifsek.

Genres: Short Stories

160 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Brodolomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bio sam na Malti na odmoru i želeo sam da pročitam nešto iz njihove savremene književnosti. To je uvek dobar način da se susretnete sa jednim delom snova i utvara koje trenutno opsedaju stanovnike u nekoj zemlji. “Sve ste upropastili” je zbirka priča širokog tematskog raspona. Veliki broj što u središtu, što sa strane, ima za temu arhitektonsko-građevinsku katastrofu koja se događa poslednjih godina na Malti. Njihove uglavnom jednospratne kuće od žutog malteškog krečnjačkog kamena sa drvenim zatvorenim balkonima (galarijama), u sve većem broju se ruše kako bi se gradile bezlične višespratnice kakve se zidaju svuda na svetu.

Saosećam se sa očajem i nemoći autorke pred agresivnom moći kapitala i nevoljnom transformacijom urbanizma iz humanog stanovanja u betonsku džunglu, jer se slično događa svuda, pa i kod nas. Sa time su povezane ekološke i migrantske teme koje takođe zauzimaju važan deo zbirke. Računajte da je reč o narativima čiji okviri imaju i tezu i dozu društvene angažovanosti. Unutar okvira su ispletene univerzalne price o porodičnim, ljubavnim, komšijskim i prijateljskim odnosima.

Ono što je meni najviše smetalo što se angažovanost kombinuje sa neskrivenom patetikom – svaka slatka baka mora da umre, a svaki imigrant mora da je izgubio sina na čamcu dok su pokušavali da se dočepaju Evrope i slično.

[Ends of the Word · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kissirtu Kullimkien (“You’ve Destroyed Everywhere”) is Lara Calleja’s second book, published in 2020. It consists of a collection of short stories, some of which are linked thematically or through what appear to be recurring characters (especially in the opening pieces). Environmental concerns lie at the heart of the collection – hence the title, which refers to rampant development that threatens to destroy both Malta’s natural habitat and its traditional urban fabric. But the stories also touch upon other subjects, particularly relationships – between family members, lovers, friends. The dialogue feels authentic, contemporary, and down-to-earth and the writing is engaging, stirring a gamut of emotions. Indeed, what surprised me about Lara Calleja’s latest book is that besides the righteous anger there are also plenty of poignant – even tender – moments. For instance, I was struck by one of the pieces, featuring two friends who break into a large, abandoned house to spend the night in its rambling gardens. Its message is an earnest one – the need to protect Malta’s heritage – but as important for the story is the colloquial banter between two young women, which sounds as if we are eavesdropping on a real conversation. And the image of night enveloping the old building has a magical, lyrical, undeniably romantic (and Romantic) tinge to it. Clearly Lara Calleja has several tricks up her sleeve, and I look forward to discovering what she will come up with next.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/20...

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5 rounded to 4

One sign of a good short story collection is that certain themes begin to emerge after each story. In Lara Calleja’s Kissirtu Kullimkien (Everything is Destroyed) they come out thick and heavy. As the title suggests a lot of these stories focus on the rampant destruction that is occurring on the island in the name of progress. In this collection old buildings are demolished, abandoned houses are explored and yield secret gardens, there’s also reminisces of a time when antique structures were seen as treasures, rather than just reduced to rubble for a block of flats.

However, there are other things that can be broken that can be relationships. One story (my personal favourite) is about the rapport between an old lady and a bus driver, another story is about a young person feeling the brunt of her separated parents, the most powerful story of the batch is about a Eritrean trying ignore the blatant racism that he faces on a daily basis.

If these stories were just rants about the current state of Malta then this would be dull and repetitive reading but a lot of the the stories are cleverly built up. The story about the secret garden, Stejjer bejn bibien magħluqa (Stories behind closed doors) starts of as an urbex adventure but descends into an introspective look at friendship. The story Geġwiġija (mess up) is about a commentary about a street but then evolves into a tragedy.

Unfortunately, and I have said this many times here, I have a problem with short story collections and that is consistency: It is inevitable that not all stories will appeal to me and such is the case with Kissirtu Kullimkien. There are a small clutch of stories where I did not click with the writing, plot or structure(‘Il bogħod: translation; far away quickly outstays it’s welcome) but this is up to personal taste.

Kissirtu Kullimkien does capture an interesting aspect of Maltese culture. I like the way Lara Calleja uses teenage slang and villager colloquialisms in the stories. I also appreciate the fact that the uglier side of Maltese life is displayed. A lot of these stories expose the more authentic aspects of Malta and as someone who has viewed Malta as an outsider, I can definitely relate to a lot of these stories in this collection.

