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.

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.

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.

On learning Mandarin

Learning the language, it is worth to do the same as learning some country: note the peculiarities down, until they are still peculiarities. Later one gets used to it.

Large numbers in Mandarin (as also in Japanese) go in succession of 10-thousends, not thousends as in Western style. Means you say 100 000 as 10 0000 =yi(1) wan(4). This is the reason why chinese speakers have troubles with larger numbers in other languages, it is not the language matter, but way of counting!

The same is with gender, as it does not exist in Chinese, it is imperceivable for them in other languages.

One my friend, Czech of "Mech, Lech and Czech", David V. is right: it IS fun speaking it, as your brain has to go different ways, I was laughing today trying to say 37520! Constructing (simple) sentences-as it is extremely simple matter, in fact, because of little grammar -is also fun of a kind, logical play, but with queer logics.

It comes as learning use of left hand for writing for right-hander, in a sense.

On pinyin and bpmf (romanisation or zhuyin fuhao for writing down the pronounciation): really, to know both is useful, for pinyin can be misleading for English speakers, and for single words it is really batter to use bpmf to write it down.
But, for longer texts, it is much easier, if you do not know Chinese characters yet, to write text down in pinyin, even if you write incorrect tones at first, you wil be able to correct them later. Taiwanese probably can do it with BPMF, but some exercise with this is, really, needed. It is not so easy as with hiragana and katakana in Japanese, because of tonal writing, not sound.

Anyway, as you see, I have some fun with it, and will have for some time to come. Why? And why not?

Thomas Bernhard: "The Lime Works"

This book goes in line with E. Jelinek not only by Austrian authorship. It is chronicle about megalomaniac "scientist" in middle Austria. Book is a kind of report, given by others in the village, about the main hero which one could gather going around and drinking beers in local inns with local people, chatting with them. So typical Austrian, and because of it also so Slovenian or North Croatian, also.

Konrad and his crippled wife live in seclusion of lime works, where he conducts series of everyday experiments on hearing, as he plans to write a book about Sense of Hearing. Plans. For ages.

Point is that he expects it to pop out from his head to paper. Looks like schizophrenic circle. But what Bernhard describes is in fact sheer madness, finishing with Konrad killing his wife from the riffle with few (or one? In inns things get so exagerrated...) shots.

It reminds, because of this crazy narrative, Canetti's 'Auto da fe' ("Die Blendung"), with its mono-thematic crazy Chinese professor (about his books). Society here is rather less important than in Canetti, but, paradoxically, Bernhard's Konrad is made of people's wording, not his own actions, when Canetti's K is real person. German mind can really twist the things sometimes!

I do not see much in Konrad, just a crazy failed persona, I can not even sympathize with him, so Austrian he is (would you ever find possible to sympathize with an primordial Austrian??? Never. The same as primordial Croatian). I am sure there is deeper 'explanation' for Konrad, but I am not interested in it.

Also, as I see so many reflections of Northern Croatia in it (as mindset is rather similar to Austrian) I probably felt the atmosphere of the book too close to what I know, that I could abstract it to more general level. Growing up in mountains, in similar seclusion, in the apartment above the local bar. There mother had to shift the beds in bedrooms every now and then, when miners (in coal mine) would get payed, as then they'd drink and play billiard and shoot from their riffles in the ceiling of the bar below our bedrooms. Sounds similar to Konrad, really.

How many similar failures I saw in these schnapps-washed locations (certain Ante coming to my mind, and his peculiar style. But, this guy is dead for ages already, why now he popped into my mind!) There is something peculiar about small mountains, close-by larger cities. Maybe it is the feeling of failure of staying there, when nearby there is "so many" possibilities of big city? Maybe. I do not know. Maybe it is genetics, too much schnapps affecting the genes of these hard working people? Or beautiful views, feeding some "higher" thoughts, too high for given possibilities? I would go for lethal combination of this all. But Konrad himself is not native of this forgotten place, he is Welt-wanderer, Konrads traveled all around the world, excessively even, living in many places, in search for conditions which would produce the egg of his book from his intestines. Weltschmerz, then? No, will not be, he is not so simple.

