Gabi's Narnia

Long due excerpt through Lea

From pages 98-99 of C.S. Lewis's The Four Loves:

The Companionship was between people who were doing something together—hunting, studying, painting or what you will. The Friends will still be doing something together, but something more inward, less widely shared and less easily defined; still hunters, but of some immaterial quality; still collaborating, but in some work the world does not, or not yet, take account of; still travelling companions, but on a different kind of journey. Hence we picture lovers face to face but Friends side by side; their eyes look ahead.

...

When two people who thus discover that they are on the same secret road are of different sexes, the friendship which arises between them will very easily pass—may pass in the first half-hour—into erotic love. Indeed, unless they are physically repulsive to each other or unless one or both already loves elsewhere, it is almost certain to do so sooner or later. And conversely, erotic love may lead to Friendship between the lovers. But this, so far from obliterating the distinction between the two loves, puts it in a clearer light. If one who was first, in the deep and full sense, your Friend, is then gradually or suddenly revealed as also your lover you will certainly not want to share the beloved’s erotic love with any third. But you will have no jealousy at all about sharing the Friendship. Nothing so enriches an erotic love as the discovery that the Beloved can deeply, truly and spontaneously enter into Friendship with the Friends you already had: to feel that not only are we two united by erotic love but we three or four or five are all travellers on the same quest, have all a common vision.

…

Suppose you are fortunate enough to have “fallen in love with” and married your Friend. And now suppose it possible that you were offered the choice of two futures: “Eitheryou two will cease to be lovers but remain forever joint seekers of the same God, the same beauty, the same truth, or else, losing all that, you will retain as long as you live the raptures and ardours, all the wonder and the wild desire of Eros. Choose which you please.” Which should we choose? Which choice should we not regret after we had made it?

[Italics, quotes, and lack of commas are Lewis’s.]

Alright. This clearing up of files from the Mac's desktop came at a very unfortunate timing since we were sharing our deepest struggles on the phone somewhere between Dorottya Udvar and the Móricz Zsigmond Square earlier today. Do I have any other single, male friend that I am also attracted to? Of course I do, but we don't keep in touch.

Lauren and more in the house

Sometimes you wonder whether it's worth writing the blog at all, for the obvious reasons. But then your friend comes from the States and says that tears accumulated in the corner of his eyes reading your account on Budapest a few days ago and you just sit there, staring with eyes wide open. Or when you read your friend's candid word, from the faraway Albion, and all of a sudden she is very close.
Or you happen to receive an email, like this:

Gabi,

I was just on your blog and noticed your 'review' on Girl Meets God, a favorite book of mine. My former roommate and I used to joke about how Lauren could have been our flatmate as well. She seemed like a friend that I have never met.

I noticed that you would like to read her book on s'ex. I have the book, I can bring it to you next time I see you.

Wow. I really mean WOW. The book is here, on my desk, right below the girl meets God. And I think it's worth blogging, even if you, readers, don't feel like saying or adding anything to this overflow of emotions and personal truths. Just know that I write because of you. I appreciate you.

Must read

Although I have read many great books, and while girl meets God came back with me from the US in 2005, it took Jay's nudging email for me to get down to devouring this book. Most of the time I only read on the public transportation vehicles and while waiting lines or for students, with that as well I am halfway through the book in just a few days.

It's a must for Jews and Christians alike, especially of you happen to be some weird combination of the two.

She is extremely witty, overly personal, sensitive, splendid and simply embracing. You feel like having your favourite cup with Lauren, somehow like picking your nose with Don Miller.

Seeing she (Lauren) has also written about se'x, I am sorry for having not placed an order with Dave before... Grr. Any other friends coming over any time soon?!?!

Have I mentioned that she converted to Judaism then to Christianity???

A contemporary Scottish chill

Because I hardly have any book to read (haha) I decided to start going to Szervin (correction by An Chi) just for the feel of it. This is the second months I am extending the lease time so it was hightime I delved into some of the formerly borrowed pieces.
For various reasons that can all be summed up by one word "Ian" I brought home an Angus Martin collection of poems, of the title "The song of the Quern". Of course I have known about the heaviness of the Scottish soul and the suicidal parallels between our nations. It was still a pleasant surprise to be able to identify with some of his work. Enjoy:

a '56 poem

I heard an excerpt from a '56 poem I really liked on a public radio channel. And it was available here. Sorry, couldn't find it in English.

Tóth Éva:

EMLÉKVERS
.........

