Two thousand yard stare
Chyba adnej ksi ki w ostatnim czasie nie czyta am tak d ugo proporcjonalnie do liczby stron jak Od dw ch tysi cy lat Napisana przez 27 letniego rumu skiego autora Mihaila Sebastiana i wydana w 1934 roku ksi ka ta to troch dziennik troch powie Gdybym napisa a e autor przybli a nam Rumuni okresu mi dzywojennego by oby to spore niedopowiedzenie Narratorem jest tu m ody student pochodzenia ydowskiego kt ry po kilku latach nauki podejmuje prac jako architekt a my towarzyszy mu przez te lata Zdecydowanie bardziej podoba a mi si pierwsza po owa ksi ki po wi cona studenckim czasom pe na rozm w z innymi studentami profesorami analiz cytat w wyk ad w Zmys obserwacji i spos b formu owania tych spostrze e to wed ug mnie najmocniejsze walory Sebastiana Od dw ch tysi cy lat jest tak g ste e nie spos b czyta tej ksi ki intensywnie Ju po przeczytaniu pierwszej strony wyposa y am si w znaczniki a im dalej tym wiedzia am e musz przystopowa z ich u yciem Od dw ch tysi cy lat nie zachwyci o mnie fabularnie ale wr cz przyt oczy o mnie tym jak dobrze jest napisane Lektura tej ksi ki naprzemiennie mnie osza amia a i m czy a Mia am momenty kiedy chcia am od o y j na p k i takie kiedy nie mog am przesta czyta I mimo e trudno mi si t ksi k czyta o w a nie dlatego e to zupe nie nie jest moja literatura to docenia am i ch on am ka d kolejn stron wiedz c e obcuj z wielk i wa n proz Wydaje mi si e to pozycja obowi zkowa dla ka dego kto interesuje si spraw ydowsk ydowsk mentalno ci ydowsk histori ydowsk codzienno ci Bardzo nieoczywista autentyczna zaskakuj ca przyt aczaj ca I trudno jest mi j poleca bo mimo tego e to bardzo dobra ksi ka to mam te wiadomo tego e nie jest to ksi ka dla ka dego I jakkolwiek arogancko to brzmi to Od dw ch tysi cy lat zachwyci bardziej wymagaj cych czytelnik w Wiem e tak trudne lektury czasem do nas trafiaj a czasem odbijaj si o niew a ciwy czas kiedy po nie si gamy 231 Didn t really have the feel of a flowing novel like I thought it would in terms of narrative structure it was like rambling diary entries but when it comes to that of a philosophical and psychological case study having the existential mind of a Camus or Sartre it really was quite the shocking eye opener Four stars because it did have the feel of an important book written at a time when the dark tide of anti Semitism was rising Surviving the war only to die in a traffic accident makes it even tragic The oppressive atmosphere felt here even before the fascists came to power was truly chilling Sebastian s astute observations and insight into human nature I can t fault but like I said it doesn t really have the feel of a proper novel per se Another work and rightly so that was revived and translated after falling into obscurity for decades It puts Romanian lit on the map that s for sure 231 I was fortunate enough to be able to read this book on a long haul flight and give it the attention it deserves The journal of Mihail Sebastian a Romanian Jew written between the years 1923 and 1934 is a sobering and stimulating read Written in the shadow of the rise of fascism across Europe it forces you to confront the meaning of prejudice and nationalism and the consequences of unchecked discrimination The title is taken from the 2000 years of persecution endured by the Jews repeatedly used as scapegoats whenever nations face crises The author struggles with questions of identity his own complicity and by extension that of the whole Jewish people in their victimisation the rise of Zionism and whether this is a good or bad thing and ultimately whether friendship can transcend such divisions This book as well as providing an excellent description of Romania in this period illustrates chillingly the extent to which antisemitism was already rife far beyond Germany s borders facilitating the Final Solution later implemented by the Nazis In the early parts of the book Sebastian and his fellow Jewish students suffer daily beatings at the University at the hands of the other students The number of beatings they endure is almost a matter of pride and these are suffered on the basis that this too will pass It does only to rise up again Later in the book he passes a group of boys selling newspapers and calling Death to the Y s Initially this hardly registers with him so familiar has this cry become and then he says to himself I wonder why it is so easy to call for death in a Romanian street without anyone batting an eyelid I think though that death is a pretty serious matter If someone set themselves up in the middle of the street to demand let s say Death to Badgers I think that would suffice to arouse some surprise among those passing by Now that I think about it the problem isn t that three boys can stand at a street corner and cry Death to the Y s but that the cry goes unobserved and unopposed like the tinkling of a bell on a tram Sebastian s Zionist friends do not convince him of the necessity of a Jewish state which strikes a particularly poignant note written as this was before the Holocaust And even then his Jewish friends were debating the right and wrongs of the Palestinian issue a situation which has not just continued into the present day but got worse and sown the seeds of so many