Translated material
Swedish shop #3
Alexander Solzhenitsyn. On the edges: Stories and tales. - M.: Vagrius, 2000 ("gray" series). - 541 pp.; circulation 5000 copies; ISBN 5-264-00431-5.
A complete collection of “average” prose (stories and short stories minus novels and “little stories”) of the Nobel laureate under the cover of a prestigious series. 1959-1966 : “ One day of Ivan Denisovich ”, “ Matrenin’s yard ”, “Right hand”, “Incident at Kochetovka station”, “For the good of the cause”, “Zakhar-Kalita”, “What a pity”, “ Easter procession ” . Two-part stories (1993-1998) : “Ego”, “On the edges”, “Young growth”, “Nastenka”, “Apricot jam”, “It’s all the same”, “On the breaks”, “ Zhelyabug settlements ”. A special section is given to the “one-day story” “ Adlig Schwenkitten ”.
Quote: Volley! It starts with the last one - but quickly moves through the formation, down the formation, and the first one hasn’t finished yet - the eighth one is shooting too! Yes, “shooting” is not the right word. Continuous, snake-like! - no, a mountain-like deafening thorn. Back from each - fiery oblique pillars, go into the ground, completely burning out what grows, both the air and the soil - and dozens of them flew forward and upward, still here, nearby, visible mines - and further you can’t distinguish them until the fiery fans will spill over the German trenches. Ah, powers! Ah, monsters! (In the cellar, the women froze to death from Katyusha’s thorn.)
Venedikt Erofeev. Notes of a Psychopath; Moscow - Petushki . - M.: Vagrius, 2000. - 240 p.; circulation 15,000 copies; ISBN 5-264-00261-4.
Two Venichkin works - the most popular, mature and least known, early - in one brochure.
Quote: Actually, what kind of shame are we talking about? Does this woman really think that I'm lying in the snow in front of her just because I'm drunk? But I just now felt that I was lying in the snow - and maybe I’m not lying in the snow at all, but I was just dreaming that I was lying... No, let her first prove to me that the white comfort surrounding me - not a dream and that she herself is not the Tower of Babel and not the spirit of Geneva... No, let him still prove it, - and then he reproaches me for my lack of modesty...
Mitki . About bunnies / Preface. Vladimir Shinkarev . - M.: Vagrius, 2000 ("gray" series). - 381 pp.; circulation 7000 copies; ISBN 5-264-00381-5.
Collective creativity of the cult troupe of Leningrad holy fools. Funny in places.
Quote: Just philosophize with an open belly. Why am I a wolf? And why is the ecological niche narrow? Of course, all this is somehow not wolf-like, all these disguises, caps... Well, then, in your entire life you won’t even dream it up even once? So go ahead and follow the counselor like a fool? He burst out saying that yes, then yes, it was necessary to do it in a simple way, without grace. Or don't get involved - even better. Or cut one granddaughter with pies and butter - there are many options, but one head. Now, however, I almost saw the Truth, there it was already looming under my grandmother’s smoky ceiling. Just what is she to me now?..
Eduard Limonov . Book of the Dead. - St. Petersburg: Limbus Press, 2000. - 286 p., ill.; circulation 10,000 copies; ISBN 5-8370-0247-2.
Many, many people with whom fate (even if only for a moment) brought Eduard Limonov into contact - Salvador Dali, Allen Ginsberg, Andy Warhol, Nathalie Sarrote, Andrei Sinyavsky, Igor Kholin, Genrikh Sapgir, pianist Yuri Egorov, battalion commander Kostenko, the legendary Serbian militant Arkan... - have now (and unfortunately) died. Now Limonov repays them all in full measure. Infantile maximalism is not at all the standard with which one should approach the departed. However, the principle of aut bene aut nihil in The Book of the Dead, to put it mildly, does not work (unless, when telling about the disfigured, discarded existence of his first wife Anna Rubinstein, the author every now and then makes a reservation: “how can I say this so as not to offend her, lying in an old cemetery in the center of Kharkov", "how not to offend the dead one" ...). Other highly moral principles do not work either: Natalya Medvedeva, Elena Shchapova , Igor Kvasha and Alexander Dugin, thank God, are alive, however, in their annotated memoirs, buckets of unpleasant nasty things have been poured out on them. The highlight of the book are fragments dedicated to the publishing house “Top Secret”: Limonov hints at length and thickly to us that the late Artem Borovik poisoned the late Yulian Semyonov with a cunning poison synthesized in secret KGB laboratories. Limonov is ready to defend his version in court. And there is no doubt that Artyom’s relatives will sue after reading the book to the end.
