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Igor-Demidov — Once it was window
#bricks #wall #window
Published: 2018-02-16 19:45:22 +0000 UTC; Views: 539; Favourites: 85; Downloads: 4
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Is that called a "глухое окно"? I happened to come across that expression just today. Nowadays it seems to refer to a window that simply can't be opened. In English there's the term "blind window": commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cat… . It too is a bit of an obsoleted/specialist expression it seems.
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it called "заложенное окно" which means this is not window any more
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Hmm, difficult and therefore interesting stuff
"В проходе перед глухим окном толпились мужики. Низкий, юркий, растолкав посохом толпу, подошел к окну Вячеслав. Подал сладкий голосок:
- Как спастись... отче праведный?..
Но, смутно маяча в пещере, за окном темной тучей волос, молчал заросший мхом затворник зловеще и грозно.
...
В пещере [затворник] пек хлеб. В весенние зори раздавал его из глухого окна приходящим, исцеляя болезни и недуги."
If you follow this link:
apb-to.jimdo.com/%D1%82%D0%B5%…
and look for "БАЛЬГА – ВЕСЁЛОЕ, Багратионовский район", there's a picture with two walled (заложенное) windows, and the text says: "С обеих сторон по глухому окну."
But then the relevant questions here are: how can Вячеслав see inside the walled window, and how can the hermit pass the bread through it? Unless there's a hole left in it.
The text is from that Pimen Karpov book, The Flame, which has to be the strangest book I've ever read. This is just one of numerous mysteries which the reader is left with while reading The Flame. It's a very difficult and complex story and the language is pretty weird at times, but I personally do find it a fantastic book!
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I can only guess author it was the miracle: give bread through the glass or wall. Like walking through walls
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Hmm.. I think I've solved the linguistic mystery though: in English a walled window is one that used to be a real window but was walled up, like this one. A blind (or dummy) window is an architectural feature, intended as an embellishment: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cat… . It has never served as a real window. I guess the same applies to the глухое окно, even though the term apparently isn't used often in Russian, and when it is, it mostly applies to a real window that can't be opened. I came across another case of weird use of adjectives in that book: слепой холод. Whaaat?? Isn't language a great thing? It definitely is in the hands of Pimen Karpov
Your explanation could almost fit within that book, although it just isn't that weird, but only just. I once read a book from some South American country, in which the tiled floor of a monastery opens up underneath a guy's feet and the earth swallows him alive. I think that book was just a tiny bit weirder than Karpov's. I now feel sorry I never finished reading it (it was in Spanish), nor can I remember it's title or the name of the author. Too bad, it would have made for an interesting comparison.
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So... let it just be - those play with words that make no sense. So many books were made in such way.. Why this one should be better?
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Just this one sentence..
"В зале - блеск позолоты, суматоха, музыка, звон бокалов, давка - все смешалось в одну сплошную искру зеленого огня ненависти."
That single sentence pretty much sums up the entire book
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I see!
little bit nonsense , little bit of bad taste, little bit pretentious....
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Jeez, why are you so negative about it? It really is a good story, in all it's grotesqueness! It's extremely difficult for me to read, really one line at a time, and I'm already at page 150 or so! At least it doesn't make me fall asleep like Anna Karenina did. And yes, it's TOTALLY about bad taste, but that's the whole fun! I've read reviews from critics who didn't like it because they felt it gave Russia a bad name. Which is entirely beside the point, but never mind. But I've been wondering: don't you ever get criticized for publishing all the rust and decay? I mean, you don't exactly paint a pretty picture of your home country either, do you?
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Hmm... I would never criticize one for showing country in bad way.
All that rust and decay - it really makes specific mood, but it is not about only Russia.
I find rust almost everywhere, and the main thing in it is composition, textures, colours and so on.
