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marvella15 · 4 years ago

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Astaire & Rogers Rewatch Part 6: Swing Time

• Swing Time aka the Astaire/Rogers film that I think is actually the best, especially from the dance perspective. Every duet is fabulous. You could watch just the duets and understand the entire plot of the film. That’s how well crafted and executed they are.

• Our characters/actors: John “Lucky” Garnett (Fred Astaire), Penny Carroll (Ginger Rogers), Pop (Victor Moore), Mabel (Helen Broderick), Ricardo Romero (Georges Metaxa)

• Is this the first Astaire/Rogers film where he’s the one engaged (or married) to someone else? It’s usually her.

• Lucky is already ridiculously late for his wedding, even before he’s rushing to get dressed. But I love his little snap-and-a-heel-click.

• How does Fred Astaire manage to look so dapper in shoes, a top hat, no pants, and a robe?

• It’s interesting that Lucky’s bride-to-be calls him John, rather than his nickname, which is tied to his gambling talents and therefore doesn’t fit in with her or her upper class family. But Penny only calls him Lucky. The two women even have a little exchange about it later in the film.

• As usual, Rogers’ character is uninterested in Astaire’s upon first meeting and also as usual, she has a very good reason. She thinks he’s using any lame excuse to hit on her. Wow, look how much men have not changed at all.

By the way, 25 cents in 1936 is almost $5 today. Not saying it’s a reason to call the police but it’s at least not as outrageous as calling the police over a quarter.

• Remember I said her cries for a porter in Gay Divorcee would come back? Here it’s reprised in her calls for an officer, which Lucky will also gently mock later just as Guy did to Mimi in the previous film.

And wow, the officer is condescending and patronizing to her in deference to a man whom he thinks is an affluent gentleman. Look how much the police have not changed.

• It’s odd that Lucky describes Penny as having red hair when Rogers was definitely a blonde (originally a brunette). Maybe she had strawberry blonde hair at this time?

• The tense exchange between Penny and Lucky as she teaches him to walk at the start of his dancing lesson is some of Astaire and Rogers at their acting finest. It’s a short, rather simple scene but they make it charming, funny, and entertaining.

• Penny’s line, “If you’re trying to annoy me you certainly are succeeding,” is such a mood sometimes.

• Lucky, already starting to flirt: “All the world loves a dancer. Don’t you?”

• Astaire does a good job of acting like he’s a terrible dancer. Takes a lot of talent to pretend to suck at something you’re actually incredible at.

• Pay attention to the three-step maneuver Penny teaches Lucky. He uses it as the building block for all of their dances in this film, beginning very soon with “Pick Yourself Up.”

• I love the “Pick Yourself Up” duet so so much. As much as the romantic duets for Astaire and Rogers get a lot of attention, I really love tap dancing and this is one of their best tap routines. Plus, you can see Penny (thanks to Rogers’ intuitive acting) go from surprise to delight to pure enjoyment and maybe a little bit of well-deserved smugness. Also notice that Lucky and Penny are much closer together in this duet than they had been during the dancing lesson. They’ve already become familiar with each other in that short span of time.

• Because of the nature of the scene, Astaire looks frequently at Penny’s boss but Rogers is watching Astaire almost the entire time. Her expression conveys the feeling that Penny has finally found the right partner.

• There’s a lovely moment where she glides back with her arms up as she waits for him and Rogers’ face is so full of joy and affection.

• Astaire typically avoided naming a “favorite” partner out of consideration for the many other actresses he danced with. But he did comment that because of how well Rogers danced with him, “She got so that after a while everyone else who danced with me looked wrong.” And he’s kind of right about that. Swing Time as a whole is probably the best example. No other actress would look right in any of the dances they share in this film.

• The moment of wordless conversation between Penny and Lucky after their dance feels very much like the actors themselves. In addition to having known each other prior to making films, they’ve also now spent the last 5 years working very closely together. No doubt they had some silent shorthand.

• One of the reasons I enjoy Swing Time is because unlike other Astaire/Rogers films, the misunderstandings between them don’t emerge until later on, rather than appearing at the start to constantly obstruct their relationship. Here, Lucky and Penny begin their relationship almost right away. Just look at their cute conversation in front of the elevator where he hastily decides to get a room in the same building as her.

• For the second time in this film, Astaire looks incredibly dapper while also being pantless.

• At first it seems ridiculous that Lucky is picketing outside Penny’s room claiming she’s been unfair to him since he made them miss their try-out. However, he’s done everything to make it up to her, including arranging a new try-out for them, building up a sizable bankroll for him/them and Mabel, and, obviously, getting some new clothes.

• Although they tried many things in Rogers’ hair to make it look like shampoo, I believe they landed on whipped cream at her suggestion. And they use it as a very convenient excuse to prevent yet another kiss.

• Unlike other romantic songs in their films, “The Way You Look Tonight” is framed as a popular song of the time within the film itself. And we know this because Ricardo Romero is singing it in the next scene as part of his “romantic medley hour.”

• Love the way Astaire looks at her during this social dance. So warm and loving. And when they leave the dance floor, he gets her attention at one point by hooking his index finger to the point of her elbow. Just little moments of familiarity between them.

• More little moments: When Penny gets up from the roulette table, Lucky stops her until after the ball has landed, indicating he feels she’s good luck. Rogers is holding Astaire’s elbow as she goes to leave so he grabs her hand under his arm without looking.

• I’ve always loved the look on Lucky’s face when he watches Romero approach Penny. It’s not jealousy or concern, necessarily. Just soft, like he’s wondering if his heart is about to be broken. And the music playing? “A Fine Romance”

• Lucky does everything possible to get Penny and himself the promised try-out including winning nearly $25k at the casino tables, then winning Romero’s contract, and eventually publicly goading Romero to play for them. But Mabel was right before when she told Penny that everything Lucky did was solely for her. He doesn’t need a new dancing gig, and had in fact come to New York to earn money as a gambler, rather than a dancer. That all changed when he met Penny.

• Remember a time when you were newly in love? The sheer elation of that feeling is what the “Waltz in Swing Time” is. It’s a celebration that builds on what was established in “Pick Yourself Up” and adds sweeping moments of romance. The three steps to the left and right move is expanded on first with outstretched legs and arms and later with exuberant movements around the floor.

• Right at the start, Astaire has a twinkle in his eyes when he looks at Rogers and she responds in kind. They smile at each other easily as they move through a fast-paced and breathtakingly beautiful routine.

Usually in their films, a romantic and celebratory duet comes near the end when all of the misunderstandings have been resolved. But in Swing Time, it’s right in the middle.

• There’s one moment where Astaire affectionately touches Rogers’ wrist. It almost looks as though he’s going to spin her towards him but instead they keep dancing separately, next to one another.

• When the music kicks up, Rogers smiles broadly and she looks radiantly in love. As they spin together, tapping in a circle around the dance floor, both of them keep looking up in wonder and rapture.

• They’re cuddling during the snowy scenes is very sweet but some of the romance is sucked out when you see the behind the scenes pictures.

(photo credit)

• Cuuuuute:

Penny: “I like being off alone like this.”

Lucky: “You’re not alone. You’re with me.”

Penny: “Then I like being off alone with you.”

• Lucky’s face when he accidentally finds himself in an embrace with Penny is purely Astaire and you can fight me on that. There’s so much longing and want in that look. He’s able to get away with it because of the long moment before he has to say anything but even when he does speak, his voice cracks a bit. His gloved hand keeps stroking her forearm.

