1
0:00:00 --> 0:00:08
I talked to Evgeny earlier today, it was like talking to Leo Tolstoy.

2
0:00:08 --> 0:00:09
Well done.

3
0:00:09 --> 0:00:15
And so, Karam, thank you for helping Stephen organise Evgeny.

4
0:00:15 --> 0:00:18
So well done, good job.

5
0:00:18 --> 0:00:23
Alright everybody, welcome to Medical Doctors for Covid Ethics International.

6
0:00:23 --> 0:00:28
In today's discussion, this group was founded by Dr Stephen Frost over three years ago with

7
0:00:28 --> 0:00:33
a desire to pursue truth, ethics, justice, freedom and health.

8
0:00:33 --> 0:00:37
Stephen has stood up against government and power over the years and has been a whistleblower

9
0:00:37 --> 0:00:38
and activist.

10
0:00:38 --> 0:00:40
His medical specialty is radiology.

11
0:00:40 --> 0:00:43
I'm Charles Covess, the moderator of this group.

12
0:00:43 --> 0:00:49
I've practiced law for 20 years before changing career 31 years ago.

13
0:00:49 --> 0:00:54
We comprise lots of professions here and we're for all around the world.

14
0:00:54 --> 0:00:56
Many of us thought that vaccines were okay.

15
0:00:56 --> 0:01:00
Now many of us proudly say yes, we are passionate anti-vaxxers.

16
0:01:00 --> 0:01:05
If this is your first time here, welcome.

17
0:01:05 --> 0:01:07
And feel free to introduce yourself in the chat and where you're from.

18
0:01:07 --> 0:01:12
If you publish a newsletter or a podcast or you have a radio or TV show or you've written

19
0:01:12 --> 0:01:17
a book, put the links into the chat so we can follow you, promote you and find you.

20
0:01:17 --> 0:01:21
Most of us understand we're in the middle of World War III and that the medical science

21
0:01:21 --> 0:01:28
debate is only one of 12 battlefields of this latest World War.

22
0:01:28 --> 0:01:31
There's no time to be tired.

23
0:01:31 --> 0:01:34
I assess we're four years into a seven year war.

24
0:01:34 --> 0:01:37
So we've got plenty of work to do.

25
0:01:37 --> 0:01:42
Most of us understand the development of science and the science is never settled.

26
0:01:42 --> 0:01:44
Some of us believe that viruses exist.

27
0:01:44 --> 0:01:48
Some of us believe that viruses are a hoax and some of us are on the fence.

28
0:01:48 --> 0:01:53
And many of us consider that having a debate on that topic is a misleading one in the context

29
0:01:53 --> 0:01:56
of the threats that we face.

30
0:01:56 --> 0:01:58
This meeting runs for two and a half hours afterwards.

31
0:01:58 --> 0:02:02
For those with the time, Tom Rodman runs a video telegram meeting.

32
0:02:02 --> 0:02:07
Tom puts the links into the chat if you're able to join.

33
0:02:07 --> 0:02:12
We will listen to our guest presenter Evgeny Lergedin for as long as Evgeny wishes to speak.

34
0:02:12 --> 0:02:14
And then we have Q&A.

35
0:02:14 --> 0:02:19
Stephen Frost, by long established tradition, asks the first questions for 15 minutes.

36
0:02:19 --> 0:02:23
There's a free speech environment with appropriate moderating.

37
0:02:23 --> 0:02:27
Free speech is crucially important in our fight to preserve our human freedoms.

38
0:02:27 --> 0:02:30
If you're offended by anything, be offended.

39
0:02:30 --> 0:02:31
We are lovingly not interested.

40
0:02:31 --> 0:02:37
We reject the offense industry that requires nobody to say anything that may offend another.

41
0:02:37 --> 0:02:40
We come with an attitude and perspective of love and not fear.

42
0:02:40 --> 0:02:43
Fear is the opposite of love.

43
0:02:43 --> 0:02:44
Fear squashes you.

44
0:02:44 --> 0:02:47
Love, on the other hand, expands you.

45
0:02:47 --> 0:02:49
These twice weekly meetings are not just talk fest.

46
0:02:49 --> 0:02:54
An extraordinary range of actions and initiatives have been generated from linkages made by

47
0:02:54 --> 0:02:56
attendees in these meetings.

48
0:02:56 --> 0:03:00
If you have a solution or a product or links or resources that will help people, put the

49
0:03:00 --> 0:03:04
details into the chat.

50
0:03:04 --> 0:03:08
The meeting is recorded and is uploaded onto the Rumble channel.

51
0:03:08 --> 0:03:14
And we're now delighted to welcome our guest presenter today, Evgeny Legodin.

52
0:03:14 --> 0:03:16
And let me tell you a little bit about him.

53
0:03:16 --> 0:03:21
He was born in the Soviet Union in Sverdlovsk.

54
0:03:21 --> 0:03:22
Evgeny can tell me that.

55
0:03:22 --> 0:03:25
Now called Yekaterinburg.

56
0:03:25 --> 0:03:28
It's the same city where Boris Yeltsin came from.

57
0:03:28 --> 0:03:33
He was in the Soviet army for a year, studied medical school for six further years and after

58
0:03:33 --> 0:03:38
graduating, specialised for one year in infectious disease unit and then worked for 10 years

59
0:03:38 --> 0:03:41
for a pharmaceutical company.

60
0:03:41 --> 0:03:46
Since the Second Chechen War, he's been in opposition to the government organising protests

61
0:03:46 --> 0:03:47
in support of human rights.

62
0:03:47 --> 0:03:53
In 2011, he left Russia due to criminal prosecution and arrived in the UK.

63
0:03:53 --> 0:03:58
He had a basic knowledge of English, but learnt in an intensive way for one year, passing

64
0:03:58 --> 0:04:02
several exams to confirm his diploma.

65
0:04:02 --> 0:04:05
In 2015, he moved to Scotland to work as a junior doctor.

66
0:04:05 --> 0:04:10
He chose Scotland under the influence of two novels by Walter Scott.

67
0:04:10 --> 0:04:13
He was re-reading them prior to his application.

68
0:04:13 --> 0:04:17
He worked in Elgin where Macbeth killed King Duncan.

69
0:04:17 --> 0:04:22
In Aberdeen, where Lord Byron spent his infancy.

70
0:04:22 --> 0:04:25
In Inverness, the location of some Walter Scott's novels.

71
0:04:25 --> 0:04:32
Now he's in Glasgow, the most Soviet town in the UK, according to Evgeny.

72
0:04:32 --> 0:04:37
Evgeny has been training in psychiatry in the UK where he discovered a tremendous amount

73
0:04:37 --> 0:04:44
of systemic patient harm due to the inappropriate use of therapeutic medications, resulting

74
0:04:44 --> 0:04:50
in his whistleblowing activities which have delayed his career due to unfounded accusations

75
0:04:50 --> 0:04:58
and investigations, all of which have failed to demonstrate any wrongdoing on his behalf.

76
0:04:59 --> 0:05:05
Evgeny is passionate about reading and you can almost always find him relaxing with a

77
0:05:05 --> 0:05:06
book.

78
0:05:06 --> 0:05:13
He has compiled an ever-evolving list of the 100 books everyone must read and re-read.

79
0:05:13 --> 0:05:17
Today he would like to talk about one of them.

80
0:05:17 --> 0:05:21
We welcome you Evgeny and we thank you again Stephen Frost for creating this group and

81
0:05:21 --> 0:05:26
for organizing Evgeny to be with us today and Karam for the help that you've given

82
0:05:26 --> 0:05:28
Stephen in organizing Evgeny.

83
0:05:28 --> 0:05:31
Evgeny, we are in your hands.

84
0:05:31 --> 0:05:36
You muted Evgeny.

85
0:05:36 --> 0:05:41
Is it Evgeny or Yevgeny?

86
0:05:41 --> 0:05:44
Like yes, Evgeny.

87
0:05:44 --> 0:05:47
There is a Y, yeah, okay, very good.

88
0:05:47 --> 0:05:52
Thank you very much for this introduction and thank you for this hospitality.

89
0:05:52 --> 0:05:58
It will be an interesting experience to talk like that via Zoom with people I believe from

90
0:05:58 --> 0:06:01
different even continents.

91
0:06:01 --> 0:06:12
Nothing to add to my career and all the time I am contemplating about actually can art,

92
0:06:12 --> 0:06:17
can books, can good literature influence your life?

93
0:06:18 --> 0:06:23
In psychiatry I am on the psychological side of psychiatry.

94
0:06:23 --> 0:06:27
We can divide all psychiatrists into huge camps.

95
0:06:27 --> 0:06:34
One of them we call them biological who think that, oh, something wrong with our brains,

96
0:06:34 --> 0:06:41
it's chemical imbalance, let's give this chemical and everyone will be happy.

97
0:06:41 --> 0:06:45
There are other psychiatrists that belong to this circle in the UK called Critical

98
0:06:45 --> 0:06:54
Psychiatric Network where we think that all severe, all extreme psychological distress

99
0:06:55 --> 0:07:02
which can present with voices or change in mood, down mood or manner, it's actually

100
0:07:02 --> 0:07:09
a result of life adversities, especially childhood adversities.

101
0:07:10 --> 0:07:18
I always think when I am taking history how this person grew up, what were relationship

102
0:07:18 --> 0:07:25
between the parents, what were relationship with the siblings, what was going on in nursery,

103
0:07:25 --> 0:07:28
in school, etc., etc.

104
0:07:28 --> 0:07:33
Because I believe that the person is a product of the environment and family.

105
0:07:33 --> 0:07:40
And that's why I am always thinking in what extent the books we read influence our life

106
0:07:41 --> 0:07:42
decisions.

107
0:07:42 --> 0:07:46
And in my own experience I think that it happened several times.

108
0:07:46 --> 0:07:53
So, there was already mention in this thing where I was in 2014 making a decision where

109
0:07:57 --> 0:08:00
to continue my medical training in the UK.

110
0:08:01 --> 0:08:10
At this time I was living in County Durham and I was going to apply for training program

111
0:08:10 --> 0:08:14
in the area Newcastle or Durham.

112
0:08:14 --> 0:08:20
But at the same time for some coincidence I was reading these two novels and one of

113
0:08:20 --> 0:08:27
them by the way mention Castle South to Aberdeen.

114
0:08:27 --> 0:08:29
I've never been in Scotland before.

115
0:08:30 --> 0:08:36
So, I wasn't keen to go to Scotland, maybe apart from city Glasgow where I was keen to

116
0:08:36 --> 0:08:43
see houses designed by Charles-René Macintosh who I believe influenced modern architecture.

117
0:08:45 --> 0:08:50
And the landscape I was thinking I got in Russia the same as well because I am from

118
0:08:50 --> 0:08:56
Ural mountain and it's also mountainous area with lochs.

119
0:08:57 --> 0:09:00
The only difference that we got more snow than in Scotland.

120
0:09:00 --> 0:09:02
But when I read these two novels...

121
0:09:08 --> 0:09:10
So, back to these novels.

122
0:09:11 --> 0:09:16
And when I read these Walter Scott novels I just saw a similarity between the characters

123
0:09:16 --> 0:09:18
of Scottish people and Russians.

124
0:09:19 --> 0:09:21
I thought like they are more open-hearted.

125
0:09:22 --> 0:09:28
And then I was just amazed by the history of Scotland from these novels and I thought

126
0:09:28 --> 0:09:31
oh wow I will move from England and I will never return.

