#david garnett

[k-wame]

JAMES NORTON & BEN LLOYD-HUGHES 2015 • Life in Squares • S1·EP3 • dir. Simon Kaijser

[mywingsareonwheels]

BRIAN BLESSED as Augustus in I, Claudius voice:-

IS THERE ANYONE IN BLOOMSBURY WHO HAS NOT SLEPT WITH DUNCAN GRANT?!?!!!!

[cinematic-literature]

Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2019) by Sam Yates

Book title: Lady into Fox (1922) by David Garnett

[charmemma]

La femme changée en renard

[thelastgoodcountry]

“I suppose I ought to feel ... a general sense of lamentation — but somehow I don’t. My spirit refuses to be put down.”

— Lytton Strachey in a letter to David Garnett, written June 23rd, 1915

[internatlvelvet]

Vanessa Bell, David Garnett, Virginia Woolf, Quentin Bell, Leonard Woolf and Angelica Bell with Spaniel Sally at Monk's House, Rodmell

1940

[ocandrew1]

COOL: NBA

[metaldragoon]

[tara-of-helium]

Time in Eclipse by David S. Garnett. 1974, cover art uncredited.

[movie--posters]

[papanitosfamilycircus]

[queerasfact]

Queer Calendar 2023

We put together a calendar of key (mostly queer) dates at the start of the year to help us with scheduling - so I thought I’d share it around! Including pride and visibility days, some queer birthdays and anniversaries, and a few other bits and bobs. Click the links for more info - I dream one day of having a queer story for every day of the year!

This is obviously not an exhaustive list - if I’ve overlooked something important to you, feel free to add it in the reblogs!

January

3 - Bisexual American jazz-age heiress Henrietta Bingham born 1901

8 - Queer Australian bushranger Captain Moonlite born 1845; gay American art collector Ned Warren born 1860

11 - Pennsylvania celebrates Rosetta Tharpe Day in honour of bisexual musician Rosetta Tharpe

12 - Japanese lesbian author Nobuko Yoshiya born 1896

22 - Lunar New Year (Year of the Rabbit)

24 - Roman emperor Hadrian, famous for his relationship with Antinous, born 76CE; gay Prussian King Frederick the Great born 1712

27 - International Holocaust Remembrance Day

February

LGBT+ History Month (UK, Hungary)

Black History Month (USA and Canada)

1 - Feast of St Brigid, a saint especially important to Irish queer women

5 - Operation Soap, a police raid on gay bathhouses in Toronto, Canada, spurs massive protests, 1981

7 - National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (USA)

18 - US Black lesbian writer and activist Audre Lorde born 1934

12 - National Freedom to Marry Day (USA)

19-25 - Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week

March

Women’s History Month

1 - Black Women in Jazz and the Arts Day

8 - International Women’s Day

9 - Bi British writer David Garnett born 1892

12 - Bi Polish-Russian ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky born 1889 or 1890

13 March-15 April - Deaf History Month

14 - American lesbian bookseller and publisher Sylvia Beach born 1887

16 - French lesbian artist Rosa Bonheur born 1822

20 - Bi US musician Rosetta Tharpe born 1915

21 - World Poetry Day

24 - The Wachowski sisters’ cyberpunk trans allegory The Matrix premiers 1999

April

Jazz Appreciation Month

Black Women’s History Month

National Poetry Month (USA)

3 - British lesbian diarist Anne Lister born 1791

8 - Trans British racing driver and fighter pilot Roberta Cowell born 1918

9 -  Bi Australia poet Lesbia Harford born 1891; Easter Sunday

10 - National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day (USA)

14 - Day of Silence

15 - Queer Norwegian photographer and suffragist Marie Høeg born 1866

17 - Costa-Rican-Mexican lesbian singer Chavela Vargas born 1919

21-22 - Eid al-Fitr

25 - Gay English King Edward II born 1284

26 - Lesbian Day of Visibility; bi American blues singer Ma Rainey born 1886

29 - International Dance Day

30 - International Jazz Day

May

1 - Trans British doctor and Buddhist monk Michael Dillon born 1915

7 - International Family Equality Day

7 - Gay Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky born 1840

15 - Australian drag road-trip comedy The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert premiers in 1994