• Not hard to see some true-to-life parallels in this dialogue and I’ve always felt that the way Astaire said his last line here was as himself, not just him acting.

Penny: “It’s funny how we met, and all that’s happened to us since.”

Lucky: “The way we’ve been sort of thrown together and everything.”

Penny: “As if it were all meant to happen.”

Lucky: “It’s quite an experience.”

• Like I’ve said before, no way the actors and creative team didn’t know exactly how much they were trolling audiences by having lyrics like “a fine romance with no kisses” in Astaire and Rogers’ SIXTH. FILM. together where they still haven’t kissed romantically on screen.

And in fact there will be at least two thwarted kisses in this sequence alone.

• “A Fine Romance” is quite scandalous when you pay attention to the lyrics too. Penny says Lucky won’t “nestle” or “wrestle” and she’s “never mussed the crease in [his] blue serge pants.”

Rogers does a really wonderful job throughout. She’s frustrated and disappointed when singing at him and then stewing with hurt feelings when he sings to her.

I’ve always loved how Astaire flatly says “cactus plants” in the lyric “you never give the orchids I send a glance, no you like cactus plants.”

• I always chuckle at the way Penny loudly and awkwardly asks, “HOW DO YA LIKE MY DRESS?” Who hasn’t suddenly gone awkward af in front of their crush?

• In the movie Grease, there’s a part where Rizzo has a hickey from Kenickie. According to Stockard Channing, actor Jeff Conaway insisted on giving her the hickey himself. But just in case you thought maybe Ginger Rogers insisted on leaving her own lipstick imprint on Fred Astaire’s lips, sorry to disappoint. A makeup artist came in and applied it.

• And I adore how they’re both giggling and giddy after the supposed kiss. So much of this movie is about young love or your first real love, those butterflies mixed with terror and anticipation.

• I always thought the club owner said, “Lucky, you’re a mess” after finding Penny and Lucky immediately after their first kiss. But he actually says, “Lucky, you’re on next.” Either way, Lucky’s dazed response of “Am I?” is cute.

• Ok, the “Bojangles of Harlem” number. It’s the only time Astaire did blackface. It’s uncomfortable to watch even though he intended it as a tribute to African-American dancers Bill Robinson and John W. Bubbles. There’s also some very innovative use of 1936 special effects to make it look like Astaire is dancing with three of his shadows. Largely because of this, choreographer Hermes Pan was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Dance Direction.

He lost but won an Oscar in the same category the next year, the final time that category was awarded, for a routine in Astaire’s only 1930s film without Ginger Rogers, A Damsel in Distress.

• If Lucky had just let Margaret say her piece, he would’ve known that he’s actually not beholden to her anymore. But then we wouldn’t have one of the greatest dances ever put to film.

• In all fairness on the kissing front, Lucky’s well timed entrance does prevent Romero and Penny’s kiss from appearing on screen.

• A heartbreaking exchange where they never break eye contact:

Penny: “Does she dance very beautifully?”

Lucky: “Who?”

Penny: “The girl you’re in love with.”

Lucky, meaningfully: “Yes. Very.”

Penny, after a beat: “The girl you’re engaged to. The girl you’re going to marry.”

Lucky: “Oh, I don’t know. I’ve danced with you. I’m never going to dance again.”

• “Never Gonna Dance” is distinguished from the other songs in this film’s world because it’s not something that is also used in the dance studio or played by Romero’s band. Instead, it includes elements specific to these characters. The line “the la belle, la perfectly swell romance” recalls Penny’s line earlier in the gazebo. The reference to “dinner clothes” harkens back to Penny and Lucky’s first day together. The repeated use of the word “penny,” transforms in its final iteration to being her name when Lucky sings, “Though I’m left without my Penny.” The whole song is Lucky’s elaboration on his line above. Nothing matters now, not his clothes or money or dancing. All he’s going to do is love her.

• The music of the dance and many of the moves are pulled from previous songs and dance numbers. A fittingly mournful version of “The Way You Look Tonight” plays as they walk together, which is also how Lucky began his dance lesson with Penny. Later, “Waltz in Swing Time” trumpets in to propel them into that same three steps move again but as euphoric as they were in that previous dance, now he is almost desperate and she is slowly letting him go. “Never Gonna Dance” is a compilation of their entire romance from start to heartbreaking finish and it’s a truly stunning duet. I know “Cheek to Cheek” gets a lot of hype, and it’s deserved, but “Never Gonna Dance” is something extra special and is certainly tied with “Waltz in Swing Time” as the best Astaire and Rogers duet in my book.

In keeping with how much Swing Time breaks the tradition of Astaire/Rogers films, “Never Gonna Dance” is the duet where Astaire is trying to woo Rogers’ character, something we typically see earlier in the film but was never needed here. It’s also very tragic, something we almost never see in Astaire/Rogers films. Even “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” had a hopeful tone.

• Their expressions in this number are especially poignant. He is imploring her to stay while she is gazing at him as though drinking him all in because she knows this will be the last time they’re together. While he is concentrating on pouring everything into the dance, she is memorizing every detail of this last dance with him, even watching him when he can’t see her. I know I talk a lot about Rogers’ acting ability during these dances but it never stops being worth mentioning. No other partner of Astaire’s got it the way Ginger Rogers did.

• Thank god they cut this dance into two pieces so that they only had to perform this last bit again and again by itself, rather than having to start from the very beginning each time.

After two films that included “issues” with her dresses, Rogers this time has an issue with her shoes. Or rather, they did so many freaking takes (47ish) that she bled into them. And supposedly she didn’t complain at all because she was just as committed to getting the dance right.

She does the majority of the tough work in this final piece too. Not only is she spinning quickly and frequently, in the final spin she has to move towards where he waits, rather than him coming to meet her.

Some credit to the level of trust they’d built though, Astaire’s arm is always ready well in advance of when she will spin into him.

• Even as the duet is ending, Astaire keeps his face longing and hopeful. Lucky has done everything to win her back and as they move towards the door he thinks he may still have a chance. But in their last embrace where he holds her tightly to him, she tellingly doesn’t return the gesture and leaves both of her arms raised. When she exits, he grimaces as though his heart has truly been broken.

• The ridiculous overacting when they’re all laughing is 🙄🙄🙄. Did the Joker unleash some laughing gas?? The silliness of this ending takes away from the rest of a truly excellent film.

It also reminds me of the silliness of the beginning. If I had to guess, the writers probably had a great middle and no clue to how start or end things. At least, it feels that way.

• I do like how she sings a reprise of “The Way You Look Tonight” about him while he sings a reprise of “A Fine Romance.” And they go in for another kiss, pause, then embrace with his back to the camera because GOD FORBID we see a single dang kiss between these two!

Though I am left wondering just what Astaire and Rogers were doing in the final embrace because their faces do seem awfully close together...

• Swing Time is probably the last exceptional Astaire/Rogers film. Everything after this doesn’t quite measure up except in a few specific instances. That said, I do enjoy many parts of Shall We Dance, which is next.

#fred astaire #ginger rogers #swing time #classic hollywood #old hollywood #fred and ginger #astaire and rogers rewatch #all astaire/rogers gifs without credit are mine

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rosebudblog · 4 years ago

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¿POR QUÉ CINE NEGRO?

¿FUE ESTA LA PRIMERA?

¿O FUE ESTA?

