#archibald colquhoun

[garadinervi]

Italo Calvino, (1952, 1959), The Nonexistent Knight & The Cloven Viscount, Translation by Archibald Colquhoun, Collins, London, 1962 [Laboratorio Calvino, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma]

[labitacoradelhombresolitario]

Mono de tinta

He pasado ciento sesenta y ocho fotos del iphone con el que me hice en noviembre al ordenador portátil que utilizo en los últimos tiempos para mis asuntos alimenticios y de escritura creativa. Unas horas tranquilas en mi estudio, escuchando música barroca para guitarra en el tubo de sonido y poniendo en orden imágenes, mientras caía la tarde de principios de marzo, fría y algo desapacible, sobre el barrio y sobre Madrid. He reorganizado algunas instantáneas en mi flickr y subido tres nuevas fotos a esa plataforma: O’Donnell y La realidad y el deseo, para el álbum “Ser y tiempo”; y T1 para el álbum de retratos y autorretratos “Imágenes del artista cumpliendo vida”. Estoy contento. Ese fotoblog, como varias veces tengo dicho, es más literario que estrictamente fotográfico, y me gusta pensar que hasta pictórico: Lucian Freud y el inevitable Hopper son dos de sus referencias principales (alguien hoy en día diría “referentes”, pero yo no soy “moderno” en el sentido actual). Es un poco turbador llevar un diario fotográfico; el paso del tiempo se acelera sobremanera cuando su minutero avanza en forma de fotogramas, y la evidencia gráfica nos devuelve una a veces angustiosa mirada cuando posamos sucesivamente en ella la mirada. Never mind. Habré de citar de nuevo a Alan Watts, en una de sus impagables charlas de los sesenta: “You’ve got all the time in the world”; tienes todo el tiempo del mundo. Hace poco leí no sé exactamente dónde (puede que en Il Gattopardo, que recientemente terminé) que lo que había que aprender a odiar, o lo que el ser humano acababa odiando, o lo que al hombre se le hacía forzosamente odioso, era la eternidad. Me dio que pensar, la reflexión. No sé si estoy de acuerdo, porque todavía no acabo de entender a ciencia cierta lo que Lampedusa —era Lampedusa, estoy ahora seguro— quería decir con esa frase; pero a mí en cualquier caso el pensamiento de la eternidad me resulta sumamente terapéutico y tranquilizador, de la misma curiosa manera en que solaza esa otra reflexión de Don Fabrizio al principio de la mencionada gran novela del aristócrata italiano: “Mientras hay muerte hay esperanza”. Honda y estremecedora rumia. Supongo que de significado muy distinto para quien sea creyente, y específicamente cristiano, y quien no. (¿Soy yo creyente? ¿Soy yo cristiano? ¡Esas preguntas íntimas no se formulan en pública sociedad! De todos modos alguien dijo de mí —fue concretamente mi querido amigo Luis Alberto de Cuenca, en la reciente presentación de mi poemario Pasos en el corredor— que soy siempre, en mi escritura, “connotativo”; y desde luego me gusta dejar tanto entre línea y línea como en las líneas mismas.)      Leí por cierto una traducción inglesa de El gatopardo: la de Archibald Colquhoun (rimbombante apellido; tal vez de origen normando, como algunos de los más ilustres que se dan en Inglaterra, donde se habló francés durante mucho tiempo como lengua oficial). Iba a leer la versión española, del prolífico traductor y excelente poeta Fernando Gutiérrez, pero finalmente me decanté, como casi siempre cuando se trata de obras escritas en idiomas que no sean ni el español ni el inglés, por mi lengua materna. Y efectivamente: Il Gattopardo es sin duda una extraordinaria —quizá más bien maravillosa— novela, como acertadamente me comentaba hace poco un lector de esta bitácora. Aunque algunos “peros” me reserve, que quizá desarrolle con más detalle en algún otro momento, porque el libro no me acaba, del todo, de “encajar”; pero esa es una cuestión que no tiene tal vez demasiada importancia, pues en su conjunto El gatopardo me extasió, y sobre todo la parte inicial, junto con la parte que tiene lugar en la finca de Donnafugata, y cómo no, el largo pasaje final que narra el óbito del Príncipe de Salina.

     Y bueno. Hasta aquí creo que voy a llegar hoy. Seguramente tenía alguna cosa más que decir o contar, pero uno de los placeres de la escritura de “libre asociación” que tanto me gusta practicar es precisamente el que comporta lo que su propio nombre indica: dejarme llevar en largos y plácidos (o no tan plácidos) meandros por el fértil territorio que el río del numen desee hacerme atravesar.      Hacía ya diez días que no actualizaba la Bitácora, y hoy sentía verdadero “mono de tinta”; y nunca mejor dicho, en el caso de la presente entrada o en relación con ella, porque acabo de redactar esto a mano, con la Parker 51 que un día fue de mi padre y es uno de mis tesoros más preciados. Ahora, saciado de tinta negra vertida sobre las hojas cuadriculadas de una de mis múltiples libretas rojas (la más antigua, en esta ocasión), me siento profundamente satisfecho y aliviado. Grafía de azabache —uso Quink de color negro— entre robustas tapas de cartón bermellón. ¿Cabe mejor combinación? A Onetti le encantaba “dibujar” la escritura, sintiendo el roce del grafito —también yo soy devoto del lápiz, como los antiguos periodistas— en la superficie del papel. A mí me pasa algo parecido; y esta tarde me he hecho el regalo de prometerme que a partir de ahora volveré mucho más a menudo a la pluma y el papel. ¡Doble trabajo! Porque luego hay que picar lo escrito, y pasarlo a ordenador. Esa labor, sin embargo, es también placer sobre placer.

ROGER WOLFE · 7 de marzo de 2023

[nikator]

Readings, 2022

I try to follow very loose research programmes in my nonfiction reading, and in 2020 and 2021 this was structural Marxism. My aim for 2022 was to move into humanist Marxism as a counterpoint to this. My standout discovery was Lefebvre, who has become one of my favourite theorists; he has that excellent combination of technical literary skill and strong ideas developed over a long time and many pages. I’m hopefully going to enjoy reading more of him this year. Bloch’s short On Karl Marx also left a big impact on me and how I think about Marxism. Overall, my greater exposure to humanism (both Marxist and otherwise) has reaffirmed and strengthened my antihumanism, which I suspect I’ll be returning to more heavily this year (2023).

I also had a major research project on ethics and the critique of ethics in preparation for my dissertation arguing for the elimination of ethics as a field of putative human knowledge; I abandoned that around mid-September so it never went anywhere, but I still read several great books for it that I’ve felt have really strengthened my general knowledge and made me a much better ethicist.

My 2022 was also a good year for fiction, introducing me to several very impressive authors and deepening my love for old favourites.

Overall, I’d say my 2022 was an excellent year for reading.

Books I read in 2022:

1. Davidson, Ian. The French Revolution: From Enlightenment to Tyranny. Profile, 2016

A narrative history of the French Revolution. It was a quick and easy read and exactly the kind of introductory work I was looking for so I can move on to more serious historical works about the Revolution in the future. The inevitable counterrevolutionary attitude implied by the title wasn’t too strong, and, despite himself, I think Davidson gave a fairly positive portrait of the Jacobins and sans-culottes.

2. Wahnich, Sophie. In Defence of the Terror: Liberty or Death in the French Revolution. Translated by David Fernbach, Verso, 2016 [2003]

A really impressive little essay which convinced me of the intelligence of many of the revolutionaries and just how well they understood politics and the emotions and emotional needs of populaces. Despite the differences between then and now and the revolutionary requirements of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, I think Wahnich’s analysis does offer a lot of fertile considerations for communists, especially around the way a revolutionary terror is responsive to the masses and the limits of political leadership and commandism.

3. Calvino, Italo. The Path to the Spiders’ Nests. Translated by Archibald Colquhoun and Martin McLaughlin, Penguin, 2013 [1947]

Calvino is my favourite fiction author and it was a delight to read his first work and to see both how different it is from his later writings and how it still has what I see as his main recurring themes already deeply embedded. On its own terms, it’s a powerful novella, demonstrating Calvino’s skill for sexual and obsessive emotions and the perspectives of neglected or sidelined persons. Also a frank and unpolished depiction of the partisans’ war as riddled with contradictions, weaknesses, and shortsightedness, yet also the hope and ambition for a better world and at least the promise of genuine political leadership (i.e., by communists), something only made the more poignant considering when it was written.

4. Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Birth of Tragedy and Other Writings. Edited by Raymond Geuss and Ronald Speirs, translated by Ronald Speirs, CUP, 1999 [1872–86]

As with Calvino, reading the first work of one of my favourite authors was very rewarding. The Birth of Tragedy is at times overly convoluted and tries too hard to prove its (often implausible) point, but it shows Nietzsche’s literary flair and deep knowledge of ancient literature in abundance. It was a good contrast to his later work to read Nietzsche as a romantic and a metaphysician, and as a loyal follower of Schopenhauer. In spite of the limitations of this metaphysics, a lot of Nietzsche’s theory about tragedy I do find quite plausible and an interesting counterpoint to Aristotle’s theory of katharsis. The kind of book that grows on you over time and that, eventually, you realise has stuck with you and affected how you see the world.

5. Gentili, Dario. The Age of Precarity: Endless Crisis as an Art of Government. Translated by Stefania Porcelli and Clara Pope, Verso, 2021

I wasn’t best placed to understand this short book because Gentili was working heavily from Foucault, who I have only the most basic familiarity with, but I did appreciate his discussion of the Greek origins of the concept of crisis as a medical term and what that means for our modern political concept.

6. Mishra, Pankaj. Bland Fanatics: Liberals, Race and Empire. Verso, 2020

Some interesting enough points in places and an appreciable line of critique of contemporary British nationalism and jingoism, but I don’t think this collection of articles is of much theoretical value.

