Chekhov's Mistress
re Daniil Kharms, I Just Read
&t
A short story in the collection, Daniil Kharms. I finished The Old Woman while walking down the street because I had to finish it.
Have you ever heard of Kharms? Me neither. Simon McBurney’s introduction tells us why: Kharms’ story is horrifying typical of the Soviet era; he died of starvation in a Gulag and his work was prevented from being published during his lifetime. He was the founding member of the “Oberiu Group” (an acronym for the Association for Real Art) in 1928; several of whose members died in prison.
His work is labled as absurdist. After only reading one story, I can’t say much, but absurdist is probably too broad of a label, but I’ll leave it at that and say for now that if you appreciate literature that paints a picture of the no-way-outness of life, you might want to check it out. I was merely excited to find this collection while excavating my pile of books recently and wanted to mention it. Try the Wikipedia link on Kharms’ name above for more info and some links to stories.
p.s. I listened to Larissa Volokhonsky reading in Russian last weekend and was awed by the beauty of the language. More on that later.
comments
Daniil Charms did not die in a gulag.
It is not sure but mostly it is said he died of hunger in a prison in the besieged Leningrad, during the horrible time of the blockade.
You should read Charms.
have a look at some of my photo-works on Charms:
http://www.zweiterblick.de/zweiterblick/ransicht.html
bye, Connie
– Connie (05/11 at 05:46 PM)
Actually, no one knows exactly how he died and we’re left with speculation that may include a prison hospital. However, if it weren’t for Stalin he probably wouldn’t have died when he did, and Gulag connotes to me, and I thought many, Stalin’s oppression in general, whether it was in a camp, prison or hospital prison, which is why I used the term instead of going into all of the above.
I am enjoying his writing, thank you, and thanks too for the link to some of your photos. I don’t know the language, so I couldn’t make much of them, but they are great photos.
- Bud
– Bud Parr (05/11 at 06:09 PM)
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About this Post
- Posted by: Bud Parr
- Date: April 23, 2007
- Filed Under:
Wise Men Fish Here: Literature
- Comments:2
- Links to this Post: Technorati