127
0:09:34 --> 0:09:40
And then I made my application to Scotland just praying God oh please give me Scottish

128
0:09:40 --> 0:09:41
placement.

129
0:09:42 --> 0:09:43
And then I was looking for...

130
0:09:43 --> 0:09:45
I was choosing between different cities.

131
0:09:46 --> 0:09:52
So the choice was between south of Scotland, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Elgin.

132
0:09:53 --> 0:09:58
And again I was praying oh please give me a location to Elgin because there is a fantastic

133
0:09:58 --> 0:09:59
small hospital there.

134
0:10:00 --> 0:10:06
And also it's a historic place where real Macbeth killed real King Duncan.

135
0:10:07 --> 0:10:08
So it's like sort of literary place.

136
0:10:10 --> 0:10:11
And I've never regretted.

137
0:10:12 --> 0:10:15
So and there I meet my friend Karam Sassam.

138
0:10:16 --> 0:10:17
All the time...

139
0:10:18 --> 0:10:20
Sorry Karam for speaking out that.

140
0:10:21 --> 0:10:22
I have an argument with him.

141
0:10:23 --> 0:10:27
And I say that the knowledge or things they don't come from Twitter.

142
0:10:29 --> 0:10:31
They come from books, from reading books.

143
0:10:32 --> 0:10:37
All the time when he is telling me something I'm asking him Karam if it's not a scientific

144
0:10:38 --> 0:10:43
paper or magazine could you give me please like a book to read about that.

145
0:10:44 --> 0:10:45
Where this idea comes from.

146
0:10:46 --> 0:10:54
Because again I don't think that we can build our knowledge just on short messages in Twitter.

147
0:10:55 --> 0:11:00
So we need to read the books and because the books allow us to create some sort of picture

148
0:11:01 --> 0:11:02
of this world in the head.

149
0:11:03 --> 0:11:05
The world is very complex thing.

150
0:11:06 --> 0:11:11
We can see the same thing but we can have different like idea what's this thing about

151
0:11:12 --> 0:11:16
in our head our perception and different angles and etc.

152
0:11:17 --> 0:11:23
So and I was pushing Karam to push him like all the time that Karam you need to read some

153
0:11:24 --> 0:11:25
great books.

154
0:11:26 --> 0:11:31
And Karam told me I think it was 2015 or 2016 like again okay give me make me a list.

155
0:11:33 --> 0:11:34
How many books Karam do you want?

156
0:11:35 --> 0:11:36
Like 5, 10?

157
0:11:37 --> 0:11:38
I think he said like 50.

158
0:11:39 --> 0:11:40
I said no.

159
0:11:41 --> 0:11:42
Okay let's do it 100.

160
0:11:43 --> 0:11:44
100.

161
0:11:45 --> 0:11:49
And I just made this list to be honest I haven't changed it since then.

162
0:11:50 --> 0:11:54
Maybe I will remove one title and add another one.

163
0:11:56 --> 0:12:01
But when I was making my list I was thinking that this list should include culturally important

164
0:12:02 --> 0:12:03
texts.

165
0:12:03 --> 0:12:10
Because so many great books written in the last like 4,000 years in different continents

166
0:12:10 --> 0:12:11
in different places.

167
0:12:12 --> 0:12:13
The life is very short.

168
0:12:14 --> 0:12:19
We cannot we cannot like read everything so we need to choose.

169
0:12:20 --> 0:12:25
It's like for example with the with the Emile Zalat the French writer who is in my list

170
0:12:26 --> 0:12:27
and I left there only two novels.

171
0:12:28 --> 0:12:31
Germinal and Thérèse Racane.

172
0:12:32 --> 0:12:36
Thérèse Racane by the way was one of the first book Karam read from this list.

173
0:12:37 --> 0:12:42
But Emile Zalat he wrote a lot of great novels.

174
0:12:43 --> 0:12:45
But again we cannot read all of them.

175
0:12:46 --> 0:12:51
So and all the time I am like tempted not to go beyond this list.

176
0:12:52 --> 0:12:54
But do you know what has happened recently at my work?

177
0:12:55 --> 0:13:00
So with my colleague we were discussing literature and I asked like what you are reading now?

178
0:13:01 --> 0:13:04
And she said oh I am reading Emile Zalat I am reading Asanfar.

179
0:13:05 --> 0:13:07
In English translation it's called The Trap.

180
0:13:08 --> 0:13:14
So the novel that I never encountered and she said oh this lady doctor she said like

181
0:13:15 --> 0:13:19
oh I hate this book it's like horrible you can't get like into the head of the people

182
0:13:20 --> 0:13:21
in this book and the stuff.

183
0:13:22 --> 0:13:27
So but I was intrigued because in my experience from other novels by this writer I was thinking

184
0:13:28 --> 0:13:34
that it's impossible because Zalat he was one of the best writers in 19th century

185
0:13:35 --> 0:13:39
who actually got into the head of the person describing what people were thinking

186
0:13:40 --> 0:13:41
and how they were feeling.

187
0:13:42 --> 0:13:45
And this is like the favorite bit of psychiatry.

188
0:13:46 --> 0:13:53
Like what actually people think because they feel in certain way because of their thoughts.

189
0:13:56 --> 0:14:03
And on my return home I took the I found the copy on the internet of this novel

190
0:14:04 --> 0:14:08
and I read it and I thought oh my god it's another masterpiece of Zalat.

191
0:14:09 --> 0:14:10
What to do?

192
0:14:11 --> 0:14:13
Because I knew that I will definitely read it.

193
0:14:14 --> 0:14:22
And all the time again with Karam I am saying Karam apart from carefully choosing the books

194
0:14:23 --> 0:14:25
for reading we also need to reread them.

195
0:14:26 --> 0:14:28
I don't believe just in reading.

196
0:14:29 --> 0:14:37
We need to reread some pieces of fiction so they get in our head so they will be in our sort of consciousness.

197
0:14:39 --> 0:14:40
Why I'm thinking that?

198
0:14:41 --> 0:14:47
Because first of all every time when reading the same novel it looks like different thing

199
0:14:48 --> 0:14:49
because of your life experience.

200
0:14:50 --> 0:14:53
You're sort of drawing slightly different picture.

201
0:14:54 --> 0:14:59
It's in a way it's like Hamlet where you got the piece by Shakespeare

202
0:15:00 --> 0:15:03
but different theaters they present their adaptations and their movies.

203
0:15:04 --> 0:15:05
So it can happen as well with a book.

204
0:15:06 --> 0:15:16
And I recall with Walter Scott whom I mentioned today that 10 years ago I reread I Wenhol

205
0:15:17 --> 0:15:18
which I read when I was like 12.

206
0:15:19 --> 0:15:23
First of all I was impressed like how did they manage to get in school

207
0:15:24 --> 0:15:29
to read this thick book with a serious topics and a lot of historical background.

208
0:15:30 --> 0:15:31
What was the name of the book?

209
0:15:32 --> 0:15:33
I Wenhol.

210
0:15:34 --> 0:15:35
I Wenhol.

211
0:15:36 --> 0:15:37
Ivan Ho.

212
0:15:38 --> 0:15:39
Ivan Ho.

213
0:15:40 --> 0:15:43
Yes so we'll have to help you with the pronunciation Evgeny.

214
0:15:44 --> 0:15:50
So and then I thought that no it's not a child book it's an adult book

215
0:15:51 --> 0:15:55
because now when they have like sort of aesthetic taste and taste literature

216
0:15:56 --> 0:15:59
and as a professional reader I can see a lot of stuff

217
0:16:00 --> 0:16:06
and I can notice a lot of stuff funny stuff where which I haven't noticed when I read it for the first time

218
0:16:07 --> 0:16:11
and sometimes it could be amusing where Walter Scott describes

219
0:16:12 --> 0:16:16
the garment or armory on some person in totally dark room

220
0:16:17 --> 0:16:22
and you're thinking like but on earth how can you see what was the color of his like I don't know

221
0:16:23 --> 0:16:26
of his shirt etc etc.

222
0:16:27 --> 0:16:33
And then some of the books in the reading again you appreciate that actually they are adult

223
0:16:34 --> 0:16:38
for example Three Musketeers another book I recommended to Karam Three Musketeers

224
0:16:39 --> 0:16:44
and Three Musketeers I think which I read around like 10 or 11

225
0:16:45 --> 0:16:49
it was the book that where I learned what is love

226
0:16:50 --> 0:16:53
what is loyalty what is friendship

227
0:16:54 --> 0:16:57
and I think it's one of the greatest book in this respect

228
0:16:58 --> 0:17:02
and all the time if I'm thinking about something doing something

229
0:17:03 --> 0:17:08
I'm thinking about myself and comparing them with the characters from this book

230
0:17:09 --> 0:17:14
or from other books so it's sort of I have some sort of moral code

231
0:17:15 --> 0:17:20
which comes from these books I won't slightly deviating from the topic of this list

232
0:17:21 --> 0:17:28
I want to say several words about what was the attitude to books in the Soviet Union if you don't mind

233
0:17:29 --> 0:17:31
Oh please do yes please

234
0:17:33 --> 0:17:42
So I think it was some sort of pandemic or epidemic which started after October revolution in 1917

235
0:17:42 --> 0:17:48
because before Bolsheviks before Lenin before Trotsky before Stalin

236
0:17:49 --> 0:17:56
only a bunch of people in Russia maybe several thousand managed to read these great novels

237
0:17:56 --> 0:17:58
by Dostoevsky or Tolstoy

238
0:17:59 --> 0:18:05
there were a few copies and most of the peasants and that was the population of Russian Empire

239
0:18:06 --> 0:18:11
almost to I think it was more than 200 millions of people

240
0:18:12 --> 0:18:16
most of them were just illiterate and the books were unavailable for them

241
0:18:17 --> 0:18:24
so and when revolution happened during the civil war when the country was just surviving

242
0:18:25 --> 0:18:30
the new regime was just surviving industry in ruins hunger

243
0:18:31 --> 0:18:40
the Russian writer Gorky met Lenin and he said that the main thing revolution should do is

244
0:18:41 --> 0:18:48
first of all give literacy to every peasant to every citizen of the country

245
0:18:49 --> 0:18:56
and the second one we need to translate the best literature of the world into Russian language

246
0:18:57 --> 0:19:02
we need to find the best samples of world literature

247
0:19:03 --> 0:19:09
we need to translate it and to commission it to the great Russian writers and poets like Pasternak or Akhmatova

248
0:19:10 --> 0:19:12
and we need to publish them

249
0:19:13 --> 0:19:15
wait who is the second one in?

250
0:19:16 --> 0:19:18
Akhmatova, Akhmatova

251
0:19:19 --> 0:19:21
so she was a lady poet and

252
0:19:22 --> 0:19:24
was she in India?

