Writers

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

BEHOLD / Theophylactus Simocatta the Egyptian (500-630 A.D.) in the PREFACE to his UNIVERSAL HISTORY: “History [is] the universal teacher of mankind, who lays before us what we should attempt and what we should leave alone as being unlikely to succeed. I am resolved to throw myself into her embraces, even though the enterprise be greater than my powers in view of the vulgarity of my style, the imbecility of my ideas, the awkwardness of my phraseology, and the unskilfulness of my composition. If any reader should find here and there a touch of felicity in my narrative, he must attribute it to chance, for most certainly it will not be due to the competence of the writer.”#

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

Sunday, August 28, 2016
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READING NABOKOV
**************************
“A small black cat
sitting on a chair and licking one hind paw
rigidly raised like a shouldered club…”
*
"In pornographic novels, action has to be limited
to the copulation of clichés.”
*
“The caravan went onward, now ascending
to the crest of a dune, now plunging downward
and by evening its shadow has attained
gigantic proportions.”
*
“I gave her to hold in her awkward fist
the scepter of my passion.”
*
“A combination of decency and sentimentality
is exactly equal to being a fool.”
*
“Everything within me seemed to lose hold
and come hurtling down from a height
of ten stories.”
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

Tuesday, August 30, 2016
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Q/A
****************
Far better men than myself have said
“I am ashamed to identify myself as an Armenian.”
And if you were to say “Name one,”
I will do better than that: I will say
“Have you ever read the biography
of a single Armenian writer?”
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

Axel Bakounts's famous last words scratched on the wall of his cell "They are tearing me to shreds like savage beasts!"
Who were these "savage beasts"? They remain faceless and nameless to this day.

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

Hegel says somewhere that when words are not followed by action they become empty verbiage and meaningless noise. A great thought. An admirable observation. Wonderful advice. Except for one thing: it was adopted by fascists.#

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

Mikael Nalbandian: "It is high time that Armenians learn the manly art of telling black from white."
*
Leo Alishan: "To be aware of our failings is smart; to ignore them is the height of stupidity."
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

There is nothing wrong in being a pessimist if you work like an optimist.

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

More often than not I do nothing but paraphrase
our writers (see my DICTIONARY OF ARMENIAN
QUOTATIONS). Our jackasses are not aware of this
fact because they don’t read Armenian writers.
Their ignorance thus allows them to parade as
good Armenians even as they voice views that are
neither good nor Armenian.

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

ANSWERS
TO THE PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE
*************************************
Q: Who are your favorite fictional characters?
A: In movies, Spencer Tracy’s character
in BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK
and Alan Ladd’s character in SHANE.
In literature, Bazarov in Turgenev’s
FATHERS AND SONS, and Prince Myshkin
in Dostoevsky’s IDIOT.
*
Q: What do you dislike most about yourself?
A: My childhood, youth, middle age, and old age.
*
Q: Do you have a favorite motto?
A: Believe nothing you are told.
*
Q. On what occasions do you lie?
A: Because truth is beyond me, on all occasions.
*
Q: What is the misconception you dislike most?
A: Everything that has been said about love.
*
Q: What are some of your dislikes?
A: Long answers to short questions.
*
(To be continued.)
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

Tuesday, September 06, 2016
*************************************
MORE ANSWERS
TO THE PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE
****************************************
Which words or phrases you most overuse?
So what else is new?
*
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Understanding.
In a woman?
Ditto.
*
What is that you most dislike?
Self-assessed infallibility –
the kind that allows one to judge others
not by how much they know
but how much they have.
*
What is your favorite occupation?
Playing Bach in an empty church.
*
Where would you like to live?
Venice – not because it is a pretty city
but because that’s where I discovered
the world of music and literature
#