EL HALCÓN MALTÉS

PERDICIÓN

EL SUEÑO ETERNO

EL TERCER HOMBRE

LA JUNGLA DEL ASFALTO

LAUREN

HUMPHREY

LAURA

SED DE MAL

FORAJIDOS

RETORNO AL PASADO

ATRACO PERFECTO

A veces los nombres de los movimientos artísticos tienen un origen no muy bien definido. En el caso del cine, el término CINE NEGRO tiene un origen dudoso como ocurre con términos artísticos como RENACIMIENTO o BARROCO.

La palabra Renacimiento no tiene un origen claro. Por una parte, hay quien responsabiliza al artista Giorgio Vasari en pleno siglo XVI la alusión al renacer de la cultura clásica tras la Edad Media por lo que utilizó la palabra Rinascita. (En arquitectura, en pleno siglo XVI se denominaba a las construcciones renacentistas como de estilo “a la romana”). Sin embargo, la mayoría de los autores opinan que fue Balzac quien utilizó la palabra Renacimiento por primera vez en su novela Le Bal de Sceau en 1829 y que ya era un término que se usaba en los círculos intelectuales. Por su parte la palabra Barroco también es de dudoso origen, aunque existe cierto consenso en por atribuirla al idioma portugués, más exactamente a la palabra Barocco que significa “perla irregular con deformaciones”.

En el caso del cine nos encontramos con un género cinematográfico denominado Cine Negro cuyo origen también se ha señalado como dudoso. Está claro que tiene un origen literario: la novela policial, pero sin embargo nadie ha calificado al género cinematográfico como Cine Policial. Es cierto que en los años 20 del siglo pasado aparecieron una serie de novelas con el calificativo de Serie Negra; de ahí al cine solo había un paso y pronto a las películas que podían encuadrarse en este género se les comenzó a etiquetar como Cine Negro.

Pero ¿quién usó por primera vez este término?: tampoco hay un acuerdo unánime, aunque parece que fue el crítico italiano Nino Frank el que utilizó el nombre film noire. El éxito de la denominación fue absoluto hasta el punto de que ese nombre fue asumido por Hollywood tras la II Guerra Mundial. Pero para ello el género literario adquirió una gran calidad en base a unos talentos creativos que han perdurado con el tiempo no ya como guionistas cinematográficos sino como auténticos maestros de este tipo de literatura. Así tenemos que citar entre los más conocidos a Dashiel Hammett, Raymond Chandler, William Riley Burnett, Jim Thompson, John Hadley Chase, Steve Fisher y especialmente para mí, a James M. Cain.

Por lo tanto y por extraño que nos parezca, el término procede de la literatura y no propiamente del cine y además tiene su origen, no en el lugar donde se desarrolló con más éxito y calidad artística este género, sino en la vieja Europa (aunque sería injusto no señalar la gran aportación europea al género con películas de grandes directores, especialmente franceses, como Claude Chabrol, Jean Pierre Melville, Louis Malle o Jean Luc Godard).

Pero ¿cuáles son las características esenciales que identifican el cine negro? Pues de nuevo no se puede hablar en términos absolutos, pero si hay acuerdo en algunos elementos técnicos y argumentales que pueden definirse como propios de este género:

1. Hay consenso generalizado en que el origen cinematográfico se debe buscar en el expresionismo alemán, un movimiento caracterizado por la existencia de luces y sombras y posiciones de la cámara (picados, contrapicados y angulaciones) que otorgan una atmósfera de dramatismo a la historia. Este movimiento surgió alrededor de 1920 y debemos citar El gabinete del doctor Caligari, Metrópolis o El Golem como algunas de sus películas esenciales. Un elemento destaca por encima de todo en estas películas: están realizadas lógicamente por su fecha de producción en Blanco y Negro (B/N). Esta va a ser también una característica del cine negro, al menos esencialmente en su época dorada: desde los años 30 hasta finales de los 50 del siglo pasado. No obstante, en años posteriores aparecieron numerosas películas de calidad que se pueden integrar en este género y realizadas ya en color. (De todas formas, es curioso cómo grandes creadores, cuando han abordado el cine negro en años recientes recuperan el B/N para su producción: es el caso de los Hermanos Coen cuando realizaron El hombre que nunca estuvo allí).

2. Otra característica más o menos general es el rol que asumen los personajes masculinos y femeninos en este género. Los masculinos se dividen entre los propios criminales y esencialmente los protagonistas, que conforman un perfil de “perdedores” con moral algo ambigua. Los máximos representantes de estos antihéroes son Sam Spade y Phil Marlowe, creaciones de dos de los grandes autores de este género: Dashiel Hammett y Raymond Chandler y que curiosamente fueron interpretados por un mismo y mítico actor: Humphrey Bogart. El cine negro supuso también la aparición de la mujer en un nuevo rol. Se pasó de una mujer débil e indefensa salvada por el héroe, a una mujer independiente y capaz de convertirse en asesina; en definitiva, aparece en el cine la representación de la femme fatale con ejemplos en personajes de Lana Turner, Lauren Bacall o Barbara Stanwick

3. La tercera característica es que el argumento incluya la denuncia, la crítica social, señalando la corrupción policial o el mal funcionamiento del sistema (este aspecto argumental estaba más claramente expresado en sus orígenes literarios, mientras que en el cine las críticas al sistema se dulcificaron en parte por miedo a la censura).

4. Por último, un elemento esencial de estas historias es la violencia. Evidentemente remarcar la violencia en el cine negro de sus años dorados puede resultar un inocente ejercicio cuando en las últimas décadas la violencia explicita ocupa en gran parte toda película que se precie de contar una historia criminal (Tarantino nos presentó una violencia cínica y explicita cercana al gore y Lars Von Trier en La casa de Jack muestra una violencia extrema y provocadora). De cualquier forma, sigo pensando que, como decía Wilder respecto a su maestro en relación al sexo: “Lubisth enseña más con una puerta medio cerrada que los directores de hoy día con una bragueta abierta” o ¿es que la presencia de abundantísima sangre y larga escenas de tortura y crueldad puede superar a la violencia final de M, la violenta angustia de La noche del cazador o a la de La dama de Sanghai?

De forma más o menos general todos los críticos e historiadores coinciden en que el Cine Negro es un género que tuvo su mayor desarrollo en Estados Unidos entre 1930 y 1950. Pero todo es relativo en términos artísticos y hay quien considera que ya en 1903 se realizó la primera película de ese género: Asalto y robo al tren de Edwin S. Porter. Pero ¿qué película podemos citar como realmente la primera de ese género? Tampoco existe un acuerdo. Algunos historiadores sostienen que hay varias películas anteriores a la IIGM que pueden ostentar ese título de ser la primera ya que, sí por otra parte, varios creadores de ese género eran de origen alemán y huyeron a Estados Unidos cuando los nazis llegaron al poder, es normal que se identifiquen varias películas de su obra europea como cine negro. Se suele citar El desconocido del tercer piso (1940) de un también desconocido Boris Ingster como la primera, pero asimismo pueden ostentar ese galardón tres films anteriores de Fritz Lang: M (1931), Furia (1936) o Solo se vive una vez (1937).

¿Y cuando puede deducirse que tiene su finalización el género?: en un sentido estricto podríamos decir que no ha finalizado, aunque se tiene a Sed de mal de 1958 como la película que cierra brillantemente este género. ¿No hay cine negro posterior a estas fechas? Para la gran mayoría de críticos no, en todo caso hay un cine que podríamos denominar como policial, pero con alusiones de algún tipo al cine negro. De esta forma tendríamos que incluir a películas como Taxi Driver o A quemarropa en esta clasificación y directores como los Coen, Tarantino o De Palma como realizadores de películas con estas características mixtas. Personalmente creo que es una discusión gratuita pues el tiempo ha ido enmarcando cada obra en su correspondiente clasificación de género.

