Matei Visniec - Preventative Disorder

Media cynicism. How many have got it? How many can see it?

By reading 'Preventative Disorder', one can actually see the curtain coming down, unveiling a fragile desk at which all wills are gathered. Yes, everything is a game of will. The will to rank a good rating at any cost, the will to adapt to the trends, the will to get by no matter the risks, the will to narrate subjective truths embellished by nonsensical happenings, the will to live in normality, but most of all, the will to constantly define normality. Aside from this game of wills, the narration is beautifully combined with personal testimonials and new definitions given to words or language, but also with 'the mechanics of producing cliches and media labels'.

When home is a box full of surprises

My visit to Tulcea was also marked by a surprise. Totally unplanned by no one. Well, maybe by the bookcase in the living room.

('I really enjoy learning tailoring' written by Draga Neagu)
Good tailwind, squirrels!

Milan Kundera – The Festival of Insignificance

Milan Kundera’s latest novel is just like all his other novels, a masterpiece. An illustrative mingling of history, philosophy, critique of society and individualism, but also downthrown of ideas we thought were invariable. Even from the first Milan Kundera's novel I read, I have always admired his extraordinary talent of making history and its main actors present in the unfolding of current affairs, or in the explanation of current affairs. Thus, historical actors acquire a right to be seen in a totally new light, and not in order to excuse themselves, over years, to the current generations, but to explain themselves. It is the case, in this novel, of Stalin and the story of the twenty-four francolins.

The scenery or the places where the action takes place have little or almost no significance, and only those elements important to the story are described. Again, another thing I truly admire in Milan Kundera’s narration is that it lets the readers invent their own setting (if necessary), stressing more on the action. Thus, mom’s portrait of one of the four main characters of the novel is described as hanging on a wall, and then we find out about its significance.

Significance or insignificance? There are a lot of elements in the narration that present both of them. In a most democratic way, both the characters and the reader can choose one of the two values in order to bring themselves peace. Sometimes, even both of the values.

I cannot remain insensible to the description of the gigantic tree. It is so beautifully described that I’d be inclined to take it as irony addressed to the feminine. But I take the democratic right mentioned above and I choose to see the description as a frank and unbiased one. As for ‘the army of apologizers’, I tend to think there are more of them out there then we’d expect.

I met Pir

I met Pir.

I had better not! But still, now that we crossed each other’s paths, I keep pondering how to tackle this.

And so I arrived to a Romanian site that explains the meaning of the word pir. Pir, a masculine noun, is an everlasting ryegrass with procumbent rhizome, coarse leaves and green flowers (Hm, I totally disagree since I like the color green), grouped in ears, that grows freely, hindering the development of cultivated plants (now, I really am out of my wits with modesty).

Well, a pir has deep roots, and it is very hard to pull them totally from the ground it considers as its own and it is not willing to share with anyone. So is the story with my Pir. It has set its jaw on not letting me grow next to it. And I haven’t even threatened to pull it out from its ground. Then, I would have understood its frustrations and malice. Maybe my Pir is the same as the one from the story ‘Veverița Șugu și câinele Hapciu (Squirrel Șugu and dog Hapciu)’, it cannot bear that I may have stolen its thunder.

I know how this story continues. I wonder how mine will.

Jerome K. Jerome - ‘Three Men on the Bummel’

If one has never read anything written by Jerome K. Jerome, ‘Three Men on the Bummel’ can only surprise one. In a very nice way, actually. I’ve been laughing all the time while reading this book. Jerome K. Jerome tells such absurd and funny stories that it’s impossible not to see oneself in the characters’ places.

I must admit, I found myself the most in the story about the lady that jumps off a bicycle. But the stories have a wide palette for everyone’s taste. A calm reading, peach-perfect for autumn, ‘Three Men on the Bummel’ must find its place in our personal library. Even only to find indications about how to find one’s right side of the hedge in the Black Forest mountain region.

What courses have you got today?

This morning, I  was in a hurry to the bus station. The low temperature convinced me to hide my hands in the depths of the pockets. I was thinking that I was wrong to tie a scarf to my neck (which, actually, was giving me a hard time for it kept snuggling in one side giving permission to the wind to coarsely caress my neck), when a winter scarf would have done me justice. I looked up at the board hanging from a pharmacy: eight degrees Celsius: ‘Brrr, it’s freezing! No wonder I’m so cold’, I told myself.

‘What courses have you got today?’, a blonde haired-girl asked another next to her. They both moved in slow motion as if they didn’t care that soon the bell would ring. I was right behind them and, selfishly, I envied them for their backpacks on their backs. They sure kept them warm!

‘English, Maths, Sports, and Romanian. What about you?’

‘Romanian, Geography, Maths, and English’.

It seems like a life-time ago that I used to have the same time distribution. Yet, something has not changed: life’s easy for no one.

You, what courses have you got today?!

Sieranevada, 2016

The movie 'Sieranevada', directed by Cristi Puiu, seems to have the structure of an onion. Skin removed after skin, one discovers new faces of a person, of a happening, of a relationship. The main character of the movie is the authentic Romanian family. And I dare to draw this conclusion judging by the laughter in the movie theater when ‘moments in the family’ were represented. Something, even the most insignificant detail displayed can be found in our families, in all our families.

The variety of subjects tackled in the movie is complex. Whether old or young, the subjects strike a chord with/ within us. The so much hated or so much preferred subject, Communism, is also discussed. But the discussion does not stop at it. Various clichés that one digs one’s feet in regarding the way life should be lived, internet and what role it has in our lives, and, of course, conspiracy theory are also tackled.
'Sieranevada' could be called a comedy. Which wouldn’t exactly be incorrect. There are parts in the movie where one laughs one’s head off. But I would be wrong to call it in such a hollow manner.
'Sieranevada' is exactly like in the picture above. A painting, and for the ones who wish it, a masterpiece. But not just any painting. A painting on the move, just like Gioconda’s eyes following one anywhere one might move around the room. It is the vivid representation of the Romanian spirit (one we should not be ashamed of), as it has evolved for the last 27 years.