Vitrina cu Sarlatani aka The Display with Charlatans by Radu Paraschivescu, author of Aforismele Tranzitiei https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/05/aforismele-tranzitiei-catalog-de-perle.html - 8 out of 10

 

Vitrina cu Sarlatani aka The Display with Charlatans by Radu Paraschivescu, author of Aforismele Tranzitiei https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/05/aforismele-tranzitiei-catalog-de-perle.html

 

8 out of 10

 

 

This book is very helpful, albeit it would be more useful for the Charlatans on Display, and alas, they do not read this, or anything else…a thought comes to mind, at the Agora where we exchange views on a regular basis aka the Downtown Sauna, they tell me to leave off the damn books, because I talk too much about them

 

The advice is munificent and pertinent, because as they say ‘you have to keep your feet on the ground’, on the one hand, and then these Charlatans that are the topic here do not care about literature, or psychology (which is a favorite subject of mine, as it will be clear soon) and they even reject the idea of conversation

Let me offer you the example of one of these impostors, who has been a frequent visitor of the sauna recently, who tells the Dragon (one of the buddies there) to shut up, just as he was telling a story, because he does not want any conversation at the hot place, as if it were a meditation retreat for the likes of him

 

We checked with the outfit and they said they have no rule against talking, though the fella insisted, and then more, on another occasion, he mentions the list on the door, and says he would not have any aroma inside – he is the only one opposed, in a group of five) – and he has it his own way, yet again, the ruffian

Three times lucky, maybe – he comes the other day inside the sauna and wants to put water, and we say ok, but then the Confidence Man https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/09/confidence-man-making-of-donald-trump.html puts one set, all around the stove, then another, and another and…another, four in total.

 

And then he shuts down the vent that had been open, for some minimal air circulation, and I say ‘look, I do not want any polemic here, but you insist on no talk, no aroma, and then you put down four rounds of water, while in the rules it says you should do that only Once’, and then the masquerader says ‘change your tone’

God damn these Charlatans and narcissistic eejits, who impose on you the rules and laws they like, and then take the norms they oppose and do the opposite, which is crazy – we have the glorious The Lord of the Flies https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/10/lord-of-flies-by-william-goldingralph.html to get inspiration from

William Golding is the author of the book that is included on the Modern Library Top 100 Best Novels list and it is indeed such a magnum opus – when asked about the work, the author mentioned why he had not included girls among the characters – he had grown among men, and then with girls, sex would have had to be included

 

One line has stayed with me ever since, from this interview about the chef d’oeuvre and it was along the lines of ‘the writer wanted to show what happens when you have no rules, and you do not have them, then you have nothing’, something made clear by the chaos, the violence unleashed on the island, between Ralph, Jack and the others…

The same would be with those Charlatans that want the full force of the law to be turned against their foes, but for themselves, ah, well, they are different ‘l’etat c’est Moi…après Moi, le deluge’ which refers to French kings, who said I am the state and after e, the apocalypse, maybe it was the same Louis XVI, you can look for it

 

Radu Paraschivescu dedicates most of his satire, irony to local potentates, fake leaders who can barely talk, in the manner of Ceausescu, one of the most infamous tyrants in the world – at the end of these lines, there is a link that leads to the Newsweek article that mentions Realini Ionescu, that is me, and his part in the 1989 Revolution

I for one look very much at America, because that was such a beautiful dream, I wanted to live there, worked for AT&T – the villainous attitude received from them is also exposed in the standard ending below – and tried to move to New Jersey and it did not work, it could well be a case of ‘sour grapes’, like in the fable

 

The fable, if you do not know, has the fox looking at grapes she cannot reach and concluding that, since she does not have access, they must be sour, and incidentally, an article in The Economist explains how Russians use the language of Aesop to cover their dissidence, avoiding censorship with words, symbols that others understand

When Alexey Navalny was alive (and after he was killed, unfortunately) the rubber duck was a symbol of opposition, and now, they have the goose that appears to say ‘ga ga ga’ in Russian, which sounds like Haga, the place where the International Court of Justice resides and the despot is wanted for War Crimes…

 

What a loathsome dictator this monster is, they have had a gruesome attack on civilians, with maybe one hundred and fifty dead, in a mall, and he uses this carnage to blame Ukraine, however stupid, absurd it is, claiming they caught the men, as they were heading to the border and the head of Ukrainian Intelligence explained the impossibility, the killers would have to be either crazy, seeing the troops massed at the border, or suicidal

Putin is one of those archetypal Charlatans, he claimed he won elections, a few days ago, with about 87% of the vote, when this is so high, it is preposterous – yes, it is possible that a majority supports the mass killer, but not in that number

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

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 Hermitage 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…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”