Epistolary edited by Gabriel Liiceanu http://realini.blogspot.com/2021/11/50-minutes-with-plesu-and-liiceanu-10.html - 10 out of 10

 

Epistolary edited by Gabriel Liiceanu http://realini.blogspot.com/2021/11/50-minutes-with-plesu-and-liiceanu-10.html

10 out of 10

 

 

This wonderful book contains letters exchanged between the brightest minds we have in this realm – there is the exception of Eugen Simion, the late president of the Academy here, a rather horrid attack on luminaries that were so much wiser than this fellow, who came to lead a forum that should be only for the crème de la crème, yet, his presence at the top in fact reveals the ‘values’ that have reached what should be the chamber of the nec plus ultra – and as such, much of what is being debated is quite inaccessible

 

Ergo, the spoiler alert, warning, disclaimer, and maybe the way out of accusations of spam – one of the notes I have posted on Goodreads, Cleo From 5 to 7 http://realini.blogspot.com/2023/07/cleo-from-5-to-7-aka-cleo-de-5-7-by.html has been deleted, because it was considered spam, while the one who is the #1 reviewer in this land has a few thousand ‘reviews’, which are only copy/paste, no personal letter is added, never mind a single thought, posted by the hundreds on any single day, and yet, he is not exiled, admonished, no, he enjoys the top spot, with no real contribution and I am sanctioned…

This reader does not get more than half of what is debated in Epistolar, which is still enticing, bewitching, for you get at the highest altitude of culture and philosophy (there is this discussion in there, about the arts, is there an art of winking, we could not exaggerate with saying ‘arts’, for anything and everything) although as in the region of La Paz, The Himalayas, you can hardly breathe, when you are so high.

 

This exquisite work has brought to mind Glasperlenspiel http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-glass-bead-game-by-herman-hesse.html the magnum opus of the Nobel Prize Winner Herman Hesse, in which Magister Ludi and the best of the best engage with The Glass Bead Game, which is in fact reserving the time of the elites for the best activities of the mind that can be envisaged, Glasperlenspiel would stand for that

In the same manner, Constantin Noica http://realini.blogspot.com/2015/01/book-of-wisdom-by-constantin-noica.html celebrated as the greatest philosopher we have had – however contested by some of the personages in Epistolar, perhaps mostly by the rather dubious, to use an euphemism, Eugen Simion – has tried to identify 22 (for the twenty two million people this country had, at the time when the philosopher was alive) champions of the mind, who will be ‘trained, educated’ to become great thinkers

 

Outliers, the classic http://realini.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-malcolm-gladwell-quicklet-bundle-by.html by Malcolm Gladwell proves that Constantin Noica was on to something, not just from a philosophical, cultural point of view, but the psychology studies have shown that ten thousand hours of exercise, training, bring those who are otherwise endowed to the top of the world, with examples ranging from Mozart to Steve Jobs…

 

As mentioned above, the letters in the book are too sophisticated, erudite for most readers, for they presuppose that one knows German – yes, you could have a translation, but Noica writes one of those one line long words for instance, and I wonder how you get the complicated meaning of that – and furthermore, Greek, and the great, and perhaps sometimes less known philosophers, Hegel, Kant, Heidegger are assumed to be household names within this circle and their oeuvres to be known in detail…

Which means that a lot of what is discussed may, and will seem so outré, other worldly, as if aliens have left some manuscripts and the hoi polloi (you and me, if you are still there, and not writing yet another complaint, saying this is spam, Jesus Mary and Joseph) are reading the words, but a good number are from and describe another planet

 

However, aiming for felicity, thinking of halcyon days, let us also say that there is polemic, a sort of quarrel of the brightest minds that can be so enchanting…yes it is at the lower level, perhaps that called ‘the brother pig’, among them, these luminaries refer to the ‘body’ as the pig, the one that necessitates a lowering of the tone, has needs, it is in ‘opposition’ with the spirit, the soul, in some ways, though of course, this is also discussed and there are amendments, sometimes condemnation and lamenting

Many lines, pages and we can fill at least one chapter that would be dedicated to the Paltinis Diary, a book that has caused a furor, one of the best masterpieces that have been published here, and come to think of it, anywhere, Dan Brown and all those popular writers could not hold a candle to Gabriel Liiceanu

 

Constantin Noica became such an inspirational figure during the last decade of the Ceausescu regime that pilgrims would travel to Paltinis, where he lived as a hermit, to pay homage, albeit many would just be troubled souls, desperate to get advice from the sage on the most eclectic themes, marriage counseling, perhaps dieting (this one is made up) Andrei Plesu writes with his unequaled humor in one letter about this colorful group of travelers who were knocking at the wrong door, and embarrassing the great Magister Ludi

Some of the exchanges are more than heated, an art critic, Radu Bogdan, is probably the most upset (come to think of it, that Simion is still the lowest point in the conversation) and what he writes, and he is not the only one, adds a sense of humanity – with his idiosyncrasies, limitations, he appears closer to the readers, the other characters, real Supermen, are most often too distant, to far away from the common human being, their knowledge, writing, culture, conversation, style are not what we read, hear regularly, on the contrary

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

Some favorite quotes from To The Heritage and other works

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’