7. Burton-Cartledge, Phil. Falling Down: The Conservative Party and the Decline of Tory Britain. Verso, 2021

I didn’t make much of it at the time, but ever since I read this analysis of the Conservative Party I’ve found myself thinking about it more and more and finding it increasingly convincing. A good, accessible attempt to understand the ruling party of British capital and its potential failure to carry out that role going forward.

8. Bloch, Ernst. On Karl Marx. Translated by John Maxwell, Verso, 2018 [1971]

A gorgeous collection of chapters taken from Bloch’s three-volume magnum opus The Principle of Hope. A patently good translation has rendered a moving, passionate, and beautiful writer who comes across, above all, as a loyal Marxist. I think a lot of the specific claims contained in the work are, due to its very strong humanism, wrong, but a huge amount is also very important and significant. The discussion of the theses on Feuerbach is especially excellent. Even though I come from the opposite Marxist tradition, I’d still recommend this as a wonderful introductory work to Marx and Marxism and the revolutionary project, and also as a theoretically robust work for the more well-read. Easily one of the best books I read in 2022, it’ll stay with me for a long time and I know is something I will feel the need to re-read at some point. The kind of book I think is worth taking with you for life. Genuinely really quite wonderful.

9. Calvino, Italo. The Complete Cosmicomics. Translated by Martin McLaughlin, et al., Penguin, 2010 [1964–8]

Calvino at his best: a joyous, melancholy, frivolous, profound collection of short stories. An excellent engagement with Calvino’s central themes of obsessive love and science. Simply stunning fiction.

10. Fois, Marcello. Bloodlines. Translated by Silvester Mazzarella, Hodder, 2015 [2009]

This was a gift and a random read for me, but I loved it. A moving and human story, full of suffering and intimacy as modernity comes to Sardinia.

11. Engels, Friedrich. The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. Translated by Alick West and Dona Torr, Verso, 2021 [1884] (re-read)

I first read The Origin of the Family when I was still fairly new to Marxism, and was impressed by it then, but I’m really glad I returned to it now I have a much stronger basis in the tradition. I think Engels is wrong about several things here (his denigration of the erotic principle and his belief that communist society will be monogamous are standout errors, in my opinion, and specifically errors which his own work in the book disproves), but his overall line of analysis is powerful. Vital reading for any communist and great material for feeding the building of Bloch’s concrete utopia. A paradigm example of how to do historical materialism.

12. Falco, Federico. A Perfect Cemetery. Translated by Jennifer Croft, Charco, 2021 [2016]

Brilliant collection of short stories, very evocative of place. I love how Falco handles dialogue, and he establishes strong interior lives for his characters, well-established over a relatively small number of pages. The story and title character of “Silvi and Her Dark Night” are my favourites of the collection: a delightfully erotic coming-of-age story, with all the mess and ugliness which that should entail, that in the end reflects well on Silvi as a person and makes you want to know her and be her friend. A touching book that leaves a heavy emotional impression, as, I think, any work of short stories should do.

13. Adorno, Theodor, and Max Horkheimer. Towards a New Manifesto. Translated by Rodney Livingstone, et al., Verso, 2019 [1942–89]

The first work of the year I read in one sitting. The main text amounts to a collection of starting points for further work, something I didn’t take up, which meant I took less away from it than I ideally would have. Adorno’s “Theses on Need”, attached as an appendix, however, I really liked and have worked from heavily in an as-yet unpublished manuscript on historical materialism.

14. Gros, Frédéric. Disobey! A Philosophy of Resistance. Translated by David Fernbach, Verso, 2021 [2020]

This struck me as something of a pop philosophy book, but there are definitely things of value here, especially when Gros is touching on Nietzsche and Aristotle.

15. Ayer, Alfred Jules. Language, Truth and Logic. Dover, 1952 [1936]

A strong outline of early analytic philosophy and demonstration of its radicalism. Exactly the kind of work that I think modern analytic philosophy should be returning to in order to rediscover the mission statement it seems to me to have lost: to cast metaphysics into the fire. Simplistic in places due to its brevity, but I wouldn’t ever count that against it. Much more than the merely historical text it’s often now talked of as.

16. Lefebvre, Henri. “Critique of Everyday Life, Volume I: Introduction.” Translated by John Moore. Critique of Everyday Life: The One-Volume Edition, by Henri Lefebvre, Verso, 2014, pp. 1–272

A brilliant work of Marxism. The late chapter “Notes Written One Sunday in the French Countryside” is a really impressive achievement, at once the most serious celebration of Christian civilisation imaginable while also an indignant and unflinching rejection of it— exactly how Marxist critique should work. Beautifully written, never theoretically trivial or opaque, and easy to read at length with a strong flow. Humanism at its best.

17. Blackburn, Simon. Ethics: A Very Short Introduction. OUP, 2021 [2001]

I find the A Very Short Introduction series can be very hit or miss, but this is good. Good exposition of Hume and Nietzsche given the tiny size, avoiding simply stating the normal tropes.

18. Sassoon, Donald. Morbid Symptoms: An Anatomy of a World in Crisis. Verso, 2021 [2020]

Doesn’t live up to its Gramscian trappings. Forgettable but inoffensive.

19. Enriquez, Mariana. Things We Lost in the Fire: Stories. Translated by Megan McDowell, Granta, 2018 [2016]

Enriquez is one of my best discoveries of 2022. This is a fantastic collection of feminist, Gothic, ecological, urban horror— a gorgeously physical collection, evocative of sensation and bodies. Modern in the best sense of the word. I was kept from reading more of her but I’m going to really try this year.

20. Anderson, Perry. Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism. Verso, 2013 [1974]

An impressive big-picture style history and a good work of historical materialism. Maybe partly indicative of its age, it’s, in my opinion, overly dismissive of the medieval Roman state and implausibly denigrating of its social structure, and simply wrong about the fall of Rome and end of classical antiquity, offering the old narrative of an exhausted peasant class and a crumbling empire towards which barbarian invasions merely acted as a coup de grâce— the exact opposite of what I think the historical record shows, but one that’s more convenient to somewhat vulgar forms of historical materialism. Nevertheless, a valuable study of the ancient world, the early medieval world, and the critically important transition period between them. Does what I think a materialist analysis of late antiquity should: show that the transition was one of collapse and retrograde motion, and not one brought about by the revolutionary actions of any class or bloc of classes, a demonstration that I think is important for Marxism to make in order to highlight to specificity and importance of the bourgeoisie and proletariat as classes and of their respective revolutionary trajectories.

21. Aristotle. The Nicomachean Ethics. Edited by Lesley Brown, translated by David Ross, et al., OUP, 2009 [ca. 340BC]

Aristotle is one of those people who I think fully lives up to the hype. A lovely translation of an incredibly profound work of philosophy of undying relevance and intelligence. A worthy attempt at understanding the only true goal of morality: happiness.

22. Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. Vintage, 1999 [1952]

The second book I read in a single sitting in 2022, I found The Old Man and the Sea an emotionally devastating novella. I felt like I wanted to cry the whole way through without being able to properly express why. Melancholy and a feeling of loss are some of my favourite emotions, and this delivered wonderfully. The kind of book that leaves you wanting to sit in silent contemplation for hours digesting the emotions.

23. Mill, John Stuart. “Utilitarianism.” On Liberty, Utilitarianism, and Other Essays, by John Stuart Mill, edited by Mark Philp and F. Rosen, OUP, 2015 [1861], pp. 115–80 (partially re-read)

Reading this in full for the first time gave me a better appreciation for it. I think it’s a stronger work than it’s often said to be. I particularly appreciate Mill’s historical narrative, explicitly linking (then) contemporary utilitarianism with Epicurus and other ancient figures as direct ancestors of the theory; it’s questionable philosophically speaking, but in my opinion the right course of action for the utilitarian to take.

24. Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Prince. Edited by Peter Bondanella, translated by Peter Bondanella, OUP, 2008 [ca. 1513] (re-read; new ed./trans.)

Returning to The Prince rekindled my love for Machiavelli after several years spent without reading him. Without hyperbole probably one of the most important works ever written; a must-read for communists and something to return to throughout the course of your life— The Prince is a wonderful work of ethics and a meditation on the foundational question of how we should live our lives as well as a founding document of modernity and political science. I read this in preparation for reading Althusser and Gramsci’s work on Machiavelli, as well as Machiavelli’s Discourses, but things got in the way and I never got to any of them. I’m eager to find time for them in 2023.

25. Adorno, Theodor. Minima Moralia: Reflections from Damaged Life. Translated by E. F. N. Jephcott, Verso, 2020 [1951]

Another work that deserves all the hype. It took me about a year to finish it, but Minima Moralia is a deeply special book. I can’t possibly lavish it with enough praise. The very project of a “melancholy science” is brilliant and Adorno’s dialogue with Nietzsche throughout is on point. Artistically wonderful and theoretically savage. A real companion for living, as any good book of ethics should be. A glorious foil to Aristotle, as its title suggests.

26. Plato. Republic 327a–367e/~books I & II, 595a–602b/most of book X. Edited by Robin Waterfield, translated by Robin Waterfield, OUP, 2008 [ca. 375BC]

Waterfield’s translation is the perfect mix of lyrical and precise, and captures Plato’s artistic prowess. I’ve counted the nearly three books of the Republic as a “book I’ve read” even though I didn’t actually come close to finishing the whole work—and I read plenty of essays in 2022 that were longer—because I have no intention to in the foreseeable future, and because the starting books of the Republic are capable of standing alone as a text that poses a series of questions— which are then partly addressed later on, partly (interestingly) set aside. Thrasymachus is especially interesting, including in the way Plato has to mutilate his argument in order to allow Socrates to “win” and move on; a telling tacit admission.

27. Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Translated by David Francis Pears and Brian McGuinness, Routledge, 2001 [1921]

Similar to Language, Truth and Logic, the Tractatus is a founding text of analytic philosophy as a self-conscious tradition and historical movement and moment, but it’s the far stronger work of the two. I’m not a logician so I’m sure plenty of this went over my head—it was a very difficult read, maybe the hardest of the year—but what I did get was incredibly strong. An anti-metaphysical project that urgently needs to be returned to and renewed. The last sections are especially strong.

