Aleksei German (Алексей Юрьевич Герман; July 20, 1938 – February 21, 2013)
The room and a half (if such a space unit makes any sense in English) in which the three of
us lived had a parquet floor, and my mother strongly objected to the men in her family, me
in particular, walking around with our socks on. She insisted on us wearing shoes or
slippers at all times. Admonishing me about this matter, she would evoke an old Russian
superstition; it is an ill omen, she would say, it may bode a death in the family.
...
The parquet's affinity with wood, earth, etc., thus extended in my mind to any ground
under the feet of our close and distant relatives who lived in the same town. No matter
what the distance, it was the same ground.
...
4
Our room and a half was part of a huge enfilade, one-third of a block in length, on the
northern side of a six-story building that faced three streets and a square at the same
time. The building was one of those tremendous cakes in so-called Moorish style that in
Northern Europe marked the turn of the century. Erected in 1903, the year of my father’s
birth, it was the architectural sensation of the St. Petersburg of that period, and
Akhmatova once told me that her parents took her in a carriage to see this wonder.
Joseph Brodsky: In a room and a half,
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
1986
Khrustalyov, My Car! (Russian: Хрусталёв, машину!; translit. Khrustalyov, mashinu!) is a 1998 Russian drama film directed by Aleksei German based on a story by Joseph Brodsky(In a Room and a Half)
"But still, imagine that you are God..."
Budah laughed.
"If I could imagine myself a god, I would become one!"
"Well, what if you could advise God?"
"You have a rich imagination," Budah said contentedly. "That's good. Are you literate? Excellent! I would love to tutor you..." "You flatter me... But still, what would you advise the Almighty? What, in your opinion, should the Omnipotent do so that you would say: Now the world is good and kind?"
Budah, smiling approvingly, leaned back and crossed his hands on his belly. Kira looked at him hungrily.
"Well," he said, "here's what I would do. I would tell the Lord: 'Creator, I do not know your plans, perhaps you have no intention of making people good and happy. Choose to wish this! It is so easily achieved! Give people enough bread, meat and wine, give them shelter and clothing. Let hunger and need disappear, and with them everything that separates people.'"
"And that's it?" asked Rumata.
"You think that is not enough?"
Rumata shook his head. "God would answer:
'This would not benefit people. For the strong of the world will take from the weak what I have given them, and the weak still will be destitute.'"
"I would ask God to protect the weak. 'Admonish the cruel rulers,' I would say."
"Cruelty is power. Without cruelty, the rulers will lose their power, and other cruel ones will take over."
Budah stopped smiling.
"Punish the cruel ones," he said firmly, "so the strong ones would not dare to be cruel to the weak."
"Man is born weak. He becomes strong when there is nobody around stronger than him. When the cruel among the strong are punished, their place will be taken by the stronger among the weak. Also cruel. In this way one would have to punish everybody, and I do not want that."
"You know best, o Lord. Then simply make it so that people have everything and do not take from each other what you have given them."
"This will not benefit people either," sighed Rumata, "for when they get everything for free, without effort, from my hands, they will forget work, will lose the taste of life and will become my domestic animals, whom I will then have to feed and clothe forever."
"Do not give them everything at once!" said Budah hotly. "Give them a little at a time, gradually!"
"Gradually people themselves will take all that they will need."
Budah laughed awkwardly.
"Yes, I see this in not so simple," he said. "Somehow I have never considered these matters. It seems we have run out of ideas. However," he leaned forward, "here is one more possibility. Make it so that all people love work and knowledge the most, so that work and knowledge became the only purpose in their lives!"
Yes, we were planning to do this, too, thought Rumata. Mass hypnoinduction, positive remoralization. Hypnoradiators on the three equatorial satellites...
"I could do that," he said. "But is it worth it to deprive the human race of its history? Is it worth it to substitute this humanity by another one? Would it not be the same thing as erasing this humanity from the face of the Earth and creating a new one in its place?"
Budah considered this silently. Rumata waited. Outside the window, the carriages were squeaking gloomily. Budah said quietly:
"Then, o Lord, erase us from the face of this Earth and create again, more perfect. Or better still, let us be and choose our own way."
"My heart is full of pity," said Rumata slowly. "I cannot do that."
--A. & B. Strugatskii, It's Hard to Be a God
((Трудно быть богом, translit. Trudno byt' bogom) is a 2013 Russian science fiction film directed by Aleksei German, based on the novel Hard to Be a God by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.
https://youtu.be/11sMDQIgggA
Photos from Hard to be a God; My Friend Ivan Lapshin; Trial on the Road and Khrustalyov, My Car!