In fact, now I wrote 'Urbanchich method' in Google (this is the method of hearing exercises Konrad is subjecting his wife to through years, kind of sound torture), and I am even more positive I do not want to learn behind the symbols of this book. It was about New South Wales (Australia!) politycs, australiapolit :

"One of the matters raised in this article was the re-emergence, as a senior player in Liberal Party factional tussles, of the well-known anti-Semite and Nazi collaborator Lyenko Urbanchich. The article covered a meeting between a number of New South Wales Liberal Party factional heavies from the broad right wing of the party. Of course, that other well-known Australian citizen and Nazi, Conrad Kalejs, ..."

Coincidence? Sorry, I do not believe in such coincidences.

"Mr Urbanchich was known as the Little Goebbels of Lubiana. He was a highly placed official within the propaganda apparatus of the Nazi puppet-state of Slovenia. During the reign of this quisling regime, 90 per cent of Slovenia’s Jews were either killed or deported to the death camps, while Lubiana’s Jewish community was annihilated."

I do not want to make my hands dirty with it. Oh (g)ho(st)ly shit, why always one stumbles upon a heap of shit, however small it would not be?

few days later:
Bernhard's memoirs seem to be worth to read: "Gathering Evidence" (1985, memoir): Collects Die Ursache (1975), Der Keller (1976), Der Atem (1978), Die Kälte (1981) and Ein Kind (1982) , taken from Wikipedia.

Norvegian wood

Haruki Murakami: Norvegian wood
In a translator's note at the end, there is a comment by H.M. that although he borowed a lot from his university days, this is not, by any means, autobiographical work. That it is a literary exercise in an unusual genre for him. His time in the university was rather dull.
What comes to my mind is that my own time in the university was not dull, somewhat because of my own doings and somewhat because of doings of history (Balkan war at the beginning of 1990-ies). I was doing some literary exercises afterwards, definitely NOT going into anything like description of the war times. But, then, there is so much what sneakes, we are our own flesh and it is impossible our own experiences would not colour our expression about the world. In this respect such a book ought to be biography of soul of time and place, together with people involved.

"Norvwgian wood" is a love story, some people perceive it like it? I would not say. It is rather a fate story, mixed with decision stories. Actors take their freedom to act. Outside rules are swept out, as in love story, but that's common to them all.

Highly reccomended reading.

Short talks ver. long talks

I was giving a proper colloquium, after longer time of pressing my mind into 10 or 15 minute talks. Not that I would have so much to say about my High Science, but it is nice sometimes to have possibility to develop line of reasoning and say what one has to say. One hour talk (10 min for questions) is just enough for it. Interesting was that I choosed not to speak about my specific topic, but some offspring of it. One hour of talk about numerical tests for MHD simulations might seem horrible, at least for the audience. But, knowing there will be mainly students, I did my best to be illustrative and clear as much as possible. As nobody fall down from the chair, snoring, I suppose I succeeded.
Interesting samoobservation was that I actually enjoyed the show. As said, it was rather non-sexy topic. But, exactly this made it more of a challenge! After 12 years of presenting in Science, even dropout from the highly frustrating machinery of Zagreb University gets to learn to give talks relaxed and non-stresses. And if I remember how much of stress I had to work through during these 12 years! Well, nothing I have to tell to fellow sufferers, present students etc., than: endure. One day you will go through. Just do not think too much, do not do much of stress. Understand it is something to deal with, and one, eventually, gets used, forgets it. After some time you gain proficiency in what you do, and this helps. When speaking about things new to you, or out of your scope, you learn to know your limits, and are not pressed to "know everything perfect", you know where you can say "I do not know", or just go over it, silently. Simply, one actually learns some things with time, really! Good luck
One financial addition: interesting is that here in Taiwan they pay you for such talks, if given on other institution. A bit less than 50 eur for an hour, not too bad, really. Strange feeling, for us europeans, to get envelope with money afterwards.