28. Hume, David. An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding. Edited by Peter Millican and Peter J. R. Millican, OUP, 2007 [1748]

Hume is one of the philosophers I give pride of place when I evaluate my own positions, and he’s always a delight to read. This is a good place to start for the primary literature and a great work of scepticism.

29. Nietzsche, Friedrich. On the Genealogy of Morality, first and second essays. Edited by Keith Ansell-Pearson, translated by Carol Diethe, CUP, 2007 [1887] / “On the Genealogy of Morals: A Polemic”, first essay. Basic Writings of Nietzsche, by Friedrich Nietzsche, translated by Walter Kaufmann, Modern Library, 2009 [1887], pp. 437–600

My main academic work in 2022 was on Nietzsche and his relevance for/place in historical materialism, and this short and famous work of his was my main source text. A very strong work for the critique of ethics and ideology, with an immense amount of value contained in a short number of pages. I never know how to advise people with reading Nietzsche, but the Genealogy probably wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

30. Lefebvre, Henri. Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche: Or the Realm of Shadows. Translated by David Fernbach, Verso, 2020 [1975]

Having been highly impressed by Lefebvre earlier in the year, I knew I had to read this work of his (partly) on Nietzsche. I wasn’t able to make anything of it for my own work, almost entirely because of mismanaging my time, but it was a great read. Lefebvre’s reading of Nietzsche is impressive and one I’m going to return to, in particular to the contrast he draws between Nietzsche’s concept of overcoming (Überwindung) and Hegel and Marx’s of supersession (Aufheben), and of the importance of Nietzsche’s emphasis on questions of value.

31. Eliot, T. S. Four Quartets. Faber, 1959 [1944]

Famous dialectical poetry. I’m really unqualified to critique poetry, it’s not my form at all and I’m still trying to find a love for it after school made me instinctively hate it, but I enjoyed these.

32. Firestone, Shulamith. The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution. Verso, 2015 [1970]

I’ve been meaning to properly get into feminist theory for ages as I feel it’s one of my main areas of ignorance, and I read this very quickly at the end of the year (it has the virtue of being an easy read). I had high hopes for this book but was let down by it; overall I think it’s a theoretically poor work that makes grand pretences to (a modified version of) historical materialism at the start and then proceeds to systematically violate basic materialist premises throughout. Overall, a work of historical idealism, most valuable for its discussion of childhood and the sexuality and other humannesses of children and for the discussion of possible postfamilial social models in the final chapter. I was disappointed that so many great premises and insights—which abound throughout the book—are so consistently and systematically let down by the unworkable theoretical methodology. Ironically, what should be an extremely radical work often ends up having a paltry faux-radicalism due to its farcical methodology and version of “historical materialism” (which is only stochastically historical and almost entirely immaterialist). The stuff on race is just bizarre and is where Firestone’s dogmatism most blatantly comes apart and becomes self-devouring. I agree with a lot of what Firestone says—more than that, a lot of it is psychologically important to my sense of self and my attitude to the world—but I think she fails to demonstrate almost any of it. A book that desperately needs to be rewritten by a competent theorist because there’s so much value and importance in several of its premises and claims and they desperately need to be done justice to. Reading The Dialectic of Sex and contrasting it with the manuscripts on the same and related subjects I’ve written in the past has reaffirmed my intention to one day write a book-length exposition on the subjects. I can’t help viewing this book as a deeply regrettable theoretical failure, but it’s important to emphasise that its failure is due to an absence of genuine radicalism and for its not going far enough; any suggestion that it is too extreme has to be totally dismissed as reactionary.

33. Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. “Manifesto of the Communist Party.” Translated by Samuel Moore. The Communist Manifesto / The April Theses, by Karl Marx, et al., Verso, 2022 [1847], pp. 1–88 (re-read)

I re-read the Manifesto very slowly over the course of months with a friend I was introducing to Marxism. Re-reading it has reaffirmed its importance to Marxism for me; it has its flaws, but it is the founding document of our movement. Those Marxists who dismiss it as an over-emphasised text of purely historical importance have completely missed the Manifesto’s point as a declaration of a political-historical line of movement.

34. Calvino, Italo. Mr Palomar. Translated by William Weaver, Vintage, 1994 [1983]

The perfect end to the year, short and sweet and brilliant. Palomar, ever watchful and observant in a clinical but not unemotional, and above all experimental, way, is an excellent protagonist for Calvino to express his talent and literary aims through. The condensed talent of a lifetime of literary genius rendered in a hundred pages of perfection.

[referent]

One starts off writing with a certain zest, but a time comes when the pen merely grates in dusty ink, and not a drop of life flows, and life is all outside, outside the window, outside oneself, and it seems that never more can one escape into a page one is writing, open out another world, leap the gap. Maybe it’s better so. Maybe the time when one wrote with delight was neither a miracle nor grace but a sin, of idolatry, of pride.

Italo Calvino, The Nonexistent Knight  (translation Archibald Colquhoun) (1959)

[portraituresque]

ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS COLQUHOUN (1894-1983) Self portrait

[duneideannrpg]

NOMBRES Y APELLIDOS ESCOCESES

A continuación, te compartimos un compilado de nombres comunes en Escocia. Esperamos puedan servirte como inspiración o recurso para la creación de tus personajes. 

Adeen — Aeleen — Aelish — Aeveen — Aibhne — Aideen — Aife — Ailbe — Ailbhe — Aileen — Ailidh — Ailin — Ailis — Ailsa — Ainder — Aine — Aineen — Ainslin — Aislin — Aisling — Aislinn — Aiveen — Allison — Almath — Aluinn — Alva — Amabel — Anya — Aoife — Arienh — Ashling — Baibin — Baibre — Baine — Banva — Barabal — Bebhinn — Bebinn — Bedelia — Beibhinn — Berneen — Bethia — Beval — Bigseach — Bigshock — Blinna — Blinne — Boinn — Boonan — Boyne — Breanda — Breen — Breffany — Brenda — Brenna — Brianag — Brianna — Bride — Brieanne — Bronagh — Cadhla — Cahan — Cailin — Caireann — Cairenn — Caiside — Cait — Caitir — Caitlin — Caitriona — Caoilin — Caoilfhionn — Caoimhe — Carra — Casidhe — Cassidy — Catriona — Ceallach — Ceallsach — Ceana — Ceanag — Ceara — Ceilidh — Cerridwen — Chiara — Ciannait — Ciar — Ciara — Ciarda — Cinaed — Cinnie — Cleana — Cliodhna — Cliona — Clodagh — Cochran — Colleen — Cora — Corcair — Coreana — Correen — Cuach — Daireen — Dearshul — Debrinne — Deidra — Deirdre — Delaney — Delany — Demi — Derin — Dervla — Dinean — Doireann — Dolina — Doonshock — Doreen — Duinseach — Dunla — Dymphna — Eanna — Eabha — Eavan — Edana — Edea — Eibhlin — Eileen — Eilidh — Eimear — Eithne — Ellie — Elspeth — Elva — Emer — Enda — Enya — Eri — Erin — Eteen — Ethna — Eva — Evaleen — Faoiltiama — Fenella — Fial — Fina — Finneacht — Finola — Fiona — Fionnabair — Fionnuala — Fiontan — Flannery — Florence — Fraser — Gemma — Gogan — Gordania — Gormelia — Grainne — Grania — Grainne — Greer — Heather — Ide — Ina — Iona — Irial — Isla — Isobel — Jacobina — Jemma — Jenna — Jessie — Karen — Kathleen — Katriona — Kayleigh — Kayley — Keela — Keeley — Keelia — Keelin — Keely — Keer — Keeva — Keevshock — Keira — Kelly — Kennedi — Kennedy — Kennocha — Kentigerna — Kenzie — Kerry — Khora — Kiera — Kincaid — Kinteerrn — Kirsty — Kora — Krinoc — Kronshock — Laimhseach — Laoise — Laoiseach — Lasairiona — Laureen — Lauryn — Leenane — Liadain — Liadan — Liath — Life — Ligach — Lilias — Logan — Lonnog — Luighseach — Lysagh — Macha — Madailein — Madb — Maedbh — Maegan — Maelisa — Maen — Maeve — Magael — Maighdlin — Maire — Mairead — Malise — Mallaidh — Malvina — Maoliosa — Maura — Maureen — Meabh — Meadhbh — Meagan — Meagwin — Meara — Meaveen — Medbh — Megan — Meghan — Mhairi — Moira — Molly — Molmoria — Mora — Morag — Moraga — Mordag — Morna — Morrigan — Morven — Moya — Moyra — Moyreen — Muadhnait — Muireall — Muireann — Murail — Murdina — Murphy — Myfawny — Nainseadh — Naoise — Neamh — Neamhain — Neassa — Neve — Niamh — Niav — Noleen — Nora — Norah — Noreen — Nuala — Onora — Oona — Orla — Orlaith — Orna — Patricia — Pawrigeen — Proinseas — Quinn — Reagan — Redmond — Reeowna — Rhona — Riley — Riona — Rionach — Roan — Robyn — Roisin — Roshene — Rowan — Rynagh — Saidhbh — Sallain — Saoirse — Seana — Searlaid — Senga — Seonaid — Seosamhin — Shanna — Shannon — Shawn — Shawna — Shea — Sheena — Sheila — Sheridan — Shona — Shonah — Sibéal — Sidheag — Silagh — Silbhe — Síle — Sileas — Sinann — Sine — Sinead — Sineidin — Sinnead — Siobhan — Siofra — Siomha — Siomhaith — Siusan — Sive — Slaine — Slainte — Sloane — Sodelb — Sorca — Sorcha — Suanach — Suin — Sydoc — Talena — Tara — Teafa — Teagan — Tegan — Tiarnan — Tierney — Toireasa — Treasa — Tuileach — Una — Zara