253
0:19:25 --> 0:19:28
no no no she was a Russian poet

254
0:19:29 --> 0:19:31
sorry yes

255
0:19:32 --> 0:19:38
by the way if there are some of you living in London and going to national gallery

256
0:19:39 --> 0:19:43
so when you enter the main entrance of national gallery there is a mosaics there

257
0:19:44 --> 0:19:49
mosaics made maybe like in late 20s and 30s and there are allegorical figures on the floor

258
0:19:50 --> 0:19:54
so one of them I think it's called compassion or passion

259
0:19:55 --> 0:19:58
so actually it's a portrait of Akhmatova when she was young

260
0:19:59 --> 0:20:04
she was one of the we can say four main poets although we have hundreds of them great poets

261
0:20:05 --> 0:20:12
but she was on the par with Pasternak who wrote Dr. Zhivaga and Pasternak himself he was a poet

262
0:20:13 --> 0:20:24
and Pasternak he was commissioned to translate some important fiction drama and poetry from the west

263
0:20:25 --> 0:20:29
so he translated the main plays by Shakespeare

264
0:20:30 --> 0:20:39
Hamlet, Hinley, Romeo and Juliet, Anthony and Cleopatra, Othello, Henry IV, two parts

265
0:20:40 --> 0:20:47
so and although we have a lot of translations of these things in Russian

266
0:20:48 --> 0:20:55
before revolution after revolution here's translations how to come what to say about them

267
0:20:56 --> 0:20:58
it's like Shakespeare speaking in Russian

268
0:20:59 --> 0:21:04
it's a poet who speaks in Russian and it's like a live Shakespeare

269
0:21:05 --> 0:21:08
we understand Shakespeare better than British why?

270
0:21:09 --> 0:21:16
because for modern British the text and the verses of Shakespeare slightly outdated

271
0:21:17 --> 0:21:24
there is a lot of echoism old words but in Pasternak translation it's a modern Russian language

272
0:21:25 --> 0:21:28
and it's a language of Russian golden age of poetry

273
0:21:29 --> 0:21:34
so Pasternak also translated Goethe Faust

274
0:21:35 --> 0:21:44
he translated dramas plays by Schiller, by German Romantics, by Spanish writers

275
0:21:45 --> 0:21:51
and so that was his contribution into world culture that he sort of opened the door

276
0:21:52 --> 0:21:58
for Russian, for Soviet citizens for great achievements in literature, fiction and poetry

277
0:21:59 --> 0:22:02
and the same heroic deed was done by other poets

278
0:22:03 --> 0:22:07
like Akhmatova she was translated plays by Victor Hugo

279
0:22:08 --> 0:22:14
so and again they were not just scientists who making sort of literal translation

280
0:22:15 --> 0:22:21
quite often Oxford classic series you can see that they are just scientists who are translating text

281
0:22:22 --> 0:22:25
it's just some sort of black and white copy from the original

282
0:22:26 --> 0:22:29
they cannot recreate like the spirit, the spirit of the work

283
0:22:30 --> 0:22:33
and with their literal translation they actually destroys the poetry

284
0:22:34 --> 0:22:40
so and this work which was started by Gorky, this writer who went to Lenin

285
0:22:40 --> 0:22:44
and the Soviet state began to fund all this work for translation

286
0:22:45 --> 0:22:51
and also they founded an institute to search for world literatures

287
0:22:52 --> 0:22:57
where there were we can say specialists who are regularly reading what's published in Latin America

288
0:22:58 --> 0:22:59
what's published in like in France

289
0:23:00 --> 0:23:04
so they were reading that and trying to find the pearls in all these things that are published

290
0:23:05 --> 0:23:13
so that was the work which Gorky started and it culminated in late 60s

291
0:23:15 --> 0:23:23
in 1967 there was a project by one of the main publishing houses in Russia

292
0:23:24 --> 0:23:30
where they carefully choose 200 to publish in 200 volumes

293
0:23:31 --> 0:23:33
the best of the world literature

294
0:23:34 --> 0:23:38
and it goes in chronological order from the ancient times

295
0:23:39 --> 0:23:44
so we got epic of Gilgamesh, some pieces of Bible, ancient Indian poetry

296
0:23:45 --> 0:23:52
ancient Chinese poetry, ancient even there are pieces there from ancient

297
0:23:53 --> 0:23:55
I think Babylon, Shumer from these countries

298
0:23:56 --> 0:24:00
and it goes chronologically through different continents to our time to 20th century

299
0:24:01 --> 0:24:05
and they compiled that in 200 volumes

300
0:24:06 --> 0:24:12
where you got ancient times, ancient Rome, ancient Greece, ancient China

301
0:24:13 --> 0:24:19
then we go to middle ages Europe and Japan, India, Vietnam, Korea

302
0:24:20 --> 0:24:23
and through the middle ages they go to Renaissance period

303
0:24:24 --> 0:24:31
in Europe, Italy, Spain, Britain, also ancient Russian literature

304
0:24:32 --> 0:24:36
and then 17th century, 18th century, 19th century, 20th century

305
0:24:37 --> 0:24:39
so apart from Russian classics which we already know

306
0:24:40 --> 0:24:41
there is no need to translate them

307
0:24:42 --> 0:24:46
apart maybe from the old songs composed like 1000 years ago

308
0:24:47 --> 0:24:52
where you need at least a translation or notes

309
0:24:53 --> 0:24:55
with the translation of certain words

310
0:24:56 --> 0:24:57
annotations

311
0:24:58 --> 0:25:01
so we got the world literature

312
0:25:02 --> 0:25:04
and since then I think

313
0:25:05 --> 0:25:09
and this was like in the blood of our families in school

314
0:25:10 --> 0:25:13
so in school there was a compulsory program for my grandparents

315
0:25:14 --> 0:25:16
and for my parents and for myself

316
0:25:17 --> 0:25:19
we got foreign literature

317
0:25:20 --> 0:25:22
there were how say it subjects

318
0:25:23 --> 0:25:25
so there was foreign literature, Russian literature

319
0:25:26 --> 0:25:27
it's year by year

320
0:25:28 --> 0:25:31
and all the pieces of fiction were compulsory

321
0:25:32 --> 0:25:34
so you need to read them during summer holidays

322
0:25:35 --> 0:25:39
and in Russia they are from 1st of June till 31st of August

323
0:25:40 --> 0:25:41
so you got three months

324
0:25:42 --> 0:25:44
and before your summer vacations you got a list

325
0:25:45 --> 0:25:47
it's just in the end of your textbook

326
0:25:48 --> 0:25:49
that for the next year you need to read

327
0:25:50 --> 0:25:52
and when I was I think 13

328
0:25:53 --> 0:25:54
I recall that in this list there was like

329
0:25:55 --> 0:25:56
you need to read Donkey Hot

330
0:25:57 --> 0:25:58
to volumes

331
0:25:59 --> 0:26:00
and you need to read Crime and Punishment

332
0:26:01 --> 0:26:03
so the next year when I was 13

333
0:26:04 --> 0:26:06
in this list was War and Peace

334
0:26:07 --> 0:26:08
and that's in Russian

335
0:26:09 --> 0:26:10
it's published in two separate volumes

336
0:26:11 --> 0:26:12
it's like a huge book

337
0:26:13 --> 0:26:15
and all these readings were according to the age

338
0:26:16 --> 0:26:18
that when I was even in the nursery

339
0:26:19 --> 0:26:20
and I started reading in the nursery

340
0:26:21 --> 0:26:22
so I was 5 or 6

341
0:26:23 --> 0:26:26
I got do you know an adapted chapter

342
0:26:27 --> 0:26:29
from Victoria Goliya Mizorably

343
0:26:30 --> 0:26:31
which is an adult book

344
0:26:32 --> 0:26:33
but what they have done

345
0:26:34 --> 0:26:36
they took two episodes about Little Girl Gazette

346
0:26:37 --> 0:26:40
how she was mistreated by these guys

347
0:26:41 --> 0:26:44
and they also took the chapter Barricades and Death of Havros

