TORUNUM BEBİŞİME ÖRDÜKLERİM

PATİK ÖRNEKLERİ NETTEN ALINTI

Doğa Kış Mevsimine Hazırlanırken

Kış geliyor. Yazdan itibaren günler hızla kısalıyor. Isıtmayan güneş gölgeli dalların arasından ışık oyunları yapıyor. Kurbağalar kayboldu. Mevsim dönüyor. Doğa artık kışa hazırlanıyor.

Kendi yarattığımız duvarların ve perdelerin arkasından çıkıp biraz olsun baktığımızda çevremize, görürüz ki doğada herşey mükemmel bir düzen içinde işliyor...

Yapraklara yeşil rengini veren klorofil, kloroplastların bünyesinde, güneş ışınlarını bir güneş paneli gibi toplayıp, hava, su ve güneş ışığını birleştiren eşsiz bir kimyasal reaksiyonla nişasta ve basit şekerleri, dolayısıyla yaşamı oluşturur. İlkbahardan itibaren yaz boyunca, sonbahara kadar tüm dünyada devam eden bu küresel üretim havadan karbondioksit alır ve karşılığında oksijen verir. Bitkiler tükenen klorofillerin yerine yenisini üretirler.

Sonbaharda artan soğuklar ve azalan günışığı ile bu işlemlerin maliyeti artar ve artık bitkilere yük oluşturmaya başlar... Bitkiler klorofil üretimini keserler, yapraklarda yeşil rengi veren klorofil kaybolur, yerini kırmızı, sarı, kahverengi renkleri oluşturan diğer pigmentler alır. Ve giderek işlevini yitiren, artık bitkiye yük oluşturan yapraklar tamamen dökülür. Bitkiler kışa hazırlanır, enerji tasarrufuna gider. Dökülen yapraklar toprağa karışır, çürür, ilkbaharda yeniden doğacak yaşama gübre olur...

Fotosentezle her yıl yaklaşık olarak 200-500 milyar ton karbondioksit dönüşüme uğrar. Fotosentez, ışık enerjisini kimyasal bağ enerjisine dönüştürerek ilk basamaktaki organik madde üretimini sağlayan mekanizmadır. Yeryüzündeki tüm canlıların var olabilmesi ve yaşamlarını sürdürebilmeleri için gerekli enerji fotosentez olayı sırasında elde edilir. Fotosentezle havanın CO2 ve O2 dengesi korunur. Yeryüzüne ulaşan güneş ışınlarının yarısı doğada fotosentezde kullanılır.

İşte Ankara'nın turşularıyla meşhur Çubuk ilçesinde, bir cennet köşesi Karagöl. Ama ne yazık ki çöplerimizle, atıklarımızla, naylon poşetlerimizle doldurmuşuz. Naylon icad olup, doğada mertlik bozulalı beri... Ne yazık ki doğada en uzun sürede çözünecek malzemeyi en kısa kullanımlar için, marketten eve gelene kadar geçecek kısa bir süre için kullanır ve kendi çöpümüzün içinde kayboluruz. Doğanın en güzel nimetlerinden yararlanıp karşılığında en kötü maddeleri ve zehirleri veririz. Böylece kendi annemizi, yani doğayı, ve kendimizi, ve çocuklarımızın geleceğini zehirleriz yavaş yavaş... Oysa bitkiler bize öğretir nasıl yaşanacağını. Ot anlatır soranlara... Bana da kurumaya yüz tutmuş yaşlı bir ot anlattı, geçen baharda doğmuş. Altı aylık ömründe. Çiçekmiş o zaman... "Ot kadar olamadınız" dedi giderayak sonbaharda... "Git söyle insan kardeşlerine"...

Fotoğraflar: 1: Donmuş gölde sonbahar yaprakları. 2: Ormanda oynaşan ışık perileri: Işığın kırınımı.