Adair — Alan — Alasdair — Alastair — Alban — Alec — Alexander — Alistair — Alistaire — Allen — Alpin — Andrew — Angus — Archibald — Archie — Arcill — Arran — Artain — Artair — Arth — Athol — Aulay — Auliffe — Baird — Barclay — Birk — Blaine — Blair — Blane — Boswell — Bothan — Boyd — Branduff — Broderick — Brodie — Bruce — Burgess — Callum — Calum — Cameron — Campbell — Caral — Carbry — Clyde — Coll — Colquhoun — Conlan — Cormack — Cormick — Cosmo — Cowan — Craig — Cramond — Crawford — Crinan — Crom — Dalziel — Danny — Denholm — Dennis — Dermid — Donald — Donnan — Donwald — Dothaw — Dougal — Douglas — Drostan — Druce — Dubne — Duff — Duncan — Durell — Durrell — Eadan — Elliot — Euan — Ewan — Fagan — Farquar — Farquard — Farquhar — Fergus — Ferguson — Fife — Fingal — Finlay — Forbes — Fraser — Frazier — Gavin — Geordie — Gillean — Gillis — Gleann — Glendon — Gordon — Gough — Graham — Grant — Greer — Gregor — Hamilton — Hamish — Iain — Ian — Innes — Iomhar — Ioseph — James — Jamie — Jock — Johnston — Keir — Keith — Kenneth — Kentigern — Kevoca — Kieran — Kiley — Kirk — Lachlan — Lachy — Laird — Lamont — Leith — Lenox — Leslie — Lochlyn — Logan — Lorne — Macaulay — Macauley — Macdonald — Macfarlane — Mackenzie — Magnus — Malachy — Malcolm — Manius — Mirren — Monance — Montgomery — Muir — Mungo — Munro — Murdoch — Murray — Nairne — Nectan — Neill — Nele — Nevin — Niven — Padruig — Ramsay — Ranald — Reece — Roban — Robbie — Roddy — Ronan — Rory — Ross — Ryan — Scott — Seathan — Shaun — Sholto — Sim — Sinclair — Sioltaich — Skene — Solas — Stewart — Stuart — Tavis — Tavish — Torcall — Tormod — Torquil — Uilleam — Wallace

A - B

Abercrombie — Abernathy — Abernethy — Acheson — Adair — Addair — Ahern — Aikman — Ainsley — Ainslie — Aird — Airlie — Aitchison — Aitken — Aitkin — Akin — Alan — Allender — Allfrey — Allison — Allphin — Alphin — Andrew — Andrews — Angis — Angus — Ankrom — Arbuckle — Archie — Ard — Ardis — Argo — Argyle — Armour — Armstrong — Arnot — Arnott — Atcheson — Aud — Auld

Bad — Bailie — Baillie — Baine — Baines — Baird — Bald — Baldon — Balentine — Balfour — Ballantine — Ballantyne — Ballentine — Bankhead — Bannerman — Barclay — Barland — Barr — Barrentine — Barrie — Barrington — Barris — Barron — Barrontine — Bartee — Bateson — Baughman — Bay — Beans — Beaton — Beattie — Beatty — Beaty — Begley — Belford — Bethune — Beveridge — Bickett — Bigger — Bigham — Binney — Bise — Bisset — Bissett — Blacketer — Blackstock — Blackwater — Blackwood — Blaie — Blair — Boan — Boig — Bonar — Borland — Boswell — Bothwell — Bower — Bowers — Bowie — Boyce — Boyd — Boydston — Boyes — Boyle — Boyter — Brandy — Brash — Brebner — Breckenridge — Bremner — Briar — Briggs — Brisbane — Broadie — Broady — Broddy — Brodie — Brody — Brough — Brownfield — Bruce — Brugh — Brunton — Bryars — Bryce — Bryden — Buchan — Buchanan — Buchannan — Buchannon — Buchanon — Buckalew — Buckelew — Bucklew — Buckoke — Budge — Buie — Buist — Bulloch — Buntin — Bunton — Burgess — Burgher — Burney — Burney — Burnsed — Burnside — Burress — Burrus — Burruss — Buttars — Butters — Byas

C

Caddell — Cadenhead — Caine — Cairns — Calderwood — Cambell — Cambron — Cameron — Cammack — Campbell — Campell — Canady — Cannaday — Cannady — Cannedy — Canup — Caraway — Cardew — Cargill — Cargle — Carlock — Carlow — Carmichael — Carmickle — Carnegie — Carothers — Carruthers — Carstarphen — Caruthers — Caskey — Cass — Castellaw — Castellow — Cathey — Cato — Catoe — Catto — Caulder — Caulfield — Cay — Center — Chalmers — Chattan — Chesnut — Chestnut — Cheves — Chisholm — Chism — Chisolm — Christeson — Christie — Christison — Christy — Cleghorn — Cleland — Clelland — Clemons — Clendenin — Clendening — Clendenon — Clennon — Clerk — Clingan — Clink — Clinkscales — Clugston — Clunes — Clyde — Clyne — Cobourn — Cochran — Cochrane — Cockburn — Cogburn — Coghill — Cohron — Coke — Collie — Colquhoun — Colter — Condie — Copeland — Copelin — Copland — Cormack — Corner — Corrie — Corson — Costella — Cothran — Coull — Coulter — Coupland — Coutts — Cowan — Cowie — Cowin — Crafford — Cragg — Craig — Craighead — Craigie — Crail — Cram — Cranor — Cranston — Crary — Crawford — Crays — Creach — Crear — Creason — Creech — Creighton — Cremar — Crerar — Crichton — Crinklaw — Crocket — Crockett — Croll — Cromartie — Cromie — Crookshanks — Crosbie — Cruickshank — Cruikshank — Crum — Crumm — Culbreath — Culbreth — Culley — Culton — Cumbie — Cumby — Cumings — Cumming — Cummings — Cummins — Cunningham — Curley — Currans — Currens — Cuthbert — Cuthbertson

D - E - F

Dais — Dalgleish — Dall — Dallas — Dalrymple — Dalziel — Dann — Dargie — Dashiell — David — Davie — Davisson — Davy — Deas — Deems — Dees — Delph — Dempster — Dendy — Denney — Denny — Densmore — Dewar — Dickie — Dingwall — Dinsmore — Dinwiddie — Divers — Docherty — Doctor — Doig — Dollar — Dollison — Don — Donald — Donaldson — Donat — Donelson — Dorward — Dougal — Douglas — Douglass — Doull — Dow — Downey — Downie — Drennan — Driscoll — Driskell — Drone — Drummond — Drummonds — Dryden — Drysdale — Ducan — Duffie — Dumbreck — Dunbar — Duncan — Duncanson — Dundas — Dundes — Dunkin — Dunlap — Dunlop — Dunmire — Dunning — Dunsmire — Dysart

Eadie — Eagleson — Eddie — Edie — Edington — Edison — Edmisten — Edmiston — Edmondson — Edmonston — Edmundson — Elgin — Elphinson — Ensley — Entrekin — Erskin — Erskine — Erving — Espey — Esplin — Espy — Ester — Ewan — Ewart

Fadden — Faddis — Fairbairn — Fairweather — Falconer — Fallen — Farish — Farland — Farney — Farquhar — Farquharson — Farrar — Farrish — Fate — Faulds — Feemster — Feimster — Fendley — Fentress — Fergerson — Fergeson — Fergurson — Fergus — Ferguson — Fergusson — Ferrier — Fettes — Fife — Figures — Findlay — Findley — Finlay — Finlayson — Finley — Finnie — Firth — Fleming — Flemming — Fletcher — Flett — Fobes — Forbes — Forbess — Forbis — Forbus — Forbush — Fordyce — Forgey — Forgie — Forres — Forsyth — Forsythe — Fraizer — Fraser — Frasier — Frasure — Frazee — Frazer — Frazier — Freel — Frew — Frizell — Frum — Fulton — Furgason — Furgerson — Furguson — Furlough — Fyfe — Fyffe

G - H

Gaddie — Galbraith — Galbreath — Gall — Gallacher — Gallaway — Galloway — Galt — Gammill — Garden — Garrick — Garrow — Garson — Gault — Gaunce — Gavin — Gaw — Geddes — Geddie — Geddis — Gemmill — Gibb — Gilbreath — Gilbreth — Gilchrest — Gilchrist — Gilcrease — Gilkerson — Gilkison — Gillan — Gillanders — Gillaspie — Gillespie — Gilley — Gillie — Gillies — Gilliland — Gillis — Gillison — Gillispie — Gilreath — Givens — Gladstone — Glasco — Glascoe — Glasgow — Glassford — Glen — Glendenning — Goldie — Goodlett — Goolsby — Gordan — Gorden — Gordon — Gosnell — Goudie — Goudy — Gough — Gourlay — Govan — Gow — Gowan — Gowans — Gowdy — Gracie — Graham — Graig — Grant — Greear — Greenlaw — Greer — Greg — Greig — Grier — Grieve — Grieves — Guffey — Guild — Guill — Gunn — Guthrie

Haddow — Haggart — Haig — Hairston — Haliburton — Halladay — Halliburton — Hamilton — Hamiton — Haney — Haning — Hanna — Hannah — Hannay — Hanning — Hardie — Hardison — Hardy — Harg — Harkness — Harvie — Hastie — Haston — Hasty — Hawthorn — Hawthorne — Hay — Headen — Headrick — Heggan — Heggie — Heird — Henderson — Hendley — Hendrie — Hendry — Henery — Henning — Hepburn — Hepworth — Herriot — Hillin — Hilson — Hindman — Hislop — Hoag — Hobbie — Hodo — Hoge — Hoggan — Hosack — Hosick — Hou — Houston — Howey — Howie — Hoy — Huggard — Hughey — Huie — Hume — Huskey — Huston — Hutcherson — Hutcheson — Hyland — Hyndman — Hyslop

