Writers

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Re: Writers

A STORY WITH A HAPPY ENDING / When asked to identify his favorite role model, one of our intellectuals (let’s call him Comrade Panchoonie) named one of our benefactors (let’s call him Jack S. Avanakian) and was amply rewarded.#

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

QUOTATIONS FROM
SHAHAN SHAHNOUR'S
CORRESPONDENCE, VOLUME II.
Collected, edited, and annotated by Krikor
Keusseyan.
**************************************************
On Vazken Shoushanian:
"I have read only one book by him, an epistolary
novel, which is a definite failure because it
happens to be a youthful work. Has he written
anything better? I asked this question to an
associate of his, Nartuni, who answered: "He is a
worthless man. He will write nothing of any
value."
I don't accept this verdict at face value because
these two Tashnaks can't stand each other."
*
On Antranik Zaroukian:
"When he was young, he was a fanatic Tashnak. And
more. He confused swearing with reasoning. He is
wrong if he thinks I hold a grudge against him.
No, never! Even if he had remained an obstinate
member of the Party I could not have harbored vengeful
thoughts in his direction, only pity and scorn."
*
About the shenanigans of the Jerusalem Monastery:


"Among other things, Nartuni told me all about the
wheeling-and-dealing in Jerusalem and the
scandalous conduct of our Holy Fathers there -
their alcoholism, contrabandism, womanizing,
gambling, thievery…He knows them well having
spent some time in their company. He tells me
these high-ranking ecclesiastics are themselves
former orphans [survivors of the massacres]
gathered from the desert. Alas!"
*
On our press:
"In order for our press to play a useful role in
our social and political life, there must be such
things as public opinion and collective memory,
in whose absence blunders will be forgotten and
incompetent leaders glorified."
*
On the literary scene in the Diaspora:
"Our literary market place is now in the hands of
senior citizens - Vratsian, Chobanian, Oshagan -
individuals who don't have to work for a living
and they have all the time in the world to write
and write…Let them write so long as they don't
give us a headache with their endless arguments
and senile problems."
*
In my review of this book I neglected to
mention that half of it consists of endnotes,
that can be read as a brief introduction to
20th-century Armenian history and culture. In
addition to being a dedicated fan of Shahnour,
Krikor Keusseyan is a meticulous scholar whose
comments are as informative as Shahnour's
observations and insights.
#

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Re: Writers

If at times I am merciless in my criticism, it’s because life has been even more merciless to us collectively. Compared to how tough life has been, I don’t even qualify as a marshmallow.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

Gerald Durrell’s memoir MY FAMILY
AND OTHER ANIMALS (1956) contains
an unforgettable and hilarious portrait of
Gostan Zarian.
Gerald Durrell: not to be confused
with his better-known brother Lawrence
(THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET)
who also wrote extensively about Zarian.
*

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Re: Writers

STATUS QUO
*********************************
For 600 years our
status quo remained the same.
They used our daughters as concubines
and our sons as Janissaries
and we said “yes, sir!”
*
And today we say “yes, sir!”
to those among us
who expect us to believe
if they speak in the name of God and capital
– make it Capital and god –
they must know something we don’t.
*
Words are not only cheap but worthless.
Why do I write?
I don’t. I deal in empty verbiage.
In what way am I different from Zohrab
who wrote about golden hearted hookers
and adultery on the eve of the Genocide?
*
To deal in empty verbiage
is not to write and to say “Yes sir!”
is not to speak.
#

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Re: Writers

https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-2276203.html

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Re: Writers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vahan_Totovents

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Re: Writers

What our leaders want from our writers is not their ideas but their cojones surgically removed and presented to them on a platter; and the astonishing part is that most writers don't mind singing soprano.
#

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Re: Writers

NOTES / COMMENTS
****************************************
There is a Turks in all of us
to the same degree that
there is an Armenian in all of them.
*
Where there is an abundance
of sermonizers and speechifiers
there will also be an abundance
of liars and dupes.
*
I repeat myself?
If they pretend I don’t exist,
why should I note reassert my existence?
*
The difference between our bishops and me
is that they recycle one book
and I recycle more than one.
*
Success in politics:
repeat yourself at the top of your lungs.
#

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Re: Writers

My life has been an uninterrupted succession
of blunders beginning with the one that said,
unlike other Armenian writers –
from Abovian (who committed suicide)
to Zarian (who died with the unshakeable conviction
that he had been murdered –
I will have better luck with my readers.