348
0:26:45 --> 0:26:46
or Gavros

349
0:26:47 --> 0:26:48
so I read it already at this age

350
0:26:49 --> 0:26:50
as an adapted version

351
0:26:51 --> 0:26:54
and then Russian people and Soviet people

352
0:26:55 --> 0:26:56
they spend a lot of money

353
0:26:57 --> 0:26:58
not a lot of money

354
0:26:59 --> 0:27:01
they make a lot of effort to create home libraries

355
0:27:02 --> 0:27:03
where they got books

356
0:27:04 --> 0:27:06
and also there was a thing where

357
0:27:07 --> 0:27:08
we were borrowing books from the neighbors

358
0:27:09 --> 0:27:10
or they were borrowing books from us

359
0:27:11 --> 0:27:14
and essentially we were reading the same books

360
0:27:15 --> 0:27:16
I was reading the same books at school

361
0:27:17 --> 0:27:18
as my parents were reading

362
0:27:19 --> 0:27:20
and as my grandparents

363
0:27:21 --> 0:27:23
so we were on sort of the same wavelength

364
0:27:25 --> 0:27:27
and it goes to the level

365
0:27:28 --> 0:27:29
to such extent in Russia

366
0:27:30 --> 0:27:31
that quite often

367
0:27:32 --> 0:27:33
the characters of these novels

368
0:27:34 --> 0:27:35
mostly from War and Peace

369
0:27:36 --> 0:27:38
and Eugene Anabas

370
0:27:39 --> 0:27:40
or Eugene Anagen or Eugene Anagen by Pushkin

371
0:27:41 --> 0:27:43
they are some sort of members of your family

372
0:27:44 --> 0:27:46
and sometimes as a joke

373
0:27:47 --> 0:27:48
the members of your family

374
0:27:49 --> 0:27:50
they give you different names

375
0:27:51 --> 0:27:52
or in a school you give nicknames

376
0:27:53 --> 0:27:54
or you got nicknames

377
0:27:55 --> 0:27:56
according to this little character

378
0:27:57 --> 0:27:58
it's like very funny

379
0:27:59 --> 0:28:00
because the family and the schools

380
0:28:01 --> 0:28:04
people easily spotted the traits of the character

381
0:28:05 --> 0:28:06
and these traits of the character

382
0:28:07 --> 0:28:08
they correspond to some

383
0:28:09 --> 0:28:10
like literary character

384
0:28:11 --> 0:28:12
so it's like a fun where

385
0:28:13 --> 0:28:14
my father he was calling me

386
0:28:15 --> 0:28:16
Pierre Bezouhov

387
0:28:17 --> 0:28:19
so this like person from War and Peace

388
0:28:20 --> 0:28:21
who is like in glasses

389
0:28:22 --> 0:28:23
Pierre Bezouhov

390
0:28:24 --> 0:28:25
and at school

391
0:28:26 --> 0:28:27
although I was Yevgeny

392
0:28:28 --> 0:28:29
almost like Eugene Anagen

393
0:28:30 --> 0:28:31
but actually some people called me Anagen

394
0:28:32 --> 0:28:33
but some called me

395
0:28:34 --> 0:28:35
with the name Pichorin

396
0:28:36 --> 0:28:37
and I think Anagen is like misanthropic character

397
0:28:38 --> 0:28:39
sort of romantic hero from Lermontov novel

398
0:28:40 --> 0:28:41
A Hero of Our Time

399
0:28:42 --> 0:28:43
I've read that

400
0:28:44 --> 0:28:45
Lermontov by the way

401
0:28:46 --> 0:28:49
and it shows that there are no boundaries

402
0:28:50 --> 0:28:51
between liturgies and between people

403
0:28:52 --> 0:28:53
because Lermontov himself

404
0:28:54 --> 0:28:55
he is of Scottish origin

405
0:28:56 --> 0:28:57
his ancestors they came to Russia

406
0:28:58 --> 0:28:59
like to serve Russian tsars

407
0:29:00 --> 0:29:01
and in some of his novels

408
0:29:02 --> 0:29:03
when you read now

409
0:29:04 --> 0:29:05
you can see the influence of Walter Scott

410
0:29:06 --> 0:29:07
German Romantics

411
0:29:08 --> 0:29:09
writers

412
0:29:10 --> 0:29:11
it was sort of a small sis between liturgies

413
0:29:12 --> 0:29:14
today when I will talk about Don Quixote before that

414
0:29:15 --> 0:29:16
I want to mention this thing

415
0:29:17 --> 0:29:19
how the things go through the time

416
0:29:20 --> 0:29:21
and that's the importance of reading

417
0:29:22 --> 0:29:23
especially old classics

418
0:29:24 --> 0:29:26
and I'm talking about this like standard list

419
0:29:27 --> 0:29:28
Yevgeny

420
0:29:29 --> 0:29:30
we talked today

421
0:29:31 --> 0:29:32
and what really impressed me

422
0:29:32 --> 0:29:33
you started me to think about

423
0:29:34 --> 0:29:35
you said that

424
0:29:37 --> 0:29:38
that society was atomised

425
0:29:39 --> 0:29:40
not just in the UK

426
0:29:41 --> 0:29:42
but everywhere

427
0:29:43 --> 0:29:44
and it was deliberately done

428
0:29:45 --> 0:29:46
especially in the West

429
0:29:47 --> 0:29:49
but the point was that you said

430
0:29:50 --> 0:29:51
if you read the great classics

431
0:29:52 --> 0:29:53
so you said now

432
0:29:54 --> 0:29:55
you said the children were reading the same books

433
0:29:56 --> 0:29:57
as their grandparents

434
0:29:58 --> 0:29:59
that meant they had something to talk about

435
0:30:00 --> 0:30:02
if everybody has different interests

436
0:30:03 --> 0:30:04
going on the internet

437
0:30:05 --> 0:30:06
and then going into rabbit holes

438
0:30:07 --> 0:30:08
and getting into cults

439
0:30:09 --> 0:30:10
and echo chambers

440
0:30:11 --> 0:30:12
but in Russia it seems that somebody

441
0:30:13 --> 0:30:14
has maybe Gorky understood

442
0:30:15 --> 0:30:16
that the way to keep values

443
0:30:17 --> 0:30:18
if you like

444
0:30:19 --> 0:30:22
was to kind of get everybody to read the classics

445
0:30:23 --> 0:30:25
because then at least they got a conversation

446
0:30:26 --> 0:30:27
between the children and the grandparents

447
0:30:28 --> 0:30:29
and the grandparents

448
0:30:30 --> 0:30:31
as happens in

449
0:30:32 --> 0:30:33
and we haven't got that in the West

450
0:30:34 --> 0:30:35
they've taken it away from us

451
0:30:36 --> 0:30:37
and that's what we need to reverse

452
0:30:38 --> 0:30:39
I think

453
0:30:40 --> 0:30:41
I think

454
0:30:42 --> 0:30:43
I understand your point of view

455
0:30:44 --> 0:30:46
but I think it's just a byproduct of classical education

456
0:30:47 --> 0:30:49
which originated mostly in 19th century

457
0:30:50 --> 0:30:51
because this system of reading classics

458
0:30:52 --> 0:30:53
it was in France

459
0:30:54 --> 0:30:55
in Germany in a way

460
0:30:56 --> 0:30:57
maybe in Britain

461
0:30:58 --> 0:30:59
so it's not only like Russian experience

462
0:31:00 --> 0:31:01
but it's like in Russia

463
0:31:02 --> 0:31:03
that the state

464
0:31:04 --> 0:31:05
gave money

465
0:31:06 --> 0:31:07
to poets

466
0:31:08 --> 0:31:09
and great Russian writers

467
0:31:10 --> 0:31:11
to translate the best things created in the world

468
0:31:12 --> 0:31:13
created in Europe

469
0:31:14 --> 0:31:15
created in India

470
0:31:16 --> 0:31:17
created in Japan

471
0:31:18 --> 0:31:19
in China

472
0:31:20 --> 0:31:21
because we know that artists

473
0:31:22 --> 0:31:23
or writers they suffer

474
0:31:24 --> 0:31:25
how much money they will earn from selling their books

475
0:31:26 --> 0:31:28
but they were just getting regular salary

476
0:31:29 --> 0:31:30
for doing this job

477
0:31:31 --> 0:31:32
I will give an example

478
0:31:33 --> 0:31:34
we have several translations of Divine Comedy

479
0:31:35 --> 0:31:36
by Dante into Russian

480
0:31:37 --> 0:31:38
but the best one

481
0:31:39 --> 0:31:40
was done by the poet

482
0:31:41 --> 0:31:43
who was very close to Pastor Nak and Akhmatova

483
0:31:44 --> 0:31:46
so he was a poet himself

484
0:31:47 --> 0:31:49
and he spent I think

485
0:31:50 --> 0:31:53
so he started to translate in 1939

486
0:31:54 --> 0:31:55
just before the war

487
0:31:56 --> 0:31:58
the first songs from the book

488
0:31:59 --> 0:32:01
and he finished the work

489
0:32:02 --> 0:32:03
and published it in 1950

490
0:32:04 --> 0:32:06
so it took almost like 11 years

491
0:32:07 --> 0:32:09
to translate this piece of work

492
0:32:10 --> 0:32:13
where he studied everything about Dante

493
0:32:14 --> 0:32:16
he obviously read and knew everything

494
0:32:17 --> 0:32:18
that Dante could read and touch

495
0:32:19 --> 0:32:21
he looked into all the commentaries

496
0:32:22 --> 0:32:23
and he recreated this thing

497
0:32:24 --> 0:32:25
in a poetry

498
0:32:26 --> 0:32:27
so in Russian it's not a Prasek translation

499
0:32:28 --> 0:32:31
it's something like Dante reciting his tussens

500
0:32:32 --> 0:32:33
in Russian

501
0:32:34 --> 0:32:36
so going back to this thing

502
0:32:37 --> 0:32:39
this thing we see now

503
0:32:40 --> 0:32:41
with the internet

504
0:32:42 --> 0:32:44
and also with the appearance of popular culture

505
0:32:45 --> 0:32:47
when the society is atomized

506
0:32:48 --> 0:32:49
it's like a by-product

507
0:32:50 --> 0:32:52
and this thing when we are reading the same book in Russia

508
0:32:53 --> 0:32:54
oh, Stephen disappeared

509
0:32:55 --> 0:32:57
so it was a by-product

510
0:32:58 --> 0:32:59
it wasn't a purpose

511
0:33:00 --> 0:33:03
I think I just reckon that the main reason

512
0:33:04 --> 0:33:06
why Gorky went to Lenin

513
0:33:07 --> 0:33:08
was an aesthetic reason

514
0:33:09 --> 0:33:11
aesthetic and also educational

515
0:33:12 --> 0:33:13
because I believe Gorky like myself

516
0:33:14 --> 0:33:19
he believed that we can raise new people

517
0:33:20 --> 0:33:23
or we can make people spiritually better and richer

518
0:33:24 --> 0:33:26
if they know these treasures well literature

519
0:33:27 --> 0:33:28
I think that was the purpose

520
0:33:29 --> 0:33:30
and he was a writer himself

521
0:33:31 --> 0:33:32
so he knew that

522
0:33:33 --> 0:33:36
it's a pity that these treasures are sort of hidden

523
0:33:37 --> 0:33:38
from millions of people

524
0:33:39 --> 0:33:40
so it was some sort of

525
0:33:41 --> 0:33:44
enlightening thing

526
0:33:46 --> 0:33:50
because from great books we can learn a lot of things

527
0:33:51 --> 0:33:52
although we can get aesthetic pleasure

528
0:33:53 --> 0:33:55
we can have the topic for discussion like today

529
0:33:56 --> 0:34:00
and they hope that in our age

530
0:34:01 --> 0:34:02
where everyone

531
0:34:03 --> 0:34:05
again the society became atomized

532
0:34:07 --> 0:34:08
where we create

533
0:34:09 --> 0:34:10
so the industries

534
0:34:11 --> 0:34:12
the entertainment industries

535
0:34:13 --> 0:34:14
the publishing industries

536
0:34:15 --> 0:34:16
they create sort of niches

537
0:34:17 --> 0:34:18
where people go

538
0:34:19 --> 0:34:20
the novels for ladies

539
0:34:21 --> 0:34:22
or historical novels

540
0:34:23 --> 0:34:24
or detectives

541
0:34:25 --> 0:34:26
so everything is atomized

542
0:34:27 --> 0:34:28
and people they just follow this

543
0:34:29 --> 0:34:30
and they read like these bestsellers

544
0:34:31 --> 0:34:32
they read them to the point that

545
0:34:33 --> 0:34:34
actually when they meet somebody

546
0:34:35 --> 0:34:36
they find out that nobody read that

547
0:34:39 --> 0:34:40
nobody

548
0:34:41 --> 0:34:42
and they discuss things like Game of Thrones

549
0:34:43 --> 0:34:44
I mean TV series

550
0:34:45 --> 0:34:46
not even the book Game of Thrones

551
0:34:47 --> 0:34:48
if they have seen it

552
0:34:49 --> 0:34:50
they can understand mass, pop, culture

553
0:34:51 --> 0:34:52
things

554
0:34:55 --> 0:34:57
I read War and Peace when I was 18

555
0:34:58 --> 0:34:59
I was astonished that

556
0:35:00 --> 0:35:01
I've only met about

557
0:35:02 --> 0:35:04
two or three people who've read War and Peace

558
0:35:05 --> 0:35:06
in my life

559
0:35:07 --> 0:35:08
yeah so that's the point

560
0:35:09 --> 0:35:10
and just imagine that

561
0:35:11 --> 0:35:14
all the population of the Soviet Union

562
0:35:15 --> 0:35:16
in all these republics

563
0:35:17 --> 0:35:19
it was compulsory reading in their school

564
0:35:20 --> 0:35:22
but at the same time

565
0:35:23 --> 0:35:24
apart from War and Peace

566
0:35:25 --> 0:35:28
there was a great medieval poem

567
0:35:29 --> 0:35:30
by Shota Rostavely

568
0:35:31 --> 0:35:32
so he was a Georgian poet

569
0:35:33 --> 0:35:34
I think in 13th century

570
0:35:35 --> 0:35:37
and he wrote something in verse

571
0:35:38 --> 0:35:39
which is no worse

572
0:35:40 --> 0:35:42
than Tristan and his old legend

573
0:35:43 --> 0:35:46
and this thing in the Soviet Union

574
0:35:47 --> 0:35:50
it was translated from Georgian to Russian

575
0:35:51 --> 0:35:54
to Estonian to Ukrainian to Lithuanian

576
0:35:55 --> 0:35:56
so it was translated into all languages

577
0:35:57 --> 0:35:58
in the Soviet Union

578
0:35:59 --> 0:36:00
and so people read it

579
0:36:01 --> 0:36:04
so it was some sort of enrichment of the culture

580
0:36:09 --> 0:36:10
so this list is just

581
0:36:11 --> 0:36:13
there was a question in the chat

582
0:36:14 --> 0:36:16
I think John Lukacs who's a podcaster

583
0:36:17 --> 0:36:18
he was asking me

584
0:36:19 --> 0:36:20
why I read War and Peace

585
0:36:21 --> 0:36:23
can you tell him why everyone should read War and Peace?