 17 - IDAHOBIT (International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia)

18 - International Museum Day

19 - Agender Pride Day

22 - US lesbian tailor and poet Charity Bryant born 1777

22 - Harvey Milk Day marks the birth of gay US politician Harvey Milk 1930

23 - Premier of Pride, telling the story of the 1980s British activist group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners

24 - Pansexual and Panromantic Awareness and Visibility Day; Queer Chinese-Japanese spy Kawashima Yoshiko born 1907

26 - queer American astronaut Sally Ride born 1951

29 - Taiwanese lesbian writer Qiu Miaojin born 1969

June

Pride Month

Indigenous History Month (Canada)

3 - Bisexual American-French performer, activist and WWII spy Josephine Baker born 1906

5 - Queer Spanish playwright and poet Federico García Lorca born 1898; bi English economic John Maynard Keynes born 1883

8 - Mechanic and founder of Australia’s first all-female garage, Alice Anderson, born 1897

10 - Bisexual Israeli poet Yona Wallach born 1944

12 - Pulse Night of Remembrance, commemorating the 2012 shooting at the Pulse nightclub, Orlando

14 - Australian activists found the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands in 2004

18 - Sally Ride becomes the first know queer woman in space

24 - The first Sydney Mardi Gras 1978

25 - The rainbow flag first flown as a queer symbol in 1978

28 - Stonewall Riots, 1969

28 June-2 July - Eid al-Adha

30 - Gay German-Israeli activist, WWII resistance member and Holocaust survivor Gad Beck born 1923

July

1 - Gay Dutch WWII resistance fighter Willem Arondeus killed - his last words were “Tell the people homosexuals are no cowards”

2-9 - NAIDOC Week (Australia) celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture

6 - Bi Mexican artist Frida Kahlo born 1907

12 or 13 - Roman emperor Julius Caesar born c.100BCE

14 - International Non-Binary People’s Day

23 - Shelly Bauman, owner of Seattle gay club Shelly’s Leg, born 1947; American lesbian cetenarian Ruth Ellis born 1899; gay American professor, tattooist and sex researcher Sam Steward born 1909

25 - Italian-Australian trans man Harry Crawford born 1875

August

8 - International Cat Day

9 - Queer Finnish artist, author and creator of Moomins Tove Jansson born 1914

9 - International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

11 - Russian lesbian poet Sofya Parnok born 1885

12 - Queer American blues musician Gladys Bentley born 1907

13 - International Left-Handers Day

22 - Gay WWII Dutch resistance fight Willem Arondeus born 1894

24 - Trans American drag queen and activist Marsha P Johnson born 1945

26 - National Dog Day

30 - Bi British author Mary Shelley 1797

31 - Wear it Purple Day (Australia - queer youth awareness)

September

5 - Frontman of Queen Freddie Mercury born 1946

6 - Trans Scottish doctor and farmer Ewan Forbes born 1912

13 - 1990 documentary on New York’s ball culture Paris is Burning premiers

15-17 - Rosh Hashanah

16-23 - Bisexual Awareness Week

17 - Gay Prussian-American Inspector General of the US Army Baron von Steuben born 1730

23 - Celebrate Bisexuality Day

24 - Gay Australian artist William Dobell born 1889

30 - International Podcast Day

October

Black History Month (Europe)

4 - World Animal Day

5 - National Poetry Day (UK)

5 - Queer French diplomat and spy the Chevalière d’Éon born 1728

8 - International Lesbian Day

9 - Indigenous Peoples’ Day (USA)

11 - National Coming Out Day

16 - Irish writer Oscar Wilde born 1854

18 - International Pronouns Day

22-28 - Asexual Awareness Week

26 - Intersex Awareness Day

31 - American lesbian tailor Sylvia Drake born 1784

November

8 - Intersex Day of Remembrance

12 - Diwali; Queer Mexican nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz born c.1648

13-19 - Transgender Awareness Week

20 - Trans American writer, lawyer, activist and priest Pauli Murray born 1910; Transgender Day of Remembrance

27 - Antinous, lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian, born c.111; German lesbian drama Mädchen in Uniform premiers, 1931

