Handke likes the sound of the Jew's harp throughout his books. Now Milosz has one already on page 13 of Amorous Initiation. Will DFW have one too in Broom of the System? What a strange book, so far, for Kaminski to feature on his site.
Terrific rain a few hours ago. Now bright and sunny.
14 walking backward ! the three deplorables of the palace
meanwhile in Broom luau party downstairs and joints upstairs
1910 and 1987 both books as opposite Handke as possible
11:15 our bear has been up in the tree for about two hours now. Bela saw him climbing up during breakfast. I went to pick up the rental car and later took stuff to the dump. Bright and breezy after heavy rains all through the night.
250 "this one being oscillated all night long " "Infinite oscillation of love between the soul and God" 251
got four or five videos of the bear climbing up and climbing down the oak tree
255 I love this triangular intersection more than the world. "Silent awe and loud exclamation."
it is the soul's journey into the interior of the soul, her soul
299 she wanted to ask the oracle, without actually posing the question
the great war, the true one: the war with yourself
301 she saw each person as someone special in his uniqueness, in his personal light, his nimbus
309 The ability to perform wonders while standing outside oneself, and furthermore seldom being understood, even by those closest to one: that was powerful.
289 Walking along blind to find her way out of the labyrinth. Eyes closed to see whether behind her lids that old reliable writing scrolled by.
[missed some pages yesterday because after the eye appointment I tried to read with dilated eyes the rest of the afternoon and evening and I read some but didn't really get most of what my eyes were passing over] super bright red lights scanning my eyes to check on macular stuff, that wrinkle at the edge of one eye, in spite of these clouds and spots of yellow in the red, told my vision was excellent amazingly so and all was well, is still well ]
super heavy gray day, heavy rains earlier, heavier rains on the way, heavy dark greys, nearly all lights on in the house, touch of heat from the splits, back to st john's wort so see if it helps get from june to january
Handke was 29 when his mother killed herself at age 51 by taking an overdose of sleeping pills in 1971, November 19th.
317 How his cheekbones gleamed. How his apron billowed around his hips
318 We stateless people, here and today rid of the state, beyond the reach of the state. All the rest turned into sects--states and churches---and . . . And we? Time refugees, heroes of escape. We without a role, while the state folks stick to their role, steadfastly. We the eternally daunted undaunted. The eternal hesitators and delayers.
320 I don't want to know anything now. The mother is responsible for resources. And the father? For places.
321 But better illegal than the legal crooks all over the world. The sects everywhere. . . . The more you get lost, the more you experience.
what she had experienced in the three days of her journey into the interior of the country, and how every hour had been dramatic, even if nothing happened, and how every moment something had been at stake
one bright summery strand in her dark hair: strange. Or not strange after all? No, strange. Still strange. Eternally strange.
12:34 pm wow what a chill, a thrill, such perfection and nothingness else over finished complete adam and eve brings us by a riverun past eve and adam's brings us by a ?? recurrence hmm on our rings these 57 years but now can't recall the circle have to google even that !! "riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodious vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs." forget that stateish baloney Handke walks away from all that sectarian stateness, gets much more lost and finds much more, much more strange wander further into the strange, away from all circles, backwards out of even spirals And yet that eternal stuff is there, strange
videos in the morning of Emma's dance recital. Beautiful, Martha Graham be proud.
Wonder if Lentz read The Fruit Thief (and maybe not much else) because there he found the ceaseless, unbroken by chapters, flow of narrative journey over intimately described landscape with creatures, birds, skies, rocks. Paragraphs, yes, mercifully. Wonderful passage exploring more fully H's sense of mutual enthusiasm upon which behind which love finds its ways. Alexia and Valter. Horrible nearly dead cat covered with ticks in its eyes and all over. Voice from somewhere of man in distress, new european jungle growth, tangled growth.
223 "So: no rush on the in-between stretches. Woe unto those in too much of a hurry. Blessings upon those of you, on the other hand, who derive something useful and fruitful from in-between stretches, as well as in-between spaces, as well as in-between times, taking it slow and absorbing everything humanly possible along the way.
the young man loses the rhythm of the walking gets filled with fear fear disorients him he loses the rhythm he cries, whimpers, howls, snot dripping down but she knows he will eventually amaze her
distant thunder and lightning shake him out of his panic friendly thunering, lovable lightning flashes
near Molière, the land in the Vexin
oh dear, contemporaries make it into this book, even DT along with Clinton, Obama and Putin. 180
year published 2017 Zdeněk the suicide who organizes it all, protest against the world, against existence
year 2003, 19 years old "something bridegroomly about him" 181
year of the hazelnut, the 100 year summer, the delicate thread from which the nut-egg hangs in the shell 185
coming out of the dump road about two hours ago, heard and felt a pop, right rear tire flattened. Drove to Methodist Church parking lot, few feet away. Kirk's came and Loop5 came. Home now. Ordered pizza from tenney mtn pizza
sent this to doug last night, read it over this morning John Wilson, FirstThings.com October 18, 2019 Why you should read Peter Handke Excellent piece.