conflicts and terrorist actions For anyone interested in the oppression of minorities antisemitism in particular and life in pre WW2 Europe this is an essential read Chapter 3 of Part Six is an especially critical chapter in the debate and it is impossible to read this without feeling shocked and saddened by the irrationality and self justification of antisemitism which is invariably based on myth and propaganda I absolutely have to read Sebastian s journal 1935 44 The Fascist Years now that I have finished this 231 I ve only had two encounters with Romanian fiction both of which my friend Madalina from Instagram facilitated The first one was The Land of Green Plums by Herta M ller tr Michael Hoffman According to my review from 2018 I enjoyed it but spent a lot of the book confused because my knowledge of Romanian history is non existent. To you two thousand years later THE BOOKFor my birthday in May Madalina kindly gifted me a copy of a book I d never heard of before The book was For Two Thousand Years by Mihail Sebastian tr Philip Ceallaigh It s the chronicles of a young Jewish man in 1920s Romania as he attempts to live his life in a country which is becoming increasingly hostile towards Jewish people From his days as a student through to entering the working world he grapples with his sense of identity as his country tries to tell him that a Romanian Jew cannot exist. For two thousand years kindle book review Along the course of the book the narrator encounters everyone from vicious anti Semites to Zionists The narrator remains oddly detached from everyone he meets refusing to be dragged into their causes simply wanting to live his life as a supposed oxymoron. For two thousand yearsus lyrics Many consider this book heavily autobiographical as the novel features many similarities to the journal Sebastian kept from 1935 to 1944 Sebastian s group of friends and colleagues eventually pushed him out when anti Semitism gained foothold in Europe GENERAL THOUGHTSWhile reading I was constantly struck by how timely it felt to the present day Sebastian s portrayal of the anti Semitic discrimination faced by his unnamed narrator sometimes by his own friends and colleagues reminded me of the problems we still face today regarding racism. For two thousand years quotes Just read this quote from one of his acquaintances during a confrontation about his anti Semitism Let s be clear I m not anti Semitic I ve told you that before and I abide by that But I m Romanian And all that is opposed to me as a Romanian I regard as dangerous There is a corrosive Jewish spirit I must defend myself against it In the press in finance in the army I feel it exerting its influence everywhere Does that not bring horribly to mind the I m not racist but s of today Reading this piece of Romanian fiction is a disheartening experience given that it was published in 1934 Some passages feel like they could have been written last week. For two thousand yearsus lyrics The narrator also points out the distinction between ordinary anti Semites and anti Semites with arguments He prefers the former as they are clear cut but with the latter it s futile to argue back. For two thousand years pdf As soon as I read this it immediately brought to mind the difference between clear cut racists and good white people who don t believe they are racist With the former you know what you re up against But the latter believe they are not racist and therefore refuse to hear any arguments about why they need to do than just not be overtly racist They refuse to hear that they re actively or passively contributing to a racist society or performing harmful behaviours and thus will not change. To you two thousand years later THE TRANSLATIONIn case you couldn t tell from the above quoted passage the translation by Philip Ceallaigh is fantastic It flowed so beautifully that it was one of those I forgot it was a translation for a second books Which by the way I don t fully endorse as a compliment because it contributes to the invisibility of the translator and I think they should be properly acknowledged for their work. Epub for two thousand years free But whichever way you want to put it it was a pleasure to read I took photos of so many pages and passages because the words resonated so strongly I would definitely recommend it to another newbie to Romanian fiction. Pdf for two thousand years from now FINAL THOUGHTSI did think that there was a bit of a lull in the middle with the beginning and end being the strongest parts But it s only short and it still packs a punch My only criticism is that while lots of it does read as a modern novel there are still parts which are very 1934 Women don t play a large role in this book and when they do appear their roles are fleeting and secondary However I would still recommend it as an introspective account of one Jewish man s struggle for self identity and acceptance It is a bleak story with a message that unfortunately still pertains today 231 What makes this stand out from other Holocaust literature It was published by a Jewish writer in 1934 in Romania before shit truly hit the fan That fact alone should be enough to recommend this. Two thousands years later You see how the protagonist