May 20th, 2009 / 4:25 pm
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Justin Taylor
Uncategorized
Anarchism as the Source Decay of Royalism
They were given the choice of becoming kings or the kings’ messengers. As is the way with children, they all wanted to be messengers. That is why there are only messengers, racing through the world and, since there are no kings, calling out to each other the messages that have now become meaningless. They would gladly put an end to their miserable life, but they do not dare to do so because of their oath of loyalty.
–Kafka, Blue Octavo Notebooks (Third Notebook)
Tags: Blue Octavo Notebooks, Kafka
kids, here justin is referring to us.
good job chief.
kids, here justin is referring to us.
good job chief.
Oh come now, Jimmy. I’ve never accused you of not knowing who your king is.
Oh come now, Jimmy. I’ve never accused you of not knowing who your king is.
Justin: Wow, man. This is getting a bit silly, no? Please don’t let your ego and sense of independence warp into something so resolutely snide. It’s gross.
Please, everyone: Remind yourself that you are human, and that we are all human, and that there is no reason to belittle another, or make one feel any more pain than they already feel, especially pain founded on aesthetic sensibility.
Justin: Wow, man. This is getting a bit silly, no? Please don’t let your ego and sense of independence warp into something so resolutely snide. It’s gross.
Please, everyone: Remind yourself that you are human, and that we are all human, and that there is no reason to belittle another, or make one feel any more pain than they already feel, especially pain founded on aesthetic sensibility.
ive been there in that picture.
is it the tower of london?
ive been there in that picture.
is it the tower of london?
Ken, I was just blogging from/about the book I’ve been reading the past few days, like usual. I wrote this post this morning, and didn’t put it up because I was giving other things some room.
But if JC wants to read a veiled attack on himself and whatever it is he thinks he stands for, into something Kafka wrote in 1918, so be it. Meanwhile, I’ve been getting shit on for a full day now on a comment thread I haven’t been part of since yesterday, based on a 4-word comment that wasn’t even directed to Jimmy, and then six words of clarification I gave him because he asked for them.
Ken, I was just blogging from/about the book I’ve been reading the past few days, like usual. I wrote this post this morning, and didn’t put it up because I was giving other things some room.
But if JC wants to read a veiled attack on himself and whatever it is he thinks he stands for, into something Kafka wrote in 1918, so be it. Meanwhile, I’ve been getting shit on for a full day now on a comment thread I haven’t been part of since yesterday, based on a 4-word comment that wasn’t even directed to Jimmy, and then six words of clarification I gave him because he asked for them.
And btw, if it was anyone but you asking me I wouldn’t be responding at all. I like you, and what’s more, I respect you, so I’m talking to you. But what I’d really like is for this discussion to be closed. I come here to write about books and quote from books and talk about book stuff that’s happening, not get in little pissing contests with people I’ve never met about books I haven’t read and won’t be reading. To that end–closing the discussion–I have borrowed my roommate’s N64 and unearthed a copy of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. There’s a file on there I started in 1998 and only played as far as the forest temple. I just got the heat-resistant tunic. Next stop: Fire Temple.
And btw, if it was anyone but you asking me I wouldn’t be responding at all. I like you, and what’s more, I respect you, so I’m talking to you. But what I’d really like is for this discussion to be closed. I come here to write about books and quote from books and talk about book stuff that’s happening, not get in little pissing contests with people I’ve never met about books I haven’t read and won’t be reading. To that end–closing the discussion–I have borrowed my roommate’s N64 and unearthed a copy of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. There’s a file on there I started in 1998 and only played as far as the forest temple. I just got the heat-resistant tunic. Next stop: Fire Temple.
I was referring to the comment/response to Jimmy, not the post, hence the reply thread.
I like and respect you, too, and I think/hope you know that; I like and respect Jimmy, too.
I hope you enjoy Ocarina. Get dat pyramid, son.
I was referring to the comment/response to Jimmy, not the post, hence the reply thread.