And one observation about city where I was, half way between Hsinchu and Taipei, Jhongli. Dirty, ugly industrial city. Only thing worth notice are beautiful girls on the streets, sometimes. This is core of Taiwan Tiger industry, with Taoyouan close by, and it is visible in the level of pollution and dirt everywhere. Taoyuian already invested its money into infrastructure, Jhongli still has to do it, obviously.

Pancakes

I find myself much more often than previously making pancakes, making bean soups...
Some effects of being on Mars for more than half year? Obviously.

After typhoon Krosa I will go for my 2nd Japan. Backpacking style this time, let's see more.

I was translating something from English to Slovenian...gosh, how long time since my last being there, it is unacceptable! Slovenian Alps + croatian coast, this are essential ingredients of my peace with myself, it seems.

Formulating something in Slovenian is extremely hard for me, as it mixes with Polish. But, funny enough, I like this harsh language, it has some weird poetical strength, for me. Croatian is an eternal Krlezian psychological drama, Polish is the language of Herbert and Gombrowicz, of XXI ct. catholic middle age, today. Slovenian seems to remain some oasis of Preseren-like local poets, of non-global (un)importance. Poets of few walleys on the border of former German world. But how nice walleys!

Camus

I finished A. Camus' "The Fall". Really, human fall. But, interesting enough, it did not speak to me.

"You speaking to me?" it was. I liked Camus, some 20 years ago. Now, here, poor fellow seems to go into the rubbish bin of history. Simply, outdated.

And it would seem his writing is so eternal.

Peculiar feeling of this ... like saying 'goodbye' to dear friend after a longer illness. I suppose it is accelerated by this being in Asia, which is not the place where reflexion of any kind would stick longer, but,then, the feeling of lonelisness should speak volumes.

But it does not, probably lack of reflexion is killing it, haha.

Should one be sorry for such event? I do not know. Where do we go if such books go to history of human mind, to be forgotten, not to ache any more?

I wish luck, big luck, to all of us.

Left- ver. right-handed

Tell me CP-parity (left versus right spin particles) violation does not matter in the St. Reality!

I started an experiment out of sheer chance. I injured my right shoulder last year dragging too heavy backpack through half Europe, and it needed more than half year to heal. Obviously, it is not complete, as slight miscalculated move recently activated similar pain again.

I visited traditional medicine ambulance here in Hsinchu, and tried their methods, it was good chance to become acquainted with this aspect of life here, also. Who knows me, knows I do not like even homeopathy, not to speak about sorcerers ;-). But am not blind for the world around, and to trying above my personal limitations.
My back after the visit-my shoulder is embalmed with minth, after hot towel and extensive massage treatment:

2nd time there, I tried acupuncture:

It helps in the sense you really do not feel pain (or feel it less) when having these needles inside. No, it is not painful at all, needles are just pinged inside swiftly, I think tissue is just shifted by them, more than pierced.

Now about the experiment. As I could not type or move mouse with my right hand-yes, it hurted so much-I used my left hand. I started my life as left-handed person, then, back in 1976, wise teachers of old leftist school forced my move to right hand. Maybe this was the reason for some my problems later? For sure it WAS the problem for my handwriting, which never became readable for others. Well, except maybe sometimes, in certain circumstances of my psyche which I would not describe as 'normal'.

So, I noticed moving the mouse with my left hand goes quite well. I changed order of buttons in setup and it was even better. But I noticed my typing became different-as if it would not be me. As if using left hand for mouse would affect something in my brain, really affect. Obviously, brain felt the switch. And I felt it (Miki-mouse) GOOD.

So, I decided to pursue it further: what else will change in my brain, doing the switch? To which level such an old horse as myself, can switch back to the left-handed world?

Really, motivation is in strangeness of feeling my own moves, and kind of feeling in head, as if I'd be a bit detached from myself. Interesting. Let's see what other effects I will be able to notice. As for now the strange (but positive feeling in head, something of kind of re-arranging in my brain, really interesting, like if it would put the question 'hey, what's this now? Mmm, I see some corridors here which were in dark, not visited for a looong time! Let's see them. curious I am what is there...".