So.. rust and bad reputation - it is ok, but bad taste.... I would not like to tolerate bad taste
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Taste is a very personal issue and also one that tends to vary wildly with time. I'm fairly confident that if you were to dive into the relevant Italian archives from the 16th century, you would find plenty of people complaining about Michelangelo's tasteless, tacky and borderline-pornographic artwork
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I agree that taste is very personal thing, and I do not want to tell anyone not to read those books, but for myself I would not be able to read such text. The main thing in my mind would be "shit, I do not want to hear it anymore"
And I'm doubt in high value of historic aspect of that book. But anyway my opinion influence only on me, not anyone else, so I think I can have It without change
About this:
"you keep 'em poor, I'll keep 'em stupid".
Hmm... In nowadays Russia it sounds like this: "you keep 'em poor, I'll keep 'em obedient".
This is one of main ideas of Левиафан movie. And as I see it that is true.
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The historic value of The Flame is irrelevant because it's a novel. Fiction. It is basically a literary variant of one of Jeroen Bosch's triptychs. No one ever questions the historic or scientific accuracy of one of those. In the case of The Flame, unfortunately people seem to always focus on the panel titled Hell. But the book is so much more than that. If I were to characterize it with a single word, it would be "loving" (I'll spare you a lengthy explanation
I don't know what to write about things going on in Russia any more. I tend to avoid Russian government-backed "journalism" these days. It's so deeply offensive. It's interesting to see how this obedience is maintained though: by keeping the Russian population in a permanent state of fear and indignation. To make it seem as if the entire (= Western world), is out to offend and humiliate Russia and its people all the time. The reality is that outside Russia nobody really cares about Russia. China is a way bigger threat. But perhaps that's what offends a the more nationalistically-inclined Russians more than anything else. They'll wake up once they find themselves living in what has overnight become North China
I must watch that film some day!
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If you do not know what to write - then just don't do it
And watch the film. It is not stupid. And not only hell there.
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I don't mind you feeling that book isn't for you. It's not like I want to "convert" you to reading it. But the way you express your apparent contempt for it is really presumptuous and arrogant. Based on which authority are you to judge about what is and isn't worth writing? Because you read Homer in high school? Translated a few fragments from Cicero's speeches perhaps? The book isn't only "hell" either, that was my point. But I'll drop the subject. No use trying to convert the unconvertable
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I had never have aim or even wish to judge if something worthy for writing or not. But I hope you would not deny my right to decide which thing is worthy for my own reading or not.
I can try to explain what I see in that only sentence:
"В зале - блеск позолоты, суматоха, музыка, звон бокалов, давка - все смешалось в одну сплошную искру зеленого огня ненависти."
First of all first part of phrase is not connected to second. Nothing in the first part somehow connected with hatred. May be I do not know the context, and this is why this looks like nonsense.
The next thing is green flame of hatred - why green? I do not feel this way, and I see it as the attempt of author to be extraordinary and special.
Then how it can be imagined when everything is melted in spark? The figures of words in literature can be abstract, but they must be expressive and reader should be able to imagine that.
Flames can be melted, or flame can melt burning objects, spark can appear from flame, or spark can start the flame... but things can not be melted in spark. spark is small. Nonsense.
The other thing is that spark can not be "сплошной" - no solid, no continuous, no other word is applicable for spark.
And in general it leaves the impression that author has tried to be more figurative and exceptional then he could ever be. And this is why it sounds like bullshit. So I see in it contempt for his readers and do not want to take part in such relations.
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Ok, ok, ok.. Now I get it
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ok. Looks like now the conversation is going to the areas of personal taste.
But what I want to say about language ( I think it will be interesting for you anyway):
In Russian we can say literally "green because of envy" - very close to English variant.
That means that person is captured by this feeling so much, that his skin on the face takes some shade of pale green.
And it can never be related with sparks or flames.