586
0:36:34 --> 0:36:35
I think it's

587
0:36:35 --> 0:36:40
I'm struggling to answer this question

588
0:36:41 --> 0:36:43
because there are personal reasons why I read

589
0:36:44 --> 0:36:46
and I'm thinking like what should I tell you

590
0:36:47 --> 0:36:48
why you should read

591
0:36:49 --> 0:36:50
but I will just share my experience

592
0:36:51 --> 0:36:52
why I read and reread it

593
0:36:53 --> 0:36:56
so for me it's like rewatching a movie

594
0:36:57 --> 0:36:58
I always compare it

595
0:36:59 --> 0:37:00
it's like a DVD I put in my head

596
0:37:01 --> 0:37:03
so I'm just rewatching and seeing the same things

597
0:37:04 --> 0:37:09
and Tolstoy in contrast to some other writers

598
0:37:12 --> 0:37:15
he managed, of all the writers I think

599
0:37:16 --> 0:37:18
he managed to capture the flow of the time

600
0:37:19 --> 0:37:22
so the dialects and the description in the scenes

601
0:37:23 --> 0:37:24
it's just exactly like a script

602
0:37:25 --> 0:37:29
where it's in a normal temp of tempering of our life

603
0:37:30 --> 0:37:33
in contrast to Dostoevsky

604
0:37:34 --> 0:37:37
where quite often the scenes are in sort of accelerated

605
0:37:38 --> 0:37:39
hysterical movement

606
0:37:40 --> 0:37:41
just accelerated

607
0:37:42 --> 0:37:44
and in contrast to Marcel Proust

608
0:37:45 --> 0:37:47
who slowed the time

609
0:37:48 --> 0:37:51
who just chased the train of the thoughts

610
0:37:52 --> 0:37:55
going from him, recalling his summer vacation

611
0:37:56 --> 0:37:57
with his aunt or grandmother

612
0:37:58 --> 0:38:00
so there are opposites

613
0:38:01 --> 0:38:02
but Tolstoy I think

614
0:38:03 --> 0:38:06
he tried to be a harmonious artist

615
0:38:07 --> 0:38:09
he didn't like Shakespeare by the way

616
0:38:10 --> 0:38:11
he thought a lot of hysterics

617
0:38:12 --> 0:38:13
stuff unnatural

618
0:38:14 --> 0:38:17
it's like very weird theater or opera

619
0:38:18 --> 0:38:19
but he didn't like it

620
0:38:20 --> 0:38:23
but he wanted some sort of to represent reality

621
0:38:24 --> 0:38:25
the reality of time

622
0:38:26 --> 0:38:27
and relationships in literature

623
0:38:28 --> 0:38:29
there is another thing

624
0:38:30 --> 0:38:31
it just shows how the characters are

625
0:38:32 --> 0:38:33
they are like human

626
0:38:34 --> 0:38:35
in the way that they have their flaws

627
0:38:36 --> 0:38:37
and their best parts

628
0:38:38 --> 0:38:39
and also there is an element

629
0:38:40 --> 0:38:41
like Hitchcockian element

630
0:38:42 --> 0:38:43
where Natasha Rastova

631
0:38:44 --> 0:38:45
one of the four main characters

632
0:38:46 --> 0:38:47
so she got a fiancé

633
0:38:48 --> 0:38:49
who is a decent person

634
0:38:50 --> 0:38:51
and she wants to marry him

635
0:38:52 --> 0:38:53
but he wants to check your feelings

636
0:38:54 --> 0:38:56
so he gave you like one year

637
0:38:57 --> 0:38:58
to be just free

638
0:38:59 --> 0:39:00
and in this one year

639
0:39:01 --> 0:39:02
she falls in love with a scoundrel

640
0:39:03 --> 0:39:05
with whom she abscondes from the house

641
0:39:06 --> 0:39:07
so she elopes from the house with this guy

642
0:39:08 --> 0:39:09
and you're thinking

643
0:39:10 --> 0:39:11
oh my god

644
0:39:12 --> 0:39:13
this stupid lady

645
0:39:14 --> 0:39:15
this stupid girl

646
0:39:16 --> 0:39:17
what you have done

647
0:39:18 --> 0:39:19
you ruined everything

648
0:39:20 --> 0:39:21
but it shows that this is life

649
0:39:22 --> 0:39:23
nothing is ideal

650
0:39:24 --> 0:39:25
this is like real life

651
0:39:26 --> 0:39:27
and there are so many strong moments there

652
0:39:28 --> 0:39:29
in the book

653
0:39:30 --> 0:39:31
which

654
0:39:32 --> 0:39:33
like a mixture of everything

655
0:39:34 --> 0:39:35
by the way

656
0:39:36 --> 0:39:37
it's like anecdote about Russian

657
0:39:38 --> 0:39:39
how it was in our school

658
0:39:40 --> 0:39:42
in the school we need to read totally

659
0:39:43 --> 0:39:44
in totality

660
0:39:45 --> 0:39:46
both books

661
0:39:47 --> 0:39:48
but there is like a joke, an anecdote

662
0:39:49 --> 0:39:50
that the teacher in the school

663
0:39:51 --> 0:39:52
say like

664
0:39:53 --> 0:39:54
okay boys you read war parts

665
0:39:55 --> 0:39:56
but it's a joke

666
0:39:57 --> 0:39:58
because in this book

667
0:39:59 --> 0:40:00
you cannot separate them

668
0:40:01 --> 0:40:02
yeah surely you can find

669
0:40:03 --> 0:40:04
the description of the battles

670
0:40:05 --> 0:40:06
of philosophy about Napoleon

671
0:40:07 --> 0:40:08
and it comprises like a whole universe

672
0:40:09 --> 0:40:10
do you know

673
0:40:11 --> 0:40:12
there are books that comprise the universe

674
0:40:13 --> 0:40:14
Brother Karamazov's

675
0:40:15 --> 0:40:16
War and Peace like that

676
0:40:17 --> 0:40:18
and again these books

677
0:40:19 --> 0:40:20
they are not for reading

678
0:40:21 --> 0:40:22
they are not to read the plot

679
0:40:23 --> 0:40:24
they are to enjoy the scene

680
0:40:25 --> 0:40:26
it's like the favorite song

681
0:40:27 --> 0:40:28
or the favorite poem

682
0:40:29 --> 0:40:30
which you read and you just

683
0:40:31 --> 0:40:32
you have these feelings

684
0:40:33 --> 0:40:34
because all the time you want to stop

685
0:40:35 --> 0:40:36
Natasha Rastova

686
0:40:37 --> 0:40:38
but you cannot

687
0:40:39 --> 0:40:40
because she is doing that

688
0:40:42 --> 0:40:43
yeah

689
0:40:44 --> 0:40:45
she was my favorite character Natasha

690
0:40:48 --> 0:40:49
yeah

691
0:40:50 --> 0:40:51
yeah

692
0:40:52 --> 0:40:53
I was 18

693
0:40:54 --> 0:40:55
yeah

694
0:40:56 --> 0:40:57
so

695
0:40:58 --> 0:40:59
if you allow me to

696
0:41:00 --> 0:41:01
I need to turn the light

697
0:41:02 --> 0:41:03
because it's already slightly dark

698
0:41:04 --> 0:41:05
in Glasgow BISEC

699
0:41:06 --> 0:41:07
yeah sure

700
0:41:14 --> 0:41:15
so and now

701
0:41:16 --> 0:41:17
I just want to

702
0:41:18 --> 0:41:19
to go to the book

703
0:41:20 --> 0:41:21
that I wanted like sort of to sell you

704
0:41:22 --> 0:41:23
if you haven't read it

705
0:41:24 --> 0:41:27
we have a chat in this Zoom meeting

706
0:41:28 --> 0:41:29
and

707
0:41:30 --> 0:41:31
I was thinking today

708
0:41:34 --> 0:41:35
for the audience

709
0:41:36 --> 0:41:37
can people write their sort of

710
0:41:38 --> 0:41:41
five top books they take on an inhabited island

711
0:41:42 --> 0:41:43
just imagine this is the end of civilization

712
0:41:44 --> 0:41:47
this is something like 451 Fahrenheit

713
0:41:48 --> 0:41:49
all books destroyed

714
0:41:50 --> 0:41:51
all books are banned

715
0:41:52 --> 0:41:53
and you have only like five books somehow

716
0:41:54 --> 0:41:55
like you preserved them

717
0:41:56 --> 0:41:57
and you want to preserve them for humanity for yourself

718
0:41:58 --> 0:41:59
so

719
0:42:00 --> 0:42:01
you'd like people to put that in the chat would you

720
0:42:02 --> 0:42:03
yeah in the chat like the list of their five books

721
0:42:04 --> 0:42:05
that they will reread

722
0:42:06 --> 0:42:07
reread and like preserve

723
0:42:08 --> 0:42:11
so and I want to bring into discussion this book

724
0:42:12 --> 0:42:14
so this is one of the English translations

725
0:42:15 --> 0:42:16
Don Quixote

726
0:42:17 --> 0:42:19
the book that celebrated

727
0:42:20 --> 0:42:21
wait a minute

728
0:42:22 --> 0:42:23
let's just make sure everybody heard that

729
0:42:24 --> 0:42:25
so everybody on the call

730
0:42:26 --> 0:42:27
well obviously not everybody is going to do it

731
0:42:28 --> 0:42:29
because they're all rebels

732
0:42:30 --> 0:42:31
which is good

733
0:42:32 --> 0:42:35
but if you could put your favorite five books in the chat

