Usually I post something about Francisco Goya on May 3rd, because of his world class painting forever assigned to this date -- El tres de mayo de 1808 en Madrid. But Nikolai Gogol popped into mind, and then Franz Kafka, and then back to Gogol. So Gogol it is, though our "times" seem like a mix of the visions of all three of these artists.
"Perfect nonsense goes on in the world. Sometimes there is no plausibility at all." Nikolai Gogol, "The Nose" / Hoc (1836).
The actual opener of Hoc goes like this:
Марта 25 числа случилось в Петербурге необыкновенно странное происшествие. Цирюльник Иван Яковлевич, живущий на Вознесенском проспекте фамилия его утрачена, и даже на вывеске его -- где изображен господин с запыленною щекою и надписью: "И кровь отворяют" -- не выставлено ничего, цирюльник Иван Яковлевич проснулся довольно рано и услышал запа горячего хлеба. Приподнявшись немного на кровати, он увидел, что супруга его, довольно почтенная дама, очень любившая пить кофей, вынимала из печи только что испеченные хлебы.
May 3rd, 2013: American stocks soar to their "highest level" even as air temperatures in Texas drop to their "lowest level" for this date in human history. There's snow in Kansas City, a fire outbreak in California. Long rifle and snub gun enthusiasts flock to Houston; while people in West, Texas, reel from a chemical storage plant explosion. Bizarre extremes, at least when filtered through the scrim of language.
May 3rd, 2013: American stocks soar to their "highest level" even as air temperatures in Texas drop to their "lowest level" for this date in human history. There's snow in Kansas City, a fire outbreak in California. Long rifle and snub gun enthusiasts flock to Houston; while people in West, Texas, reel from a chemical storage plant explosion. Bizarre extremes, at least when filtered through the scrim of language.
Indeed: It's Gogol Time!
Today's Rune: Defense.
1 comment:
That quote by Gogol is so true. I've said the same thing many times, although not quite so elegantly.
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