Writing the real thing: on Zadie Smith's essay on novel nausea

Samuel Johnson's definition of "the essay" is a good place for Zadie Smith to begin. She uses it in an introduction to her new book of essays. The opposition presented is between the well-made work and the messy real: one being unreal and anaemic, the other being full of life's "truthiness" – itself a messy word – which Johnson's quotation reveals was once applied to the essay and to which Smith appeals as an apologia for the essays to come. I have sympathy with this and do not want to pick apart her essay – despite my many quibbles and queries – because I found it a relief to follow a prominent mainstream literary figure follow her own nose (or James Wood's according to Andrew Seal) like this rather than parading the populist canards one sees every week in the broadsheets' literary pages. She is evidently struggling to find the right form for her own work following the early success of White Teeth, and such struggles tend to produce more interesting work than that of someone who churns out basically the same formally unchallenging novel each year to the delight of middlebrows everywhere (except Stockholm).

One of the canards is of course that Philip Roth is unjustly overlooked for the Nobel Prize, while another is that genre fiction is looked down upon and does not receive the "recognition" it deserves. Yet in Zadie Smith's essay I find the genre versus literary fiction debate continuing in other words and thereby offering more hopeful directions for authors seeking an audience without compromise. She expresses both love and impatience with the Novel, seeking to break free of the familiar gestures and crafted perfection in order to find authenticity. However, the opposition of formal perfection and messiness – which is the argument of David Shields' book discussed in the essay – tends to conceal the individual choices artists have to make and replaces them with generic forms that mean something only to a consumer; in this case, messy or formal novels. These could easily be replaced by genre and literary fiction. Samuel Johnson can help here too.

His famous impatience with Milton's decision to express grief at the death of a friend in the form of a pastoral elegy deserves to be still better known.

Lycidas is not to be considered as the effusion of real passion; for passion runs not after remote allusions and obscure opinions. Passion plucks no berries from the myrtle and ivy, nor calls upon Arethuse and Mincius, nor tells of rough satyrs and fawns with cloven heel. Where there is leisure for fiction, there is little grief.

Johnson isn't saying Milton didn't experience grief, nor that his craft is in question, but that the unreflective use of genre betrays the inspiration of the work; as Smith puts it, the form "traduces reality". The debate then should be not be about genre and literary fiction but that which traduces the explicit inspiration of the work.

Late in the essay she refers to JM Coetzee's post-Nobel writing in negative terms and seems to believe he has eschewed the imaginative novel in favour of the "essayistic and self-referential". Yet these novels are great examples of inspiration taking priority over generic repetition. In Elizabeth Costello and Diary of a Bad Year there is less fiction and more grief.  Both investigate the relation between writing and life, between writing and truthfulness, which both lead to the adoption of adventurous forms; not for the sake of adventure but in order to follow the logic of the inspiration (e.g. what it means to have singular opinions in a plural universe). It's a great thing that, rather than generating more novels out of writerly mastery (more Disgrace), Coetzee has continued to challenge himself and the form of the novel. It's also revealing that Smith sees the products of this seeking as "anaemic", as if choosing to write about the favelas of Rio would be somehow more real than writing about an aging Australian novelist. All writing, by virtue of being writing, whether it is formally perfect or messy, already submits to a unity independent of the physical world, even if it is only that of the book itself (this is why "book" has such an aura; the hope of containment). The writer who seeks to erase the well-craftedness of novels by producing a book such as David Shields' Reality Hunger is still appealing to a Platonic realm. Coetzee is aware of the irony and it is partly out of this that his novels emerge. His novels keep the wound of their isolation open.

In contrast, Smith praises The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek as a novel that presumably – despite its bloodletting – is not anaemic. Like Coetzee, Jelinek has also won the Nobel, but that's about all they have in common. In a piece about the Prize, Gabriel Josipovici comments on this particular award and reveals the important distinction:

The Nobel committee made the point that, in awarding [Jelinek] the prize, they were honouring a radical tradition of Austrian writing, and specifically mentioned Bernhard. But that is typical of the misleading generalisations committees are prone to make. Bernhard has nothing in common with Jelinek except a hatred of post-war Austria. His masters are Montaigne and Beckett, not [Jelinek's] Bataille and Adorno. His greatness stems from his ability to give voice to a wide variety of marginal figures, to harness comedy and vitriol, and to accept that he, too, is implicated in his own criticism, like another of his masters, Kafka ("In your quarrel with the world, back the world"). For Jelinek, as for Adorno, on the other hand, all are rotten and guilty — except the observer/writer.

