Joshua Prager: Wisdom from great writers on every year of life
جوشوا براجر: حكم من أعظم المؤلفين حول كل عام من أعوام الحياة
Joshua Prager’s journalism unravels historical secrets -- and his own. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
من عمري الشهر القادم،
is going to be a very good year,
سيكون عاماَ جيداَ بالنسبة لي،
particular in store for me,
and sentiment to be a man,
والمشاعر ليصبح رجلاً،
wasn't writing about me.
the subject of his book,
وعن موضوع كتابه،
along the same great sequence:
نفس التسلسل الزمني العظيم:
and confinements of childhood;
and frustrations of adolescence;
and millstones of adulthood;
and resignations of old age.
"It will happen to me as to them."
"سيحدث لي كما حدث لهم."
where they become narratives
if it passes into anything."
إذا كانت قادرة على المرور خلال أي شيء."
a thought leapt to mind:
there were, somewhere,
وكانت، في مرحلة ما،
assemble them into a narrative.
بوسعي إذاً جمعها في رواية.
wrote William Trevor.
كما كتب عنه "وليم تريفور".
and later an injury to me
could not be assumed.
السن لا يمكن افتراضه.
only postponed the inevitable,
الأمور التي لا مفر منها،
what circumstance did not.
year by vulnerable year
what was fleeting,
a glimpse into the future,
I was quickly obsessed,
أصبحت مهووساً بسرعة،
for ages and ages.
through our first hundred years.
الخطوات السنوية حتى بلوغنا المئة عام.
of sudden revelations,"
"فترات من الضعف الغير ملحوظ"
that such insights were relative.
and so age more slowly.
the phrase "the yellow leaf"
عبارة "الورقة الصفراء"
used it to describe himself at 36.
لوصف نفسه في سن السادسة والثلاثين.
can swing wildly and unpredictably
أن تتأرجح بعنف وبشكل غير متوقع
the same age differently.
ولكن بشكل مختلف.
as the reflection in the mirror,
كوضوح الانعكاس في المرآة
and less sure of who one is;"
"يكون الشخص غير متأكد وأقل معرفة لهويته"
of preparation into active life;"
والاستعداد القاحلة للحياة الحيوية"
the doors to rooms
"اغلاق أبواب الغرف بهدوء
visualizations you see here,
أعماله الجميلة والرائعة هنا،
and an apotheosis," wrote Nabokov --
كما كتب عنها "نابوكوف"
what we've experienced.
ما مررنا فيه من خبرات.
the list with my grandfather,
وعلى مشارف الموت،
we are sure we will not die,
نحن واثقون من أننا لن نموت،
named Edwin Shneidman was right
لأخوض تجربتها.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Joshua Prager - JournalistJoshua Prager’s journalism unravels historical secrets -- and his own.
Why you should listen
Joshua Prager writes for publications including Vanity Fair, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, where he was a senior writer for eight years. George Will has described his work as "exemplary journalistic sleuthing."
His new book, 100 Years, is a list of literary quotations on every age from birth to one hundred. Designed by Milton Glaser, the legendary graphic designer who created the I ♥ NY logo, the book moves year by year through the words of our most beloved authors, revealing the great sequence of life.
His first book, The Echoing Green, was a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. The New York Times Book Review called it “a revelation and a page turner, a group character study unequaled in baseball writing since Roger Kahn’s Boys of Summer some three decades ago.”
His second book, Half-Life, describes his recovery from a bus crash that broke his neck. Dr. Jerome Groopman, staff writer at the New Yorker magazine, called it “an extraordinary memoir, told with nuance and brimming with wisdom.
Joshua was a Nieman fellow at Harvard in 2011 and a Fulbright Distinguished Chair at Hebrew University in 2012. He was born in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, grew up in New Jersey, and lives in New York. He is writing a book about Roe v. Wade.
Joshua Prager | Speaker | TED.com