March 2015 Archives

Rad note » this entry originated from another page. It was moved here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate page, which lets me focus on and reference more easily the concepts under discussion here.

At the end of this entry (that you're reading now) I have included a link that will return you to the exact place from where this entry originated. Here ya go ...

Professor Nietzsche Quits His Day-Job to » Hike the Swiss Alps Every Summer

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)Nietzsche is another writer who craved the mountains and the mountain air.

Probably even more than Hemingway.

But Nietzsche summered in the mountains .. the mountains of Sils Maria in Switzerland.

Not far from the border with Italy.

Which is where he headed for the winters. Down to warmer climates like Turin & Genoa.

At age 24 (1869) he became the youngest-ever person to occupy the Chair of Classical Philology (Written Languages) ..

.. at the University of Basel (founded 1460, Switzerland).

Twenty-four year old Professor Nietzsche .. at the same university where minds like Euler ('OY-ler) and Bernoulli went.

Ten years later, at age 34 (1879) he said » "Fuck it. I'm outta here. This shit is driving me crazy. Send my monthly pension checks to my new address at Sils Maria. I am now going to apply my considerable powers of intellect toward philosophy. Heck, I might even write a book or two while I'm there."

[ That's when Nietzsche headed to the Alps and started doing some vigorous, sustained hiking (like Hemingway). And writing books (also like Hemingway). ]

<ignore this intentional body-text marker>

Rad note » this entry originated from another page. It was moved here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate page, which lets me focus on and reference more easily the concepts under discussion here.

At the end of this entry (that you're reading now) I have included a link that will return you to the exact place from where this entry originated. Here ya go ...

» Reading Colors Writing (Influences)

You might expect with Joseph Frank, after having spent so much time reading after Dostoevsky, that HIS OWN writing might take on the characteristics of Dostoevsky, no?

I mean, how could he not? [ not be influenced ]

I know with myself, how I catch myself adapting (subconsciously) my style to that of the author/writer who I am currently reading. So I cant imagine Joseph Frank, or anyone else, for that matter .. being any different.

And right off the bat, I noticed how Joseph Frank's writing reminds me of Dostoevsky's .. in that both men » take you quickly into the story, deeply.

Ernest Hemingway's 1923 Passport Photo at Age 24Hemingway starts you off in the middle of the action, so to speak ..

.. but that does not necessarily mean that he takes you deep right away.

Joseph Frank takes you right into the meat of Dostoevsky's world.

» Time Travel Using the Imagination

I feel as tho I am somehow being transported back thru the decades and centuries .. and across continents .. to another land in another time.

With different cultures and different traditions and different moral and social norms. Very interesting.

This is all the stuff I really like .. cuz it takes you there so completely.

<ignore this intentional body-text marker>

Rad note » this entry originated from another page. It was moved here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate page, which lets me focus on and reference more easily the concepts under discussion here.

At the end of this entry (that you're reading now) I will include a link that will return you to the exact place from where this entry originated. Here ya go ...

» Russian Greats Weave the Eternal Golden Thread of Scripture Thru Their Timeless Novels

Tolstoy (1828-1910)I noticed that both Tolstoy and Dostoevsky weave verses-of-scripture into their stories.

[ I was going to, instead, write » 'weave into their stories verses of scripture' ..

.. which is better writing.

But notice how that is not weaving the words. And therefore not recursive.

And recursion is where the power is. In writing both narrative and computer programs. ]

Both of them begin their timeless novels, for example, with a short verse that sets the tone and foreshadows things to come .. a mechanism that itself plays off the prophetic. A technique.

Tolstoy begins Anna Karenina (a novel claimed by many to be the finest written, in any language, ever, in the history of our species, homo sapiens) with a verse from the Old Testament that has echoed down thru the centuries » Vengeance is mine; I will repay.

Dostoevsky, on the other hand, begins The Brother Karamazov (a novel acclaimed the world over as one of the supreme achievements in literature) with a verse from John's gospel » Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

[ I am talking about Writing here. Writing and writers. ]

Hemingway liked to use verses of scripture as his titles. I wonder if he got this idea while he was reading the Russians ..

.. sitting around a fire in the mountains of Austria during the winter months .. when Paris got ugly. And cold.

<ignore this intentional body-text marker>

The Legendary Iowa Writers' Workshop

Rad note » this entry originated from another page. It was moved here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate page, which also lets me reference more easily the concept under discussion here.