Another change I decided to do is to add the ergonomic chair for long time computer work, as I had in Germany, some new equipment in TIARA ;-) . Sitting approx 12 hours/day or more in front of the computer is not natural thing, so we should use all means to help ourselves. Using large (19'') screen and large font on it helps to preserve my sight, chair is equally important, I feel.

All this forced at least one interesting move: after a long long time I read my little green booklet with particle physics notes from Zagreb, to review what CP violation was about, exactly. Seeing these equations was like visiting old friend, really it is time to move from these low energies to high energies, again ;-)

Die Liebhaberinnen

Next book by E. Jelinek, it was written in 1975. No capital letters-I should check in original how she did it, as in German it is quite essential feature. Engl. translation is "Women as lovers" and, as usual, it is not possible to specify something so clear as in German.

It is wonderfully written sad story about austrian women. Any women. The fact of writing this in 1975 is stunning, much. Lady really deserved her Nobel.

It is about stereotypes, written completely non-stereotypic. 2 intertwined stories (only on paper, they do not mix in the reality of the book) about 2 fates of women, where Jelined chirurgically shows their actions, reasons and results. Pure science, and who then Viennese should do it so good. And so nice without ANY reference to highbrow psychology.

At the moments Jelinek is brutal to people...but so true. It reminded me on some pictures from Zagorje, my region in Northern Croatia, which is similar in psyche and ways with austrian ones.

Completely different than Marina Cvetajeva, Anais Nin or similar. More realistic? Certainly with much less artistic attitude (but achieving Art, nevertheless). It is almost Zolan Naturalism in its effects on one's guts.

My bow, Lady Jelinek.

The Piano Teacher

Elfriede Jelinek got Nobel in Literature recently. I saw the movie Piano Teacher, and liked it (weird piece of art),and now went for the book itself.

Weird one, really, movie is well done rendition of it. Go for it if you want to see what deviations can be produced by too strict rising up+Viennese bonton. Brrrr....

Typhoon passed, Wipho, it was a Typhoon day, free day because of it, so I finished Jelinek's book. Also in the stock I have some Camus, and Bernhard's 'Limeworks'.

Sounds as autumn coming? ;-)

Bookish ZMM

After some time here, I feel URGE to meet some literature in my life...not to live it, as I usually do.

Fortunately, I had some hints of bookish conversations recently, and a book taken to read by chance, 'Daddy-Long-Legs' by Jean Webster, funny best-seller from 1912 took me by surprise.

Also ChiC, my Taiwan hippie Lady, took me by surprise showing me this nice piece:

The Road Not Taken
(Robert Frost, 1874-1963)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth；

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear；
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
*********

Some melancholic mood for the end of the summer? Maybe. Well, why not?

Hot days. Hommage to Istanbul.

When you drive the streets at 10PM and it is 32 cels, it means HOT. 24h/day temperature does not go below 30 cels last week. Add pollution and crowd...and Hsinchu is not so bad, compared to larger cities.

Working weekend. In fact here and in Greece I learend to appreciate freedom of these hot days, at work. Air conditioned space a must, there is no better place than work (not to have to pay for AC).

A bit about my recent reading. It is as travel there.
Orhan Pamuk's "Istanbul" is certainly not great literature, but surprises by outbursts of originality sometimes. To add something new to Constantinople is not easy, but Pamuk managed, brava.
Here some pics from my last short visit there. The Church. I had this nice opportunity to see Athens, Istanbul and Rome close in time, and understand what it meant last 1500 years, and why the impact is so big. Of all the monumental buildings, Hagia Sophia has the simplicity equal maybe only with... St.Sulpice in Paris, surprisingly, this is the association pushing to my brain. That Jesuite mind was so close to Orthodox and Islamic purity of space...I am surprised to find, but it is true.

Me, small inside it, as should be.

Waters of Bosphorus.

Yes, Istanbul is place to go. Highly recommended. The City, definitely. I am proud on this one, it was no easy to find the place to make it.

One and last here, "very funny".

Summer 2007

I was in Kolan first half of July. This will be all for this year, I think.