Derivada de la palabra thrill (emoción, estremecimiento) se ha generalizado el término thriller para designar un tipo de cine policial muy amplio, desde películas de suspense, hasta terror psicológico. Creo que se podrían etiquetar como THRILLER a las películas que se pudieran incluir como encasilladas en el cine negro pero que han sido producidas posteriormente a 1958 y generalmente en color, mientras que el término CINE NEGRO lo podríamos restringir a las realizadas en el periodo clásico de ese género, desde la década de los 30 hasta finales de los 50 del siglo pasado.

Por último, voy a señalar las que, bajo mi criterio, pueden ocupar los puestos más destacados en una supuesta lista de LAS MEJORES PELÍCULAS DE CINE NEGRO (lógicamente me olvido de algunas y entre otras, muchas de aquella modesta serie B que nos dejó grandes películas):

-M (Fritz Lang, 1931)

-Furia (Fritz Lang, 1936)

-Solo se vive una vez (Fritz Lang, 1937)

-El halcón maltés (John Huston, 1941)

-Perdición (Billy Wilder, 1944)

-Laura (Otto Preminger, 1944)

-La mujer del cuadro (Fritz Lang, 1944)

-Historia de un detective (Edward Dmytryk, 1944)

-Perversidad (Fritz Lang, 1945)

-Alma en suplicio (Michael Curtiz, 1945)

-El sueño eterno (Howard Hawks, 1946)

-El cartero siempre llama dos veces (Tay Garnett, 1946)

-Gilda (Charles Vidor, 1946)

-La dalia azul (George Marshall, 1946)

-Forajidos (Robert Siodmak, 1946)

-Retorno al pasado (Jacques Tourneur, 1946)

-La senda tenebrosa (Delmer Daves, 1946)

-Cayo Largo (John Huston, 1948)

- La dama de Sanghai (Orson Welles, 1948)

-El abrazo de la muerte (Robert Siodmak, 1949)

-Al rojo vivo (Raoul Walsh, 1949)

-El tercer hombre (Carol Reed, 1949)

-El crepúsculo de los dioses (Billy Wilder, 1950)

-La jungla del asfalto (John Huston, 1950)

-Extraños en un tren (Alfred Hitchcock, 1951)

-Cara de ángel (Otto Preminger, 1951)

-Los sobornados (Fritz Lang, 1951)

-La noche del cazador (Charles Laughton, 1951)

-Atraco perfecto (Stanley Kubrick, 1951)

-Sed de mal (Orson Welles, 1958)

-Vértigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)

Volver a ver cualquiera de ellas supone una auténtica delicia cinematográfica.