tries to keep is cool even if he can see the awfulness of the writing on the wall He s repulsed by Zionism and communism and simply wants to live his life as a Jewish Romanian even as he sees how that is becoming an impossibility He encounters casual anti Semitism intellectual anti Semitism of the sort that tries to erect arguments to mask the fact that it s rooted in visceral disgust and friends slowly turning into anti Semites while maintaining that he is one of the good ones If you want to know how fascism becomes a socially acceptable option read this And for those of us in America Brazil India and all other places on the precipice take heed 231 Absolutely definitively alone a young Jewish student in Romania tries to make sense of a world that has decided he doesn t belong Spending his days walking the streets and his nights drinking and gambling meeting revolutionaries zealots lovers and libertines he adjusts his eyes to the darkness that falls over Europe and threatens to destroy him Mihail Sebastian s 1934 masterpiece now translated into English for the first time was written amid the anti Semitism which would by the end of the decade force him out of his career and turn his friends and colleagues against him For Two Thousand Years is a prescient heart wrenching chronicle of resilience and despair broken layers of memory and the terrible forces of history For Two Thousand YearsUn roman document necesar i nc at t de relevant. For two thousand years literature fictional characters Am reg sit n el dincolo de problema antisemitismului care e v zut din mai multe unghiuri i asta e edificator acela i ton confesiv pe care l folose te n jurnal e practic aceea i voce dac mi amintesc bine de i am citit jurnalul de mul i ani i teme predilecte de care s a folosit n Femei sau Accidentul 231 For Two Thousand Years is an important book about the interbellum years and the life of a Romanian Jew during a period when the anti Semitism feelings were growing in intensity and violence Although I read the novel in Romanian I will write my review in English as the book was translated for the first time in this language last year and I want to encourage readers to give this book a try I believe it carries important messages from the past that are valid today just as much as then I chose this novel as part of my challenge to read a Romanian author per trimester Unfortunately I neglected my co nationals for many years which is unfair as we have many talented writers I chose Mihail Sebastian because he is my husband s favorite author and I promised him a few years ago that I will read this novel The novel has the structure of a journal and this is the reason it feels so autobiographical Although the political and the social background is real and so are some the events from the author s life the book is still a work of fiction The narrator a young Jewish student struggles to find an identity torn between two worlds He tries to put space between him and the Jewish mentality He does not consider himself a Zionist tries not to get into fights as his other Jewish friends and struggles against the inclination to feel persecuted His beliefs together with the ones of his generation come alive through dialogues with his friends teachers articles and monologues We follow the narrator thorough different stages of his life from 1923 to 1934 The quality of the work did not feel linear The first and the last part one were for me the most important moments of the novel The first part described the persecution the Jew students had to endure at the university while the last part deals with the internal torment of the narrator when he discovers that some of his oldest friends are anti Semites I want to focus on the last few pages of the novel which put forward two ideas that made an impact on me especially taking in consideration the current political social climate The first moment that impressed me was a conversation between the unnamed main character and a friend Although the friend did not consider himself anti Semite confides that he believes there is a Jew problem which needs to be solved 1 million eight hundred Jews are too much and if he had the power he would try to eliminate a few hundred thousand He goes on to say that he is not anti Semite but there is a danger of the Jew spirit and as a Romanian he has to protect himself The narrator surprised to hear that from his friend replies that there are two types of Jew haters the pure ones and the ones with arguments He says that he understands the first ones as they are a fact but not the latter He continues by highlighting the fact that it is a waste of time to try to change an Anti Semite with arguments because they are biased and any logic or argument will not be able to make any difference He makes the case that the arguments are in fact excuses Those people are not anti Semite because they believe in the Jew danger they believe in the Jew danger because they are anti Semite I think this is something to think about when we consider the growing racism today and many other biases I believe it was always there only that now people are happy they found again excuses for their beliefs It is the same old inclination to find scapegoats