This last point then is crucial. Coetzee, like Bernhard, implicates the observer in his investigations. It takes imagination to do that; perfection and messiness are beside the point.

In mitigation, Smith also mentions the Austrian who should have won the Nobel instead of Jelinek but now never will. She approves of the "sophisticated, beautiful and aphoristic side roads" that include Peter Handke's journals collected as The Weight of the World. On page 16 of this book, Handke sums up the anxiety, the pressure and the wonder of writing in the world:

Tense, unnerved, and close to madness before writing – and when I read what I've written it looks so calm.

In this one moment, in one apparently offhand diary entry, Handke opens a vertiginous space in which the process of stating how one feels and then reading it reverses everything. The sentence is already perfect. He doesn't add to it. This isn't a side road, this is the real thing. Perhaps with Zadie Smith on its side, writing like this will no longer be consigned to the wilderness.

UPDATE: My review of Reality Hunger has now been posted.

The Young Traveller in Space / Going into Space (1954)

Two children's books from Arthur C. Clarke!

The Young Traveller in Space was a British children's book. That same year he used some of the content from that book to publish another space book for children called Going into Space. When Going into Space made its way to the United States it also (somehow) became a newsstand publication from Trend Books called Going into Space. However it was marketed as a general space book rather than a juvenile one. Does that mean that British youth have the same mental capacity as American adults?




Clarke, Arthur C. Illustrated by Frodsham, G.A., Smith, R.A. and others. Going into Space. New York: Harper and Brothers. (117 p.) 22 cm.

Text and illustrations concern the history of rockets, conditions in space, space station, Moon landings and planetary exploration. No space art rather a center section of photographs. Also a UK edition "The Young Traveler in Space" (1954) with similar but not identical text and different illustrations.

Clarke, Arthur C. Illustrated by Frodsham, G.A., Smith, R.A. and others. Going into Space. Los Angeles: Trend Books. (128 p.) 24 cm. Softcover.

Softcover reprint (see description above). Sub-titled: “An expert’s exciting blueprint for man’s interplanetary future”. "Trend Book" (#150).

Clarke, Arthur C . Illustrated by Blandford, Edmund Louis, Frodsham, G.A. and Smith, R.A. The Young Traveler in Space . London : Phoenix House Ltd. (72 p.) 28 cm.

Text and illustrations concern the history of rockets, conditions in space, space station, Moon landings and planetary exploration. Text concludes with predictions about when the first Moon landing will be and how children can prepare themselves for the future. Also an American edition, called "Going Into Space" (1954) with similar but not identical text and different illustrations.

Either way these books had some great illustrations

Moonshot 1970 (1967)

Moonshot 1970 was published in 1967. At the time the optimistic title made a lot of sense. It seemed like we were on a roll and this booklet explained how we would get there. But this pamphlet was popular enough to take several journeys of its own while we were working our way to the moon.

Lomask, Martha . Illustrated by Mellor, Gordon. Moonshot 1970. Columbus, OH: For Children, Inc. (33 p.) 18 cm. "Grow-ahead"

Just for fun, they issued a 1968 version with a 3-d pop-up in the back which they called "Our Man on the Moon":

Also available in 1968 as a free premium on the giant size of Thrill dish soap.

In 1969 you could read this pamphlet as a give-away from Tang as "The Big Trip to the Moon" complete with Tang advertisement on the back or...

Finally while you were flying on TWA in 1969 you could read "Moonshot 1970" all over again.

YEŞİL MERCİMEKLİ HAŞHAŞLI BÖREK

SEVGİLİ ARKADAŞIM Elzemhobby 48.P.D.Ç.S ETKİNLİĞİNE EV SAHİPİLİĞ YAPIYOR KOLAYLIKLAR DİLİYORUM

NOT: Kızımın eltisi sevgili Gülün tarifi çıtır çıtır nefis bir börek tavsiye ederim .