I - J - K - L

Imlay — Imrie — Inch — Inglis — Innerarity — Innes — Innis — Irons — Irvin — Irvine — Irving

Jack — Jamerson — Jamieson — Jamison — Jardine — Jarvie — Jebb — Jelly — Jemison — Jessieman — Joass — Joel — Johnston — Johnstone — Jollie — Joss

Kanady — Kea — Kee — Keir — Keith — Kellen — Kellis — Kellman — Kellogg — Kelso — Kelsoe — Kelson — Kelton — Kenebrew — Kenmore — Kenndy — Kennebrew — Kennedy — Kenneth — Kennison — Keough — Keown — Kerr — Kersey — Kershaw — Keyes — Keys — Kiddy — Kier — Kilbride — Kilcrease — Kilgore — Kilgour — Killeen — Kimsey — Kimzey — Kinard — Kincade — Kincaid — Kincaide — Kindrick — Kinghorn — Kinion — Kinkade — Kinloch — Kinnaird — Kinnard — Kinnear — Kinnebrew — Kinner — Kinnick — Kinnon — Kinzie — Kirk — Kirkland — Kirksey — Kirkwood — Kissack — Kneeland — Knox — Kyles — Kynynmound

Lagan — Laidlaw — Laing — Laird — Lairmore — Lamon — Lamond — Lamont — Landreth — Lang — Lange — Lapsley — Larimer — Larimore — Latta — Lattea — Lauder — Lauderdale — Laughary — Laury — Lawrie — Lawther — Leap — Leas — Lease — Leath — Ledgerwood — Ledingham — Leese — Leishman — Leitch — Leith — Lemen — Lemmons — Lennox — Lenox — Lesley — Leslie — Liddle — Liggett — Lillie — Lindsay — Lindsey — Linear — Lingo — Liston — Livingstone — Loan — Loar — Loch — Lochhead — Lochridge — Lockaby — Lockard — Lockart — Lockerby — Lockhart — Logan — Loggins — Longmore — Loran — Lorimer — Lory — Lothian — Louden — Loudon — Lough — Lougheed — Louthan — Lowery — Lowrey — Lowrie — Lowrimore — Lowry — Lumsden — Lusk — Lyall — Lyalls — Lymon — Lynd — Lynne

M

M’Clellan — M’Clelland — Maben — Mabon — Macadam — Macalester — MacAllister — MacArthur — Macartney — Macaulay — Macauley — MacBeth — MacCallum — MacCuaig — MacDonald — MacDonnell — MacDougall — MacDowell — MacDuff — MacFarland — MacGregor — Macgrieusich — Machlin — MacInnes — MacInnis — MacIntosh — MacIntyre — Mackall — MacKay — Mackenzie — MacKinnon — Mackintosh — Macky — MacLachlan — MacLaren — MacLean — MacLennan — MacLeod — MacLulich — MacLullich — MacMaster — MacMillan — MacNaughton — MacNeil — MacNeill — MacPhail — MacPherson — MacQueen — MacRae — MacWilliams — Madison — Madlock — Maginnis — Magoon — Magruder — Maguire — Mains — Mairs — Maitland — Malcolm — Malcom — Maloch — Malpass — Manderson — Mantooth — Marchbanks — Marr — Marrs — Mathers — Matheson — Mathewson — Mathie — Mathieson — Mathison — Matthes — Mattie — Maule — Maxton — Mayne — Mayse — McAdam — McAdams — McAlexander — McAlister — McAllen — McAlley — McAllister — McAlpin — McAlpine — McAndrew — McAra — McArdle — McArthur — McAulay — McAuliffe — McBain — McBane — McBath — McBay — McBean — McBeth — McBride — McBroom — McBurney — McCaig — McCaleb — McCall — McCalla — McCalley — McCallister — McCallum — McCambridge — McCampbell — McCanse — McCant — McCants — McCardel — McCargo — McCartney — McCarver — McCarville — McCaskill — McCaslin — McCaul — McCauley — McCausland — McCaw — McChriston — McChrystal — McClaran — McClard — McClaren — McClatchey — McClean — McClear — McCleary — McCleese — McClellan — McClelland — McClenon — McClernand — McCline — McClintic — McClintick — McClintock — McClinton — McClish — McCloe — McCloud — McClugh — McClung — McClure — McColl — McCollom — McCollough — McCollum — McComas — McComb — McCombs — McConico — McCool — McCorkle — McCormic — McCormick — McCorvey — McCosh — McCosker — McCotter — McCown — McCrae — McCranie — McCright — McCroy — McCrum — McCrystal — McCuaig — McCubbin — McCuin — McCuistion — McCuiston — McCulla — McCullah — McCulloch — McCullom — McCullough — McCully — McCure — McCurtis — McCutchen — McCutcheon — McDade — McDonald — McDonalds — McDonel — McDonell — McDonnell — McDougal — McDougall — McDougle — McDuff — McDuffey — McDuffie — McDuffy — McEachern — McEachin — McEachran — McElfresh — McElveen — McEntire — McEntyre — McEwan — McEwen — McEwing — McFadden — McFadyen — McFall — McFarlain — McFarlan — McFarland — McFarlane — McFarlin — McFate — McFatridge — McFee — McField — McGarr — McGee — McGeorge — McGhee — McGhie — McGibbon — McGibbons — McGillis — McGillivray — McGilvery — McGilvray — McGirr — McGlashen — McGlasson — McGlothlin — McGlown — McGonigal — McGowing — McGray — McGregor — McGrew — McGrory — McGruder — McGuffey — McGuffie — McGuigan — McGuire — McHardy — McHargue — McHughes — McIe — McInnes — McIntire — McIntosh — McIntyre — McIsaac — McIver — McIvor — McJarrow — McJokkie — McKain — McKamey — McKamie — McKay — McKeag — McKean — McKechie — McKechnie — McKee — McKeever — McKeithan — McKell — McKellar — McKelvie — McKendrick — McKendry — McKenrick — McKenzie — McKeown — McKern — McKesson — McKiddy — McKie — McKillop — McKinlackour — McKinley — McKinnon — McKinny — McKinsey — McKinzie — McKinzy — McKisic — McKissack — McKown — McLachlan — McLagan — McLaine — McLaren — McLarty — McLauchlin — McLaurin — McLay — McLean — McLees — McLeish — McLemore — McLennan — McLennon — McLeod — McLoud — McLucas — McLure — McMackin — McMains — McMakin — McManus — McMartin — McMaser — McMasters — McMath — McMeen — McMichael — McMillan — McMillen — McMillian — McMinn — McMorran — McMorris — McMurdie — McMurray — McMurry — McMurtrey — McMurtrie — McMurtry — McNab — McNabb — McNair — McNary — McNatt — McNaught — McNaughton — McNeal — McNeff — McNichol — McNichols — McNiel — McNinch — McNish — McNitt — McPhail — McPhatter — McPhaul — McPhee — McPheron — McPherson — McPhilips — McQuarrie — McQueen — McQuhollaster — McQuiston — McQuown — McRae — McRaith — McRaney — McRay — McRea — McSparren — McSwain — McSween — McTaggart — McTammany — McTurk — McVicar — McVicker — McWain — McWaters — McWatters — McWhan — McWherter — McWhirt — McWhirter — McWhirtle — McWhorter — McWilliams — McZeal — Mearns — Meikle — Meiklejohn — Meldrum — Melendy — Melrose — Melville — Melvin — Menzie — Menzies — Merrow — Methven — Methvin — Mey — Michie — Mickle — Middlemas — Middlemiss — Mike — Mikell — Milholland — Mill — Millan — Millar — Millwee — Milroy — Minges — Minto — Mode — Moffat — Moffatt — Moffet — Moffett — Moffitt — Moir — Mollison — Moncrief — Moncrieff — Moncur — Monroe — Monteith — Montgomery — Montieth — Montrose — Monzie — Moodie — Moorehead — Moorhead — Moorman — Mor — Moredock — Morehead — Morison — Morrison — Morthland — Mortland — Mosman — Mossey — Mossman — Motherwell — Moultrie — Moyes — Muir — Muirhead — Mull — Muncie — Muncrief — Mundell — Mundie — Mundy — Munro — Munroe — Murchie — Murchison — Murdaugh — Murdoch — Murrah — Murray — Murry — Mustard — Mutch — Myron

N - O - P - Q - R

Nair — Nairn — Naismith — Nall — Napier — Narron — Nathaniel — Nay — Near — Negus — Neil — Nesbit — Nesbitt — Nesmith — Ness — Newkirk — Niblack — Niblock — Nicholson — Nickols — Nicol — Nicoll — Nicolson — Niel — Nimmo — Nisbet — Nisbett — Nish — Niven — Noles

Ocheltree — Officer — Offutt — Ogg — Ogilvie — Oglesbee — Oglesby — Ogletree — Orahood — Orem — Ormiston — Orrick — Orrock — Orso —

Paden — Paisley — Panton — Pasley — Pate — Paterson — Patillo — Paton — Pattillo — Pattison — Pattullo — Paull — Peasley — Peden — Peebles — Peeples — Penman — Persley — Peterkin — Petree — Petrey — Petrie — Petry — Pettigrew — Pettry — Petty — Phaup — Phenix — Philp — Phoenix — Pinckney — Pinkerton — Pinkney — Pitcairn — Pittenger — Poet — Polk — Pollock — Polson — Porteous — Porterfield — Postley — Pou — Presley — Pressley — Pressly — Primrose — Prindle — Pringle — Provan — Pullar — Puller — Purdie — Purvis

