Sound of Silence

Hello readers my old friends,
I’ve come to talk to you again,
Because this entry slowly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was walking,

A little homage to Simon and Garfunkel, if you don’t get it, check this video out.

Already my mini-break is drawing to its end, (why is it time off work passes so quickly?) and only now are the grey skies and rain making way for a little sunshine. Better late than never I suppose. The weather may have put me off embarking on any trips beyond the edge of the city, but I have still managed to put these past three days to good use. I checked in with a few of the recruitment agencies to read up on some new vacancies, and to keep my name from dropping too far down their lists of candidates. I have been writing, which is good, and have gotten a fair bit of reading in too, managing to finish both Dead Souls, which I shall review shortly, and the third of The Dark Tower series. I can’t decide what to start next, Nausea (Jean Paul Sartre), The Monk (Matthew Lewis) or Moby Dick (Herman Melville).

I also managed to give the apartment a good clean yesterday, not that you’d know that now. It both astounds and annoys me how quickly things become untidy, at times I feel like Isidore fighting the endless war against kipple (Blade Runner).

When it wasn’t raining I took a few walks along the river, which I haven’t done for awhile. Walking is my new method of fighting writers block, and it seems to be working pretty well, it also doubles up as exercise, which is always good.

On a side note, I have moved the entry entitled Tech talk #1 my new blog (In Pursuit of Progress); which will deal exclusively with technology, the Internet and science. I had planned in having a weekly feature here, in which I would talk about gadgets and the like. But after reviewing the first few entries I had planned on uploading, I realised that they just didn’t gel with the running themes I seem to have established here. So two blogs it is. Today’s entry is about Web 2.0-generation sites, and my latest discoveries.

Anyway, on to Dead Souls, which is considered one of the great works of 19th century Russian literature, despite being unfinished. It was written in three parts, but Gogol destroyed part three before his death, and part two finishes mid-sentence. I am undecided about how I feel toward it. I started reading, as I do with all books, with eagerness and an open-mind, but could not bring myself to enjoy it as much as I thought I should be.

The plot centres on the exploits Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, a middle class gentleman retired from civil service. He arrives in a small provincial town, and quickly establishes himself as the toast of the landowners and officials alike through extravagant gestures, charm and flattery. He then sets off on a scheme to buy (or gain by way of gift) the deeds to any dead souls the landowners are burdened with.

(Prior to 1861, Russian landowners were allowed to own serfs who would farm their land. These serfs were considered the property of the landowners and could be brought, sold and mortgaged. Classed as a chattel, Serfs were taxable – should any die, the tax still had to be paid until the next official census was completed and the dead serfs recorded.)

It is essentially a get rich quick scheme, which inevitably does not go to plan; and it is when things begin to unravel for Chichikov that I began to enjoy the book a lot more. Gogal wrote this as a satire, and there are many moments in the various exchanges of dialogue between Chichikov and the landowners that brought a smile to my face, drawing attention to the absurdity of certain aspect of society.

I would suggest it be read, if asked. But I doubt I would actively recommend it, not until I have re-read it a few times and perhaps have a better appreciation for it.