I like and respect you, too, and I think/hope you know that; I like and respect Jimmy, too.
I hope you enjoy Ocarina. Get dat pyramid, son.
Not a big fan of the 3rd notebook — Kafka’s aphoristic stuff on biblical and classical themes has never resonated much with me. In that notebook, me an entry like “January 14. Dim, weak, impatient,” over all the biz about good and evil any day — at least it’s relatable, and makes me laugh. (4th notebook has more underlining in my copy, fwiw.) All in all, very different texture to the notebooks than the diaries, which are full of more personal stuff, as though the Jan. 14 entry had been elaborated over pages and pages.
Since Kafka is reading Herzen’s memoirs as he writes the third notebook, here’s something more or less at random from the English language abridgment, the purchase of which, on the UES, you, Justin, witnessed:
“There, somewhere in grimy offices which we make haste to pass through, shabby men write and write on grey paper, and copy on to stamped paper — and persons, families, whole villages are outraged, terrified, ruined. A father is sent into exile, a mother to prison, a son for a soldier – and all this breaks like a thunderclap upon them, unexpected, for the most part undeserved. And for the sake of what? For the sake of money. A contribution … or an inquiry will be held into the dead body of some drunkard, burnt up by spirits and frozen to death.”
(love that outmoded use of “outraged” where it = “to have an outrage perpetrated upon you”)
So, yeah, the long view. Re: other stuff. Totally forgot about that Billy Ripken card until today. Nice stance to channel if and when folks get you down.
Not a big fan of the 3rd notebook — Kafka’s aphoristic stuff on biblical and classical themes has never resonated much with me. In that notebook, me an entry like “January 14. Dim, weak, impatient,” over all the biz about good and evil any day — at least it’s relatable, and makes me laugh. (4th notebook has more underlining in my copy, fwiw.) All in all, very different texture to the notebooks than the diaries, which are full of more personal stuff, as though the Jan. 14 entry had been elaborated over pages and pages.
Since Kafka is reading Herzen’s memoirs as he writes the third notebook, here’s something more or less at random from the English language abridgment, the purchase of which, on the UES, you, Justin, witnessed:
“There, somewhere in grimy offices which we make haste to pass through, shabby men write and write on grey paper, and copy on to stamped paper — and persons, families, whole villages are outraged, terrified, ruined. A father is sent into exile, a mother to prison, a son for a soldier – and all this breaks like a thunderclap upon them, unexpected, for the most part undeserved. And for the sake of what? For the sake of money. A contribution … or an inquiry will be held into the dead body of some drunkard, burnt up by spirits and frozen to death.”
(love that outmoded use of “outraged” where it = “to have an outrage perpetrated upon you”)
So, yeah, the long view. Re: other stuff. Totally forgot about that Billy Ripken card until today. Nice stance to channel if and when folks get you down.
hmm, billy ripken link didn’t work above… can you use html in comments on this site? anyhow:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ripkenffcard.jpg
hmm, billy ripken link didn’t work above… can you use html in comments on this site? anyhow:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ripkenffcard.jpg
Yeah see the aphoristic/biblical stuff is pretty much what I like the most. If it wasn’t for that stuff, I wouldn’t have picked the book up in the first place, probably.
Yeah see the aphoristic/biblical stuff is pretty much what I like the most. If it wasn’t for that stuff, I wouldn’t have picked the book up in the first place, probably.
i think i might be wrong on this.
i think i might be wrong on this.
That’s one of the best “flash” fictions (ahem) in there. Also good: “a cage went in search of a bird.”
That’s one of the best “flash” fictions (ahem) in there. Also good: “a cage went in search of a bird.”
has anyone ever heard max richter’s record “The Blue Notebooks?”
it’s good. weepy.
i listen to it when it’s raining.
has anyone ever heard max richter’s record “The Blue Notebooks?”
it’s good. weepy.
i listen to it when it’s raining.