tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12674755.post8124733848569531017..comments2023-11-22T04:10:49.266-05:00Comments on Dispatches from Zembla: Peter Handke: A Journey to the RiversAlokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12947383354732747209noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12674755.post-47368979348240625052007-03-18T00:45:00.000-05:002007-03-18T00:45:00.000-05:00szerelem: I have heard of Kaplan's book. I remembe...szerelem: I have heard of Kaplan's book. I remember reading about it in a few places. This Drina river figures a lot in this book too. The premise of the book sounds very interesting. I have to start with some Kadare first too. <BR/><BR/>nico: my library has got only a few Handke books. Will see what I can find there. Will check soon.Alokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12947383354732747209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12674755.post-42459771796210639892007-03-18T00:22:00.000-05:002007-03-18T00:22:00.000-05:00Hmmm....interesting post. Haven't read the book or...Hmmm....interesting post. Haven't read the book or anything by Handke so I really can't take a stand on this.<BR/>Though anyone with even a little bit of sense wouldn't like Henry-Levi :D<BR/>Have you read Ivo Andric's <I>Bridge on the River Drina</I>? It is a very sweeping epic(the central character is basically the river)and gives a nice sense of the history of the region.<BR/>Also in travelogues I read Robert Kaplans <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/Balkan-Ghosts-Journey-Through-History/dp/0679749810" REL="nofollow">Balkan Ghosts</A> and <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/Eastward-Tartary-Travels-Balkans-Caucasus/dp/0375705767/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_k2a_1_txt/002-2392533-2527221" REL="nofollow">Eastward To Tartary</A> and though they were both really good. He does a pretty good job of explaining the situation in the area and to try and understand why what happened, did happen. Though I think even the people living there dont really understand that. Thats the feeling I get when I speak to my friends from that area. It's still very messy.Szerelemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17911190230851186924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12674755.post-59911611400027350862007-03-17T14:07:00.000-05:002007-03-17T14:07:00.000-05:00What about 'Absence', 'Essay for tiredness' and 'T...What about 'Absence', 'Essay for tiredness' and 'The left handed woman'? Of course 'A sorrow beyond dreams' is a must. I. Bachmann said of that book that nothing should be said about it, that no one should write about it. What do you think?<BR/>I may be intruding, but thanks for this polemical exchange!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12674755.post-81631506270024277012007-03-17T13:49:00.000-05:002007-03-17T13:49:00.000-05:00yup alok, thanks for adding.it is so nicely contro...yup alok, thanks for adding.<BR/>it is so nicely controversial :)<BR/>so much excitement :)<BR/>I swear, you might like his other books more.*https://www.blogger.com/profile/05680450955867041830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12674755.post-49600517238052176312007-03-17T13:28:00.000-05:002007-03-17T13:28:00.000-05:00cat: it was very mild but yeah enough to call him ...cat: it was very mild but yeah enough to call him Mr. Doubt :)<BR/>Will pick up one of his other books on my next visit to the library.<BR/><BR/>kubla: thanks! and I agree with you. it is also interesting because we praise more or less the same virtue when it comes to evaluating fiction...<BR/><BR/>antonia: have added the link to your post, right at the top! thanks for taking time to write it.Alokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12947383354732747209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12674755.post-53091336117864743112007-03-17T12:31:00.000-05:002007-03-17T12:31:00.000-05:00Also mild alcohol abuse is good, that makes you un...Also mild alcohol abuse is good, that makes you undiplomatic, and things become more interesting :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12674755.post-53535961124269938712007-03-17T08:08:00.000-05:002007-03-17T08:08:00.000-05:00alok: one likes writers who take sides. handke is ...alok: one likes writers who take sides. handke is clearly on the serbian side.that he mixes reportage and prejudice and sells it as fiction is a further testimony to his bias.<BR/>the massaccres committed against the bosnians are factual events, to doubt or cast an aspersion is to mock the sufferers and the dead.<BR/>no amount of poetry should vindicate such writing.<BR/>in the end, such writers and such writing is like sand that falls from sandals.<BR/>i think your post was an exact replica of what i felt too. well written.Kubla Khanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11973223751363547679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12674755.post-46598758650423906012007-03-17T07:53:00.000-05:002007-03-17T07:53:00.000-05:00hi alok,i wrote an objection in my blog....see i d...hi alok,<BR/>i wrote an objection in my blog....<BR/>see i dont attack you, only some points you raise that are in general being raised against him and that always annoy me. And cheshire is right regarding the other books, they really are nice.*https://www.blogger.com/profile/05680450955867041830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12674755.post-34100794912817897402007-03-17T00:37:00.000-05:002007-03-17T00:37:00.000-05:00Great write-up! I share your distaste for Handke's...Great write-up! I share your distaste for Handke's "political" side... but you're really starting of on the wrong foot, you should start with Handke's poems or plays, or with novels like "A Sorrow Beyond Dreams" or "Repetition". You will be wowed, believe me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12674755.post-38321228428397467012007-03-17T00:23:00.000-05:002007-03-17T00:23:00.000-05:00Not really unemotional which is actually good for ...Not really unemotional which is actually good for reportage but rather reluctance to be exact and clear...Alokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12947383354732747209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12674755.post-87701424626345756322007-03-17T00:18:00.000-05:002007-03-17T00:18:00.000-05:00okay, this post was written after mild alcohol abu...okay, this post was written after mild alcohol abuse but it is more or less what I felt when I was sober. May be I should have removed Mr. Doubt thing!<BR/><BR/>also I don't know about his writing style, i found his descriptions a little strange and I don't even know if my observations about it were correct -- fragmented, unemotional, unsure, vague. something that may work in fiction but not in reportage. i don't know if there is a pattern there or if there is, it is similar to his fictional work?Alokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12947383354732747209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12674755.post-20101116342509836742007-03-17T00:02:00.000-05:002007-03-17T00:02:00.000-05:00interesting that it is still so controversial. act...interesting that it is still so controversial. <BR/>actually he is right with his judgement on the german newspapers such as FAZ and Spiegel, the editors are shit really. They long lost their critical potential, everybody knows this who can think a bit straight and reads them from time to time.<BR/>when I am awake I write a bit of a defense.*https://www.blogger.com/profile/05680450955867041830noreply@blogger.com