17/1/2021

#CineNegro

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malsrp · 5 years ago

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#1. Aaron Roeder — Terry Chen — tag: aroeder 2. Aida Wilks — Julia Garner — tag: awilks 3. Alexander Lightwood — Matt Daddario — tag: alightwood 4. Alexandria Gillham — Gemma Arterton — tag: agilham 5. Alia Maxwell — Vanessa Morgan — tag: amaxwell 6. Alisia Carabajal — Bridget Regan — tag: acarabajal 7. Alissa Kytönen — Nicola Peltz — tag: akytonen 8. Alyx Humphries — Joe Brooks — tag: ahumphries 9. Amadej Moralis — Matthew Daddario — tag: amoralis 10. Amanda H. Nørgaard — Selena Gomez — tag: anorgaard 11. Amelie Robin — Felicity Jones — tag: arobin 12. Angel Devaris — Neels Visser — tag: adevaris 13. Anna B. Mathiasen — Anna B. Mathiasen — tag: amathiasen 14. Anthony Higgins [ Race ] — Christian Navarro — tag: ahiggins 15. Antoine Neuhaus — Avan Jogia — tag: aneuhaus 16. Apolline Tachel — Taylor Swift — tag: atachel 17. April Olson — Amber Heard — tag: aolson 18. Archie Andrews — KJ Apa — tag: aandrews 19. Arlan Havernathy — Vasiliy Makarov — tag: vmakarov 20. Árni Sveinsson — Bruno Mars — tag: ásveinsson 21. Arron Castillo — Dylan Sprayberry — tag: acastillo 22. Asmarina Tesmi — Letitia Wright — tag: atesmi 23. Aurora Moon — Emma Stone — tag: amoon 24. Austin Valero — Danny Schwarz — tag: avalero 25. Ava Hunter — Danielle Campbell — tag: ahunter 26. Bastiaan Morgan — Jacob Young — tag: bmorgan 27. Beau Amarante — Douglas Booth — tag: bamarante 28. Bellamy Blake — Bob Morley — tag: bblake 29. Bentley French — Keegan Allen — tag: bfrench 30. Blair McKenzie/McKenna — Joe Brooks/Matt Bomer — tag: bmckenzie; bmckenna 31. Blake Anderson — Nick Robinson — tag: banderson 32. Bobbi Downes — Cole Sprouse — tag: bdownes 33. Bonilla Serrato — Hunter Schafer — tag: bserrato 34. Breana Logston — Hayley Lu Richards — tag: blogson 35. Broderick Boyer — Trevor Noah — tag: bboyer 36. Brooke Nicholas — Scarlett Johansson — tag: bnicholas 37. Buddy Wiltsie — Freddie Stroma — tag: bwiltsie 38. Caleb Whitton — Vasiliy Makarov — tag: cwhitton 39. Caley Greene — Margot Robbie — tag: cgreene 40. Casey Finch — Ashton Irwin — tag: cfinch 41. Caty White — Madelaine Petsch — tag: cwhite 42. Celeste Goodman — Virginia Gardner — tag: cgoodman 43. Célia Méndes — Marina Moschen — tag: cméndes 44. Cerin Ó'Caoimh — Spencer MacPherson — tag: cócaoimh 45. Charisse Walther — Odeya Rush — tag: cwalther 46. Chelsea Tassinari — Brittany Snow — tag: ctassinari 47. Cheryl Blossom — Madelaine Petsch — tag: cblossom 48. Christopher Candler — Rey Valentin — tag: ccandler 49. Ciel Phantomhive — Jakub Gierszal — tag: cphantomhive 50. Ciera Folger — Zendaya — tag: cfolger 51. Clarissa Fairchild — Katherine McNamara — tag: cfairchild 52. Clarke Griffin — Eliza Taylor — tag: cgriffin 53. Claude Donovan — Matt Cohen — tag: cdonovan 54. Cleopatra Mercia — Danielle Campbell — tag: cmercia 55. Cody Chester — Austin Mahone — tag: cchester 56. Connor Dreyer — Ryan Lochte — tag: cdreyer 57. Conrad Benham — Theo James — tag: cbenham 58. Corey Hamilton — Gregg Sulkin — tag: chamilton 59. Curt Wagoner — Ellar Coltrane — tag: cwagoner 60. Dallas Ference — Richard Madden — tag: dference 61. Dalton Fuller — Ed Westwick — tag: dfuller 62. Dana Bela — Griffin Powell-Arcand — tag: dbela 63. Deane Trager — Hayden Thompson — tag: dtrager 64. Deanna Scofield — Madison Beer — tag: dscofield 65. Demi-leigh Maclean — Victoria Justice — tag: dmaclean 66. Destin Rumancek — Penn Badgeley — tag: drumancek 67. Diamond Turk — Tristan Lake Leabu — tag: dturl 68. Diana Lanham — Gina Carano — tag: dlanham 69. Dmitry Alkaev — Andrew Boldar — tag: dalkaev 70. Dominik Aaron — Felix Mallard — tag: daaron 71. Dorothea Lightwood-Bane — India Eisley — tag: dlightwoodbane 72. Dorothy Baum — Kaniehtiio Horn — tag: dbaum 73. Doyle Barish — Ty Simpkins — tag: dbarish 74. Dwight Apolinar — King Bach — tag: dapolinar 75. Dyana Roy — Lyrica Okano — tag: droy 76. Edelira Réyes — Ana De Armas — tag: eréyes 77. Eden Farley — Diane Vulpine — tag: efarley 78. Eleanor Blackburn — Rachel-Marie Jones — tag: eblackburn 79. Elden Pointer — Harrison Gilbertson — tag: epointer 80. Eliot Waugh — Hale Appleman — tag: ewaugh 81. Émelié Overgard — Georgia Henley — tag: eovergaard 82. Emilio Youngberg — Brendon Thwaites — tag: eyoungberg 83. Emily Robin — Thomasin McKenzie — tag: erobin 84. Erin Madden — Anna Kendricks — tag: emadden 85. Essi Hanski — Lachlan Watson — tag: ehanski 86. Eva Coleman — Holliday Grainger — tag: ecoleman 87. Eva Rosales — Aimee Carrero — tag: erosales 88. Evangelina Stigall — Anya Chalotra — tag: estigali 89. Evie Trippe — Morgan Lily — tag: etrippe 90. Ezequiel Hanby — Ryan Guzman — tag: ehanby 91. Faye Thompson — Katherine Langford — tag: fthompson 92. Felix Tenner — Timothée Chalamet — tag: ftenner 93. Finn Jagger — Sam Riley — tag: fjagger 94. Forrest Nilges — Lucas Zumann — tag: fnilges 95. Gabriela Méndes — Camila Queiroz — tag: gméndes 96. Genevive Janowski — Hailee Steinfield — tag: gjanowski 97. Georgette Fresne — Ciara Bravo — tag: gfresne 98. Georgianne Rentfro — Dalilah Bela — tag: grentfro 99. Gino Warkentin — Andrew Garfield — tag: gwarkentin 100. Grace Quinn — Lucy Hale — tag: gquinn 101. Hailee Lewis — Chloe Norgaard — tag: hlewis 102. Harley Quinn — Margot Robbie — tag: hquinn 103. Harper Finch — George Shelley — tag: hfinch 104. Harry Hook — Thomas Doherty — tag: hhook 105. Hayley Marshall-Kenner — Phoebe Tonkin — tag: hmarshallkenner 106. Hazel Arden — Katheryn Winnick — tag: harden 107. Hunter Harris — Mikkel Jensen — tag: hhunter 108. Imelda Navarro — Alex Steele — tag: inavarro 109. Isis Monohan — Emily Rudd — tag: imonohan 110. Israel Preston — Landon Liboiron — tag: ipreston 111. Ivy Romano — Ariana Grande — tag: iromano 112. Jacqui Valo — Natalie Dormer — tag: jvalo 113. James Carstairs — Choi Jun-Hong — tag: jcarstairs 114. Jamie Kostelnik — Camren Bicondova — tag: jkostelnik 115. Jared Rubio — Sebastian Stan — tag: jrubio 116. Jaskier Pankratz — Joey Batey — tag: jpankratz 117. Jason Kleinman — Chris Pine — tag:jkleinman 118. JC Garner — Jonny Weston — tag: jcgarner 119. Jed Achorn — Hayden Christensen — tag: jachorn 120. Jellybean Jones — India Eisley — tag: jbjones 121. Jenna Ormond — Carlson Young — tag: jormond 122. Jeremy Lindsay — Cameron Palatas — tag: jlindsay 123. Jericho Lefévre — Stephen James Hendry — tag: jlefévre 124. Jimmie Souen — Conner Dennis — tag: jsouen 125. Joaquin Desantos — Rob Raco — tag: jdesantos 126. Joaquin Nero — Jamie Campbell-Bower — tag: jnero 127. Johanna Söderström — Anya Chalotra — tag: jsoderstrom 128. Jonathon Pruette — James Marsden — tag: jpruette 129. Jordan Burton — Devon Aoki — tag: jburton 130. Joshua Hope — Vasiliy Makarov — tag: joshhope 131. Jude Byrom — Ezra Miller — tag: jbyrom 132. Jude Godfrey — Sterling Knight — tag: judegodfrey 133. Jughead Jones — Cole Sprouse — tag: jugheadjones 134. Julie R. Mogensen — Bailee Madison — tag: jmogenson 135. Julio Guarnieri — Gael Garcia Bernal — tag: jguarnieri 136. Julius Satchell — Chris Pine — tag: jsatchell 137. Juliyn Godfrey — Austin Butler — tag: juliyngodfrey 138. Justine Schoolcraft — Melissa Benoist — tag: mbenoist 139. Kade Westfield — Cole Sprouse — tag: kadewestfield 140. Kailyn Howard — Ash Stymest — tag:khoward 141. Kameron Grainger — James Reid — tag:kgrainger 142. Kammy Milkovich — Rasmus Ledin — tag: kmilkovich 143. Kareem Mauriello — Graham Philips — tag: kmauriello 144. Karisa Sandström — Bridget Satterlee — tag: ksandstrom 145. Karleen Widell — Nathalie Emmanuel — tag: kwidell 146. Kaylah Robles — Kirsty Mooney — tag: krobles 147. Kendrick Slabaugh — Brenton Thwaites — tag: kslabaugh 148. Kenzi Malikov — Ksenia Solo — tag: kmalikov 149. Kian Westfield — Cole Sprouse — tag: kianwestfield 150. Killian Jones — Colin O’Donaghue — tag: kjones 151. Kira Connor — Katherine McNamara — tag: kconnor 152. Kiran Wilson — Paris Brosnan — tag: kwilson 153. Kirk Rich — Zac Efron — tag: krich 154. Kis Szabolcs — Alicia Vikander — tag: kszabolcs 155. Kisanet Isaias — Rihanna — tag: kisaias 156. Kitty Sullivan — Tina Guo — tag: ksullivan 157. Klaus Hargreeves — Robert Sheehan — tag: khargreeves 158. Krista Albertsdóttir — Naomi Scott — tag: kalbertsdóttir 159. Kristyn Dilley — Cara Delevigne — tag: kdilley 160. Koda Westfield — Cole Sprouse — tag: kodawestfield 161. Lacey Tauber — Adrianne Palicki — tag: ltauber 162. Lauranne Leemburg — Daisy Ridley — tag: lleemburg 163. Laurence Lachord — Toby Nichols — tag: llachord 164. Leah Holt — Crystal Reed — tag: lholt 165. Lennox Hamilton — Chay Suede — tag: lhamilton 166. Lenore Francoeur — Dascha Polanco — tag: lfrancouer 167. Leon Ó'Caoimh — Chris Collins — tag: lócaoimh 168. Lesli Mclaurin — Demi Lovato — tag: lmclaurin 169. Lexa Kom Trikru — Alycia Debnam-Carey — tag: lkomtrikru 170. Liam Dunbar — Dylan Sprayberry — tag: ldunbar 171. Liberato Pisani — Tanner Buchanan — tag: lpisani 172. Lita Balsley — Veronika Bonell — tag: lbalsley 173. Livia Hullett — Esme Creed-Miles — tag: lhullett 174. Lizbeth Burton — Maya Hawke — tag: lburton 175. Lola Porter — Rachel Hilbert — tag: lporter 176. Lorie Garnett — Elle Fanning — tag: lgarnett 177. Lucas Abbott — Drew Acker — tag: labbott 178. Mackenzie Greyr — Jaira Burns — tag: mgreyr 179. Madelaine Thomas — Dove Cameron — tag: mthomas 180. Majestas Upriti — Natalie Dormer — tag: mupriti 181. Makkai Barnabás — Judah Lewis — tag: mbarnabás 182. Mal — Dove Cameron — tag: mal 183. Marina Alves — Zendaya — tag: malves 184. Mark Blackthorn — Jamie Campbell-Bower — tag: mblackthorn 185. Mark Westlock — Luke Bilyk — tag: mwestlock 186. Matteusz Villegas — Samuel Larsen — tag: mvillegas 187. Matthias Brewer — Henry Cavill — tag: mbrewer 188. Maxxie Oliver — Mitch Hewer — tag: moliver 189. Melanie Widing — Kate Beckinsale — tag: mwiding 190. Mercedes Abbott — Lyndsy Fonseca — mabbott 191. Merida Dunbroch — Felicia Day — tag: mdunbroch 192. Mia Alloway — Taylor Momsen — tag: malloway 193. Micah Martin — Tom Holland — tag: micahmartin 194. Mickey Milkovich — Noel Fisher — tag: mmilkovich 195. Mihai Fenrirson — Asa Butterfield — tag: mfenrirson 196. Milosz Sheehan — Ilja Van Vuuren — tag: msheehan 197. Mira Martin — Amanda Seyfried — tag: miramartin 198. Monty Green — Christopher Larkin — tag: mgreen 199. Morgana Pendragon — Katie McGrath — tag: mpendragon 200. Morgyn Kennedy — Bill Skarsgard — tag: mkennedy 201. Murdock — Sharlto Copley — tag: murdock 202. Murphy McManus — Norman Reedus — tag: mmcmanus 203. Nadia Lowe — Tiera Skovbye — tag: nlowe 204. Neal Caffrey — Matt Bomer — tag: ncaffrey 205. Neil Crowley — Emile Hirsch — tag: ncrowley 206. Nelle Leng — Chloe Bennet — tag: nleng 207. Nicholas West — Max Lloyd-Jones — tag: nwest 208. Nikki Howe — Dylan Sprayberry — tag: nhowe 209. Niko King — Rob Raco — tag: nking 210. Nine/Nina — Kiernan Shipka — tag:nnine 211. Noah Lamont — Marlon Teixiera — tag: nlamont 212. Nola Delpozo — Anya Taylor-Joy — tag: ndelpozo 213. Octavia Blake — Marie Avgeropoulos — tag: oblake 214. Olivia Octavian — Elizabeth Gillies — tag: ooctavian 215. Olympia Green — Lana Condor — tag: ogreen 216. Orion Kirk — Dominic Sherwood — tag: okirk 217. Oscar Ellinger — Penn Badgley — tag: oellinger 218. Otto Feehan — Nat Wolff — tag: ofeehan 219. Paige Kerler — Abbie Cornish — tag: pkerler 220. Paris Dupont — Lucky Blue Smith — tag: pdupont 221. Patrick S. Knudsen — Joe Keery — tag: pknudsen 222. Paul Mann — Henry Cavill — tag: pmann 223. Peter Rumancek — Landon Liboiron — tag: prumancek 224. Phoenix Monsoon — Edu Beber — tag: pmonsoon 225. Poppy Martin — Danielle Campbell — tag: pmartin 226. Presley Lowe — Zoey Deutch — tag: plowe 227. Quentin Coldwater — Jason Ralph — tag: qcoldwater 228. Quinn Simons — Emilija Baranac — tag: qsimons 229. Rebecca Conway — Rihanna — tag: rconway 230. Reino Kantee — Rami Malek — tag: rkantee 231. Remi O'Reilly — Dylan Sprouse — tag: roreilly 232. Renée Gorski — Jenna Dewan — tag: rgorski 233. Reo Calhoun — Alexander Koch — tag: rcalhoun 234. Rhys Gray — David Henrie — tag: rgray 235. Riian Floyd — Andy Biersack — tag: rfloyd 236. Riley Bowman — Blake Lively — tag: rbowman 237. Robin Buckley — Maya Hawke — tag: rbuckley 238. Romain Plourde — Hudson Thames — tag: rplourde 239. Rory Gearheart — Hudson Thames — tag: rgearheart 240. Rosa Hurley — Kimberry Behets — tag: rhurley 241. Rosemary Daniele — Thaliá — tag: rdaniele 242. Rosia Obryan — Scarlett Sperduto — tag: robryan 243. Ruby — Katie Cassidy — tag: ruby 244. Rupert Fulgham — Jeremy Irvine — tag: rfulgham 245. Sabrina Spellman — Kiernan Shipka — tag: sspellman 246. Sammie Brandes — Taron Egerton — tag: sbrandes 247. Samuel Silver — Thomas Doherty — tag: ssilver 248. Sara Narjus — London Vale — tag: snarjus 249. Sascha Trent — Rasmus Ledin — tag: strent 250. Scarlet Patton — Alexandra Daddario — tag: spatton 251. Seren Haines — Cody Longo — tag: shaines 252. Shane Holden — Julian Schratter — tag: sholden 253. Shayne Fox — Alex Watson — tag: sfox 254. Simon Lewis — Alberto Rosende — tag: slewis 255. Skylar Mattiachi — Jelle Haen — tag: smattiachi 256. Sophia Tulloch — Alina Kovalenko — tag: stulloch 257. Sophie Lassiter — Abigail Cowen — tag: slassiter 258. Sophie Windsor — Elizabeth Gillies — tag: swindsor 259. Spencer Henderson — Tyler Blackburn — tag: shenderson 260. Stiles Stilinski — Dylan O’Brien — tag: sstilinski 261. Susanna Sandström — Bridget Satterlee — tag: ssandstrom 262. Suzume Ahumada — Constance Wu — tag: sahumada 263. Szymon Trujillo — Devon Bostick — tag: strujillo 264. Tabitha Mersey — Miranda Kerr — tag: tmersey 265. Talia Sholes — Lara Robinson — tag: tsholes 266. Taylor Beauford — Asa Butterfield — tag: tbeauford 267. Tess Friedkin — Jessica Lowndes — tag: tfriedkin 268. Thomas Escamilla — Nathan Saignes — tag: tescamilla 269. Tiberius Blackthorn — Asa Butterfield — tag: tblackthorn 270. Tinkerbell — Dove Cameron — tag: tinkerbell 271. TJ Hammond — Sebastian Stan — tag: tjhammond 272. Toby Kao — Selena Gomez — tag: tkao 273. Toni Topaz — Vanessa Morgan — tag: ttopaz 274. Trista Dutra — Corbin Reid — tag: tdutra 275. Valentin Sainz — Richard Madden — tag: vsainz 276. Venus Gallo — Dove Cameron — tag: vgallo 277. Verona Watkins — Maisie Williams — tag: vwatkins 278. Veronica Beck — Phoebe Tonkin — vbeck 279. Veronica Lodge/Luna — Camilla Mendes — tag: vlodge 280. Vigo Oldbuck — Zac Efron — tag: voldbuck 281. Viki Leick — Gigi Hadid — tag: vleick 282. Violet Addison — Elizabeth Gillies — tag: vaddison 283. Wendell Bray — Michael Grant Terry — tag: wbray 284. William Croxton — James McAvoy — tag: wcroxton 285. Xavier Camden — Thomas Doherty — tag: xcamden 286. Yalena Yardeen — Hannah John-Kamen — tag: yyardeen 287. Zaid Kyle — Chris Wood — tag: zkyle 288. Zakariah Franco — Nick Robinson — tag: zfranco 289. Zarka Nyék — Dakota Kuhn — tag: znyék 290. Zoe Cole — Antonia Thomas —tag: zcole