1 su bardağı yeşil mercimek

2 adet ortaboy soğan

4 adet yufka

1 çay bardağı haşhaş

Tuz, karabiber,pulbiber,kimyon

1 yumurta

1,5 çaybardağı sıvıyağ

1,5 çay bardağı su

YAPILIŞI

1 adet yufka masaya serilir, üzerine yağ ve su karıştırılarak sürülür 2 inci yufka üzerine serilir yufkalar ortadan kesilir,3 er parmak genişliğinde Şeritler halinde kesilir.

Haşlanan mercimekler soğanla kavrulur, baharatları ve haşhaşı eklenir, kestiğimiz şeritler halindeki yufkalara hazırlanan iç konulup muska gibi sarılır.Diğer 2 yufkada aynı şekilde hazırlanır, üzerine yumurta sarısı sürülür haşhaş serpilip 180 derecede ısıtılmış fırında pişirilir.

The Moon (1963)

Another book about the Moon. But what is special about this one is it's creative link to a much older space art book. In 1874, James Nasmyth and James Carpenter published, The Moon. A large and lavishly illustrated volume, its numerous plates were reproduction of photographs of plaster models of portions of the lunar surface, seen both telescopically from Earth and as they would appear to an observer on the Moon.

Brenna, Virgilio. Illustrated by Brenna, Virgilio. The Moon. New York: Golden Press. (104 p.) 29 cm.

In this unique book many of the pictures in it are also composites of paintings and photographs of a plaster model of the moon's surface. The text covers what is known about the Moon, the theories of formation, geography and geological processes. It has no illustrations of rockets or space flight but the picture/paintings of the Moon's surface are wonderful to see.

Lion Annual (1957)

Lion Weekly was a weekly newspaper for boys, with stories, comic strips, and useful facts. Some of the best of each year were collected in annuals. I look for these annuals because although the majority of material is fictional they often had non-fiction articles and illustrations about the future of space flight.

"When We Reach the Moon" is one of those fantastic treasures hidden away.

37 oldum.......

3 ve 7 iki küçük sayı.Topladığımızda 10 eder ,fakat yan yana gelince kocaman bir sayı çıkıyor ortaya - 37.Bugün benim doğum günüm.Bu kadar çok mumu söndürmek için ,galiba itfayeyi çağırmam gerekecek.Anneciğim iyi ki beni doğurmuşsun.

Sabahtan beri böcüşlerim, bana doğum günü şarkısını söyleyip , resimler yapıyorlar.Bundan daha güzel bir hediye alamazdım herhalde.

Şimdiden hepinize dilekleriniz için teşekkür ediyorum.

Boy's Own Paper (Oct 1966)

Sorry for the lack of posts, life has gotten busy for a while. So here is a delta winged beauty for you.

Boy's Own Paper (BOP) was one of a couple of British magazines for kids that had a mixture of fact and fiction.

I still remember when we thought this was the shape of the future for rocket ships as well as the memorable break-up of one as depicted in the opening credit to the Six Million Dollar Man.

Haydutlar Kralının İzinde

Haydutlar Kralının İzinde

Bir varmış, bir yokmuş diye başlar Anadolu masalları...

Evvel zaman içinde, kalbur saman içinde, pire berber iken, deve tellal iken...

Ali Baba ve kırk haramiler, gizemli Kaf Dağının ardı, zümrüt anka kuşu, peri padişahının kızı, padişahın oğlu, Keloğlan...

Hayallerimizi süsleyebilir ama uydurma değildir Anadolu masalları...

Ankara Nallıhan yolunda, Çayırhan beldesinin güneyinde antik Sangarius, Sakarya Nehri üzerinde Sarıyar Hasan Polatkan baraj gölünün yanıbaşında Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesinin yürüttüğü bir arkeolojik kazı yerini ziyaret ettik. Kazı İsa'nın doğumundan önce birinci yüzyılda yaşamış Haydutlar Kralı Kleon'un kurduğu Juliopolis (Gordiucome) şehrinin kalıntılarını açığa çıkarmayı amaçlıyor. İşte Ali Baba ve Kırk Haramilerin, Haydutlar Kralı'nın krallığından arkeolojik kazı görüntüleri...