Quaintance — Quiggin — Quintance

Rabb — Rabren — Raburn — Rae — Raeburn — Raeside — Rainey — Raitt — Ramage — Ramsay — Ramsey — Rankin — Rankins — Ranney — Rasco — Rattray — Raulston — Raver — Rayborn — Rayburn — Reaper — Redden — Reddick — Reddy — Redhead — Ree — Reedy — Reid — Reidhead — Reith — Renfrew — Renfro — Renfroe — Renfrow — Renick — Rennie — Renton — Renwick — Reoch — Reyburn — Richey — Richie — Richison — Rickey — Ridlon — Risk — Ritchey — Ritchie — Robertson — Robeson — Robison — Rodan — Rodger — Rodick — Rollo — Ronald — Rosegrant — Ross — Rosse — Roswell — Rough — Rought — Roy — Rule — Rushford — Rusk — Rutherford — Ruthven  

S - T

Safley — Sailor — Sandercock — Sanders — Sanderson — Sangster — Saucer — Saunders — Sauser — Scobee — Scobie — Scott — Scroggs — Selfridge — Selkirk — Semple — Senter — Service — Shadden — Shand — Shands — Shankland — Shanklin — Shatto — Shaw — Shawn — Shearer — Shedden — Shehorn — Shina — Shorey — Shortridge — Sim — Simson — Sinclair — Sinton — Sittal — Skeen — Skeens — Skelley — Skirvin — Slider — Sloss — Smail — Smelley — Smiley — Smylie — Snedden — Snodgrass — Somerville — Sommerville — Souter — Southers — Speedy — Spence — Spittel — Sprvill — St. Claire — Stalker — Starrett — Steen — Stennis — Sterling — Steuart — Steven — Steward — Stewart — Stirling — Stitt — Stoddart — Storer — Storie — Storment — Stormont — Strachan — Strang — Strawn — Stronach — Struthers — Stuart — Sturrock — Stwart — Summerville — Sumrall — Sutherland — Sutherlin — Suthers — Swapp — Swinton — Sword

Taggart — Tait — Tannahill — Tannehill — Tarrence — Tassie — Tawse — Teare — Teasdale — Tedford — Telfair — Telfer — Telford — Thom — Thomaston — Thorburn — Thrift — Tilford — Tillery — Tindal — Tisdale — Toller — Tolmie — Torbert — Torrance — Torrence — Torrens — Torry — Tosh — Touch — Tough — Towers — Trail — Tullis — Tulloch — Tullock — Tullos — Turnbull — Twaddle — Tweed — Tweedie — Twentyman — Twitty — Tylor — Tyre — Tyree

U - V - W - Y - Z

Urey — Urquhart — Usher — Ussher

Vail — Vaill — Vass — Veach — Veatch — Veitch — Venters — Verner — Vert — Vessy — Vingoe

Waddell — Waddy — Waldie — Waldrep — Waldrip — Waldrup — Walkup — Wallace — Waltrip — Wardlaw — Wardlow — Wardrip — Wardrop — Wark — Warnock — Wason — Watchman — Waugh — Weddell — Wedell — Weems — Weir — Wemyss — Wham — Whan — Whary — Whearty — Whimster — Whitehill — Whitelaw — Wier — Wight — Wigton — Wilkie — Willison — Wims — Winton — Wishart — Woodburn — Woodside — Wyllie

Yawn — Yeats — Yelton — Yule

Zuill

Recurso tomado de: Marwen

[letterful]

They were the most moving sight there, two young people in love dancing together, blind to each other’s defects, deaf to the warnings of fate, deluding themselves that the whole course of their lives would be as smooth as the ballroom floor, unknowing actors made to play the parts of Juliet and Romeo by a director who had concealed the fact that tomb and poison were already in the script. Neither of them was good, each full of self-interest, swollen with secret aims; yet there was something sweet and touching about them both; those murky but ingenuous ambitions of theirs were obliterated by the words of jesting tenderness he was murmuring in her ear, by the scent of her hair, by the mutual clasp of those bodies of theirs destined to die.

GIUSEPPE DI LAMPEDUSA, from The Leopard, trans. Archibald Colquhoun.

[scotianostra]

On January 20th 1604 Alastair MacGregor of Glenstrae, Chief of the outlawed Clan Gregor was executed at the Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh.

There were a few factors involved in this execution, going back to 1589  when John Drummond, the Kings forester, was murdered after hanging some MacGregor’s for poaching. Their Chief  Alistair MacGregor of Glenstrae, gave shelter to the killer. Such was the highland honour to do so, he took responsibility for the act and was condemned by the Privy Council.

Fast forward to one of the main events in MacGregor history which was the Battle of Glen Fruin on Feb 7th 1603. This was a Clan battle due to a feud owing to the MacGregors carrying out raids on the Colquhoun's lands.  I will cover the battle next month, but the casualties speak for themselves, maybe two MacGregors dead, and up to 200 Colquhoun slain.

Within two months the Proscriptive Acts of Clan Gregor were enacted. This draconian ruling, outlawing the name, it also  authorized the capture of Alasdair MacGregor of Glenstrae and his leading kinsmen. The names of Clan Gregor were erased from existence.

The Earl of Argyll sent a message to Alistair Macgregor, asking him to come and confer with him, under promise to let him go free if they should not come to an agreement. The two met in Edinburgh and an agreement was reached that Argyll would escort him through Scotland to the border where the Chief would then head south to London to plead for clemency with King James, who had only recently taken the English throne. However the Earl, Archibald Campbell, had arranged in advance for soldiers to capture him on the English side, and returned him to Edinburgh to stand trial with eleven of his chieftains. 

The trial was a forgone conclusions , the jury included many of Alastair’s bitterest enemies, there was only one sentence going to be handed out, guilty, and condemned to hang, which was carried out on this day in 1604, to mark his rank, the Chief was hung higher than his eleven kinsmen.

The Historian and Burgess of Edinburgh Robert Birrell wrote about this in his diaries as such...............

"......the Earle of Argyill the 4 of Januar; and brocht to Edinburghe the 9 of Januar 1604, with mae of 18 his friendis, M'Gregouris. He was convoyit to Berwick be the gaird, conforme to the earlis promese; for he promesit to put him out or Scttis grund/ Swa he keipit ane Hieland-manis promes; in respect he send the gaird to convoy him out of Scottis grund. But thai wer not directit to pairt with him back agane! The 18 of Januar, at evine, he come agane to Edinburghe; and upone the 20 day, he was hangit at the croce, and ij (eleven) of his freindis and name, upone ane gallows: Himselff, being chieff, he was hangit his awin hicht above the rest of his friendis"." That Argyll had an interest in his death appears from a declaration, printed in Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, which the chief made before his execution, wherein he says that the earl had enticed him to commit several slaughters and disorders, and had endeavoured to prevail upon him to commit "sundrie mair" 

Pics are a depiction of the Old Tolbooth, the model is in The Museum of Edinburgh on the Canongate. The Heart of Midlothian marks the site of the Tolbooth, just west of St Giles on The Royal Mile.

[equx]

“The rains had come, the rains had gone, and the sun was back on his throne like an absolute monarchy kept off for a week by his subjects’ barricades.”

The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) - Giuseppe Tomassi di Lampedusa (tr. Archibald Colquhoun)

[eliamatrell]

They were the most moving sight there, two young people in love dancing together, blind to each other’s defects, deaf to the warnings of fate, deluding themselves that the whole course of their lives would be as smooth as the ballroom floor, unknowing actors made to play the parts of Juliet and Romeo by a director who had concealed the fact that tomb and poison were already in the script. Neither of them was good, each full of self-interest, swollen with secret aims; yet there was something sweet and touching about them both; those murky but ingenuous ambitions of theirs were obliterated by the words of jesting tenderness he was murmuring in her ear, by the scent of her hair, by the mutual clasp of those bodies of theirs destined to die.

GIUSEPPE DI LAMPEDUSA, from The Leopard, trans. Archibald Colquhoun.

[peach-salinger]

✧･*ﾟscottish surnames

→ link to my scottish female name masterlist → link to my scottish male name masterlist

under the cut are 733 scottish surnames. this masterlist was created for all in one breath rp at the request of lovely el, but feel free to link on your own sites! names are listed in alphabetical order. ❝mac❞, ❝mc❞ and ❝m❞ are split into three sections because i mean... look at them. please like♡ or reblog if you found this useful.

abbot(son), abercrombie, abernethy, adam(son), agnew, aikenhead, aitken, akins, allan(nach/son), anderson, (mac)andie, (mac)andrew, angus, annand, archbold/archibald, ard, aris, (mac)arthur

B

(mac)bain/bayne, baird, baker, balfour, bannatyne, bannerman, barron, baxter, beaton, beith, bell, bethune, beveridge, birse, bisset, bishop, black(ie), blain/blane, blair, blue, blyth, borthwick, bowie, boyd, boyle, braden, bradley, braithnoch, (mac)bratney, breck, bretnoch, brewster, (mac)bridan/brydan/bryden, brodie, brolochan, broun/brown, bruce, buchanan, budge, buglass, buie, buist, burnie, butter/buttar

C

caie, (mac)caig, (mac)cail, caird, cairnie, (mac)callan(ach), calbraith, (mac)callum, calvin, cambridge, cameron, campbell, canch, (mac)candlish, carberry, carmichael, carrocher, carter, cassie, (mac)caskie, catach, catto, cattenach, causland, chambers, chandlish, charleson, charteris, chisholm, christie, (mac)chrystal, (mac)clanachan/clenachan, clark/clerk, (mac)clean, cleland, clerie, (mac)clinton, cloud, cochrane, cockburn, coles, colinson, colquhoun, comish, comiskey, comyn, conn(an), cook, corbett, corkhill, (mac)cormack, coull, coulthard, (mac)cowan, cowley, crabbie, craig, crane, cranna, crawford/crawfurd, crerar, cretney, crockett, crosby, cruikshank, (mac)crum, cubbin, cullen, cumming, cunningham, currie, cuthbertson

D

dallas, dalglish, dalziel, darach/darroch, davidson, davie, day, deason, de lundin, dewar, dickin, dickson, docherty, dockter, doig, dollar, (mac)donald(son), donelson, donn, douglas, dorward, (mac)dow(all), dowell, (macil)downie, drain, drummond, (mc)duff(ie)/duff(y), duguid, dunnet, dunbar, duncan, dunn, durward, duthie