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thegreatantonchekhov · 4 years ago

Text

Love

By Anton Chekhov

Translated by Constance Garnett

“THREE o’clock in the morning. The soft April night is looking in at my windows and caressingly winking at me with its stars. I can’t sleep, I am so happy!

“My whole being from head to heels is bursting with a strange, incomprehensible feeling. I can’t analyse it just now -- I haven’t the time, I’m too lazy, and there -- hang analysis! Why, is a man likely to interpret his sensations when he is flying head foremost from a belfry, or has just learned that he has won two hundred thousand? Is he in a state to do it?”

This was more or less how I began my love-letter to Sasha, a girl of nineteen with whom I had fallen in love. I began it five times, and as often tore up the sheets, scratched out whole pages, and copied it all over again. I spent as long over the letter as if it had been a novel I had to write to order. And it was not because I tried to make it longer, more elaborate, and more fervent, but because I wanted endlessly to prolong the process of this writing, when one sits in the stillness of one’s study and communes with one’s own day-dreams while the spring night looks in at one’s window. Between the lines I saw a beloved image, and it seemed to me that there were, sitting at the same table writing with me, spirits as naïvely happy, as foolish, and as blissfully smiling as I. I wrote continually, looking at my hand, which still ached deliciously where hers had lately pressed it, and if I turned my eyes away I had a vision of the green trellis of the little gate. Through that trellis Sasha gazed at me after I had said goodbye to her. When I was saying good-bye to Sasha I was thinking of nothing and was simply admiring her figure as every decent man admires a pretty woman; when I saw through the trellis two big eyes, I suddenly, as though by inspiration, knew that I was in love, that it was all settled between us, and fully decided already, that I had nothing left to do but to carry out certain formalities.

It is a great delight also to seal up a love-letter, and, slowly putting on one’s hat and coat, to go softly out of the house and to carry the treasure to the post. There are no stars in the sky now: in their place there is a long whitish streak in the east, broken here and there by clouds above the roofs of the dingy houses; from that streak the whole sky is flooded with pale light. The town is asleep, but already the water-carts have come out, and somewhere in a far-away factory a whistle sounds to wake up the workpeople. Beside the postbox, slightly moist with dew, you are sure to see the clumsy figure of a house porter, wearing a bell-shaped sheepskin and carrying a stick. He is in a condition akin to catalepsy: he is not asleep or awake, but something between.

If the boxes knew how often people resort to them for the decision of their fate, they would not have such a humble air. I, anyway, almost kissed my postbox, and as I gazed at it I reflected that the post is the greatest of blessings.

I beg anyone who has ever been in love to remember how one usually hurries home after dropping the letter in the box, rapidly gets into bed and pulls up the quilt in the full conviction that as soon as one wakes up in the morning one will be overwhelmed with memories of the previous day and look with rapture at the window, where the daylight will be eagerly making its way through the folds of the curtain.

Well, to facts.... Next morning at midday, Sasha’s maid brought me the following answer: “I am delited be sure to come to us to day please I shall expect you. Your S.”

Not a single comma. This lack of punctuation, and the misspelling of the word “delighted,” the whole letter, and even the long, narrow envelope in which it was put filled my heart with tenderness. In the sprawling but diffident handwriting I recognised Sasha’s walk, her way of raising her eyebrows when she laughed, the movement of her lips.... But the contents of the letter did not satisfy me. In the first place, poetical letters are not answered in that way, and in the second, why should I go to Sasha’s house to wait till it should occur to her stout mamma, her brothers, and poor relations to leave us alone together? It would never enter their heads, and nothing is more hateful than to have to restrain one’s raptures simply because of the intrusion of some animate trumpery in the shape of a half-deaf old woman or little girl pestering one with questions. I sent an answer by the maid asking Sasha to select some park or boulevard for a rendezvous. My suggestion was readily accepted. I had struck the right chord, as the saying is.

Between four and five o’clock in the afternoon I made my way to the furthest and most overgrown part of the park. There was not a soul in the park, and the tryst might have taken place somewhere nearer in one of the avenues or arbours, but women don’t like doing it by halves in romantic affairs; in for a penny, in for a pound -- if you are in for a tryst, let it be in the furthest and most impenetrable thicket, where one runs the risk of stumbling upon some rough or drunken man. When I went up to Sasha she was standing with her back to me, and in that back I could read a devilish lot of mystery. It seemed as though that back and the nape of her neck, and the black spots on her dress were saying: Hush!... The girl was wearing a simple cotton dress over which she had thrown a light cape. To add to the air of mysterious secrecy, her face was covered with a white veil. Not to spoil the effect, I had to approach on tiptoe and speak in a half whisper.

From what I remember now, I was not so much the essential point of the rendezvous as a detail of it. Sasha was not so much absorbed in the interview itself as in its romantic mysteriousness, my kisses, the silence of the gloomy trees, my vows.... There was not a minute in which she forgot herself, was overcome, or let the mysterious expression drop from her face, and really if there had been any Ivan Sidoritch or Sidor Ivanitch in my place she would have felt just as happy. How is one to make out in such circumstances whether one is loved or not? Whether the love is “the real thing” or not?

From the park I took Sasha home with me. The presence of the beloved woman in one’s bachelor quarters affects one like wine and music. Usually one begins to speak of the future, and the confidence and self-reliance with which one does so is beyond bounds. You make plans and projects, talk fervently of the rank of general though you have not yet reached the rank of a lieutenant, and altogether you fire off such high-flown nonsense that your listener must have a great deal of love and ignorance of life to assent to it. Fortunately for men, women in love are always blinded by their feelings and never know anything of life. Far from not assenting, they actually turn pale with holy awe, are full of reverence and hang greedily on the maniac’s words. Sasha listened to me with attention, but I soon detected an absent-minded expression on her face, she did not understand me. The future of which I talked interested her only in its external aspect and I was wasting time in displaying my plans and projects before her. She was keenly interested in knowing which would be her room, what paper she would have in the room, why I had an upright piano instead of a grand piano, and so on. She examined carefully all the little things on my table, looked at the photographs, sniffed at the bottles, peeled the old stamps off the envelopes, saying she wanted them for something.

“Please collect old stamps for me!” she said, making a grave face. “Please do.”

Then she found a nut in the window, noisily cracked it and ate it.

“Why don’t you stick little labels on the backs of your books?” she asked, taking a look at the bookcase.

“What for?”

“Oh, so that each book should have its number. And where am I to put my books? I’ve got books too, you know.”

“What books have you got?” I asked.

Sasha raised her eyebrows, thought a moment and said:

“All sorts.”

And if it had entered my head to ask her what thoughts, what convictions, what aims she had, she would no doubt have raised her eyebrows, thought a minute, and have said in the same way: “All sorts.”

Later I saw Sasha home and left her house regularly, officially engaged, and was so reckoned till our wedding. If the reader will allow me to judge merely from my personal experience, I maintain that to be engaged is very dreary, far more so than to be a husband or nothing at all. An engaged man is neither one thing nor the other, he has left one side of the river and not reached the other, he is not married and yet he can’t be said to be a bachelor, but is in something not unlike the condition of the porter whom I have mentioned above.