Many thanks to Merlin for providing a copy of Kissirtu Kullimkien

[gretah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Xi ġmiel ta' ktieb. Ma nkunx qed nesaġera jekk ngħid li dan huwa l-aħjar ktieb li qrajt din is-sena.
Il-lingwa Maltija hija sabiħa wisq, imma rari ssib ktieb bil-Malti li mhuwiex mifqugħ bi kliem bombastiku u b'deskrizzjonijiet twal u antipatki li jfixkluk. Huwa rari ukoll li ktieb ta inqas minn mija u ħamsin paġna jirnexxielu iħalli impatt daqshekk kbir fuqi. Għalhekk, għalija dan il-ktieb huwa speċjalissimu.
Fih stejjer ħelwin wisq. Kull storja isbaħ mill-oħra. Lara titkellem fuq temi relevanti għal Malta bħall-kostruzzjoni u r-razzismu imma ukoll fuq temi ġenerali bħall-imħabba u t-telf ta' xi ħadd li tħobb. Ġiegħlitni nitbissem u sibt lili nnifsi naqbel ma' ħafna punti li għamlet. Xtaqt tfajt xi żewġ kwotazzjoniet li l-iktar laqtuni imma tfixkilt fil-ġid.
Kemm inti brava, Lara. Għandna bżonn iktar awturi bħalek!

[Francesco Grech · Rating 4 out of 5]

Naqra u ġismi jitla' xewk xewk. Bellezza.

[Kris Polidano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Malti mhux imqanżah. Wisq drabi insib li kotba Maltin, speċjalment dawk li jikkritikaw sitwazzjoni attwali jisfurzaw wisq – hawn le. Il-fjuri jikbru qalb il-konkrit u Calleja turih biċ-ċar b'kliem sempliċi, kliem li ħassejt li qisni għidtu qabel mal-ħbieb; l-istess kliem li nisimgħu fil-protesti fejn il-kruha tal-iżvilupp turi s-sbuħija tar-rabja unanima.

Brava.

[Daniela Baldacchino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bħalma jissuġġerixxi t-titlu 'Kissirtu Kullimkien', din il-ġabra ta' novella tevoka l-konsegwenzi tat-tkissir. Bi tkissir mhux qed jinftiehem biss l-evidenti, dak tan-natura biex jinħoloq post għal aktar bini. Imma l-istejjer jikxfu rkejjen li forsi minħabba s-soċjetà mgħaġġla li qed ngħixu fiha, kapaċi jintesew.

Id-dinja tal-kostruzzjoni u l-qtugħ ta' nifs li ġġib magħha jinħassu minn novella għal oħra. Imma mhux biss. Il-kittieba tlaqqagħna ma' sitwazzjonijiet, persuni u mumenti tal-ħajja li jibqgħu marka. Il-qarrej isir konxju u empatiku lejn dak kollu li jsib f'dawn il-linji.

Il-lingwaġġ hu kontemporanju u anke b'elementi kollokjali. Għalkemm mhux kull novella ntrabtet miegħi, hemm oħrajn li sibt lili, lil tfuliti, lin-nanniet u ħafna rqaqt oħra tal-passat. Ktieb li jfakkarni fit-tfulija dejjem inżommlu post f'qalbi u dan mhux inqas.

[Petra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ġabra ta' stejjer qosra li joqorsu fil-laħam il-ħaj...li jaf jagħtuk l-impressjoni li xi ftit fatalistiċi imma m'humiex. Kitba li hija sempliċi u awtentika b'mumenti poetiċi ukoll. L-iktar siltiet li laqtuni kienu "Tfakkarni fir-riħa tal-larinġ", "Djarju ta' mħabbiet li ma jiswew xejn", "Frawli u ward, dlam u ħajja"u "L-imħabba li qatt ma ħabbejt bħalha".

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Calleja's collection of short stories about memories, progress, greed and humanity makes you ponder quite a bit about which direction our lives are heading to. The second half is stronger imho. It is more rooted into our personal consciousness.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Għadd ta' stejjer qosra b'kitba mill-isbaħ, mimlija nostalġija, bil-paġni jitqallbu waħedhom u l-kliem jinbelgħu waħda ġo waħda. Wieħed mill-aħjar kotba bil-Malti li qrajt waqt dan iż-żmien differenti. Nibqa' niftakar ukoll it-tnedija innovattiva, li saret online fuq Facebook.

[Maria Micallef · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vuci moderna tirrakonta stejjer qosra li igeghluk iddawwar il pagni wahda wara l ohra.qrajtu f inqas min 24 siegha....u ma kienx weekend 😀

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it.