E, F

eggo, elphinstone, erskine, faed, (mac)farquhar(son), fee, fergus(on), (mac)ferries, fettes, fiddes, findlay, finn, finlayson, fisher, fishwick, fitzgerald, flanagan, fleming, fletcher, forbes, forrest, foulis/fowlis, fraser, fullarton, fulton, furgeson

G

gall(ie), galbraith, gammie, gardyne, (mac)garvie, gatt, gault, geddes, gellion, gibb(son), gilbert, gilbride, (mac)gilchrist, gilfillan, (mac)gill(ivray/ony), gillanders, gillespie, gillies, gilliland, gilmartin, gilmichael, gilmore, gilroy, gilzean, (mac)glashan, glass, gloag, glover, godfrey, gollach, gordon, (mac)gorrie, gourlay, gow, graeme/graham, grant, grassick, grassie, gray, gregg, (mac)gregor(y), greer, greig, grierson, grieve, grimmond, (mac)gruer, gunn, guthrie

H

hall, hamill, (mac)hardie/hardy, harper, harvie, hassan, hatton, hay, henderson, hendry, henry, hepburn, herron, hood, hosier, howie, hugston, huie, hume, humphrey, hunter, (mac)hutcheon, hutcheson

I, J, K

(mac)innes, irving, iverach, ivory, jamieson, jarvie, jeffrey(s), johnson, johnston, jorie, (mac)kay, (mac)kean, keenan, keillor, keir, keith, kelly, kelso, keogh, kemp, kennedy, (mac)kerr(acher), kesson, king, kynoch

L

laing, laird, (mac)laine/lane, lamond, lamont, landsborough, landsburgh, lang/laing, larnach, laurie/lawrie, lees, lennie, lennox, leslie, lindsay, little(son), lithgow, livingston(e), lobban, logan, lorne, lothian, lovat, love, loynachan, luke, luther

MAC-

mac ruaidhrí, mac somhairle, mac suibhne, macadam, macadie, macaffer, macainsh, macalasdair, macallister, macalonie, macalpine, macanroy, macara, macarthy, macaskill, macaskin, macaughtrie, macaulay, macauslan, macbean, macbeath, macbeth(ock), macbey, macbriden, macbryde, maccabe, maccadie, maccaffer, maccaffey/maccaffie, maccalman, maccambridge, maccann, maccance, maccartney, maccavity, maccaw, macdowell, maccheyne, maccodrum, maccomb(ie), maccorkindale, maccormick, maccoll, macconie, macconnachie, macconnell, maccoshin, maccoskrie, maccorquodale, macclaren, maccleary, macclew, maccloy, macclumpha, macclung, macclure, macclurg, maccraig, maccrain, maccreadie, maccrimmon, maccrindle, maccririe, maccrone, maccrosson, maccuaig, maccuidh, maccuish, macculloch, maccurley, macdermid/macdiarmid, macdougall, macdui, macduthy, maceachainn, maceachen, macelfrish, macewan/macewen, macfadyen, macfadzean, macfall, macfarlane/macpharlane, macfater/macphater, macfeat, macfee, macfigan, macgarrie, macgarva, macgeachen/macgeechan, macgeorge, macghie, macgibbon, macgillonie, macgiven, macglip, macgriogair, macgruther, macguire, macgurk, machaffie, macheth, machugh, macichan, macinnally, macindeoir, macindoe, macinesker, macinlay, macinroy, macintosh, macintyre, macisaac, maciver/macivor, macilherran, macilroy, macjarrow, mackail, mackeegan, mackeggie, mackellar, mackelvie, mackendrick, mackenna, mackenzie, mackerlich, mackerral, mackerron, mackerrow, mackessock, mackettrick, mackichan, mackie, mackilligan, mackillop, mackim(mie), mackinven, mackirdy/mackirdie, mackrycul, maclafferty, maclagan, maclarty, maclatchie/letchie, maclaverty, maclearnan, macleay, maclehose, macleish, maclellan(d), macleman, macleod, macleòid, maclintock, macllwraith, maclucas, macluckie, maclugash, macmann(us), macmaster, macmeeken, macmichael, macmillan, macminn, macmorrow, macmurchie, macmurdo, macmurray, macnab, macnair, macnally, macnaught(on), macnee, macneish/macnish, macnicol, macninder, macnucator, macpartland, macphail, macphatrick, macphee, macphedran, macpherson, macquarrie, macqueen, macquien, macquilken, macrae/machray, macraild, macrob(bie/bert), macrory, macrostie, macshane, macsherry, macsorley, macsporran, macsween, mactavish, mactear, macturk, macusbaig, macvannan, macvarish, macvaxter, macvean, macveigh/macvey, macvicar, macvitie, macvurich, macwalter, macwattie, macwhannell, macwhillan, macwhinnie

MC-

mccabe, mccain, mcclelland, mcclintock, mcconell, mccracken, mccune, mccurdy, mcdiarmid, mcelshender, mceuen, mcewing, mcfadden, mcgeachie/mcgeachy, mcgowan, mcilroy, mcinnis, mcivor, mckechnie, mckeown, mclarty, mclennan, mcneill(age/ie), mcowen, mcphee, mcpherson, mcwhirter

M

maduthy, magruder, mahaffie, main(s), mair, major, malcolm(son), malloch, manson, marr, marno(ch), (mac)martin, marquis, massie, matheson, mathewson, maver/mavor, maxwell, may, mearns, meechan, meiklejohn, meldrum, mellis(h), menzies, mercer, micklewain, milfrederick, millar/miller, milligan, milliken, milne, milroy, milvain, milwain, moannach, moat, moffat, mollinson, moncrief, monk, montgomery, moore, moray, morgan, (mac)morran, morrison, morrow, morton, mossman, mucklehose, muir(head), mulloy, munn, munro, (mac)murchie/murchy, murchison, murdoch, murphy

N, O, P, Q

nairn, naughton, navin, neeve, neil, neish, nelson, ness, nevin, nicalasdair, niceachainn, (mac)nichol(son), nicleòid, (mac)niven, noble, ochiltree, ogg, ogilvy, o'kean, oliver, omay/omey, orchard(son), orr, osborne, park, paterson, patrick, patten, peacock, peat, peters, philp, polson, power, purcell, purser, qualtrough, quayle, quillan, quiller, quinn, quirk

R, S

(mac)ranald(son), randall, rankin, reid, reoch, revie, riach, (mac)ritchie, roberts(on), rose, ross, rothes, roy, ryrie, salmon(d), scott, selkirk, sellar, shannon, sharpe, shaw, sheen, shiach, sillars, sim(son/pson), sinclair, skene, skinner, sloan, smith, somerville, soutar/souter, stein, stenhouse, stewart/stuart, strachan, stronach, sutherland, (mac)swan(son/ston), swinton

T, U, V, W, Y

taggart, tallach, tawse, taylor, thom(son), todd, tolmie, tosh, tough, tulloch, turner, tyre, ulrick, urquhart, vass, wallace, walker, walsh, warnock, warren, ward, watt, watson, wayne, weir, welsh, whiston, whyte, wilkins(on), (mac)william(son), wilson, winning, wright, young

[psitrend]

The Taiping Rebellion: facts, causes, and effects

New Post has been published on https://china-underground.com/2019/10/25/the-taiping-rebellion-facts-causes-and-effects/

The Taiping Rebellion: facts, causes, and effects

The Taiping Rebellion

The Taiping Rebellion (太平天國運動) was a massive revolt in China from 1850 to 1864 between the established Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Between 1700 and 1800 numerous revolts against the central power, unable to resist the Western powers, took place all over China.

Related articles: Facts, History & Combatants of the Boxer Rebellion, 30 fascinating Xinhai Revolution images, the Chinese Revolution of 1911, the First Sino-Japanese War, History and Facts of the Red Eyebrows Rebellion against Wang Mang, Yellow Turbans Rebellion

The first riots

From 1774 with the beginning of the White Lotus revolt until 1873 with the end of the Hui and Miao revolts, China was, therefore, experiencing a century of internal struggles that broke out because of the strong discomfort of the population; the discomfort was often motivated by the demographic explosion, with consequent lack of food, and by the decay of the water maintenance system.

All these movements, however, end up in a bloodbath.

The high level of taxation, corrupt bureaucracy and the process of concentration of land ownership had aggravated the situation, causing further impoverishment of the peasant masses.

This inconvenience led to the formation of secret societies on the model of the White Lotus and the Triads.

The impositions of Great Britain had further worsened an already serious situation: the decision to open new ports north of Canton was also damaging the local merchants, porters, boatmen, and the pirates themselves, to whom the western fleets had declared war.

Hong Xiuquan and the God Worshippers

Hong Xiuqian

Hong Xiuquan (Hung Hsiu-ch’uan, 洪秀全, 1 January 1814 – 1 June 1864) was the inspirer of the revolt. Coming from a family of small landowners of the Hakka minority, in 1837 he became seriously ill following a series of failures at the imperial examinations that threw him into despair.

In 1845 he had a mystical crisis after reading a book of evangelical propaganda.

In his dreams and visions, Hong ascended to Heaven where he met God and Jesus who revealed to him his true divine nature and his anti-Confucian mission.

From this moment on, he claimed to be the younger brother of Jesus and to have received the order to eliminate the demons: the Manchurian dynasty. Confucius, seen as the main culprit of human corruption, is also uninvited in Hong.

His Christianity is syncretic, steeped in Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Manichaeism.

A “Christian” community was born around him, mostly made up of friends (Feng Yunshan) and relatives (such as his cousin Hong Rengan). Their first action was the destruction of the idols of the local temple.

Seal of the Taiping Revolution during Ching Empire.

Following this event, they were driven out of the village.

Thus begun their activity as missionaries, preaching for Guangxi.

