Monday, December 31, 2007

Gao Xingjian: "One Man's Bible"

Gao is the first Chinese author to receive Nobel price in literature (in 2000). Being a writer in exile, his works were immediately forbidden and criticised in Red Star country even more than before. As he is writing what should be written about Mao. Full stop.

He is still rather unknown in the west. A pity. As he has much to say universally, no only about the Chinese world.

I read before his book "The Soul Mountain" and was delighted. This one delighted me also, it is a masterpiece, contemporary masterpiece.

Why 'contemporary'? As it is different than other similar books. If someone is writing a book about China in 20th century, how to escape pathetics and shallow wallowing in the sorrow for the dead? As there is so many of these dead people, just for a pun on ethics of human race by Mao.

Which is the aspect of Gao's writing I consider so different?
Independence of thinking. He is not standing on he shoulders of giants, at all. No megalomany of Artist, just an ordinary, so ordinary, human being. This is what I would consider his largest achievement, his humanity. Despite all evil, all suffering.

Gao is sending us a message. Being a human being today is not a simple thing. It demands more than watching TV and doing our job, or performing a good family reality show.
Much more.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Literature without borders-Milan Jovanovic

Croatians DO read serbian writers, and vice versa (I hope). One of my dearest authors for last 5 years is Milan Jovanovic, young lawyer from Serbia who (as so many others) left this country troubled by unfortunate choices Democracy enabled to its citizens. If Yugoslavia was mini-model of CCCP, then Serbia is (overblown) Russia, and Croatia...probably Georgia.

From his home in Munich this young writer produces-and publishes back in Serbia- in microscopic number of 300 issues, pure magic. After Milorad Pavic, who almost took a patent for magic in Serbia, with his merging of U. Ecco and JRR Tolkien, we hardly could expect master of equal talent there. Yet, it is here, in M. Jovanovic.

After "Monah", "Ratnik", "Zimovanje na primorju" and "Teodora", I was lucky to obtain the newest jewel: "Gospodar". I will share my thoughts on this book with you, Croatian version of this text
is at astrosailor.blog.hr .

Milan Jovanovic: "Gospodar"
-----------------------------
Fairy tale, almost in the sense of M. Pavic. But told the way only Jovanovic can, in simple language and without blown-up ikonography and hagiography of Serbia, the Land of Miracles and Magic. Jovanovic even "when he lies, does it beautifully", indeed.

What seems to be ordinary family history, so common to Slavic people from Moscow to Trieste, reminds us that life is way more miraculous than any novel. Supernatural dimension of this story, interwowen in its earthly moments, become more unbelievable than any witchcraft. Evil and Good cry at us from the depths of a dark lake in the moonlight, stained in virgin blood of village youth under mighty landlords.

Lynch would enjoy making movie by this book, and Hitchcock would not be bored, either.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Durrellians, aaaalert!

After years of being a proper Durrellian, reading most of his works, I went for Amazon (USA) to acquire 'The Black Book', his first serious book. This is the one so acclaimed by H. Miller and Anais Nin and Pound (?) etc., which allowed him to live later with aura of a "writer" during not publishing much, when writing 'The Alexandria Quartet'. With big certainty this enabled him also to lay down lots of chicks. Sorry, my dear feminist friends, bit (t)his was another time, when you were "chicks" waiting for guys to lay you, other your occupations were much less important. So good it changed, isn't it? (khm)
This is 200 pages booklet, I like very much the superb quality of The New Traveller's Companion Series, really good bind of a paperback, this would survive not one travel. If I goto Mars I will take it with me, I promise ;-)
Also to try to understand it!
200 pages and I "understood" last 60, the 3rd 'book' inside (it consists of three such).

I agree fully with critics who claimed all his genius is shown already here. Later he merely dissolved it on more pages, in 'Quartet' and 'Quintet'. So, this is 200 pages of concentrated Durrell. Those of you who can not stand his pathetic attitude, do not touch this book, it is also concentrated here.

But is also his superb, somewhat youngish ironic self-reproachment of Male. Female is an object, no doubt, for him. Anais must be a) really good in bed or b)considered manlish , or both (hehe), to go around with such guys like this chimp or the other one, Henry Miller, really. What a show of limited (men) mind. But, on the other side, what a relief after these today all-conscious fucking-forgetting attitude of Modern Man. Which is more interesting wearing stockings and make-up than walking the street as a Man and taking the ChiC (yes, YOU) to lay!

As said, have to read it 2nd time to really grasp the first 3/4ths of the book, but it will be literary delicacy, I can tell you. Btw., anyone saw it in Europe? It was forbidden to publish until after the WWII (it was written in 1937, as all good books of XXct were), and then I find it only in USA, are we more puritan than Puritans? Funny that in the same time when Miller published this in the USA, his own books were forbidden there. Censors concentrate on their own citizens, obviously.