“If you believe the author’s preface, the book was written with extreme speed - it began on June 29 of this year - and at the end of September it was already out of print. Such a pace of work did not damage the quality ,” writes Mikhail Novikov, who is favorable to Limonov ( Kommersant, September 20. ) . Not true. Damaged. Due to the champion speed, both the author and the proofreader had no time to proofread the layout, which was submitted for printing on August 29th. Quotes from well-known texts have not been verified. There are a sea of typos. On p.78, Venedikt Erofeev is rashly called Veniamin.
About Erofeev : I remember that by 1973 we finally became familiar with the text “Moscow - Petushki”. I must say, this text did not make an impression on me either then or later. I have a predilection for direct tragic texts, and conventional menippeas, sarcastic allegories, all sorts of Zoshchenkos and Kotlovany and Hearts of Dogs or anecdotes about Chapaev, expanded to the size of a novel - in short, conventional books - leave me indifferent... His fate seems dull to me and unlucky. No distant lands, no exotics, where are the beauties, where are the monsters? The monotonous feast of frozen Moscow, alcohol fumes , throat cancer, a tube in the throat, mutilation, disability, inconveniences associated with disability, uncleanliness, vile saliva in the tube, a stench, probably... Br-rr-r-r!.. Stories about lost books, about the novel "Shostakovich", which he allegedly lost - of course, a lie. An attempt to hide the obvious: he did not have the strength to work enough, he (like many in Russia) did not want to live at all. He wished to quickly disappear, muttering his monologues over stinking plates, smoking his vile cigarettes.
About Lilya Brik and Elsa Triol : Both went down in history, one as Mayakovsky’s passion and muse, the other in 1928 caught the Frenchman Louis Aragon in the tenacious hands. By modern standards, these women would be considered ugly, short and stocky, cheeky and fat, after all. This is how they were by the standards of their time... I don’t know what the Kogan sisters instilled in Mayakovsky and Aragon, but they instilled themselves in it, and very successfully. What is the secret of their success? I suppose it was that they knew how to be and seem interesting.
About Kuryokhin : A genius and decent person, Sergei Kuryokhin turned out to be a National Bolshevik in the last year of his life... Apart from National Bolshevism, there is nothing alive in Russia. What kind of culture is behind Zyuganov? Gray sovpis? What kind of culture is behind Yeltsin? Mark Zakharovs? Who could Sergei Kuryokhin, the smartest, most talented, sparkling, join? And he came to us... Kuryokhin will remain in the history of the party, in its myths and legends. He could not help but come to us, he is proof of the highest class of quality of the National Bolshevik Party . In fact, he is one of the founding fathers of the NBP, although he missed the actual birth of the party by a few months.
Lilya Brik - Elsa Triolet. Unpublished correspondence (1921-1970) / Comp., interst. Art. V.V. Katanyan; preparation text and comment. I.I.Abroskina, I.Yu.Gens; scientific consultant T.V. Balashova. - M.: Ellis Luck, 2000. - 688 p., ill.; circulation 5000 copies; ISBN 5-88889-036-7.
The first sister - it’s clear who. The second married the French avant-garde artist Louis Aragon. Useful reading: it is gradually becoming clearer that the evil geniuses of twentieth-century culture are not geniuses at all. And not at all evil. And just old pensioners with their typical and forgivable shortcomings.
With detailed comments and index of names; however, the index appears to have suffered a major pagination failure. So the pointer, we honestly warn you, does not work. However, it is present.
Quote: The caviar has to be sent pressed, because it is not known when Yulia is going and how long she will be going. Pass me two jars of Picasso caviar. Tell him that we have a picture of him hanging (two little men at a table), which he gave to Volodya with his signature. The second picture was stolen during the war. In Leningrad we will go to the Hermitage to look at his things. I love him very, very much.