734
0:42:36 --> 0:42:37
those who wish to do so

735
0:42:38 --> 0:42:39
no compulsion

736
0:42:41 --> 0:42:44
oh we've got an eminent publisher here

737
0:42:45 --> 0:42:46
I'd like to see his choices

738
0:42:47 --> 0:42:48
yeah

739
0:42:49 --> 0:42:51
and again

740
0:42:52 --> 0:42:55
when I'm talking about the list of the books

741
0:42:56 --> 0:42:58
I always say like is it culturally important

742
0:42:59 --> 0:43:01
because some books influence other books

743
0:43:02 --> 0:43:05
it means that to appreciate some books

744
0:43:06 --> 0:43:07
you need to know other books

745
0:43:08 --> 0:43:09
and I will show an example of Don Quixote

746
0:43:10 --> 0:43:11
how I go from this book to another book

747
0:43:12 --> 0:43:14
because it could be just like infection

748
0:43:15 --> 0:43:18
several words I want to

749
0:43:19 --> 0:43:20
and why I chose Don Quixote apart from

750
0:43:21 --> 0:43:22
from my opinions

751
0:43:23 --> 0:43:24
the greatest books

752
0:43:25 --> 0:43:26
and as you know also it's a bestseller

753
0:43:27 --> 0:43:28
apart from Bible

754
0:43:29 --> 0:43:30
I think they counted that

755
0:43:31 --> 0:43:32
it was published in different countries

756
0:43:33 --> 0:43:34
in total in the last 400 years

757
0:43:35 --> 0:43:36
more than

758
0:43:37 --> 0:43:38
so it's the second place after Bible

759
0:43:40 --> 0:43:43
so several words about the writer

760
0:43:44 --> 0:43:46
and this is obviously

761
0:43:47 --> 0:43:49
Miguel Cervantes de Saavedra

762
0:43:50 --> 0:43:55
so we don't know too much about his life

763
0:43:56 --> 0:43:59
because at this time people didn't bother

764
0:44:00 --> 0:44:03
and if we find something in the archives

765
0:44:04 --> 0:44:07
it could be some notary notice

766
0:44:08 --> 0:44:10
or information about somebody

767
0:44:11 --> 0:44:12
it could relate to our

768
0:44:12 --> 0:44:13
Miguel Cervantes

769
0:44:14 --> 0:44:15
or it can relate to another one

770
0:44:16 --> 0:44:17
who is Miguel Cervantes

771
0:44:18 --> 0:44:20
for example in Spain they found a note

772
0:44:21 --> 0:44:24
that Miguel de Cervantes ran from Madrid

773
0:44:25 --> 0:44:28
like absconded from Madrid at the age of 23

774
0:44:29 --> 0:44:30
after Duel after killing somebody on Duel

775
0:44:31 --> 0:44:32
so we don't know

776
0:44:33 --> 0:44:34
was it our Cervantes or was it somebody else

777
0:44:35 --> 0:44:38
but we know definitely that our Cervantes

778
0:44:39 --> 0:44:40
most probably was born in the middle

779
0:44:41 --> 0:44:42
of 16th century

780
0:44:43 --> 0:44:45
not too much information about his parents

781
0:44:46 --> 0:44:48
but possibly his father was a surgeon

782
0:44:49 --> 0:44:50
possibly

783
0:44:51 --> 0:44:54
and Cervantes he got good education

784
0:44:55 --> 0:44:56
so he studied in the university

785
0:44:57 --> 0:44:58
which is not far from Madrid

786
0:44:59 --> 0:45:00
in the place where he was born

787
0:45:01 --> 0:45:04
and then at certain age

788
0:45:05 --> 0:45:07
he went into the army

789
0:45:08 --> 0:45:09
so he decided

790
0:45:10 --> 0:45:11
to be a soldier of fortune

791
0:45:12 --> 0:45:13
and at this time

792
0:45:15 --> 0:45:18
in Europe there was a huge war

793
0:45:19 --> 0:45:22
between Turkish Empire, Ottoman Empire and Europe

794
0:45:23 --> 0:45:26
so if you Google in internet

795
0:45:27 --> 0:45:29
Ottoman Empire in different years

796
0:45:30 --> 0:45:31
you can see a map where in different colors

797
0:45:32 --> 0:45:33
they show how it grew

798
0:45:34 --> 0:45:35
so it grew to the point that

799
0:45:36 --> 0:45:39
they were almost beside Vienna

800
0:45:40 --> 0:45:43
so and at this point

801
0:45:44 --> 0:45:45
in the middle of 16th century

802
0:45:46 --> 0:45:49
some European countries were so worried

803
0:45:50 --> 0:45:52
that they organized like a mutual campaign

804
0:45:53 --> 0:45:54
so United Campaign

805
0:45:55 --> 0:46:00
Pope in Rome, Spanish King, money from Genoa

806
0:46:01 --> 0:46:04
and Cervantes joined them

807
0:46:05 --> 0:46:07
and he was serving on one of the ships

808
0:46:08 --> 0:46:10
that participated in the famous battle

809
0:46:11 --> 0:46:12
this one

810
0:46:15 --> 0:46:18
and this battle happened off shore Greece

811
0:46:20 --> 0:46:21
Lepanto

812
0:46:23 --> 0:46:25
so and in this battle

813
0:46:26 --> 0:46:29
these united forces of Europe

814
0:46:30 --> 0:46:31
so they defeated Turks

815
0:46:32 --> 0:46:35
but Cervantes he got severe injuries

816
0:46:36 --> 0:46:37
he got three gunshot wounds

817
0:46:39 --> 0:46:42
and to the extent that

818
0:46:43 --> 0:46:46
the nerve was damaged in his left arm

819
0:46:47 --> 0:46:49
and it was paralyzed since then

820
0:46:50 --> 0:46:51
till the rest of his life

821
0:46:53 --> 0:46:56
in some somewhere Cervantes wrote

822
0:46:57 --> 0:46:58
in one of his books

823
0:46:59 --> 0:47:01
in one of his literary fictions

824
0:47:02 --> 0:47:05
the loss of his left arm was compensated

825
0:47:06 --> 0:47:07
with his right hand

826
0:47:08 --> 0:47:10
in the way that he was a writer

827
0:47:11 --> 0:47:13
so after these troubles

828
0:47:14 --> 0:47:16
after his recovery which took a lot of time

829
0:47:17 --> 0:47:19
he was doing some small jobs

830
0:47:20 --> 0:47:23
and at some point he went from Italy

831
0:47:24 --> 0:47:26
to Barcelona on a ship

832
0:47:27 --> 0:47:28
and at this time

833
0:47:29 --> 0:47:34
in this place in Mediterranean Sea

834
0:47:35 --> 0:47:36
there were a lot of pirates

835
0:47:37 --> 0:47:38
mostly of them

836
0:47:39 --> 0:47:41
they were from Northern Africa

837
0:47:42 --> 0:47:43
from Algeria

838
0:47:44 --> 0:47:45
from this area

839
0:47:46 --> 0:47:48
not necessary that there were Arabs

840
0:47:49 --> 0:47:50
many of them were by the way

841
0:47:51 --> 0:47:53
former Christians or Europeans

842
0:47:54 --> 0:47:55
who converted Islam

843
0:47:56 --> 0:47:57
because that was the spread

844
0:47:58 --> 0:47:59
initial of caliphates

845
0:48:00 --> 0:48:01
and then of Turkish Empire

846
0:48:02 --> 0:48:03
so these people were capturing

847
0:48:04 --> 0:48:06
travelers in the Mediterranean

848
0:48:07 --> 0:48:08
and then they were demanding ransom

849
0:48:09 --> 0:48:10
from their relatives

850
0:48:11 --> 0:48:14
so they captured Cervantes

851
0:48:15 --> 0:48:16
and his older brother Rodrigo

852
0:48:17 --> 0:48:19
so there were captives almost for five years

853
0:48:20 --> 0:48:24
in the North Africa

854
0:48:25 --> 0:48:29
so and there are like lucky coincidences always

855
0:48:30 --> 0:48:32
first of all he is lucky that he hasn't been killed

856
0:48:33 --> 0:48:34
in this battle

857
0:48:35 --> 0:48:36
that he survived

858
0:48:37 --> 0:48:38
it's a great luck

859
0:48:39 --> 0:48:40
another one when he was on this ship

860
0:48:41 --> 0:48:42
when he was captured

861
0:48:43 --> 0:48:44
there were recommendation letters

862
0:48:45 --> 0:48:48
I think from the Vice King of Napoli

863
0:48:49 --> 0:48:50
something like that

864
0:48:51 --> 0:48:53
and these pirates they thought that

865
0:48:53 --> 0:48:54
he is an important figure

866
0:48:55 --> 0:48:56
that they need to get from him

867
0:48:57 --> 0:48:58
like huge ransom

868
0:48:59 --> 0:49:02
and they didn't touch him

869
0:49:03 --> 0:49:04
tried to preserve him

870
0:49:05 --> 0:49:06
because they knew he will cost them

871
0:49:07 --> 0:49:08
a lot of money they will get from him

872
0:49:09 --> 0:49:11
in contrast to other prisoners who were easily

873
0:49:12 --> 0:49:14
executed, impaled, tortured

874
0:49:15 --> 0:49:18
so during this stay five years in prison

875
0:49:19 --> 0:49:21
it wasn't actually a prison

876
0:49:21 --> 0:49:22
you can find on the internet

877
0:49:23 --> 0:49:24
how this prison looks like

878
0:49:25 --> 0:49:27
it looks like a cave or a pit

879
0:49:28 --> 0:49:29
where they were kept

880
0:49:30 --> 0:49:32
I will be not surprised that he lost his state

881
0:49:33 --> 0:49:34
his health you know

882
0:49:35 --> 0:49:37
but he got a spirit and he stayed there

883
0:49:38 --> 0:49:43
and he organized four attempts to abscond

884
0:49:44 --> 0:49:45
to escape four attempts

885
0:49:47 --> 0:49:50
I know about one of these escapes

886
0:49:51 --> 0:49:54
where his comrades who just participated

887
0:49:55 --> 0:49:56
because he was an organizer

888
0:49:57 --> 0:49:58
and these guys I mean these Muslim people

889
0:49:59 --> 0:50:01
who ruled this area they knew that he is an organizer

890
0:50:02 --> 0:50:03
he is a leader

891
0:50:04 --> 0:50:06
actually they executed all these guys

892
0:50:07 --> 0:50:09
but they let Cervantes alive

893
0:50:10 --> 0:50:14
eventually his family managed to get all this money

894
0:50:15 --> 0:50:16
and buy him from this captivity

895
0:50:17 --> 0:50:18
so he returned back to Spain

896
0:50:18 --> 0:50:22
and at some time he was working as a tax collector

897
0:50:23 --> 0:50:24
and again misfortune

898
0:50:25 --> 0:50:28
so he was so honest that potentially somebody

899
0:50:29 --> 0:50:31
harassed him and accused him of something

900
0:50:32 --> 0:50:35
so and when there was this suspicion that he stole

901
0:50:36 --> 0:50:37
this money from tax collection

902
0:50:38 --> 0:50:42
he spent some time in prison in Madrid several months

903
0:50:43 --> 0:50:47
so and there he began to write a book

904
0:50:48 --> 0:50:49
Don Quixote

905
0:50:50 --> 0:50:51
so prior to that

906
0:50:52 --> 0:50:54
prior to that he already wrote one small novel

907
0:50:55 --> 0:50:56
like pastoral novel

908
0:50:57 --> 0:51:00
and he wrote or composed several plays

909
0:51:01 --> 0:51:03
20 or 30 plays which didn't survive

910
0:51:04 --> 0:51:07
at this time it's like Shakespeare

911
0:51:08 --> 0:51:09
Shakespeare he never like

912
0:51:10 --> 0:51:12
had planned to publish his plays

913
0:51:13 --> 0:51:15
they were just things he wrote

914
0:51:16 --> 0:51:17
they performed several times

915
0:51:18 --> 0:51:19
and there is another play

916
0:51:20 --> 0:51:22
what we have from Shakespeare

917
0:51:23 --> 0:51:25
is just the drafts of his colleagues

918
0:51:26 --> 0:51:27
who kept these sort of things

919
0:51:28 --> 0:51:29
which they recalled or put down

920
0:51:30 --> 0:51:34
so no early plays of Cervantes survived

921
0:51:35 --> 0:51:38
he was very good in writing poetry

922
0:51:39 --> 0:51:44
when the wife of the Spanish king died

923
0:51:44 --> 0:51:47
Philip II, the second was the king at this time

924
0:51:48 --> 0:51:49
so there was a competition

925
0:51:50 --> 0:51:52
poetical competition to write

926
0:51:53 --> 0:51:54
The Beautiful Sonnets on Her Death

927
0:51:55 --> 0:51:56
so he got the prize for that

928
0:51:57 --> 0:51:58
so he was a poet

929
0:51:59 --> 0:52:01
so he tried himself in different genres

930
0:52:02 --> 0:52:05
he tried himself to write poetry, drama

931
0:52:06 --> 0:52:10
but there are other great guys who were working at this time

932
0:52:11 --> 0:52:13
and I will just show maybe several books and mention that

933
0:52:14 --> 0:52:17
so in theater at this time

934
0:52:18 --> 0:52:21
there were great play writers like Lope de Vega

935
0:52:22 --> 0:52:24
who wrote more than thousand plays

936
0:52:25 --> 0:52:26
400 survived

937
0:52:27 --> 0:52:30
there was the dramatist called Tifso de Molina

938
0:52:31 --> 0:52:36
and he composed a drama about Don Juan or Don Juan

939
0:52:37 --> 0:52:39
so that's the origin of this thing

940
0:52:40 --> 0:52:42
which went later into European literature

941
0:52:42 --> 0:52:44
Don Juan, this character

942
0:52:45 --> 0:52:46
Pedro Calderon

943
0:52:47 --> 0:52:51
so this dramatist was a philosopher and a play writer and a poet

944
0:52:52 --> 0:52:54
and I will recommend if you have time

945
0:52:55 --> 0:52:56
and if you manage to find

946
0:52:57 --> 0:52:58
just to read one play by Calderon

947
0:52:59 --> 0:53:02
which is called The Life is Just a Dream

948
0:53:03 --> 0:53:08
it's fantastic, it's something on the level of Hamlet, of Shakespeare

949
0:53:08 --> 0:53:11
poetical, philosophical at the same time

950
0:53:12 --> 0:53:15
it's some sort of drama about matrix

951
0:53:16 --> 0:53:18
where we live, do we live in reality, do we live in dream

952
0:53:19 --> 0:53:21
and there is like very interesting funny plot there

953
0:53:22 --> 0:53:24
so then there were

954
0:53:25 --> 0:53:27
Evgeny, what was the name of that one?

