acommonreader.st
Chevengur by Andrei Platonov (Ann Arbor: Ardis Publishers, 1978), translated by Anthony Olcott Posts on the novel: Links on Platanov and Chevengur: helpful posts and articles, not intended to be all-inclusive A note on translations: when Robert Chandler’s translation comes out I will happily read this again. In the meantime, read Chandler’s ideal translator of […]
Chevengur by Andrei Platonov (Ann Arbor: Ardis Publishers, 1978), translated by Anthony Olcott This will be the hardest post on Chevengur since it gets to the heart (and main character) of the novel, the town. The difficulty lies in both the complexity of the message and some ambiguity Platonov leaves in the story. I’ll apologize […]
Chevengur by Andrei Platonov (Ann Arbor: Ardis Publishers, 1978), translated by Anthony Olcott In reply to a comment from Miguel I ended up linking three articles related to Platonov and translator Robert Chandler, info I think worthy of its own post. The first article is an interview with Chandler at the Guardian, mostly focused on […]
I received an email from Shane Solow pointing me to the Herodotus Project, “an ongoing project documenting in photographs many of the places and artifacts mentioned by Herodotus (c 500 – c 425 BCE) in his Inquiries. This site is updated monthly with photographic tours that are hyperlinked with the text.”
Off the Beaten Track in the Classics by Carl Kaeppel (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1936) Now the poison-damsel legend is that of a girl who, being poison herself but immune to it, brings death to all she comes in contact with; in some forms of the legend her mere look is fatal, in others it […]
Chevengur by Andrei Platonov (Ann Arbor: Ardis Publishers, 1978), translated by Anthony Olcott I’ll apologize in advance for lack of moving the story forward… After Kopenkin and Sasha leave Chernovka, Sasha heads home and experiences the first fruits of the New Economic Policy. Shumilin, the person Sasha was to report to about possible spontaneous developments […]
Chevengur by Andrei Platonov (Ann Arbor: Ardis Publishers, 1978), translated by Anthony Olcott When we last left Alexander “Sasha” Dvanova, he was wandering the countryside at the request of the provincial executive committee president looking for spontaneous outbreaks of socialism in the countryside. Sasha is shot by anarchists but rescued by Stepan Efimovich Kopenkin, commander […]
Chevengur by Andrei Platonov (Ann Arbor: Ardis Publishers, 1978), translated by Anthony Olcott I plan on several posts as I read through Platonov’s Chevengur, focusing on what strikes me as I go. The English translation is out of print but can be obtained from other libraries through interlibrary loans–please do so! Don’t expect any unifying […]
I’m going to try and post on Andrei Platonov’s Chevengur later this week but wanted to pass on some links I enjoyed related to the author and/or the work. This isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list of what’s available on one or the other. Update: a large pdf file of the novel (the Olcott […]
Pytheas’ route Fridays with Off the Beaten Track in the Classics by Carl Kaeppel (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1936) continues, although a little late… Of the three great explorers of the ancient world Pytheas has had the worst fortune. Of none of them has the personal narrative survived, but the work of Hippalus and Hanno, […]
Ten Tales by Leopoldo Alas (Clarín) Translated from the Spanish by Robert M. Fedorchek Introduction by John W. Kronik Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2000 ISBN 0-8387-5436-8In this post I’m going to focus on the story “Doña Berta,” one of the richest and most perplexing short stories/novellas I’ve read. I commented on the other nine stories […]
Ten Tales by Leopoldo Alas (Clarín) Translated from the Spanish by Robert M. Fedorchek Introduction by John W. Kronik Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2000 ISBN 0-8387-5436-8 Reading and posting had suffered of late, so I’ll try and get caught up with a couple of posts on this collection of short stories by Leopoldo Alas. Ten […]
I ended up with two copies of A Novel Without Lies by Anatoly Mariengof. Both paid for from two different vendors (long story). I’d like to send one to someone interested in reading it, but there’s some fine print… If you have a blog, I want to see a post on the book and I […]
Check out these crazy kids performing in Athens on the Hill of Muses in the summer of 1989, covering Van Morrison’s “Foreign Windows” and “One Irish Rover.” I hope they have accomplished something since then…it looks like they’re up to no good here. For more on the collaboration, click here.
Off the Beaten Track in the Classics by Carl Kaeppel (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1936) To what extent the civilizations whose remains have been discovered in North-West India influenced and were influenced by the civilizations of Mesopotamia and, thereby, influenced those of the Western World, we cannot as yet determine. Such influence there certainly was, […]
I’ve commented on the miniseries several times already, but I did want to mention that it will premier on HBO on February 26. Despite some issues with the series, I was impressed with how well they adapted a difficult book to the screen. Definitely recommended. Here are some random thoughts I had while watching it. […]
For anyone that has read Georg Letham: Physician and Murderer by Ernst Weiss, be sure to read Helen Rittelmeyer’s post The Redemption of Nathan Leopold, Maybe. While the circumstances have important differences, there are some eerie similarities. In all its externals, Leopold’s life followed the arc of a basic redemption story. He felt remorse for […]
Publicity card from The Collected Works’ production of Princess IvonaSaturday night my wife and I attended The Collected Works’ production of Witold Gombrowicz’s Princess Ivona at the Performance Art Institue in San Francisco. I provide a cursory overview of the play in this post. As a director, I know a good play through working with […]
A Novel Without Lies by Anatoly Mariengof, translation by Jose Alaniz (Glas Volume 23: 2000) The friendship between Anatoly Mariengof and poet Sergei Esenin started when they met during the summer of 1918 and lasted until Esenin’s suicide in 1925. These tumultuous times and their extraordinary events provide a backdrop for the “unvarnished portrait” Mariengof […]
Patience: After Sebald is available for instant viewing on Netflix. Grant Gee’s documentary brings to life Sebald’s The Rings of Saturn with readings from the book and images of the places mentioned. I wouldn’t call it an adaptation of the book…more like an homage and supplement. The movie tends to polarize reviewers, either loving or […]