İlişkiler Üzerine Derin Kesilmiş Ahkamlar

Nedensiz ve gereksiz insalarla olan beraberlikleri sevmişimdir ben hep. Aşık olmadan yada sevmeden başlamak ilişkiye. Hep daha çekici ve daha güzel gelmiştir. Dolayısıyla beklentisi olmayan, ne kadar süreceği belirsiz bir takvimin içine düşersiniz. Oysa belirsizlik yorar kimilerini. Bilinmelidir o ilk tanışılan gün... İlk yemek yediğiniz, öpüştüğünüz, seviştiğiniz, sırtsırta verdiğiniz, ilk kavganız, gereksiz münakaşalarınız, tartışmalarınız, ilk alınan hediye, yazılan bir kaç satır methiye... Bunların hesabını tutmadan yaşamak hep daha basit gelmiştir bana. İnceden bir alzheimerlık var bende zaten, ürkütüyorum insanları. Ne doğumgünü hatırlamışımdır ne de yıldönümü adam gibi. Hediye vermeyide sevmem o alma aşamasındaki kararsızlık yüzünden. Yazı yazmışımdır hep. Seni böyle seviyorum şöyle seviyorum... Ama en azından yazdığım gibi sevmişimdir bak. Yazdığım gibi yaşıyorum ben zaten. Hiç gerçekleştiremediğim planlarım, geçmişteki sevgiliye mektuplar, olmayan bir aşka tavsiyeler. Uyuyamadım pek bu gece biraz ahkam kesmek iyi geldi.

"Watered-down Modernism" and watered-down watered-down Modernism

In 1997, Michael Hofmann expressed despair about the prospects for foreign literature in English translation. He does so in a review of a book heralded as in the tradition of Proust and Mann and 'one of the great novels of modern times'. However:

[Péter Nádas's A Book of Memories] is a bastard of romantic schlock and watered-down Modernism. To describe this as 'claiming and extending the legacy of Proust and Mann' is quite breathtaking. Yes, Nádas’s sentences are long and relatively abstract, but they have none of Proust's openended inquisitiveness or the purpose and design of Mann. They are without risk, without discovery, without grandeur. Far from resembling or – ha! – outdoing Proust and Mann, this is utterly epigonal writing, a third-generation Zweitaufguss for middlebrows.

Another writer whose three volumes are said to "constitute one of the great novels in modern European literature" and are also "already being compared with Proust" is reviewed by Margaret Drabble in this week's TLS (not online):

[Javier Marías's Your Face Tomorrow] has been compared to Proust ... But the trilogy also suggests an upmarket James Bond.

Donald Duck and Wernher von Braun on the Moon (1958?)

This post is dedicated to one of my favorite blogs Ephemera (http://ephemera.typepad.com/). Ephemera does a great job of showing that every object or scrap of paper can have a story if you look a little.





So the object in question is a pair of gloves (child sized). While not a licensed Disney product they are well made and have images of Donald Duck exploring the Moon on one side of the cuff and a ship flying over the moon on the other side. I bought them from a seller in Mexico so suspect they were some sort of bootleg product.







If you look closely at Donald Duck's head it is an appliqué on top of the space suit. This begs the question whether it was originally a man's head in the space suit.








The second question to ask is about this space ship. I am very familiar with this one. It is RM-1, designed by Wernher von Braun for the Walt Disney television film called "Man And The Moon" broadcast December 28, 1955. RM-1 was meant to illustrate what a factual around the moon space ship might look like. In the film it was portrayed by this model.





So these gloves have to date from after 1955. As far as I know there were very few products derived from the movie but the quality of printing on the gloves is very nice and it looks like these gloves were not a 0ne-of-a-kind trial.



So is the image of Donald Duck and a Wernher von Braun designed rocket a unique collision of fact and fantasy? Donald Duck on the Moon is fantasy but was this meant to inspire children to "dream of space"? More questions than answers but the gloves are neat.



Here is the children's book with these images Tomorrow the Moon (1959):