Október 23-án szép szelíd derült ősz
volt abban az évben sárga lombon fényes napsugár ahogy Petőfi kívánta
s minthogy utolsó óránk elmaradt
gyorsan bekaptuk az ebédet Gubics Erzsivel a menzán
és elmentünk a Piac utcai antikváriumba (bár azt hiszem másik nem is volt Debrecenben)
én Az élő költő című 1936-ban kiadott poszthumusz Kosztolányi-válogatást vettem meg 2 forintért
és ceruzával beleírtam (ex libris gyanánt) hogy Tóth Éva könyve
meg a dátumot is ez volt a szokásom akkoriban
Utána elmentünk a Déri Múzeumba amelynek süllyesztett parkjában játszottunk télen az ostrom után
mikor a Püspöki palotában kaptunk menedéket Szendi Tihamér
zongoraművész lakásában aki Nyírmihálydiba menekült a bombázások elől
mi pedig Csóka úr kocsmájának pincéjébe a Jósika és Kassa út (később Szabadság útja) sarkán
azon vonultak be az oroszok,
s mikor a mi házunkat bombatalálat érte (amúgy nem is a mi házunk volt mi csak lakók voltunk)
akkor mentünk le Csóka úr pincéjébe ahol voltak már vagy ötvenen

Books pearl-lined

You must have felt the same way many times. You read one book, then happen to come across another and even the following one seems to follow the same thread of thoughts. First I read Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel. Afterwards, and after Australia, Ági and Erick gave me Bill Bryson's Down Under, which also takes Diamond as a reference and deals with the peculiarities of this distant and immense mass of land, where certain human progress seems to have been forgotten and where a study into human race's development could bring about some lovely surprises. Having read these two, what else could be more appropriate than Huntington, with his prophetic understanding of times at an early stage into the new setting, i.e. after the demise of the Soviet Union and at the threshold of stepping into a new world system not that much ruled by the West, but characterised by the surge of the majority world, where allies are drawn along cultural/religious and identity premises, contrary to former national affiliations. Good stuff. Particularly thanks to the many friends who all encouraged me to read this piece!

The latter book I am reading in Hungarian, contrary to my general habit of reading books in the original, if possible. Over and over, it is a great delight to note that Hungarian is still easier to read, to be more precise, much faster than English or Italian for that matter. So, if you are interested, the Diamond one is from the Szecska Library, Bill Bryson is in trustworthy hands somewhere in Finland :) and anyone who hasn't laid a hand on the third piece could borrow mine after I am done. Wonder what will happen when I lay hands on the next victim... thought of reading Jeff Fountain's Living as People of Hope. Let's see.

Pamuk

Just started reading the Snow yesterday and now Funzine sends me this below:

Dear Friends,  

in case you would be interested in a nice program for tomorrow evening.....

Budapest Funzine and Libri Bookstores kindly invite you to our next book club event.

Topic: Orhan Pamuk

A controversial figure, Pamuk is one of the world’s highest-caliber writers, having won many prestigious awards, not least of which was the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006. For newcomers to the author’s works, several of his most popular titles will be available for purchase.

At this open and informal event, we’ll have a discussion guided by Gergő Huszti, editor at Ulpius Publishing house. Questions and comments regarding the author’s literary accomplishments and political outspokenness are welcome, and we look forward to a lively discussion.

The first 50 people to register will recieve a complimentary authentic Turkish coffee courtesy of Café Frei (www.cafefrei.hu).

Time: March 14th at 6:30pm
Place: Libri Café, Mammut II shopping Center, 2nd floor
1024 Budapest, lövőház u. 2-6. (near Moszkva tér)

Register by sending an e-mail to event@funzine.hu

Biography
Pamuk was born in Istanbul in 1952 and grew up in a wealthy yet declining bourgeois family, an experience he describes in passing in his novels The Black Book and Cevdet Bey and His Sons, as well as more thoroughly in his personal memoir Istanbul. Originally pressured to become an architect, he first forwent his studies in architecture and then a degree in journalism to become a novelist.

Over the next 30 years, Pamut wrote fiction in many forms, including novels and screenplays, and steadily attracted acclaim with each passing novel. He earned a number of critical prizes for his early work, then gained commercial success in the 1990s, when his book New Life, became the fasted-selling work of all time in Turkey. In 2003, he won the IMPAC Dublin Award, the highest literary prize before the Nobel, for his novel My Name is Red, followed in 2006 by the Nobel Prize itself for Istanbul: Memories and the City.

In 2006, after a period in which he stirred much controversy for his outspoken comments on the Armenian Genocide, Pamuk returned to the US to take up a position as a visiting professor at Columbia University in New York City.