I did not speak with many people there this time, too hectic a time with 3 kids and 2 ladies there ;-)
Fela became constant there, with next generation ofher ubiquitous kids, she is a breeding machine and good, really good matrone mother, although she is still so young. Curious I am why it is so, genetics, or our handling her to be hard one, when she was yooung?

But some of my reflexions: stone is source of peace for me, as is the night sky-but they polluted the sky, too many lights, really! And of the worst kind, white balls, without upper cover, so they give half light to Aliens. Stupid, they should put a shield inside, above the bulb, to prevent spreading of the light upwards, or simply paint this part of the cover black.

We visited also Rijeka & Opatija - thanks to TurboDijana which is there now for good, and hosted us for an afternoon. Nice to meet finally on some of our sites, the 1st time we had such chance :-)

In Croatia now it seems to be better, some light for young people-credits are given with normal interest rates so it is possible to buy apartments, build house or buy a car. This third is very much visible, cars are better than few years ago,not so many old ones around. It seems Croatia is, finally, on the course to become normal european country.

Prices are moderate or low-but I might be biased by recent visits to Italy, which is double if not more expensive for touristic eye.

Except Croatia, I visited Poland and Azores, Portugal, more on this on mikidtaiwan blog.

Donkeys: TWO in Kolan, it seems. I saw ONE, in one garden closeby school. Poor times for donkeys.

On the beaches no changes, fortunately.Only in camping "Simuni" they moved with sites a bit eastward, what is worrying, but they do not seem to hurry much, so our usual places are safe for now. There were many sea-urchins which were-surprise for them, I am sure-eaten by my Han ladies.

Novalja naguzvana kao i obicno,Pag nesto manje, ali isto podosta.Dojam na cestama ipak da nematih turista bas toliko-ali bili smo prije top-sezone, jos stignu doci

Religion

I just invented this, answering to Izzy's post. Gave me a laugh :-D

I do not know why people are so crazy about supernatural...probably some imprint from Others coming to Earth, maybe we were co-habitating with them at some level (humans as pets? :-D ), and now we miss them. They were too humanistic to have us as pets, so they left us in peace, to develop? Hah!-this I just invented now, but seems plausible as anything else! If your dog would start to show he is becoming civilised, that he is becoming a "person", in his dog society, what would be the best to do? You are aware it would take eons to develop, and that your presence would disturb it only. So, what you do? You fly away, and come after few eons, to greet this new species as a friend, not the OWNER.

So, maybe religion is only our "tongue out" for our old, good, masters? We also wave our tails... ;-)

Time is up

Well, time seems to be up for a real blog. miki d'taiwan and miki d'hellas are just a little bit more than photo-albums for family and friends.
miki d'kolan is me, myself and I.

What initiated it's birth was Isabella's (Izzy) pledge for co-writing a book(s) on idea(s) that matter. At least to the people who write. When I saw it ,it was natural to go for it. Funny. More understood as an exercise of "how this pledging works?"

Tell me about non-statistycal world! I will listen and mix the waters of underworlds with my feets, bathed in the Ocean of the Erotycon 3.

Why to hell I'd want to write a book?? If I haven't done it for 38 years, what a hell I would have to say now? Synthesis of my knowledge, understanding and care for the world? Holy Shit! NO! Exactly the contrary effect is on my mind: to de-concentrate (I am ZenMasterMiki, after all!), de-construct and de-mistfy "knowledge".

Not negate. Knowledge exists, is real and is powerful.

I will make wishlist of books to be written by others (I am not the one for them because of this or that reason, or simply because I am lazy to go for it). The 1st one, not to forget, would be: "Far East Freud". As in these non-monotheistic countries ut should be a bit different. Explanations in Freud are so connected to the Books that one could think Chinese do not have sex. Monkey Princess would agree, I know, but I think she is, anyway, bumping with her James, only she is not to say it loud, as good Taiwanese girl.

Interesting will be to follow to what Izzy's initiative will lead. As "alpha Chic" she is for certain able to drag after her bunch of followers. There is some pervert pleasure in this, such blind following of the leading pussy. But so sweet! :-D