955
0:53:28 --> 0:53:29
so that was Calderon

956
0:53:30 --> 0:53:31
just a second I will show you the book

957
0:53:32 --> 0:53:33
a second

958
0:53:38 --> 0:53:46
I can't find it now

959
0:53:47 --> 0:53:48
sorry

960
0:53:57 --> 0:53:58
yeah

961
0:53:59 --> 0:54:00
is that illustrated as well?

962
0:54:01 --> 0:54:04
yeah there are several illustrations there

963
0:54:05 --> 0:54:07
how many books have you got Evgeny?

964
0:54:08 --> 0:54:11
less than 2000 but not all of them are fiction

965
0:54:12 --> 0:54:16
and some of them are duplicates like the same play by Shakespeare in different translations

966
0:54:17 --> 0:54:20
or even the plays of Calderon like in different translations

967
0:54:21 --> 0:54:24
and have you read all those 2000 books?

968
0:54:25 --> 0:54:26
not all of them

969
0:54:27 --> 0:54:28
have you read them all?

970
0:54:29 --> 0:54:30
not all of them

971
0:54:31 --> 0:54:33
I read this 2000

972
0:54:34 --> 0:54:37
the one which is like in the Soviet Union, this 2000

973
0:54:38 --> 0:54:40
but then you go like aside

974
0:54:41 --> 0:54:42
like to different things

975
0:54:43 --> 0:54:44
you deviate from this list

976
0:54:45 --> 0:54:46
for example 2000

977
0:54:47 --> 0:54:49
which 2000? the Soviet Union produced a list of books?

978
0:54:50 --> 0:54:55
yeah the list, the publishing project where they published 2000 volumes of

979
0:54:56 --> 0:55:02
it was called like the library of the world literature

980
0:55:03 --> 0:55:05
and where can we find that list?

981
0:55:05 --> 0:55:11
I think potentially there will be English articles about that

982
0:55:12 --> 0:55:13
there will be a list there

983
0:55:14 --> 0:55:20
and by the way every volume in this 200 was published 300,000 copies

984
0:55:21 --> 0:55:22
300,000 copies

985
0:55:23 --> 0:55:24
wow

986
0:55:25 --> 0:55:29
so some writers they don't have these copies apart from this translation

987
0:55:30 --> 0:55:32
so then there were writers

988
0:55:32 --> 0:55:35
then there were writers who wrote

989
0:55:36 --> 0:55:37
I don't know

990
0:55:38 --> 0:55:41
have you heard about picaresque novels?

991
0:55:42 --> 0:55:43
picaresque?

992
0:55:44 --> 0:55:45
sorry how do you spell that?

993
0:55:46 --> 0:55:53
it's like p-i-q-u-a-r-s-q-u-e

994
0:55:54 --> 0:55:55
picaresque

995
0:55:56 --> 0:56:00
yes I know the word but I haven't heard of those novels

996
0:56:00 --> 0:56:08
so that's the specific genre which appeared in Spanish literature at the turn of 16th 17th century

997
0:56:09 --> 0:56:17
it's a short novel about the life of some scoundrel or the person who is from the bottom of the society

998
0:56:18 --> 0:56:21
picaro in Spanish means scoundrel

999
0:56:22 --> 0:56:24
scoundrel like or the thief

1000
0:56:24 --> 0:56:30
so some people, educated people in Spain at this time

1001
0:56:31 --> 0:56:38
they were writing novels about this we can say people who are like at the bottom of society prostitutes or the thieves

1002
0:56:39 --> 0:56:40
they were writing books from their point of view

1003
0:56:41 --> 0:56:44
and there were three or four influential novels

1004
0:56:45 --> 0:56:49
and there are two things just about these novels

1005
0:56:49 --> 0:56:55
because I included one of these novels in my list 100 it's by Francisco Quivado

1006
0:56:56 --> 0:57:00
so El Buscon it's about the life of one of these scoundrels

1007
0:57:01 --> 0:57:06
and the funny thing is that it's written by the person who is not a scoundrel

1008
0:57:07 --> 0:57:15
it's written by educated person who knows apart from French, English, Italian, Latin and Greek

1009
0:57:15 --> 0:57:19
he knows Arabic, he knows Iverit

1010
0:57:20 --> 0:57:23
so this person was like a minister in the time of the skins

1011
0:57:24 --> 0:57:28
so he was sent with diplomatic missions to Italy back and forth

1012
0:57:29 --> 0:57:32
so this person from the high society is writing a novel

1013
0:57:33 --> 0:57:36
a literary novel about this scoundrel from the bottom of the society

1014
0:57:37 --> 0:57:38
and there were several novels like that

1015
0:57:39 --> 0:57:44
in some extent they influenced the appearance of the European literature as a genre

1016
0:57:45 --> 0:57:48
so in some way they influenced the appearance of Don Quixote as well

1017
0:57:49 --> 0:57:54
and many books since then they could be seen as sort of variations of these picaresque novels

1018
0:57:55 --> 0:57:58
where you got somebody who is a thief or prostitute

1019
0:57:59 --> 0:58:04
but actually they make the book and write it in the way that you have a sympathy for this person, for this outcast

1020
0:58:05 --> 0:58:12
I can say like some people argue for example that Thomas Mann he wrote the book called An Affair of Thomas Krull

1021
0:58:12 --> 0:58:17
it's also sort of education novel, it's called like education novel

1022
0:58:18 --> 0:58:20
where we see the development of the characters since his birth

1023
0:58:21 --> 0:58:24
but it's like with negative, like with a minus

1024
0:58:25 --> 0:58:27
a interesting thing

1025
0:58:28 --> 0:58:32
then we need to read some poets from this time and the famous one is Gengora

1026
0:58:33 --> 0:58:34
and in this time in Spain

1027
0:58:35 --> 0:58:37
so that's why when I'm reading Don Quixote

1028
0:58:37 --> 0:58:42
at the same time I'm reading dramas of the play writers of this time

1029
0:58:43 --> 0:58:46
and the poets of this time because every one of them got unique style

1030
0:58:47 --> 0:58:48
unique style

1031
0:58:49 --> 0:58:52
and next step what happens

1032
0:58:53 --> 0:58:57
when we look at the history of the peninsula we see how it developed

1033
0:58:58 --> 0:59:01
in the sense of what people populated it in different times

1034
0:59:02 --> 0:59:03
so initially there were Iberians

1035
0:59:04 --> 0:59:06
so that's why Romans called it Iberia

1036
0:59:07 --> 0:59:08
they were Celts

1037
0:59:09 --> 0:59:10
hence Celtibers

1038
0:59:11 --> 0:59:13
then Romans came, conquered Spain

1039
0:59:14 --> 0:59:16
and they founded their colonies in their cities

1040
0:59:17 --> 0:59:20
and some great people from ancient Roman came from Spain

1041
0:59:21 --> 0:59:23
for example Seneca the philosopher and writer

1042
0:59:24 --> 0:59:25
who was a tutor for Nero

1043
0:59:26 --> 0:59:30
or Macas Aurelius this philosopher emperor

1044
0:59:31 --> 0:59:32
he was born in Spain and he grew up in Spain

1045
0:59:33 --> 0:59:35
or Adrian the emperor who left

1046
0:59:35 --> 0:59:42
Adrian wall and also in his time they I think completed Pantheon in Rome

1047
0:59:43 --> 0:59:47
so and then after Rome what happens?

1048
0:59:48 --> 0:59:53
Rome destroyed goes away and then this huge movement migration of nations in Europe

1049
0:59:54 --> 0:59:55
fourth, fifth, sixth century

1050
0:59:56 --> 0:59:59
and Germanic tribes called Goths or Visigoths

1051
1:00:00 --> 1:00:04
they come and they come to Spain and they found these first kingdoms in Spain

1052
1:00:05 --> 1:00:11
so they stay in Spain and they were by the way they later turned to Christianity

1053
1:00:12 --> 1:00:15
at first they were using they were converted not converted

1054
1:00:16 --> 1:00:20
they were preaching or how could their confession was like Christianity

1055
1:00:21 --> 1:00:22
but like heretical one heretical

1056
1:00:23 --> 1:00:25
but then they turned like to full Christianity

1057
1:00:26 --> 1:00:29
and they were living in Spain without issues

1058
1:00:30 --> 1:00:31
but then what happened?

1059
1:00:31 --> 1:00:37
So Mohammed the prophet dictated sort of his book

1060
1:00:38 --> 1:00:39
so the Allah speak to him

1061
1:00:40 --> 1:00:46
and we see this movement of Arabic tribes which unite into first Arab caliphates

1062
1:00:47 --> 1:00:49
which begin to spread spread spread

1063
1:00:50 --> 1:00:55
so and when the first dynasty of this Arabian caliphate is overthrown in Damascus

1064
1:00:56 --> 1:00:59
and the new dynasty they assassinated all the members of this family

1065
1:00:59 --> 1:01:01
only one survived

1066
1:01:02 --> 1:01:06
so and this member of the family he runs from Damascus to northern Africa

1067
1:01:07 --> 1:01:15
and from northern Africa with his followers and tribes from the north of Africa

1068
1:01:16 --> 1:01:21
they just cross Gibraltar it's like small distance

1069
1:01:22 --> 1:01:25
and they go and conquer Spain without issues

1070
1:01:26 --> 1:01:27
it happened like that

1071
1:01:27 --> 1:01:29
there was almost no resistance

1072
1:01:30 --> 1:01:32
so and what Arabs do?

1073
1:01:33 --> 1:01:41
they bring the culture and they bring irrigation techniques from the from the from the east from Egypt to Arab

1074
1:01:42 --> 1:01:45
so along the rivers they create this irrigation canals

1075
1:01:46 --> 1:01:52
they begin to plant I think sugar cane if I'm not mistaken

1076
1:01:53 --> 1:01:56
cotton vignettes and everything

1077
1:01:57 --> 1:02:00
and the cities which were already there they begin to flourish

1078
1:02:01 --> 1:02:06
so they create huge and beautiful mosques and palaces

1079
1:02:07 --> 1:02:12
and also they invite one of these caliphs in Cordova

1080
1:02:13 --> 1:02:17
he invites translators he invites scholars

1081
1:02:18 --> 1:02:19
and what they do?