Found books by O.V. De L. Milosz to give to Darlene. Should I read the love story novel first, sacred and profane love.
how slow can you be. By page 174 when Valter and Alexia are traipsing the countryside and he bites into an apple she has given him on the route to the Chars mills on a channel of the Viosne, with fresh bread from a bakery nearby. Adam and Eve, of course, she the original fruit thief. I had mistakenly said he had left his seminary years way behind. Hidden them of course, or slowly released them into undercover tales.
Out in front of the Methodist church with our stopped car, the man who lived across the street came over to offer his help and a glass of water. I thanked him and said no, I'd just have to pee and he said yes I know l what you mean. Rich with his huge flatbed truck and his son Alden? glasses, pudgy fourteen year old, not quick but polite. Felix Garcia in his Loop van, red, bit beaten up with lots of use. Airport shuttle and area transport. Who knew? Kids going to the camps in summer, skiing in winter. Born in Dominican Republic, been in this area some twenty-something years. Strong enough to lift Bela up into and down out of the van front seat. Older and pretty high step. She has been sleeping for hours after we ate greek pizza delivered from tenney mtn pizza. Driver said he had just delivered one to Brint across the street. I rented a car for Monday morning. Two appointments on Tuesday, doubt that we will get the car back by then.
In Chars Handke has found himself another perfect no-man's land. No town center, no hint of village, "just a slight breeze on this warm, silent summer afternoon, an air of abandonment and exclusion." 175 That phrase fits our afternoon here. Without a car you are nothing. After we got back I tried to make a list of who I know I might have phoned for a pickup ride back into town.
Bela sleeping for four hours or so now. 3-7 pm. Will she be able to sleep tonight? Took two small shots of Zyrtec last night, 3 am? Zyrtec always knocks her out even though she says it doesn't. Will I sleep tonight? Me and my ceremonial, mushroom laced cacao and ashwahganda gummies.
It is a beautiful evening. The sweet air and late sunlight. Summer will seem longer now that we came back a month earlier than last year.
139 The point now: not to know where I am and what the place is called.
140 Nonsense: time and again discovery could happen.
141 Despite all her inner disorientation, she felt at the same time a strength inside her as if she had been given the ability to raise the man from the dead.
142 finicky as she is, she had never liked butter
she roamed through Alaska and Siberia
is Handke portraying himself as woman, all women he has known, his mother, the eternal feminine, women he has met, has wanted to meet . . . the woman inside of him, his daughter, whom he raised in her earliest years, women he wishes he had met . . . . the fruit thief . . . not Augustine in the thievery of the pears over the garden well . . . . not much hint of seminary in H's texts . . . .
143 woman in Siberia, her first ever female friend
144 ( daily superstition involved reading . . . immersing herself completely, and that would benefit someone about whose well-being she cared deeply, clearing the person's head, providing strength, if not "solid ground underfoot.")
Ah, if only the hidden truth would prevail. If only it could become all-powerful. Seize power on earth. . . . But as the prevailing force would it not lose the element of secretiveness on which its strength depends?
120
Handke made clear early on no mysticism, no exaltations. But now late in career he wants the fruit thief to admit to her mystical yearnings and revelations but cannot quite do it. Like Burke's agnosticism.
"I was crisscrossing one landscape or another, which was nothing but a silent howl at being at a complete loss."
Natalie says some cousins have already booked a visit to the O center in Chicago!
Our cruise booking now set in stone. Or money. Money being stone. With this cool weather and yesterday's visit to Polly's, feels like anticipating and preparing for the September trip is perfect Repetition replication of the school year.
"news" from Nicholas on Facebook about this psalm by Oscar Milosz (which he says he wants read at his funeral! )
would have been more perfect perhaps had he left out the father-son language, more Handkean! more post-post-modern.
today marks our first full week back. Week pretty packed with visits and memories thanks to Va's management of my birthday
first walk in Wally's too. All torn up, looks like big yard sale. New floor polishing replacing original tile.
June 8 Monday
we paid the deposit on the cruise in September with Sage Traveling---escorted wheelchair cruise. One week, Sept 11 fly, arrive 12th in Barcelona, hotel one night, board ship the 13th, fly home the 20th.
Tuesday June 9 Slated to go to Polly's late this morning. Gorgeous day again, feels cold! like mid-August, even early September.
sent around quotes via Dezeen in which the O Center architect talks about the emotional quality of the granite cladding on the weird building --
to Phil
