Writers

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

Advice to a young Armenian writer:
Don't write; but if you write, don't publish; but if you publish, be prepared to perish.

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

We brag about the Golden Age of our literature but I wonder how many of us have read a single golden masterpiece?

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

THE MAGIC NUMBER
***************************************
Where there are two or more
churches, schools and community centers,
keep one, discard the rest
before we all end up in the dustbin of history.
*
One nation under God,
two or more under the Devil.
*
As a writer it is my ambition
to make myself as useful
as a bricklayer.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

Our academics are not dupes;
they only pretend to be.
Call it a survival tactic.

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

It is not enough to say we did nothing wrong.
Did we do anything right?
Even more to the point:
Can we even tell right from wrong?

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

It was Hemingway who once said:
“Minor writers plagiarize. Major writers steal.”
And sure enough, at one time or another all major writers
have been accused of being plagiarists –
Sartre, Garcia Marquez, Toynbee, Zarian...
*
Toynbee once described himself as someone
who moves old furniture around.
Garcia Marquez’s style has been traced back
to the 1001 ARABIAN NIGHTS and Faulkner.
An American academic, Stern by name
(that’s the only thing I remember about him)
once wrote a book in which he traced all of Sartre’s ideas
to predecessors.
And so it goes (a plagiarized line...Can you guess whose?)

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

Being Armenian is hard work. I wouldn't apply for the job even if they offered a fat salary, the very best in fringe benefits, and the sky-is-the-limit expense account.

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

SHOP TALK
******************************
Zohrab understood many things
but not the most important things.
*
We say and repeat “God is great”
as if we suffered from an advanced case
of collective amnesia.
*
You will never be a good writer
if that’s all you want to be,
*
Disagree with an Armenian
and expose the Turk in him.
*
Like most Armenians I am better
at making enemies than friends.
*
What can I write to be popular?
A question worthy of a pimp.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

SHOP TALK
******************************
Zohrab understood many things
but not the most important things.
*
We say and repeat “God is great”
as if we suffered from an advanced case
of collective amnesia.
*
You will never be a good writer
if that’s all you want to be,
*
Disagree with an Armenian
and expose the Turk in him.
*
Like most Armenians I am better
at making enemies than friends.
*
What can I write to be popular?
A question worthy of a pimp.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: Writers

PROFILES IN COURAGE************************************** Readers who know little or nothing about Armenian literature call me brave for writing as I do. I am nothing of the kind. *Raffi (1835-1888) was brave when he said, “There is more profit in defending the interests of wolves against sheep than the other way around,” and, “The fiercest enemies of critics are those who serve tyrants.” *A notorious Kurdish assassin was hired to have him silenced permanently.*Zarian (1885-1969) was brave for exposing the moral bankruptcy of the Soviet regime long before Solzhenitsyn did, returned to Yerevan, where, some say, he was murdered.*Bakounts (1899-1937) was brave when he described the regime as a “disease,” was arrested, jailed, tortured, and shot.*Shahnour (1904-1974) was brave when he said, “An Armenian's indifference for the collective good of the people is a thick, impenetrable shield which dulls and neutralizes his soul. What insufferable rottenness, especially when he is educated.”*Aramais Sahakian (b. 1936) was brave when he said “Let us learn to be human by observing animals.” And I could go on and on...*Compared to them I am no better than a scarecrow whose words carry as much weight as an ant's fart.As for those who insult me on the Internet, they are no better than faceless, gutless, anonymous scum.#