Jurnalul de la Marcona. Însemnările

Ion Mărculescu uses notes, memories, and brief meetings to explore daily life. He talks with his wife, mother-in-law, friends, and kin. These talks ask how people relate to each other. His humour probes a world where looks pass for truth. In this world, bad habits seem sound.

The book blends a diary with a novel based on his life. It tries new ways to tell a story. It draws on dreams, letters, emails, and workshop plans. It also uses entries from old and new journals. These bits show daily life through sarcasm and parody. The prose is blunt and brief, and leaves things open. It does not form a smooth tale with a clear order.

Country life contrasts with the author's cramped city flat. His rural retreat has plum and apple trees, vines, and a well. Crows perch on a nearby chimney. These small sights show his love of space and the land. They also show his love of life's pleasures.

Mărculescu paints, draws, and makes art with photos. He also writes poems, news, and fiction. His first prose came out in the press during the 1960s–1970s. He then went on to write novels and edit. His work includes three books of poems. He joins playful invention with a serious view of life. He seeks the exact, direct words found on bricks in ancient times.

Însemnările forms part of the Jurnalul de la Marcona cycle. The cycle began in 2008.