29 - Queer American writer Louisa May Alcott born 1832

December

AIDS Awareness Month

1 - World AIDS Day

2 - International Day for the Abolition of Slavery

3 - International Day of Persons with Disabilities

8 - Pansexual Pride Day; queer Swedish monarch Christina of Sweden born 1626

10 - Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners host Pits and Perverts concern to raise mining for striking Welsh miners, 1984

14 - World Monkey Day

15 - Roman emperor Nero born 37CE

24 - American drag king and bouncer Stormé DeLarverie born 1920

25 - Christmas

29 - Trans American jazz musician Billy Tipton born 1914

[shrikebrother]

any dostoevsky loving bloggers on here , whats the best translation of crime & punishment? im reading constance garnett right now (it was the only one that was at my schools library) & i like it so far but i hear that there are some problems with her translation & i should read someone else's, but i keep getting mixed opinions on whether certain translations are good or not .

i read a little preview of jessie coulson's translation & really liked it but i couldnt find it at the bookstore or on any of the book thrifting websites i normally use . i did see david mcduff's translation though & some ppl seem to recommend him . i just wanna be able to read a faithful but still understandable translation where i dont miss anything from the original

[karamazovanon]

finally got around to making the dostoevsky translation poll :D for the sake of brevity, i'm only including the major ones that have done 4+ works and that i personally have seen the most, but if your fav isn't on here (e.g. oliver ready's c&p, ignat avsey) or you have any other thoughts PUT IT IN THE TAGS!!! WOO DATA

[sad-eyed-lady-of-the-paperbacks]

Thoughts on 2.2

Okay, there are a lot of characters in this little room! I gave a rundown/refresher of the characters in order of appearance in 2.1, so you can read that here. We get a few more in this chapter.

As usual, even though I'm reading the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation for this read along just to change things up, I'm quoting from the David McDuff translation unless otherwise specified, because I like that one the best.

Elder Zosima

This is the man they're all here to see, the one to whom Alyosha "had attached himself with all the ardent first love of his quenchless heart." It is the goodness of this man that inspired Alyosha to want to pursue the monastic life. He is about 65 years old, and interestingly, he comes from a landowning family and in his youth was a military officer serving in the Caucasus—just like Dmitri Karamazov.

Far from being stern, Zosima is cheerful, and far from being judgemental, he is known to show the most love to the people who are the most sinful. He does have some haters in the monastery, but most people "positively loved him with all their hearts, ardently and sincerely." (1.5) He is known for being extraordinarily perceptive about people, and being to nail down exactly what is on the mind and conscience of the people who come to visit him. It is also typically the case that his visitors go away joyful and at peace.

The Father Librarian (Garnett, P&V)/Bibliothecary (McDuff)

We won't really see this guy again outside of this set of chapters, and he's not given a name. What's important is that he is the librarian, and thus he knows stuff.

In Garnett, he and Father Paisy are merely called monks, but more specifically, they are hieromonks (P&V)/hieromonachs (McDuff). This means that they are monks who are also priests, which is why they're called "father."

Father Paisy

Father Paisy is going to pop up again later on. Again, he is both a monk and a priest, and is known for being very learned.

Rakitin

A seminarian or divinity student, studying theology. He is 22 years old, "for some reason" is living under the monastery's patronage, and his eyes display "wit and attentiveness." He is well acquainted with Alyosha and the two are "nearly on close terms," which is interesting—makes us wonder why it’s only “nearly” when Alyosha seems to get on so well with basically everyone.

Interestingly, we have some class dynamics at play here. Rakitin is not the social equal of these landowning visitors, and he doesn't bow to them. His expression is one of "utter deference but a proper one, in which there was no obvious fawning." He knows his place, and on the surface at least, appears comfortable with it.

A novice

He doesn’t really do or say too much here, and never gets a name.

Alexei Fyodorovich Karamazov (Alyosha.)

I know you know who he is. He’s the hero of the novel, the narrator’s blorbo, everyone, even Fyodor Pavlovich loves him. Even Miusov has nice things to say about him.

Ok, onto the thoughts!

The bowing and kissing ceremony is done with real emotion, not like a perfunctory ritual. While in the chapter which introduced the institution of elders it was acknowledged that inherent to the office is the danger of pride, Zosima here is putting himself on equal terms with these two hieromonachs, and this seems to be sincere. These men seem to have real mutual love and respect between them. But then we get Miusov’s POV, and to him it does look performative.