In case you had nothing better to do. I'm doing to see a play in Radnóti, so I can't make it :(

Zhivago

How I love his (Pasternak's)  criticism of Tolstoy! He is another reason why I would like to learn Russian in depth. There cannot be greater literary fulfillment than reading the time-trodden, many paged pieces from the distantly close, differently European masters of Russia in their original language.
This is another top-favourite book which I'm planning to re-read very soon, this time in English.
Of course it speaks about Christianity, about Jews/antisemitism, of course there is a Hungarian figure and the book's weightiness is more than natural. The various topics are presented as heavy starters and you know there won't be any main dish. No need for that. The constant refill of these robust philosophical trains of thoughts are woven into the thread of LIFE as one eats breakfast and moves on. And then there is lunch. Hardly have you digested it, you are offered dining now.
I love how Lara is described. I revel in her personality, for this blogger find herself reflected  in Lara's attitude to the work of the mind and to menial chores. She carries out the latter as if it was poetry and mental exercise seems labour in the strictest sense of the word. How much I can related to that!
I love Russia. Not the Soviet Union or what the Soviets turned Russia into. I stick to Russia, with its culture, art, heavy elegance, meat of relevance. How great it would have been to be able to breathe in the atmosphere before WWI, with the czars, salons, icons, 'pesante' Christianity. Only this Latin term comes to mind to describe what I have in mind concerning these people. A certain sense of heaviness, which carries with itself unlimited elegance and manner, ordinary aristocracy. Gosh, I love Russia more and more. And Dostoevsky was a favourite 13 years ago already. (At the age of 15) I still remember that long night in the tent when I finished reading the Idiot, because there were only 380 pages left! If you are into 'megalomaniac' (overarching all spheres of life, touching grandiose subjects) volumes, it's a must read book!

It's a tragedy what happened to this dormant giant, Russia,  in the last 100 years and as we are considering penetrating the land, I'm getting a feel for what used to be there and which might be still prevalent at the right places, among the right people.
Good practice to read.

And since there is too much to share about the book, let is suffice to say it emphasizes the individual micro-story within the context of the mega-story and you get the best of both approaches.

You'll love him in a Blink

Here is a new addition to your 'must read it and pass it on' book list. MG is the kind of guy you'd enjoy talking to, so yesterday I wrote him and invited him for coffee if he's ever around. In any case, his intellect and wit, seasoned with delicate humour, self-reflection and honesty make him a favourite author of mine.
Blink is basically about trusting your first impressions and at the same time it encourages us to examine the circumstances and the factors that could thwart our righteous (instant) judgment.
I would love to ask him about his identity. That could be interesting, taking into consideration the J-factor as well. I inserted some highlights for those of you who don't like to follow links. And I posted about his other book, the Tipping Point here. I would love to have someone like Ekman be around when I make up my decision to marry someone.

Yancey continued

In case you wondered what propelled my previous outburst, it was "only" an excellent, transparent collection of stories from the pen of Philip Yancey, a very outspoken, truthful author I got to like more and more. He senses the times extremely well and addresses issues in the church, touching sensitive subjects all the way. Starting from the apartheid and racism through forgiveness and the below mentioned present day "super-sins" homosexuality and abortion as well.
The reason why I brought this up here is that after the What's so amazing about grace? the very next book that I picked up was Chesterton's Orthodoxy. As if I had previously known that Yancey was majorly affected by this book, which helped him find the way back to God in a world where Christians so much misrepresent God. You can imagine I was all the more interested in what this man had to offer and I didn't become disillusioned either!!!!

Chesterton is very easy-going, rather rambling in this book. Yes, he does cover all the important points apologetics should extend to, somehow one is left with the feeling this is the imprint of a crazy professor's mind, which he indeed was!
He helped me appreciate Constantine a bit more, well, at least I can now appreciate him at all! He also clarified that our desire to indulge in different sex partners is not an over-valuing of sex, rather an undervaluing of it and drew the conclusion that being normal is far more different than swinging to either extremes. There is so much more that would take me hours to details since the book wasn't mine and didn't take notes while reading. But this is a book that one must read again and again because of the surprising train of thoughts. Like the one about postmodernity... around one hundred years ago :) (paraphrased)

"~When a painter makes a mistake with a painting, it is still progress if he messes up many times and tears the canvass apart 19 times before managing a picture. The problem with today is that when the painter looks up, every time there is a different model posing for him. And he, in his frustration doesn't start a new painting (as moderns would do), rather throws the sitter out through the window.~"