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I can actually defend the сплошную искру as well. Hatred and envy are things that tend to flare up. In that context it could be translated/interpreted as "a continuous outburst" or "a perpetual surge". Which logically don't make sense either because outbursts and surges have a beginning and an end per definition. But this isn't about logic. Language isn't math. It's called artistic freedom. In this case poetry. Whether Karpov was a great poet is a different matter. He was a great storyteller though
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I'm just interested in language, and Russian language in particular. Russian has the name to be "richer" than for example English, but I'm not sure that's true. It depends on the writer to begin with. I personally see Russian as a bit of a "LEGO language", in the sense that it is so incredibly well-structured that it offers users the possibility, by combining pre-existing elements (a root + a choice of prefixes, infixes and suffixes) , to invent words on the fly, without loss of understanding. I frequently come across Russian words on forums etc. which can't be found in any dictionary, but still everyone seems to know what they mean. Which is cool!. On the other hand, if you look at the number of word roots, I think that English may well have a lot more of them. After all, as a mix of Britonic, Anglo-Saxon, Latin, French-Normandic and some ancient Greek it tends to have endless arrays of synonyms and near-synonyms. But it definitely lacks the flexibility Russian has. Russian is more "kaleidoscopic". Those odd adjective-noun combinations can perhaps be seen as an extension to that, although they're of course possible in any language, especially in a literary context.
As for that book, it is best known for its shock value, but in my opinion that is only the very surface. Have you watched the Carnivale series? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carniv%C… Karpov's book reminds me a lot of it. And I though it was awesome, perhaps the best thing I've seen so far coming from Hollywood. It was cut short after one season despite being extremely popular, perhaps the American Evangelists stepped in because it's intensely anti-clerical. And so is Karpov's book. As for the worldly authorities, the book isn't just anti-authority, it's full of an utter contempt for authority. I don't expect anyone to understand that, maybe you need to come out of a bit of a pirate family like I do in order to get that particular sentiment. Anyway, if you ever do decide to give The Flame a shot, just know that it's like nothing you've ever read before
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You are right about constructing words in russian language. And this is why some people can even talk using only матерные words. So many words can be made of only five!
But anyway root words still needed for normal conversation.
And I think the conversation about reach or poor language and wich language is richer has no real sense. It is just historical and ethnic differences. nothing more.
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When you're involved with Russian literature from a western perspective, this talk about Russian being a "richer" language is almost inescapable. It has an almost mythical status, along with the "mysterious Russian soul". The latter always reminds me of Ireland being called the "spiritual island". Good for the tourist industry
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Yeah, just promoted brands!
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Do you want to hear the story about Ireland the "spiritual island"? After the English invaded the country in 1167 AD they settled down near what is now Dublin and from there set out to subdue the rest of the country. They did so in such a cruel and beastly manner that many of the English soldiers couldn't take it any more and defected to the Irish side. This took such a flight that they had to replace entire regiments just months after they had crossed the Irish sea. And of course, back in London questions were raised: why do we have to send fresh regiments to Ireland all the time, and why do they all join the enemy within months? And of course the English commanders couldn't say "It because of our brutality and how we treat these people like less than animals. It's because we're beasts." Luckily, some bright guy came up with a smart and creative answer: "It's because of the Irish magic". And so a myth was born about some kind of special "spiritual" status of the Irish and the island they lived on. And to this day hordes of new age hippies descend upon the island every summer, hoping to experience some of the "magic" and "spirituality" that is apparently found in high concentrations over there. And they even have a point: Ireland is a sparsely populated place with a vast open countryside and relatively little traffic and industry, and the wind almost always comes blowing in directly from the ocean. Therefore, anyone who is used to living in a noisy, stuffy and polluted urban environment is bound to have a "spiritual" experience when they visit a place like Ireland. It's called fresh air
It's a good story, isn't it? People are so stupid..
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Why stupid?
They just get what they want and don't care why that happened.
And other people get their money from tourists because they invented good story about Spiritual island.
Everyone is happy, so it does not matter how it works
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Thank you! Great to hear that!
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