R.L. Swihart's Blog, page 51

Manuscripts Never Burn

30 October 1935 

During the day there was a ring at our door. I went out and there was Akhmatova with such a dreadful face, and so much thinner, that I scarcely recognized her; nor did Misha. It turned out that in one and the same night both her husband (Punin) and her son (Gumilyov) had been arrested. She had come to deliver a letter to Yosif Vissarionovich [Stalin]. She was quite clearly in a confused state and was muttering things to herself.

Manuscripts Never Burn

24 September 1935 

Grisha [Konsky]. In the evening, at his request, Misha read him the first three chapters of the novel [The Master and Margarita]. They produced a quite extraordinary effect on Grisha, and I think he wasn’t shamming. I wept.

Manuscripts Never Burn (Bulgakov)

A demon has taken hold of me. In Leningrad and now here, as I suffocate in these little rooms, I have begun to scribble down all over again page after page of that novel I destroyed three years ago. Why? I don’t know. I’m just amusing myself. Let it fall into the river Lethe! Anyway, I will probably put it down again soon.

Lewis's Woodpecker @ Irvine Regional

Lewis's Woodpecker @ Irvine Regional Park. Only one good pic (of three) but I know his fave tree and may return for more.:)

#rlswihart #irvine #irvineregionalpark #woodpeckersofinstagram #lewisswoodpecker #meriweatherlewis #adventure #discovery #birding #nature #beauty #poetry #readmorepoetry2023 #ukraine 🇺🇦

Three New Poems @ Otoliths

Three new poems up @ Otoliths: Issue 68 Summer 2023. Link is also in my bio.:)

Otoliths Issue 68 Summer 2023

#rlswihart #threepoems #otoliths #issue68 #summer2023 #poetry #readmorepoetry2023

Pyrrhuloxia in La Quinta CA

I'll call him Mr. P or the Desert Cardinal. Didn't give us much time (10 min and he was off), so I hope to go back. Pyrrhuloxia @ La Quinta CA. Thanks for the tips ebird & @just.birdies.:) A beautiful day.

#rlswihart #laquinta #laquintacalifornia #lakecahuilla #desertcardinal #MrP #pyrrhuloxia #hangswithfinches #alsohisownman #nature #desertbeauty #beauty #poetry #readmorepoetry2023 #ukraine 🇺🇦

Goodbye, Baby Blue

Goodbye, Baby Blue. My last pics are dated Dec 7th and I'm afraid he's gone. Little Blue Heron @ Bolsa Chica.

#rlswihart #bolsa #bolsachica  #huntingtonbeach #heronsofinstagram #littleblue #littleblueheron #babyblue #nature #beauty #poetry #goodbye 😘#readmorepoetry2023 #ukraine 🇺🇦

Wilhelm Raabe's The Hunger Pastor

Read two of his novels in the German Library years ago: Tubby Schaumann ("Cake Stuffer") and Horacker. Recently reread the shortstory "German Moonlight" and another shortstory (first time): Elderflowers (grabbed me, especially because of its setting: Prague's famous Old Jewish Cemetery). 

Anyway, at least in terms of English translations available via Kindle, I've run dry. Now, because I've got the time (retired) and will (unfortunately, not the German -- there I can only crawl), I'm tackling one of Raabe's novels from his "darker period": Hungerpastor, via a free copy in German (Kindle) and my Google Translate App. A bit tedious but perhaps I'll learn a bit and enjoy the novel. Bit by bit.

Excerpts (from the beginning):

Vom Hunger will ich in diesem schönen Buche handeln, von dem, was er bedeutet, was er will und was er vermag.

In this beautiful book I want to deal with hunger, with what it means, what it wants (wills) and what it can do.

&

Wie er für die Welt im ganzen Schiwa und Wischnu, Zerstörer und Erhalter in einer Person ist, kann ich freilich nicht auseinandersetzen, denn das ist die Sache der Geschichte; aber schildern kann ich, wie er im einzelnen zerstörend und erhaltend wirkt und wirken wird bis an der Welt Ende.

How he is Shiva and Vishnu, destroyer and preserver in one person for the world as a whole, I cannot of course explain, for that is the business of the story; but I can describe how in detail it has a destructive and preserving effect and will continue to do so until the end of the world.

&

Dem Hunger, der heiligen Macht des echten, wahren Hungers widme ich diese Blätter, und sie gehören ihm auch von Rechts wegen, was am Schluß hoffentlich vollkommen klargeworden sein wird.

I dedicate these pages to hunger, the holy power of real, true hunger, and they also belong to him by rights, which I hope will have become perfectly clear at the end.

Tolstoy: Resurrection: Infinite Forgiveness

Now he saw clearly what all the terrors he had seen came from, and what ought to be done to put a stop to them. The answer he could not find was the same that Christ gave to Peter. It was that we should forgive always an infinite number of times because there are no men who have not sinned themselves, and therefore none can punish or correct others.

Tolstoy: Resurrection: The General

The General belonged to the learned type of military men who believed that liberal and humane views can be reconciled with their profession. But being by nature a kind and intelligent man, he soon felt the impossibility of such a reconciliation; so as not to feel the inner discord in which he was living, he gave himself up more and more to the habit of drinking, which is so widely spread among military men, and was now suffering from what doctors term alcoholism. He was imbued with alcohol, and if he drank any kind of liquor it made him tipsy. Yet strong drink was an absolute necessity to him, he could not live without it, so he was quite drunk every evening; but had grown so used to this state that he did not reel nor talk any special nonsense. And if he did talk nonsense, it was accepted as words of wisdom because of the important and high position which he occupied. Only in the morning, just at the time Nekhludoff came to see him, he was like a reasonable being, could understand what was said to him, and fulfil more or less aptly a proverb he was fond of repeating: "He's tipsy, but he's wise, so he's pleasant in two ways."