Lev Vygotsky . Psychology of art / Inst. Art. A.N. Leontyev; comment Vyach.Vs.Ivanova. - St. Petersburg: Azbuka, 2000 (Academia series). - 416 pp.; circulation 6000 copies; ISBN 5-267-00279-8.
High, unfading, absolutely pioneering for its time (1925) philology, expressed in the language of high poetry. One of those books that you take with you to a desert island.
Quote: This is a story not about Olya Meshcherskaya, but about light breathing; its main feature is that feeling of liberation, lightness, detachment and complete transparency of life, which cannot in any way be deduced from the very events that lie at its basis. Nowhere is this duality of the story presented as clearly as in the story of the classy lady Olya Meshcherskaya, which frames the entire story. This cool lady, who is amazed, bordering on stupidity, by the grave of Olya Meshcherskaya, who would give half her life if only this dead wreath would not be in front of her eyes, and who, deep down in her soul, is still happy, like all people in love and devoted to a passionate dream , - suddenly gives a completely new meaning and tone to the whole story.
Chronicle of the life and work of F.M. Dostoevsky (1821-1881): in 3 volumes / Ed. N.F. Budanova and G.M. Friedlander. - St. Petersburg: Academic project, 2000 (Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of the Russian Academy of Sciences). - Circulation 1000 copies; ISBN 5-7331-043-5 (Vol. I).
Verified to the facts. A top-notch academic product. Reading for pessimists.
Quote: January 4 (1875 - RJ ). D. is having an epileptic seizure...
January 11 . D. is having an epileptic seizure...
January 19 . D. is having an epileptic seizure...
January 20 . The preparatory materials for “The Teenager” include the development of the image of Vasin, the storylines of Prince Sokolsky, Kolosov and the story of counterfeiting shares.
M.L.Gasparov . Essay on the history of Russian verse: Metrics. Rhythm. Rhyme. Strophic / Ed. 2nd, supplemented. - M.: Fortuna Limited, 2000 (International Association of Creative Intelligentsia "World of Culture"). - 200 s.; circulation 2000 copies; ISBN 985-6329-29-9.
The soft, insinuating gait of a charismatic philologist-encyclopedist.
Quote: Working with magazine publications, we obviously deprived ourselves of the opportunity to take into account texts for the musical stage, which occupies an important place in modern culture. Most of these texts are completely helpless; only a few authors (like B. Grebenshchikov) decide to publish them as books. But they have a well-developed system of images and composition; if they are lucky enough to find a talented poet, then they can become part of “great poetry” and - perhaps - unexpectedly change its (great poetry) intelligible appearance.
Piama Gaidenko. History of Greek philosophy in its connection with science: Textbook for universities. - M.: PER SE; St. Petersburg: University Book, 2000 (Humanitas series). - 319 pp.; circulation 3000 copies; ISBN 5-204-00155-7 (University Book); ISBN 5-9292-0008-4 (PER SE).
which was released simultaneously in the same series A successful pairing with Alexander Kosarev’s “Philosophy of Myth,” . It turns out that in ancient times there was not only mythology, but also - it’s hard to imagine! - philosophy itself was not a type of art, but a type of strict knowledge. Although (as the subtitle hints) not quite science. The central characters of the book are Plato and Aristotle.
Piama Pavlovna Gaidenko is a major historian of philosophy, the author of highly acclaimed works on existentialism and phenomenology. In contrast, this manual, which is a revised version of the first section of the monograph “The Evolution of the Concept of Science” (Moscow: 1980), is presented in a deliberately simplified manner.
Quote: As we see, Aristotle’s animal is so “grown” into the “environment” that it can neither be imagined nor thought of in isolation from the latter; the environment is something like an extension of the animal’s sense organs, and these latter are something like a “concentrated” environment. In this sense, consideration of Aristotle's doctrine of living beings especially clearly demonstrates his method of studying nature as a whole.
V.V.Solkin. The Sun of Rulers: Ancient Egyptian Civilization of the Ramessid Era. - M.: Aletheya, 2000. - 264 p., ill.; circulation 2000 copies; ISBN 5-89321-058-1.
Large format, wide margins, snow-white paper, many pictures, descriptions of battles, romantic pathos a la Obruchev and cacophonically dimensionless names. For any age - including middle school.