Even though Miusov does not share the religious beliefs of the monks, as a guest in the monastery, he had planned to respectfully go along with their customs. But now he’s irritated by this bowing and kissing, and so instead of allowing the elder to bless him, he makes a formal, secular, European bow and sits down. Fyodor Pavlovich mimics him (“like a monkey”). Ivan does the same sort of bow, though he is “very solemn and courteous.” And poor Kalganov, the youngest of the four, is so embarrassed and flustered and confused that he doesn’t bow at all.

Elder Zosima doesn’t seem offended or thrown off by this. He had raised his hand to bless them, but simply lowers it and invites them to sit down. Alyosha, however, is blushing and ashamed.

The furniture in the cell is sparse, old, and shabby. The pots of flowers at the window are an interesting detail, and point back to Zosima not being a stern or austere man. Making do with humble furnishings is appropriate to his office, but he is no ascetic.

The Catholic crucifix is an interesting detail, as is the juxtaposition of the expensive foreign engravings with the cheap Russian lithographs.

After all the glowing things we’ve heard about the elder so far, it’s surprising to read this:

Indeed, there was about the Elder’s person something to which many people, and not only Miusov, might have taken a dislike.

This is followed by an unappealing physical description. Miusov concludes:

“To all appearances a malicious and pettily arrogant little soul.”

(P&V)

So often in literature, especially in 19th century literature, physical beauty—or at the very least a pleasant appearance—equates with goodness. Where this trope is subverted, the subversion is most commonly that a physically beautiful person turns out to be villainous. But I can’t think of another instance of a character who has heretofore been portrayed positively where it is said that one would take an instant dislike to him by his appearance. Usually their goodness is somehow evident in their countenance, even if they are not beautiful or have some sort of deformity. Perhaps we are to take away from this that in this novel, we should not trust appearances, and people will often surprise us by being quite different from how they appear on the surface, or how they are initially introduced.

I love how Miusov is annoyed with himself for his petty, nasty little thoughts, but his annoyance with himself only seems to make it worse. I think we’ve all somewhat been there.

Fyodor gleefully throwing his son under the bus for being late and emphasising his own punctuality.

Once again, the dynamic between Miusov and Fyodor is just SO GOOD

Garnett translates it as “I am an inveterate buffoon, and have been from birth up, your reverence, it’s as though it were a craze in me” (italics mine) but the actual word here is юродивый, yuródivy, usually translated in English as “a holy fool.” This is an Orthodox tradition. The short version is that a holy fool is an acetic or saintly person who acts in a way that is foolish or insane from a human standpoint as an expression of their holiness and devotion to Christ. Their behaviour was often outrageous or provocative, and they might wander around speaking in riddles and behaving in strange and disruptive ways. Apparently this was often intentional, a simulation of madness for the purpose of disguising one’s holiness or expressing some truth. But by the 19th century, this phrase would also be applied to people who were mentally ill or had a cognitive deficit or disability in some way, and was sometimes used in the derogative, as when Raskolnikov refers to Sonya as a holy fool in Crime and Punishment.

It definitely was not used to indicate possession by an unclean spirit, however! So for Fyodor Pavlovich to say that he is “every bit the same as a holy fool” and equate being a fool-for-Christ with demonic possession is a very offensive thing to say in a monastery.

The Diderot story is very silly. The idea of a famous atheistic philosopher instantly changing his beliefs and converting because a bishop quotes one scripture at him (“the fool hath said in his heart, ‘there is no God’”) is so absurd. And the fact that it was apparently being repeated as fact by Russian landowners, including Miusov’s own aunt, just made me think of churchy boomer Facebook posts.

(Please appreciate this, I had to log into Facebook to make it and I don’t think it was worth it)

What is happening in the elder’s cell right now is entirely unheard of. Everyone, even the highly educated free-thinkers who aren’t religious but come for different reasons (curiosity, a desire to engage with different beliefs from theirs, etc.) are always deeply respectful, and often moved by the love and sincerity present. Indeed, that was Miusov’s initial intention: to be respectful and go along with the customs of the monastery. But Fyodor Pavlovich has succeeded in drawing him into being a ridiculous participant in his farce.