The room and a half (if such a space unit makes any sense in English) in which the three of
us lived had a parquet floor, and my mother strongly objected to the men in her family, me
in particular, walking around with our socks on. She insisted on us wearing shoes or
slippers at all times. Admonishing me about this matter, she would evoke an old Russian
superstition; it is an ill omen, she would say, it may bode a death in the family.
...
The parquet's affinity with wood, earth, etc., thus extended in my mind to any ground
under the feet of our close and distant relatives who lived in the same town. No matter
what the distance, it was the same ground.
...
4
Our room and a half was part of a huge enfilade, one-third of a block in length, on the
northern side of a six-story building that faced three streets and a square at the same
time. The building was one of those tremendous cakes in so-called Moorish style that in
Northern Europe marked the turn of the century. Erected in 1903, the year of my father’s
birth, it was the architectural sensation of the St. Petersburg of that period, and
Akhmatova once told me that her parents took her in a carriage to see this wonder.
Joseph Brodsky: In a room and a half,
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
1986
Khrustalyov, My Car! (Russian: Хрусталёв, машину!; translit. Khrustalyov, mashinu!) is a 1998 Russian drama film directed by Aleksei German based on a story by Joseph Brodsky(In a Room and a Half)
"But still, imagine that you are God..."
Budah laughed.
"If I could imagine myself a god, I would become one!"
"Well, what if you could advise God?"
"You have a rich imagination," Budah said contentedly. "That's good. Are you literate? Excellent! I would love to tutor you..." "You flatter me... But still, what would you advise the Almighty? What, in your opinion, should the Omnipotent do so that you would say: Now the world is good and kind?"
Budah, smiling approvingly, leaned back and crossed his hands on his belly. Kira looked at him hungrily.
"Well," he said, "here's what I would do. I would tell the Lord: 'Creator, I do not know your plans, perhaps you have no intention of making people good and happy. Choose to wish this! It is so easily achieved! Give people enough bread, meat and wine, give them shelter and clothing. Let hunger and need disappear, and with them everything that separates people.'"
"And that's it?" asked Rumata.
"You think that is not enough?"
Rumata shook his head. "God would answer:
'This would not benefit people. For the strong of the world will take from the weak what I have given them, and the weak still will be destitute.'"
"I would ask God to protect the weak. 'Admonish the cruel rulers,' I would say."
"Cruelty is power. Without cruelty, the rulers will lose their power, and other cruel ones will take over."
Budah stopped smiling.
"Punish the cruel ones," he said firmly, "so the strong ones would not dare to be cruel to the weak."
"Man is born weak. He becomes strong when there is nobody around stronger than him. When the cruel among the strong are punished, their place will be taken by the stronger among the weak. Also cruel. In this way one would have to punish everybody, and I do not want that."
"You know best, o Lord. Then simply make it so that people have everything and do not take from each other what you have given them."
"This will not benefit people either," sighed Rumata, "for when they get everything for free, without effort, from my hands, they will forget work, will lose the taste of life and will become my domestic animals, whom I will then have to feed and clothe forever."
"Do not give them everything at once!" said Budah hotly. "Give them a little at a time, gradually!"
"Gradually people themselves will take all that they will need."
Budah laughed awkwardly.
"Yes, I see this in not so simple," he said. "Somehow I have never considered these matters. It seems we have run out of ideas. However," he leaned forward, "here is one more possibility. Make it so that all people love work and knowledge the most, so that work and knowledge became the only purpose in their lives!"
Yes, we were planning to do this, too, thought Rumata. Mass hypnoinduction, positive remoralization. Hypnoradiators on the three equatorial satellites...
"I could do that," he said. "But is it worth it to deprive the human race of its history? Is it worth it to substitute this humanity by another one? Would it not be the same thing as erasing this humanity from the face of the Earth and creating a new one in its place?"
Budah considered this silently. Rumata waited. Outside the window, the carriages were squeaking gloomily. Budah said quietly:
"Then, o Lord, erase us from the face of this Earth and create again, more perfect. Or better still, let us be and choose our own way."
"My heart is full of pity," said Rumata slowly. "I cannot do that."
--A. & B. Strugatskii, It's Hard to Be a God
((Трудно быть богом, translit. Trudno byt' bogom) is a 2013 Russian science fiction film directed by Aleksei German, based on the novel Hard to Be a God by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.
https://youtu.be/11sMDQIgggA
Photos from Hard to be a God; My Friend Ivan Lapshin; Trial on the Road and Khrustalyov, My Car!
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2015-04-20
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