At the end of this entry (that you're reading now) I have included a link that will return you to the exact place from where this entry originated. Here ya go ...

» The Legendary Iowa Writers' Workshop

Speaking of taking things to the next level .. Michelle went to the legendary Iowa Writers' Workshop .. probably the best school of its kind.

Myself, I applied the MFA program at UCI (Irvine). They took my $200 and wouldnt even kiss me. So I figured that particular path was not my path.

This basically forces you into a form of self-study and experimentation .. because we all must be students of what we do, right?

But this must be very different from what the students as Iowa experience, no?

Rad note » the subject under discussion here [ » the Iowa Writers' Workshop ] has drifted far enough that I decided to lift and move this section to its own separate page .. see here » The Legendary Iowa Writers' Workshop.

<ignore this intentional body-text marker>

Michelle's Eyebrow-Raising Confession

Rad note » this entry originated from another page. It was moved here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate page, which also lets me reference more easily and directly the provocative concept under discussion here.

At the end of this entry (that you're reading now) I have included a link that will return you to the exact place from where this entry originated. Here ya go ...

Michelle's Experiences Growing Up in Altadena & Her » Eyebrow-Raising Confession

For example, most recently I have returned to my 'Exploring' entry [ january 2013, page 2/4 ] .. particularly to the section where I discuss people who would rather have NO children (both men & women) ..

Childless by Choice in Altadena.. <pause for effect>..

.. than to bring up a child in a home like the one in which they were raised.

Where I added a link to Michelle's article about being Childless by Choice .. particularly where she said »

I have friends from families long ridden with addiction, abuse and poverty ..

.. who have become loving, responsible, sober parents and made safe, calm homes for their children.

So why did neither my sister nor I ever want to "do it right" and live in a family of our own making?

Even as I learned that not all families were like this » I didn't trust myself not to recreate what I had known.

I believe it was no coincidence that I waited to marry until it was biologically impossible for me to have children. [ the author ]

Michelle's documented experiences of growing up in Altadena illustrate beautifully what I was trying to say, and her article reveals that it is not only men who feel this way.

I knew that women, also, felt that way .. because I heard them tell me so. And yes, I was surprised.

<ignore this intentional body-text marker>

Rad note » this entry originated from another page. It was moved here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate page, which lets me focus on and reference more easily the concepts under discussion here.

At the end of this entry (that you're reading now) I have included a link that will return you to the exact place from where this entry originated. Here ya go ...

Joseph Frank is About the » Socio-Political & Ideological Context of Dostoevsky's Novels

Tho it is somewhat ironic that I am mentioning Dostoevsky's (remarkable) personal history (» political arrest by the czar, his mock execution and years spent in a hellish Siberian concentration camp with common peasant criminals) .. especially now ..

Joseph Frank (1918-2013).. because this is precisely the thing that Joseph Frank says that most people make too big of a deal out of ..

.. while ignoring the really important stuff.

He says, if you really wanna understand Dostoevsky and especially his novels ..

.. you really need to understand the socio-political and ideological context of the day ..

.. because that is what Dostoevsky's novels were all about. They were often a response to the prevailing ideas of the established Russian intelligensia of his day. ( "Dear Fuck-Heads of the so-called Intelligentsia..." )

Joseph Frank does not say that Dostoevsky's mock execution and his time spent LIVING WITH common peasant criminals in a Siberian prison camp werent influential.

Rather he is saying that his novels are not about that .. so dont focus all your attention there .. even while admitting that Dostoevsky's personal history is indeed fascinating.

<ignore this intentional body-text marker>

Waxing Existential

Rad note » this entry originated from another page. It was moved here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate page, which lets me focus on and reference more easily the concepts under discussion here.

At the end of this entry (that you're reading now) I have included a link that will return you to the exact place from where this entry originated. Here ya go ...

» Waxing Existential

Since the minute I received the call from my doctor, and especially in the minutes immediately after that moment .. when he told me that I had cancer ..

.. uh, I have been in a very 'existential' state of mind. An existential mood, you might say. But what does that mean?

You cant really help it, you know. You are where you are. You cannot pretend that you are not when you are .. can you?

Both Dostoevsky & Nietzsche, whom I find 'interesting' .. both of them are existentialists.

