Robert Kolumban proposes a book of short prose under the title Events. The reader's expectations are thus directed, by the title, towards epically structured life events, which, indeed, constitute the subject of sketches such as: Goodbye, Men Don't Know to Die, Reminder, Blue Logan, Valentine's Day. Events illustrate, moreover, a minor plane of existence, being centered on characters such as the adrift husband, the neighbor on the block, the taxi driver, etc.
But the basic substance of the book resides in the intimate, soulful plane, with the couple at the center, with a focus on the man in search of perfect love: Liberation, Rediscovery, The First Flake, Rows to Infinity, The Sea, Shadows in the Mirror are some titles from a majority number. Such stories make up a saga of love, marking moments such as ecstasy, fullness, restlessness, separation, sacrifice, betrayal, the rich and nuanced spectrum of feelings associated with love, the analysis of which, as an artist of the word, the author dedicates himself to.
In the meticulous attempt to reproduce what we could call ineffable in the experience of love, reality, dream and imaginary participate, in various proportions, defining realistic or dreamlike, prosaic or lyrical writing. Becoming poetic, the erotic epic often merges with the lyric until it is, not infrequently, totally absorbed by it.
The merging of the lovers into one being, that new repetition reminds us of the mythical ancestral couple of the androgynous.
The analysis of the texts inserted in the theme of love can reveal the level of artistic success, for the reader, the finished literary product is important, offered as a varied, enjoyable reading, with some deciphering difficulties, but not insurmountable, beneficial, moreover, through the mystery and originality added to the text. The target audience being the young reader, it is up to him to confront and even identify with the central characters (in fact, one and the same, the author's interface) belonging to the current city environment and in search of self-definition, knowledge and fulfillment. Lacking eccentricity in their aspirations, situation and social behavior, these characters work, live in apartment buildings, enjoy the sea beach, a walk in the park or a snack on a terrace, communicate via mobile phone or computer, use the traditional symbolism of gifts and gestures. It is worth noting the normality of these characters and the vocabulary used, in a world competing to detail everything - language, intimacy, tradition. Naturalness and decency also become a personal, distinctive note of an author not intimidated by the lexical trend of the moment.
Some of these proses are, in a special way, worth noting. Among them, Poveste has the value of an Ars poetica affirmed without e in phase and authoritative intention, projecting the light only on his personal artistic act elaborated by an attentive, lucid, analytical, reflexive consciousness. I like to create an imaginary world and fill it with memories, says the narrator, specifying the relationship between real experience and fiction, between lived and imagined truth. "It (love, n.n.) should be simple, but it is full of complications. It is different for everyone, the author emphasizes, highlighting the uniqueness of this fundamental, original feeling, therefore the unrepeatability of any soul universe, mysterious and unfathomable. Also, almost unnoticed, without emphasis, creeps the image of the regression in the beginnings, in fact, in eternity, of finding the androgynous couple: "And would we be the only ones in this world (of the story, n.n.)?" It would be just us, because the rest would just be the background roar".
Some stories develop the metaphor and the symbol to the level of a parable: The Tower at the edge of the city, The Fire, The Bridge - some of them offer multiple and exciting possibilities for decipherment. For example, in the last one, the real/metaphysical duality, the metaphor of the traveler (through worlds?), of the indestructible bridge (between one world and another?), of water as the border between realms - life/death.
As a sample of modern artistic prose, with the components in a judicious balance, transgressing the line of demarcation between real and magical, giving the measure of an auspicious artistic intuition, we can mention Pink World, a gracefully melancholic "happening", relevant to the impossibility of realizing the couple ideal because of the predestined incompatibility.
Ecaterina Giurgiu