MALCOLM BRADBURY

The History Man - fragments
 

There are people who ask the question 'How's the family?' and, receiving the answer 'Fine' are perfectly satisfied; there are other people, the real professionals, who expect the answer in a very different realm. Families are Flora's business; all over the world there are families, nuclear and extended, patriarchal and matriarchal, families cooked and families raw, which pause, rigid, in their work of raising children, bartering daughters, tabooing incest, practising wife-exchange, performing rites of circumcision, potlatching, as Flora enters their clearing or their longhouse or their living-room and asks, notebook in hand, 'How's the family?' It is a serious and searching question about the universe; and, Flora is seeking a universal answer. For Flora is famous for questions.

Constantinescu Irina

Malcolm Bradbury
 

Sunt oameni care atunci cand intreaba „Ce face familia ta?” si primesc raspunsul „Bine” sunt multumiti pe deplin; dar sunt si alti oameni, adevaratii profesionisti, care asteapta un alt fel de raspuns. Familiile sunt interesul Florei; exista familii peste tot in lume, nucleare sau extinse, patriarhale sau matriarhale, familii mature si familii tinere, care se opresc, rigide, din cresterea copiilor, vinderea fiicelor, interzicerea incestului, practicarea schimbului de neveste sau a circumciziei, participarea la ceremonii in momentul in care Flora intra in gospodaria, hambarul sau sufrageria lor si intreaba cu carnetelul in mana „Ce face familia ta?” Este o intrebare serioasa si profunda despre univers si Flora asteapta un raspuns global. Deoarece Flora este cunoscuta pentru intrebarile pe care le pune.