Feng founded the God Worshippers, gathering numerous proselytes among the Hakkas and Miaos of the area.

1847 the two cousins Hong moved to Canton where they started to study Christianity under the guidance of the Presbyterian missionary I.J.Roberts, but without receiving baptism.

Hong left Canton and headed for the Thistle Mountain (紫荆山, in Guangxi province), meeting with the God Worshippers.

They were armed to defend themselves against the bandits who were infesting the area at the time.

Conflicts break out between the worshippers and the local Confucian nobles, worried about the sect’s vandalism against the idols kept in the temples.

Tension grew and the intervention of government troops was required.

Meanwhile, however, the ranks of Hong’s followers swell, and unexpectedly the worshippers of God manage to take over the military.

The extent of Taiping control. “China in Transformation … With … maps and diagrams”, COLQUHOUN, Archibald Ross. London, 1898

The Heavenly Kingdom of the Great Peace

In January 1851, after yet another victory against the imperialists, Hong proclaimed himself Heavenly King, founding the new dynasty of the “Heavenly Kingdom of the Great Peace” (Taiping Tianguo).

After the conquest of Yungan he created the structure of his government.

In the spring of the following year, pursued by the imperials, they passed through the Hunan, descending the valley of the Yangzi Jiang, conquering cities and villages and recruiting new followers.

In March 1853, in more than a million, they conquered Nanjing and made it the capital of their nascent empire.

The Taiping movement turned into a revolutionary regime.

The “agrarian system of the Chinese dynasty” was proclaimed.

Private commerce was suppressed and the communion of goods was promoted. The company was divided into Ku, groups of 25 families.

Capture of the Junior traitor Hong Fuzhen, second scene

Hong Rengan promoted an opening towards Western innovations, seen as a means to strengthen Christian values in the community, and defended women’s rights. In this phase, he lost his mystical religious vision.

His reforms no longer reflected the ambitions of the peasant masses but were much closer to the “middle-class” classes.

In the period of maximum expansion, the Taipings occupied the Eastern Guangxi, the south-western Hunan, the Hubei, the Anhui, the Jiangxi, and the Zhejiang.

Sure of God’s protection, the Taiping prepared two military expeditions, one to the north, to conquer Beijing, and one to the west.

The first was defeated.

The second, after a series of encouraging victories, was forced to return to the capital to break the encirclement of the imperial troops.

Battle of Tongcheng

In June 1856, the Taipings made their last great success against the Manchurian dynasty.

A series of bloody feuds and internal clashes between the various kings who controlled the various kingdom’s regions decreed the end of the dynasty.

Since 1852, the Eastern King, Yun Xiuqing, had increased his power against the Heavenly King himself, who exercised power in an increasingly despotic manner.

Hong then decided to dismiss the Eastern King, causing the Northern King, Wei Chang, to wage war against him.

Hong finally eliminated the Northern King as well.

In 1863 Hong died after having eliminated all kings, without having succeeded in establishing a kingdom capable of surviving his death.

The following year the imperial troops concluded the destruction of the Taiping entering also in Nanking after a long siege.

Scene of the Siege of Lianzhen, May 1854 – March 1855. From Ten scenes recording the retreat and defeat of the Taiping Northern Expeditionary Forces,February 1854-March 1855.

They were guided by the exponent of the small Manchurian nobility Zeng Guofeng, that for twelve years (from 1852, when he received the assignment to move towards the Hunan, until the final victory on the rebels) fought the Taiping with alternate results.

The early days were characterized by some major defeats to make him meditate on suicide.

Only in 1854, with the victories of his generals, Qibu and Peng Yulin, did he begin to believe in the real strength of his troops. Zeng Guofeng was considered the main architect of the victory and was awarded the honor of Marquis of the first rank.

topics: taiping rebellion causes,taiping rebellion effects,taiping rebellion significance,why did the taiping rebellion occur,why did the taiping rebellion fail,taiping rebellion leader,taiping rebellion timeline,taiping rebellion outcome

Sources: wikipedia 1 , 2 ,  wikimedia , la rivolta dei taiping

#ChineseSects, #HongXiuquan, #QingDynasty, #Rebellion

[quotation--marks]

Francesca’s seduction did seem criminal, made easy as it was by her inferior position. He felt something akin to jealousy in imagining that fair hair and white flesh thrown into the arms of that cold man Maller, an affair which would ruin her life but which would cost him nothing at all and have no more value to him than a pasttime.

Italo Svevo, A Life (trans. Archibald Colquhoun)

[referent]

No, writing has not changed me for the better at all. I have merely used up part of my restless, conscienceless youth. What value to me will these discontented pages be? The book, the vow, are worth no more than one is worth oneself. One can never be sure of saving one’s soul by writing. One may go on writing with a soul already lost.

Italo Calvino, The Nonexistent Knight  (translation Archibald Colquhoun) (1959)

[lazyhomeread]

The Path to the Spiders’ Nest (Preface)

“How easy it is, once one starts talking about literature, and even in the middle of the most serious, factual discussion, to slip unwittingly into telling stories... That is why literary analysis, whether my own or anyone else’s, annoys me more and more.”

The Path to the Spiders’ Nest, Italo Calvino (translated by Archibald Colquhoun)

This got a laugh out of me. My English teacher was the one that recommended practically all of Calvino to me. I think he’ll appreciate this though :D

“The beauty and difficulty of language is that you can never say exactly what you want to say: you always say both more and less.“

The Limits of My Language, Eva Meijer

I actually don’t have a lot to say right now. I’ve collected paragraphs I like, sentences worth remembering, and words that struck something in me, but at the moment I can’t really do anything about them except type them up and move the related ones next to each other. Trouble with literary analysis or language itself? Or not having strong enough of a feeling to need to write?

I had less than five pages of The Path to the Spiders’ Nest left when I was suddenly called away. Finished the book in a hurry and the ending didn’t leave me with much. Not sure if rushing through the last part diminished the book for me or.....

Well, let’s go back.

My first Calvino was If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler. And I absolutely loved it. The book may well have been “The Readers’ Manifesto” that I never knew I had been looking for and never knew I wanted. The preface to The Path to the Spiders’ Nest has a Calvino that I recognized form If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler: the beginnings and restarts, the roundabouts that never lose sight of where they started, the precision and descriptiveness in giving form to an abstract feeling or idea, and —

“What you read and what you experience in life are not two separate worlds, but one single cosmos. Every life-experience, in order to be interpreted properly, evokes certain things you have read and blends into them. That books always derive from other books is a truth which is only apparently in contradiction with the other truth, that books derive from practical existence and from our relations with other people.”

The Path to the Spiders’ Nest, Italo Calvino (translated by Archibald Colquhoun)

— the way these feelings and ideas resonate with me while expanding my limited experience.

“But when you are young every new book you read is like a new eye which opens on to the world and which modifies the viewpoint of the other eyes or book-eyes which you had before, and so in the midst of this new idea of literature which I longed to create, there was also space for a revival of all the literary worlds which had captivated me from childhood onwards...”

The Path to the Spiders’ Nest, Italo Calvino (translated by Archibald Colquhoun)

I picked up The Path to the Spiders’ Nest because it was Calvino’s first novel, and because the subject seems very different and more personal compared to his other works. I thought it would be a good place to get a better understanding of the author. With that in mind the preface to the book interested me more than the story did. If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler was written for readers. The preface to The Path to the Spiders’ Nest was written for writers.

“Perhaps, in the end, it is only your first book that counts, perhaps you should only write that one and stop; you only make the great leap that one time, the opportunity to express your real self happens only once, what you have to say inside you is either said at that point or never more. Perhaps real poetry is possible only at one moment in your life, which for most people coincides with their earliest youth. Once that phase has passed, whether you have expressed yourself or not (and you won’t know whether you have for a hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty years: contemporaries cannot be good judges), from that point on the die is cast, all you will do subsequently is imitate others or yourself, you won’t ever manage to produce a single word that is authentic or unique...”

The Path to the Spiders’ Nest, Italo Calvino (translated by Archibald Colquhoun)

I can’t say I really understand. I’ve been writing since second grade and only ever produced like two complete stories and they were both assignments. I begin something, get bogged down (this isn’t my magnum opus this isn’t my magnum opus this isn’t — oh my goodness what is this abomination did it really come from my hand) and never finish. Sometimes words build up and need to come out. So far I’ve found poetry to be the most successful outlet. I’ll take the above rumination as a forewarning for now.

I actually found that the preface resonated with me more than the story itself, perhaps not in the parts about writing, but here:

“My own story was that of someone whose adolescence had gone on too long, a young man who had seized on the war as an alibi, both in the literal sense of going somewhere else, and in its metaphorical sense. In the space of just as few years the alibi had become the here and now. It was too soon for me; or too late: I was too unprepared to live out the dreams I had dreamed for too long.”

The Path to the Spiders’ Nest, Italo Calvino (translated by Archibald Colquhoun)

Is it proper to call the novel a coming-of-age story? Pin stays the kid he is, and it’s better that he does. The book itself on the other hand was a coming-of-age project for Calvino. I read the story to get a look at WWII Italy. The preface became more of a look into myself. Once again Calvino gathers the thoughts and feelings I could never grasp and gives them shape. In the end I just wanted to keep this quotation.

Here’s one last thing I’m taking down. It’s not as important to me as the one above, but I’m thinking of going back to the Shakespeare parts in The Sandman with it to see if I can get a better interpretation of that story. Or save it for future reference.

“Memory, or rather experience — which is the memory of the event plus the wound it has inflicted on you, plus the change which it has wrought in you and which has made you different — experience is the basic nutrition also for a work of literature (but not only for that), the true source of wealth for every writer (but not only for the writer), and yet the minute it gives shape to a work of literature it withers and dies. The writer, after writing, finds that he is the poorest of men.”

The Path to the Spiders’ Nest, Italo Calvino (translated by Archibald Colquhoun)

Overall, this is what Calvino kept trying to get at in the preface.