The fact that Alyosha believes Ivan could intervene in this situation shows how much power he has over Fyodor. But interestingly, Ivan does not. He doesn’t seem to feel any of Alyosha’s shame over his family, sitting there with what appears to be curiosity, “as though in this matter he himself were a quite uninvolved bystander.” This brings me back to his articles in which he reports street incidents under the nom de plume “Eyewitness.” He is a detached bystander—or he is at the very least trying to be.

We have a hint that something a little more than appears on the surface is going on with Rakitin, because Alyosha is said to be the only person in the whole monastery who knows what he’s thinking. And we the readers are likewise not being let in on what it is that he’s thinking.

The Elder Zosima is not at all fazed by what is going on. He tells Fyodor Pavlovich to be at ease, diagnosing shame and discomfort as the root of his behaviour. Fyodor readily agrees with this.

“When I go among people I do indeed always feel that I'm more vile than any of them and that they all take me for a buffoon, and so I say to myself: "Very well, I really will play the buffoon, I'm not afraid of what you think of me, because you're all of you to a man more vile than I!" That's the reason I'm a buffoon, it's shame that makes me so, great Elder, shame. From pure mistrust do I play the lout. I mean, if only I were confident on entering that all would instantly accept me as a man of the utmost charm and intelligence - Lord! What a good person I should be then!”

So here, he’s given that opportunity. The elder accepts him, invites him to be himself, and even calls him intelligent. But Fyodor Pavlovich continues to act in a buffoonish way, and no one, seemingly not even he himself, knows if he is being sincere or not. This is such a longstanding pattern at this point that it takes a lot more than one person accepting him and treating him as a human being of intelligence for him to drop this protective and comfortable act.

The elder’s words here are extremely profound, and it’s only on this reading that I’m beginning to appreciate how much:

“The one who lies to himself and believes his own lies comes to a point where he can distinguish no truth either within himself or around him, and thus enters into a state of disrespect towards himself and others. Respecting no one, he loves no one, and to amuse and divert himself in the absence of love he gives himself up to his passions and to vulgar delights and becomes a complete animal in his vices, and all of it from perpetual lying to other people and himself.”

I can’t even quite articulate my thoughts on this yet, so I’ll just leave it there for now. But it’s a very astute observation, as is what he goes on to say about making up reasons to be offended for the pleasure of having been offended.

But to this outpouring of truth, Fyodor chooses to respond with more buffoonery, this time telling yet another patently ridiculous story, this time not only for the purpose of annoying Miusov, but also of throwing Miusov under the bus.

“I never told you that, I never talk to you at all.” —this makes me laugh out loud every time, it’s just so childish.

Miusov got this story from a French academic. According to the endnotes, the story Fyodor relates was not in the Chet’i-Minei (or The Lives of the Saints), just as the Father Librarian says. It actually comes from Voltaire, who made up this story about St. Denis as a joke. According to the endnotes, the Chet’i-Minei are not even read in orthodox liturgy, which Miusov and his learned French friend are evidently unaware of.

There’s something to be said here about getting one’s knowledge of a culture through a source who has studied it academically but is an outsider coming from a perspective of superiority, which probably all of us have been guilty of to some degree. Miusov is Russian, but he has spent so little time in Russia that he admits ignorance of his own culture’s religious practises, and takes as an authority this foreign academic who has “made a special study of statistics about Russia” and “lived in Russia for a long time,” and was apparently telling this story over dinner for a laugh.

Even after all this, Zosima addresses Fyodor “with a merry countenance.” There’s no judgment or offence. He really does practise this active love that he preaches.

And Fyodor again responds with buffoonery. It seems to be the only response he’s really capable of. I did laugh out loud at, “Pyotr Alexandrovich, you are the most important man left—for the next ten minutes.” (P&V)

I feel like there’s a lot more to say especially about the elder’s words, but even in my fourth reading I’m not entirely up to articulating it yet. So this is what I’ve got.

[terminusantequem]

Duncan Grant (British, 1885-1978), David Garnett in Profile, 1915. Oil on canvas, 67 x 38.8 cm