Viktor Viktorovich Solkin is a research fellow at the Center for Egyptological Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Quote: Among the other wives of Ramesses II, it is necessary, first of all, to note the daughter of the Hittite king Hattusilis III, who arrived in Egypt in the 34th year of her future husband’s reign. Her Hittite name is unknown, but in Egyptian sources she is called Maathornefrura. Ramesses later married another Hittite princess, but her name is unknown. Several daughters of Ramesses II also bore the title of "great royal wife" in the middle and at the end of their father's reign: Benthanat, Meritamon, Nebettaui.
Charles Sanders Pierce . The beginnings of pragmatism: In 2 vols. / Per. from English and preface V.V. Kiryushchenko, M.V. Kolopotina; afterword V.Yu. Sukhacheva. - St. Petersburg: Laboratory of Metaphysical Research, Faculty of Philosophy, St. Petersburg State University; Aletheia, 2000 (series "Metaphysical Research. Supplement to the Almanac"). - 318 p. (vol. 1), 352 pp. (vol. 2); circulation 1500 copies; ISBN 5-89329-259-6 (vol. 1), ISBN 5-89329-278-2 (vol. 2).
First volume : "Some Consequences of the Four Inabilities" (1868), "The Foundations of the Force of the Laws of Logic" (1868), "The Consolidation of Persuasion" (1877), "How to Make Our Ideas Clear" (1877), "What is Pragmatism?" (1905), “Questions of Pragmatism” (1905), “Prolegomena to the Apology of Pragmatism” (1906). Second volume : "Principles of Phenomenology" (1880-1905), Grammatica Speculativa (editor's compilation 1931), letters to Samuel P. Langley and "Hume on Miracles and the Laws of Nature" (1901), letters to Lady Welby (1903-1911) . In advance, the translators scare the curious with the fact that reading Peirce’s works may not “pay off” - they are so difficult to understand. They are rightly scared. But even then they promise the most courageous a “most exciting journey.” With good reason they promise.
Quote: I... ask the reader to conduct a small experiment. Let him call up, if he is able, the image of a horse—not one he has ever seen, but any imaginary horse—and before reading further, let him, by persistent contemplation, fix the image in his memory... Has the reader done the way I asked him? I object to his continuing to read further without fulfilling my request, for this would be dishonest. Now the reader is able to tell in general what color this horse was - gray, bay or black. However, he probably wouldn't be able to tell exactly what shade it was. He is not able to establish this as accurately as he would have been able to immediately after seeing such a horse.
Auguste Rodin. Thoughts about art. Memoirs of contemporaries / Comp. and preparation text by N.I. Rybakova; preface I. Schmidt(huh?); afterword B. Ternovets. - M.: Respublika, 2000. - 367 p., ill.; circulation 7500 copies; ISBN 5-520-02745-8.
Next to Goethe was Eckermann, next to Rodin (1840-1917) was Paul Gsell. The collection includes a book of conversations between Gsell and the sculptor (published in Russian in 1914), Rodin’s “Testament,” his aphorisms and various memoirs about the author of “The Thinker” and “Danaides”; Among the memoirists are Stefan Zweig and Rainer Maria Rilke. The afterword is reprinted from the book: B. Ternovets. Rodin. - L., 1936.
Quote: Art is contemplation. This is the joy of the mind penetrating nature and comprehending the divine principle that animates it. This is the delight of the mind, which clearly sees the universe and recreates it, illuminating it with consciousness. Art is the highest mission of man, the work of thought seeking to understand the world and making this world understandable.
Charles Dickens. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club: A Novel / Abridged. lane from English A.G[ornfeld] and G.Sh[pet]; new ed. M. Tyunkina; comment G. Shpeta. - M.: Publishing House Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 2000. - 823 p., ill.; circulation 4000 copies; ISBN 5-86712-050-3.
Dazzling luxury: a thick, lavishly illustrated volume, a third of the volume of which is occupied by the regional studies comments compiled in 1934 by Gustav Gustavovich Shpet . The book is expensive - but worth it. (Not an advertisement.)