Every day as soon as I had a free moment I hastened to my fiancée. As I went I usually bore within me a multitude of hopes, desires, intentions, suggestions, phrases. I always fancied that as soon as the maid opened the door I should, from feeling oppressed and stifled, plunge at once up to my neck into a sea of refreshing happiness. But it always turned out otherwise in fact. Every time I went to see my fiancée I found all her family and other members of the household busy over the silly trousseau. (And by the way, they were hard at work sewing for two months and then they had less than a hundred roubles’ worth of things). There was a smell of irons, candle grease and fumes. Bugles scrunched under one’s feet. The two most important rooms were piled up with billows of linen, calico, and muslin and from among the billows peeped out Sasha’s little head with a thread between her teeth. All the sewing party welcomed me with cries of delight but at once led me off into the dining-room where I could not hinder them nor see what only husbands are permitted to behold. In spite of my feelings, I had to sit in the dining-room and converse with Pimenovna, one of the poor relations. Sasha, looking worried and excited, kept running by me with a thimble, a skein of wool or some other boring object.

“Wait, wait, I shan’t be a minute,” she would say when I raised imploring eyes to her. “Only fancy that wretch Stepanida has spoilt the bodice of the barège dress!”

And after waiting in vain for this grace, I lost my temper, went out of the house and walked about the streets in the company of the new cane I had bought. Or I would want to go for a walk or a drive with my fiancée, would go round and find her already standing in the hall with her mother, dressed to go out and playing with her parasol.

“Oh, we are going to the Arcade,” she would say. “We have got to buy some more cashmere and change the hat.”

My outing is knocked on the head. I join the ladies and go with them to the Arcade. It is revoltingly dull to listen to women shopping, haggling and trying to outdo the sharp shopman. I felt ashamed when Sasha, after turning over masses of material and knocking down the prices to a minimum, walked out of the shop without buying anything, or else told the shopman to cut her some half rouble’s worth.

When they came out of the shop, Sasha and her mamma with scared and worried faces would discuss at length having made a mistake, having bought the wrong thing, the flowers in the chintz being too dark, and so on.

Yes, it is a bore to be engaged! I’m glad it’s over.

Now I am married. It is evening. I am sitting in my study reading. Behind me on the sofa Sasha is sitting munching something noisily. I want a glass of beer.

“Sasha, look for the corkscrew. . . .” I say. “It’s lying about somewhere.”

Sasha leaps up, rummages in a disorderly way among two or three heaps of papers, drops the matches, and without finding the corkscrew, sits down in silence.... Five minutes pass -- ten. . . I begin to be fretted both by thirst and vexation.

“Sasha, do look for the corkscrew,” I say.

Sasha leaps up again and rummages among the papers near me. Her munching and rustling of the papers affects me like the sound of sharpening knives against each other.... I get up and begin looking for the corkscrew myself. At last it is found and the beer is uncorked. Sasha remains by the table and begins telling me something at great length.

“You’d better read something, Sasha,” I say.

She takes up a book, sits down facing me and begins moving her lips.... I look at her little forehead, moving lips, and sink into thought.

“She is getting on for twenty. . . .” I reflect. “If one takes a boy of the educated class and of that age and compares them, what a difference! The boy would have knowledge and convictions and some intelligence.”

But I forgive that difference just as the low forehead and moving lips are forgiven. I remember in my old Lovelace days I have cast off women for a stain on their stockings, or for one foolish word, or for not cleaning their teeth, and now I forgive everything: the munching, the muddling about after the corkscrew, the slovenliness, the long talking about nothing that matters; I forgive it all almost unconsciously, with no effort of will, as though Sasha’s mistakes were my mistakes, and many things which would have made me wince in old days move me to tenderness and even rapture. The explanation of this forgiveness of everything lies in my love for Sasha, but what is the explanation of the love itself, I really don’t know.

NOTES

Lovelace: Richard Lovelace (1618-1658) was an English poet

#Chekhov

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wiganjazzzz · 6 years ago

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The Ronnie Scott’s Jazz 60

London's iconic jazz club, Ronnie Scott's, celebrates its 60th birthday this year and to recognise this fact they have produced a list of their most significant jazz albums of the last 60 years.

Here is what they say:

The Ronnie Scott’s Jazz 60 is comprised of the 60 most important, most brilliant, most innovative and most significant jazz albums that have been recorded over the last 60 years. Artists who have shared their personal jazz favourites include the likes of Soweto Kinch, Nubya Garcia, Courtney Pine, Pee Wee Ellis, Billy Cobham, Claire Martin, Alex Garnett, Natalie Williams, Moses Boyd, and Monty Alexander. Broadcasters and journalists such as Gilles Peterson, Cerys Matthews, Robert Elms, Helen Mayhew, Mike Hobart, Rosie Hanley, David Freeman, Jane Cornwell, Mike Vitti and Jez Nelson have also provided their top albums. Additionally, industry expert and resident Ronnie Scott’s Music Bookings Coordinator Paul Pace also shared a list of the Jazz albums which have inspired him. Now that all of the submissions are in, the team at Ronnie Scott’s has been able to reveal which albums have proven the most popular with the panellists and most importantly, which albums have made the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz 60. The list is not a best-seller list or a best-of : it's a collection of albums which, in the opinion of the panellists, represents the last 60 years of jazz, and the depth and breadth of the genre. It shows jazz in the past, present and future.

THE RONNIE SCOTT'S JAZZ 60

Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda Archie Shepp - Attica Blues Art Blakey - Moanin’ Betty Carter - The Audience with Betty Carter Bill Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard Cannonball Adderley - Somethin’ Else Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Courtney Pine - Journey to the Urge Within The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out Dave Holland - Extensions Dexter Gordon - Go Ella Fitzgerald - Ella In Berlin: Mack the Knife Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch! Esbjörn Svensson Trio - Seven Days of Falling Esperanza Spalding - Emily's D+Evolution Frank Sinatra - Sinatra at the Sands Freddie Hubbard - Red Clay George Benson - Breezin’ Gregory Porter - Water Hank Mobley - Soul Station Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage Horace Silver - Song for My Father Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius Joe Henderson - Page One< John Coltrane - A Love Supreme John Coltrane - Giant Steps Kamasi Washington - The Epic Keith Jarrett - The Köln Concert Kurt Elling - The Messenger Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder Loose Tubes - Loose Tubes The Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire Mark Murphy - Stolen Moments Mary Lou Williams - Black Christ of the Andes Michael Brecker - Tales of the Hudson Miles Davis - Kind of Blue Miles Davis - In a Silent Way Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley - Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley Oliver Nelson - The Blues and the Abstract Truth Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come Oscar Peterson Trio - Night Train Pat Metheny Group - Still Life (Talking) Robert Glasper - Black Radio Roy Hargrove - Earfood Sarah Vaughan - Ronnie Scott’s Presents Sarah Vaughan Live Shirley Horn - Here’s to Life Stan Getz & João Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto Sonny Rollins - The Bridge Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Reptile Stan Tracey - Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas’s “Under Milk Wood” Sun Ra - The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One Tubby Hayes - Tubbs in N.Y. Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil Weather Report - Heavy Weather Wes Montgomery - The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery Wynton Marsalis - Black Codes (From the Underground) Yussef Kamaal - Black Focus

#Jazz #Music #London #Birthday #60th #classic album #ronnie scott

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