for a crisis. Together for two hundred years A lot of the today problems are caused by the question of belonging Since birth the narrator thought of himself to be Romanian a man of the Danube However starting from the school years the feeling of belonging to his country was denied to him he was not allowed to refer himself as part of the same people He was categorized as Jew and could not be anything else This ignited an interior conflict he was Jew but he also felt Romanian but with a sort of fear to love something that it was denied to him I see in the news that many of the second generation citizens feel like they do not belong anywhere I wonder now if it is their fault or they are denied the right to call their home home 231 For Two Thousand Years is a book which slowly grows on the reader at first the series of what could loosely be described as vignettes can be jarring not so much due to the style but due to the remorseless adolescent cynicism which pervades them like Halden Caulfield on crack However as the reader becomes accustomed to the slightly broken cadence of Sebastian s prose style as the cynicism slowly gives way to profound insights into the nature note just of antisemitism but of societal prejudices in general as the feeling of desolation which drives the narrator s isolation becomes increasingly apparent the reader begins to understand the narrator s diffidence his pessimism as he struggles not just under the weight of a wave of local antisemitism but two thousand years of anti Jewish prejudices As the narrator points out even those Jews who re locate to Israel will forever bear the load of two millennia of hatred For Two Thousand Years is especially insightful because it explores the rise not just of antisemitism but of Zionism in its incipient stages The narrator comes across a wide array of characters mainly intellectuals of some sort with whom he discusses both weighty political and metaphysical topics to quotidian though no less important topics such as women and love None of the secondary characters are granted internal narratives or lives instead they are all seen via the lens of the narrator their motives and views are all presented and therefore skewed by the narrator The result of which is an atmosphere of decadence and tension shot through with the odd moment of beauty and repose It is the house I dreamed of A house built for sunlight Evenings its shadow fall across the water like the shadow of a plant we stopped on the terrace where the September morning spread into the distance beyond the lake white in declining autumn light as though reclining in its own splendour we will forget each other my white house in Snagov you to receive the sun each day through your wide windows me to put up other walls just as likely to be forgotten In many ways the above passage which is the final in the novel sums up the novel an insightful and at times beautiful if melancholic exploration of 1930 s Romania as it slowly became engulfed in the chasm of antisemitism where so many lights were dimmed under the unremitting darkness of fascism 231 This novel was one of those that spoke to me before I had even picked it up to examine its contents Then while I was reading it there was some parts that I related to so deeply specifically in terms of feeling so confined and alone to my own awareness and thereby alienated from a lack of common understanding Such a book is further proof of why we read to feel less alone to know others have felt as you do in the bare bones of existing. For two thousand years kindle download Our protagonist is a young man who describes his experiences of poignant existential alienation from society He is isolated on the basis of being Jewish and throughout the book he grapples with his sense of Jewish identity Even among his fellow Jewish peers he struggles for a sense of belonging He is indifferent to the strong political mindsets of his peers and seems to wish that he could simply be without reference to a social religious or ethnic category Although he faces the same struggle as his peers he cannot seem to align himself with their cause He does not share in their fervour and seems overcome by his own feelings of shame surrounding being Jewish Whether this is correct or not I certainly picked up on it The author Mihail Sebastian had I believe a talent for exposing the raw melancholy emotion underpinning so many situations There was a feeling of profound futility to notions of identity and prescribed conduct within identity that I can really relate to experiencing A revealing novel that I will read again 231 Despair is a sentiment I have long suppressed knowing how oppressive it is in a Jewish sensibility I will not go back to the ghosts I have left behind Is a new dawn on the way It surely is But until then the dusk will be slowly gathering over all I have loved and love still. For two thousand years literature fiction analysis Even though since then my knowledge of Romanian history has remained admittedly minimal I enjoyed my second foray into Romanian fiction a lot : For two thousand yearsr old man Mihail Sebastian 1934 231
Mihail Sebastian born Iosif Hechter was a Romanian playwright essayist journalist and novelist..