Quote (from the comments, of course): In England, diluted wines or mixtures in which wine is one of the constituent parts have always been widely used. Such, for example, is the negus that Jingle treated Mrs. Badger to at the Rochester ball (chapter 2). This drink received its name from the name of Colonel Nigues, who invented it (at the beginning of the 18th century). In nigues, sugar, lemon juice and lemon peel, grated nutmeg are added to wine, mainly port (rarely sherry or other sweet white wine), then boiling water is poured into this mixture; Nigues is drunk warm, and since there is usually twice as much water as wine, the drink is considered weak, so it is served even at children's parties. The salesman in the "Bush" in Bristol (chapter XLVIII), telling his stories, fortifies himself with a drink, which Dickens once calls niges , another - bishop (bishop - “bishop”). This clerical error is probably due to the fact that these drinks are homogeneous in composition, only Bishop contains significantly less water and sugar and more lemon (or orange) and spices.
Jules Barbet d'Aurevilly. On dandyism and George Brummell: Essay / Trans. from fr. M. Petrovsky, ed. A. Raiskaya; preface O. Weinstein ; up Art. M. Kuzmina; note O. Weinstein and A. Rayskoy. - M.: Nezavisimaya Gazeta Publishing House, 2000 (Modus vivendi series). - 208 p., ill.; circulation 5000 copies; ISBN 5-86712-068-6.
A verbal portrait of the outstanding British feat of the early last century, drawn by the enthusiastic pen of his Gallic epigone. In Russian, this charming little book was first published in the Moscow magazine "Dendi" in 1910, and then in a separate publication (M.: Alcyona, 1912), for which Kuzmin wrote a three-page preface.
Quote: His life was entirely an influence on others, that is, something that almost cannot be retold. This influence is felt as long as it lasts; when it stops, its results can be pointed out; but if these results are not different in nature from the influence that gave rise to them, and if they are equally short-lived, then they are unlikely to become the property of history. Herculaneum rises from the ashes; but the past few years are more likely to bury the life of society than all the lava of volcanoes. Memoirs, this chronicle of morals, are themselves only approximately reliable. And a detailed picture of English society in Brummell's time will never be reconstructed in all the necessary clarity, not to mention vitality. It will never be possible to trace Brummell's influence on his contemporaries along its winding path and in its entirety. Byron's words that he would rather be Brummell than Emperor Napoleon will always seem like an absurd exaggeration or irony. Their true meaning has been lost.
Andre Maurois . In Search of Marcel Proust: Biography / Trans. from fr. L. Efimova. - St. Petersburg: Limbus Press, 2000. - 384 p., ill.; circulation 3000 copies; ISBN 5-8370-0241-3.
Of course, Maurois is a rather superficial biographer. Not for the highbrow, so to speak. The book about Proust was written “using little-known materials,” but the overwhelming majority of these materials are of a slightly scandalous nature. It’s not that Maurois is directly digging into Proust’s dirty laundry; no: he treats Proust's creative laboratory as if it were a basket of dirty laundry.
In Russian - for the first time.
Quote: At midnight the “prisoner”, a pseudo-secretary, came in and silently listened to the conversations around the bed. These Adonis (for the position was held successively by many young men), like Albertine, were kept in captivity. If they were graciously allowed to go out, then the strictest account of the time spent, minute by minute, was required. If they slipped away, thus forcing their master to suffer, he found in this suffering the exciting feelings he needed for his Storyteller. To a friend who once complained to him about heartache, he said: “What? Are you having love troubles? How lucky you are.”
He never talked about perversion to friends with a normal orientation. And in his book itself, he will attribute these morals to Charles, Nissen Bernard, Monsieur de Vaugoubert, and a hundred others, but not to the Narrator.
Aldous Huxley . Gray Eminence: A Study of Religion and Politics / Trans. from English V. Golyshev and G. Dashevsky; preface Sir Isaiah Berlin. - M.: Moscow School of Political Studies, 2000 (series "Culture. Politics. Philosophy"). - 320 s.; circulation 3000 copies; ISBN 5-93895-004-X.
Gray Eminence was published in the original language in 1942. Huxley the novelist is here organically, like in no other book of his, combined with Huxley the researcher and Huxley the mystic. The Gray Eminence is, as is known at least from “ The Three Musketeers ” (or from “ The Island on the Eve” by Umberto Eco), Father Joseph (Francois Le Claire du Tremblay, 1577-1638), an associate of Cardinal Richelieu.
