Приложение A Первый абзац романа Жоржа Перека «А Void» в переводе Гилберта Адэра

Today, by radio, and also on giant hoardings, a rabbi, an admiral notorious for his links to masonry, a trio of cardinals, a trio, too, of insignificant politicians (bought and paid for by a rich and corrupt Anglo-Canadian banking corporation), inform us all of how our country now risks dying of starvation. A rumor, that’s my initial thought as I switch off my radio, a rumor or possibly a hoax. Propaganda, I murmur anxiously — as though, just by saying so, I might allay my doubts — typical politicians’ propaganda. But public opinion gradually absorbs it as a fact. Individuals start strutting around with stout clubs. ‘Food, glorious food!’ is a common cry (occasionally sung to Bart’s music), with ordinary hard-working folk harassing officials, both local and national, and cursing capitalists and captains of industry. Cops shrink from going out on night shift. In Macon a mob storms a municipal building. In Rocadamour ruffians rob a hangar full of foodstuffs, pillaging tons of tuna fish, milk and cocoa, as also a vast quantity of com — all of it, alas, totally unfit for human consumption. Without fuss or ado, and naturally without any sort of trial, an indignant crowd hangs 26 solicitors on a hastily built scaffold in front of Nancy’s law courts (this Nancy is a town, not a woman) and ransacks a local journal, a disgusting right-wing rag that is siding against it. Up and down this land of ours looting has brought docks, shops and farms to a virtual standstill.

Впервые опубликован во Франции под названием «La Disparition» («Исчезновение») издательством Denoel в 1969 году, а в Великобритании — издательством Harvill в 1994 году. Copyright © by Editions Denoel 1969; в английском переводе © Harvill 1994. Воспроизведено с разрешения Harvill Press.