So this might be a good place for me to discuss my thoughts and views and feelings on the subject. And maybe do a little exploring. Turn over stone or two. Detour down some cobblestone back-alleys at midnight.

Kierkegaard (1813-1855) is generally considered the father of Existentialism. This page says that he might even be the father of modern psychology, too. Quotes. More quotes.

He is probably best known for » Fear & Trembling (1843). More.

Kristen the singer was the one who introduced me to Kierkegaard, who she sorta adopted as her personal religion, so to speak.

On the one hand, the word itself seems so pretentious. Does it not? Existentialism. So full of itself. Which may be part of the reason why I have never researched the topic itself very much (philosophically speaking.)

I only know that there is a strong resonance with some of (many of?) the things that these people have said and done. Tho these people do not seem pretentious at all, do they?

It's difficult to wax pretentious when you're getting your ass kicked.

Here is part of the first paragraph on Existentialism from Wikipedia »

.. late 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the HUMAN subject--not merely the thinking subject, but the ACTING, FEELING, LIVING human individual.

In existentialism, the individual's starting point is characterized by what has been called "the existential attitude", or a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world

Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophies, in both style and content, as too abstract and remote from concrete human experience.

Okay, after reading the first paragraph, I am already feeling them .. and how they see things .. how they tend to make sense out of the barrage of information that we humans receive here in the 21st century.

[ We're in the Third Millenium, dawg. The Third Millenium. ]

<ignore this intentional body-text marker>

Rad note » this entry originated from another page. It was moved here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate page, which also lets me reference more easily the concept under discussion here.

At the end of this entry (that you're reading now) I have included a link that will return you to the exact place from where this entry originated. Here ya go ...

» Rad vs Hemingway on the Key Factor Behind Dostoevsky's Genius

This however, might be a good place .. to mention where I disagree with Hemingway .. about his appraisal of the thing that "made" Dostoevsky .. the writer that he became. What was it that precipitated his genius?

Ernest Hemingway's 1923 Passport Photo at Age 24Notice what Hemingway wrote »

» "Dostoevsky was MADE by being sent to Siberia. Writers are forged in injustice, as a sword is forged." 

[Green Hills of Africa, p 71, 1935]

Which is certainly a credible position to adopt.

But I feel .. and I have felt this way ever since I was diagnosed with cancer ..

.. which can be viewed as a death sentence of sorts.

I feel that it was really » the mock execution that Dostoevsky experienced ..

.. that did it for him. Because it immediately brought him into the realm of » the existential ..

.. where the question of your very existence is brought into the spotlight of your conscious awareness .. your conscious thoughts .. because it is » threatened by a known killer. A well-known killer.

<ignore this intentional body-text marker>

Rad note » this entry originated from another page. It was moved here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate page, which also lets me reference more easily the concept under discussion here.

At the end of this entry (that you're reading now) I have included a link that will return you to the exact place from where this entry originated. Here ya go ...

» Treating Myself for Completing a Difficult 7-Week Cancer Treatment

We need to reward ourselves for completing these major life challenges. So that's what I did .. for completeing perhaps the hardest thing I've ever done .. by ordering Joseph Frank's bio condensation on Dostoevsky (2009).

Dostoevsky | A Writer in His Time (2009) by Joseph FrankI've been wanting that bio for years now.

Joseph Frank (1918-2013, same years as Mandela, btw, with dual professorships at both Princeton and Stanford) ..

.. spent 30 years researching Dostoevsky the writer ..

.. from the early 1970's to the early 2000's). Researching a fascinating character, if you ask me.

Frank even learned the Russian language so he could gaze more deeply into Dostoevsky's world and his art. (That's dedication.)

Joseph Frank never intended to be Dostoevsky's biographer. No, sir. Rather he was simply (like me) reading a copy of Notes from Underground ..

.. when he noticed something about the novel. About the writing. About its subject.

"This Dostoevsky guy .. his writing .. there's something about it .. I cant quite put my finger on it, tho. Maybe I should look a little closer. Oh, lookie there .. aint that some shit. Wow. He's even more interesting than I thought."

That is exactly what happened to me. So, in that sense, I feel a certain kinship with Mr Frank, or at least, with his experience of reading Dostoevsky.

<ignore this intentional body-text marker>

Pages

  • about
Powered by Movable Type 5.2.12

About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries from March 2015 listed from newest to oldest.

February 2015 is the previous archive.

April 2015 is the next archive.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.