Viktor Golyshev and Grigory Dashevsky are among the five best translators in Russia today.
Quote: Father Joseph was led astray from the path of mystical perfection by a whole set of closely interrelated temptations - the temptation to fulfill what seemed to him a duty, to do what seemed to be the external will of God; the temptation to misunderstand the will of God and choose a lower duty instead of a higher one; and the temptation to believe that an unpleasant task is righteous simply because it is unpleasant.
Emil Azhar. Pseudo. Fears of King Solomon. The Life and Death of Emile Azhar: Novels, Essays / Trans. from fr. A. Belyak, L. Lungina, N. Mavlevich and I. Kuznetsova. - St. Petersburg: Symposium, 2000. - 473 pp.; circulation 5000 copies; ISBN 5-89091-113-9.
Azhar was created by Romain Gary - for his own sake and to spite himself. Gary created Azhar and hid behind him, obeying his Mr. Hyde. At the end of his life, Azhar-Gari (1914-1980) composed “Pseudo,” where the author’s fear of his double is read between the lines. The action moves from one psychiatric hospital to another, accompanied by insanity, quest, and horror. Remember Stephen King's novel The Dark Half ?
The fourth volume of the "symposium" collected works of the two-faced Frenchman. "Pseudo" is published in Russian for the first time.
Quote: The main thing is not me. And the book. Nobody cares about the authors. The only thing that counts is that the author gave his creation to the world.
I felt good.
I felt clean.
It felt right.
I gave myself to France, to humanity. Humanity gave me its pain, and in exchange I gave it a book. We're even.
Damn, literature is more important than all of us.
Ryunosuke Akutagawa . Madonna in Black: Novels / Trans. from Japanese N. Feldman, B. Raskina, I. Lvovoy; comment N. Feldman. - M.: EKSMO-press, 2000 (series “Foreign classics. 20th century”). - 512 s.; circulation 5000 copies; ISBN 5-04-005279-0.
Fifty-one brilliant texts by a brilliant Japanese.
Quote: I met this man and his wife yesterday, a little after noon. With a gust of wind, the silk coverlet just flew open, and her face flashed for a moment. For a moment the √ flashed and immediately disappeared again, and perhaps that’s partly why her face seemed to me like the face of a body sattva. And I immediately decided that I would take possession of the woman, even if I had to kill the man.
Alex Garland. Beach: Roman / Per. from English E.V. Smirnova. - M.: Thornton and Sugden , 2000. - 480 p.; circulation 7000 copies; ISBN 5-93923-003-2.
In the States there is a fashionable young writer with the monstrous name of Chuck Palaniuk. He became famous by releasing his debut novel “Fight Club” - well, of course, you watched the movie with Brad Pitt. And in England there is a fashionable young writer, Alex Garland. "The Beach" is his first book, and it was also made into a film. With Leonardo DiCaprio. Both Chuck and Alex are considered "for smart people" authors. Both experiment with form. Both reject the Ikean ideals of their generation, and that is why their prose seems to be filled with caustic, “serious” bitterness. Only on page fiftieth do you realize that this is the bitterness of the synthetic mustard that is used to flavor cheeseburgers at McDonald's. Well, intellectuals also visit McDonald's. Yes, you won’t get enough food there. But you almost certainly won’t get poisoned.
Quote: I realized that all our paths to salvation were cut off and that they would kill us all, but I accepted this without any grief. I could not prevent this and knew that I would meet my death in full consciousness.
Alex Garland. Tesseract: A Novel / Trans. from English E.O. Avrorina. - M.: Thornton and Sugden, 2000. - 288 p.; circulation 6000 copies; ISBN 5-93923-004-0.
Also a cheeseburger, but more complex and delicious. "Royal de luxe"
Quote: Light can never be seen at rest, no matter how fast you move, even if you run faster and faster through the solar system until you reach a speed of two hundred and ninety-nine thousand kilometers per second. Then look at the light. You will see that he is still running away from you with the same incomprehensible speed. Meanwhile, your brain will slow down, and an observer moving at a slightly lower speed will see you completely motionless and spread out in space.
Union catalog of the "Swedish shop"