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The Man with the Black Coat: Russia's Literature of the Absurd
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,
This book brings together works by two of the outstanding talents of Soviet literature, Daniil Kharms and Alexander Vvedensky. It discloses a little-known tradition of absurdism that persisted during the Stalinist period, a testimony to both the hardiness of the Russian imagination in the face of socialist realism and the vitality of an important cultural and literary trad
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Paperback, 258 pages
Published
August 30th 1997
by Northwestern University Press
(first published November 1971)
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Showing 1-30
the best accidental library find ever.
"My nonsense hurts a little" - there's no more accurate assessment of these treasures than that quote from the treasures themselves. Because nonsense does hurt; absurdity may at least be a stab at humor, but at the root is a fundamental void. This writing captures the incredible cathartic power of language while at the same time not ignoring dire reality that makes it possible.
"If only human beings sin, this means that the sins of the world are to be found in the human being himself. Sin does n ...more
"If only human beings sin, this means that the sins of the world are to be found in the human being himself. Sin does n ...more
Read It Now.
Daniil Kharms and Alexander Vvedensky are absurdists. You don’t have to read them to know that. Their names give them away — what’s with all those repeating vowels and consonants? THE MAN WITH THE BLACK COAT: RUSSIA’S LITERATURE OF THE ABSURD cements the deal with very short stories, plays, verse and even some tales for children. The truth is that today absurdity is realism and, I think, it might not have veered too far from that then, too. The 1930s in the USSR was a time of creative and politi
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(I don't remember exactly what year I read this.) A book I actually have kept over the years. Read it front to back with relish. Later, it paired well with psilocybin, though I couldn't concentrate for more than a few pages.
Feb 17, 2014
Naomi Ruth
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
adult-fiction,
fav-authors
I secretly write like them. Or want to write like them? There are certain similarities that strike me as odd and significant. I need more of them in my life.
While Kharms' work in this is better translated in other editions and provides nothing new, Alexander Vvedensky's Christmas at the Ivanov's makes this entire book worth reading.
Feb 10, 2019
Angelique
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
an-actual-book-2019,
books-read-in-2019
If you’re looking for absurd, look no further than here. Maybe it should stay lost? A great read for inspiring my writing, but found most of it not fun to read. I loved Falling-Out Old Women and A Children’s Story - everything else was meh/absurd for absurd sake/wild.
Couldnt put it down. Love learning and exploring the Russian avant garde.
Selected works by Russian Absurdist Daniil Kharms and a short play by his compatriot Alexander Vvedensky.
Book Review: Russia's Lost Literature of the Absurd is subtitled A Literary Discovery, and further subtitled Selected Works of Daniil Kharms and Alexander Vvedensky. In fact, the book, edited and translated by George Gibian, consists of various works by Kharms (1905-42) and a single short play by Vvedensky (1904-42). This may be the first collection of Kharms' work translated into English. Bo ...more
Book Review: Russia's Lost Literature of the Absurd is subtitled A Literary Discovery, and further subtitled Selected Works of Daniil Kharms and Alexander Vvedensky. In fact, the book, edited and translated by George Gibian, consists of various works by Kharms (1905-42) and a single short play by Vvedensky (1904-42). This may be the first collection of Kharms' work translated into English. Bo ...more
Mostly comprised of Daniil Kharms' parable-like 'nonsense' stories, this book displays the Russian absurdists' (failed) attempt to rescue imagination and individuality from a national literature that was headed toward pedantic 'proletarian' fable. The result is writing that is as filled with wonder and dream-like fantasy and as honest and innocent as children's lit, where its authors finally found political shelter.
Gibian's introductory essay contextualizes smartly this wonderful anthology that features mostly the work of Daniil Kharms. Much of this work had never been published in any language before and the mini-stories of Khaarms (some prose poems, some fables, all fabulous are a must read).
I love Kharms. There is much wonderful absurdity in this book.
OBIERU
Weird balance of work by the two featured writers. Should have just been a Kharms book and then done a separate book for Vvendsky. Buuut. All really great, funny, dark writing.
Strange and wonderful.
Soviet crimes.
Russian Absurdism at its finest.
Some of it is quirky, but most of it left me feeling mleh.
Apr 29, 2007
Matthew Crowley
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
Anyone who believes they live in a world they believe is not quite right.
I learned I'm not the only one.
i read snippets of Kharms' writing in the new yorker and i was a smitten kitten. he is whimsical and eerie.
finished! absolutely amazing.
finished! absolutely amazing.
If you like this book, you will also like Cortazar's "Cronopios and Famas" and Ionesco's "Rhinoceros."
Why couldn't he have written a novel? It would have rivaled "A Confederacy of Dunces." These stories are funny and outrageous and perfect for the easily bored.
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Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev (Даниил Иванович Ювачёв) was born in St. Petersburg, into the family of Ivan Yuvachev, a well known member of the revolutionary group, The People's Will. By this time the elder Yuvachev had already been imprisoned for his involvement in subversive acts against the tsar Alexander III and had become a religious philosopher, acquaintance of Anton Chekhov during the latter's
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“Pushkin loved to throw rocks. As soon as he saw a rock, he would throw it. Sometimes he became so excited that he stood, all red in the face, waving his arms, throwing rocks, simply something awful.
Pushkin had four sons, all idiots. One didn't even know how to sit in a chair and fell off all the time. Pushkin himself also sat on a chair rather badly. It was simply killing: they sat at the table; at one end, Pushkin kept falling off his chair continually, and at the other end, his son. Simply enough to make one split one's sides with laughter.”
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More quotes…
Pushkin had four sons, all idiots. One didn't even know how to sit in a chair and fell off all the time. Pushkin himself also sat on a chair rather badly. It was simply killing: they sat at the table; at one end, Pushkin kept falling off his chair continually, and at the other end, his son. Simply enough to make one split one's sides with laughter.”
