on zarian

[arabaliozian]

ON ZARIAN
*************************
Hagop Oshagan: “He deals in surfaces, like a camera…
That which is invisible remains beyond his reach.”
*
An academic in Yerevan: “Nobody liked him.”
*
A next-door neighbor of his from Los Angeles:
“I avoided him. I was told he was a madman.”
*
A young journalist: “I once carried a heavy suitcase for him
up a mountain in Cyprus -- nearly dislocated a shoulder…
and he didn’t even thank me.”
*
A Tashnak Editor: “If we treat him right
he may come to our side.” (He didn’t.)
*
A self-assessed great writer of the Diaspora:
“An incurable name-dropper…Picasso told me this,
Unamuno told me that…me, me, me!”
*
Puzant Granian: “He was a bit of a fanfarone.”
*
Vahe Oshagan: “His so-called brilliance
never rises above that of a student.”
*
There is a frequently quoted Armenian saying:
“Kna merir yegour sirem.” (Freely paraphrased:
“Drop dead and I’ll love you.” This rule too, I guess,
has its share of exceptions.
*
Another possible explanation:
Writers are not equipped to understand other writers.
Their primary concern is to eliminate the competition.
#

[lampron]

Re: on zarian

maybe non-Armenians who have familiarity with Armenian literature (probably not many of them) will be more objective in their observations

[londontsi]

Re: on zarian

One of my teachers at Melkonian Institute, himself a student of Oshagan at the Institute, describing him as a great thinker.

Apparently he rarely edited or second read his works. It appears his forte was the thinking and the ideas man.

As for his critics, anybody who has studied Armenian literature knows or has heard about Hagop Oshagan.
Who knows about his critics.

Sadly Armenian literature is neglected nowadays and rarely has a place in our cultural life, along with our famous writers.

As for the critics who had a parasitic existence alongside the famous have also disappeared into oblivion.

.

[arabaliozian]

Re: on zarian

If I don’t speak of the afterlife
it’s because I leave that particular branch of ignorance
to those who survive by deceiving themselves.
*

[arabaliozian]

Re: on zarian

SOURCES OF OUR DECLINE
& DEGENERATION
*****************************************
Fornicating bishops sermonizing on chastity,
blind men parading as men of vision,
perennial losers speechifying on future victories...
*
After depopulating the land,
they promote tourism
on the grounds that tourists
are a source of income.
By contrast, the poor and the unemployed
are a drain on the economy.
*
I remember the words of an elder statesman:
“Some of the most important players in our communities
are not Armenian but Turks who speak Armenian fluently.”
#