1082
1:02:20 --> 1:02:22
they search all Europe for all monasteries

1083
1:02:22 --> 1:02:26
they are seeking for all manuscripts in the 9th and 10th century

1084
1:02:27 --> 1:02:29
and they begin to translate them into Arabic

1085
1:02:30 --> 1:02:36
and as a result of it some of the works by Plato or Aristotle we know from Arabic translation

1086
1:02:37 --> 1:02:39
they didn't survive in original Greek

1087
1:02:40 --> 1:02:44
and that's because these guys in Cordova translated them in their time

1088
1:02:45 --> 1:02:47
so this is a rather cruel

1089
1:02:47 --> 1:02:52
but then although it was a time of tolerance in Spain

1090
1:02:53 --> 1:02:59
where Muslims lived together with Jews and also together with Christians

1091
1:03:00 --> 1:03:05
at some point these northern kingdoms which were still Catholic Aragon Castile Leon

1092
1:03:06 --> 1:03:08
they begin to conquer back Spain

1093
1:03:09 --> 1:03:15
so it took several hundred of years to conquer to the south to conquer to the south

1094
1:03:15 --> 1:03:19
so they used any civil strife within this caliphate

1095
1:03:20 --> 1:03:25
when these emirs, these caliphs, Islam caliphs they were weakened

1096
1:03:26 --> 1:03:27
so they used it to conquer back

1097
1:03:28 --> 1:03:31
so a long story but the thing is that

1098
1:03:32 --> 1:03:34
these scholars I mentioned

1099
1:03:35 --> 1:03:41
even this first emir of Cordova caliphate who ran from Damascus

1100
1:03:41 --> 1:03:44
who ran from Damascus, the survivor from the family, he's a poet himself

1101
1:03:45 --> 1:03:50
so in this case when I'm reading these poets of Spain who are Catholics from 15th century

1102
1:03:51 --> 1:03:55
I go because they were influenced by this guy who were before them

1103
1:03:56 --> 1:04:00
and I'm looking into Arabic poetry which was written in the courts of this Cordova

1104
1:04:01 --> 1:04:08
and I'm going to the south even to further Arabic poetry in Egypt, in Syria

1105
1:04:08 --> 1:04:12
and I go to the Islamic Arabic poetry which I discovered

1106
1:04:13 --> 1:04:16
so I'm looking how they influence it, how the poetic form develops

1107
1:04:17 --> 1:04:22
and how this poetry in 11th century, in 10th, 11th century from Spain

1108
1:04:23 --> 1:04:30
from this Islamic emirate influenced the poetry of poets in the southern France, in Provence

1109
1:04:31 --> 1:04:34
who in their turn influenced Dante

1110
1:04:34 --> 1:04:38
so it's like the spread of literary influences

1111
1:04:39 --> 1:04:45
so back to Reconquista, the process when the Spanish kingdoms got the territory back

1112
1:04:46 --> 1:04:50
where they expelled all Muslims from their territory

1113
1:04:51 --> 1:04:57
so 1492, the fall of the last emirate of Muslim states in Granada

1114
1:04:58 --> 1:05:01
the same year Columbus start his journey to the new

1115
1:05:01 --> 1:05:07
I was thinking that actually they just wanted to spread Christianity to everywhere

1116
1:05:08 --> 1:05:12
so that's why they didn't stop in the south of Spain

1117
1:05:13 --> 1:05:16
they just moved further to the northern Africa, to America

1118
1:05:17 --> 1:05:24
and when they traveled there, 1492, that was the year when the first chivalric novels appeared

1119
1:05:25 --> 1:05:27
and I will show one of them

1120
1:05:27 --> 1:05:30
so this is the title

1121
1:05:33 --> 1:05:34
this one

1122
1:05:35 --> 1:05:37
so it's called Amadis the Gaul

1123
1:05:39 --> 1:05:46
it's sort of fairy tale in the spirit of king Arthur and the knights of his table

1124
1:05:47 --> 1:05:50
it's like very simple stories, I got the Russian translations of them

1125
1:05:51 --> 1:05:54
they are very simple, there is like supernatural element there

1126
1:05:54 --> 1:05:58
there are people like Merlin, Enchanters and everything

1127
1:05:59 --> 1:06:05
so that literature was very popular in Spain at the beginning of 16th century

1128
1:06:06 --> 1:06:10
and there is evidence that these conquistadors that went to America

1129
1:06:11 --> 1:06:13
they took this novel to read

1130
1:06:14 --> 1:06:21
and many people believe that these conquistadors, they were thinking that there was these knights from these books

1131
1:06:21 --> 1:06:28
that they need to go to discover new countries to fight like, I don't know, some sort of strange creatures

1132
1:06:29 --> 1:06:31
they need to spread their Christianity everywhere

1133
1:06:32 --> 1:06:35
and they truly believe that it was like a feeling of them

1134
1:06:36 --> 1:06:39
because they are discovering things that nobody, no one saw in the world

1135
1:06:40 --> 1:06:44
so that was very popular literature at the time

1136
1:06:45 --> 1:06:49
and I just suspect that Cervantes, when he was in prison, he was reading one of his novels

1137
1:06:49 --> 1:06:57
and I think maybe he was annoyed with this unnatural situations, simple stuff

1138
1:06:58 --> 1:07:03
it was like very childhood and he thought like, I need to write some parody, satire on that

1139
1:07:04 --> 1:07:06
so that's why he started to write Don Quixote in this way

1140
1:07:09 --> 1:07:10
as a parody

1141
1:07:11 --> 1:07:18
but when he started to write in it, actually it grew from this initial idea

1142
1:07:19 --> 1:07:20
and it grew into something else

1143
1:07:21 --> 1:07:26
so it grew into the first European novel of our time, I think

1144
1:07:27 --> 1:07:31
where we see the characters who are developing through the novel

1145
1:07:32 --> 1:07:34
where we see a huge historical background

1146
1:07:35 --> 1:07:37
because again, it's like a movie

1147
1:07:38 --> 1:07:41
when you read Don Quixote, it's like a movie where you see everything

1148
1:07:42 --> 1:07:47
how people lived, how they were working in the fields, what they were doing in the villages

1149
1:07:47 --> 1:07:51
what was going on in the palaces, in the markets

1150
1:07:52 --> 1:07:54
and you meet all layers of society

1151
1:07:55 --> 1:07:56
it's like a fantastic thing

1152
1:07:57 --> 1:07:59
you cannot even make any proper adaptation of this book

1153
1:08:00 --> 1:08:02
so many things are, it's like war and peace

1154
1:08:03 --> 1:08:04
a lot of things comprise there

1155
1:08:05 --> 1:08:09
so just for those people, I don't want to offend people

1156
1:08:10 --> 1:08:14
I hope that people know what's the main plot

1157
1:08:14 --> 1:08:17
who are the main characters of Don Quixote

1158
1:08:18 --> 1:08:21
so that's by the way the first page of the first edition

1159
1:08:22 --> 1:08:23
Don Quixote

1160
1:08:24 --> 1:08:30
it's like 1905, so it was published 1905

1161
1:08:31 --> 1:08:34
you've got first edition at home

1162
1:08:35 --> 1:08:36
no, no, no

1163
1:08:37 --> 1:08:40
it's a huge treasure, it's like a folio of Shakespeare, it cost millions

1164
1:08:41 --> 1:08:43
oh I see, that was a phone scruff

1165
1:08:44 --> 1:08:48
so yeah, and that's the first page where in the first chapter

1166
1:08:49 --> 1:08:50
it starts something like that

1167
1:08:51 --> 1:08:53
in the village in La Mancha

1168
1:08:54 --> 1:08:56
and it doesn't matter what's the name of this village

1169
1:08:57 --> 1:08:58
there was an old Hidalgo

1170
1:08:59 --> 1:09:00
Hidalgo is like impoverished knight

1171
1:09:01 --> 1:09:05
who had a spear and an old shield

1172
1:09:06 --> 1:09:08
he had a horse and a dog

1173
1:09:09 --> 1:09:10
and then they describe that

1174
1:09:10 --> 1:09:11
and then in the second chapter

1175
1:09:12 --> 1:09:15
this impoverished knight who is around like age of 50

1176
1:09:16 --> 1:09:18
he read a lot of chivalric novels

1177
1:09:19 --> 1:09:20
so a lot of stuff like Amadis de Gaulle

1178
1:09:21 --> 1:09:23
because this novel was so popular

1179
1:09:24 --> 1:09:27
that people make money writing sort of imitations or continuations of this book

1180
1:09:28 --> 1:09:30
there were like a lot of 20 sequels

1181
1:09:31 --> 1:09:32
I think it's called Sequel

1182
1:09:33 --> 1:09:34
Yo, Kenny, did you say La Mancha?

1183
1:09:35 --> 1:09:36
La Mancha, yeah, La Mancha

1184
1:09:37 --> 1:09:38
that's in southern Spain, isn't it?

1185
1:09:38 --> 1:09:39
Yeah, in the middle Spain

1186
1:09:40 --> 1:09:42
which is almost, I will say like

1187
1:09:43 --> 1:09:44
it's almost like Russian steppe

1188
1:09:45 --> 1:09:46
with only difference there is no snow there

1189
1:09:47 --> 1:09:51
Yeah, a lot of people don't realize that Spain is the most mountainous country in Europe

1190
1:09:52 --> 1:09:53
and that includes Switzerland

1191
1:09:54 --> 1:09:55
but La Mancha

1192
1:09:56 --> 1:09:58
so La Mancha now, Yo, Kenny, isn't it known for

1193
1:09:59 --> 1:10:00
they have a tennis school there

1194
1:10:04 --> 1:10:05
thanks to Don Quixote

1195
1:10:06 --> 1:10:07
crazy

1196
1:10:08 --> 1:10:10
I mean that Don Quixote I think is a brand of Spain

1197
1:10:11 --> 1:10:12
you say Spain you think Don Quixote

1198
1:10:13 --> 1:10:14
you say Don Quixote you think Spain

1199
1:10:15 --> 1:10:16
he is associated with Spain

1200
1:10:19 --> 1:10:22
and he read these chivalric novels

1201
1:10:23 --> 1:10:24
and then

1202
1:10:25 --> 1:10:26
I don't want to interrupt you now

1203
1:10:27 --> 1:10:28
just very briefly

1204
1:10:29 --> 1:10:30
I just wonder whether you can find time

1205
1:10:31 --> 1:10:34
in space of 15 minutes or 20 minutes later maybe

1206
1:10:35 --> 1:10:36
if you could go through your list

1207
1:10:36 --> 1:10:41
and just say a brief few words about every book in your 100 list

1208
1:10:42 --> 1:10:43
you mean but not today

1209
1:10:44 --> 1:10:46
well I was thinking today if you could do it

1210
1:10:47 --> 1:10:52
but when you finished whatever it is that you're planning to say now

1211
1:10:53 --> 1:10:54
okay

1212
1:10:55 --> 1:10:58
so and this night he goes sort of like mad

1213
1:10:59 --> 1:11:03
in the way that he imagines that he is like this night errand

1214
1:11:03 --> 1:11:06
that he needs to go out and to do these heroic deeds

1215
1:11:07 --> 1:11:11
so he takes his old horse he puts on this old armory

1216
1:11:12 --> 1:11:13
and then he goes into travel

1217
1:11:14 --> 1:11:15
and then he finds this sidekick

1218
1:11:16 --> 1:11:18
so that's Don Quixote himself

1219
1:11:19 --> 1:11:22
and then that's his sidekick Sancho Panza

1220
1:11:23 --> 1:11:25
and they are different characters sort of

1221
1:11:26 --> 1:11:27
at the beginning of the book they are quite opposite

1222
1:11:28 --> 1:11:30
so one of them is like in the sky in the books

1223
1:11:30 --> 1:11:31
so he's thinking about ideals

1224
1:11:32 --> 1:11:35
and another one down to earth thinking all the time

1225
1:11:36 --> 1:11:37
where to eat where to sleep

1226
1:11:38 --> 1:11:39
like how to survive

1227
1:11:40 --> 1:11:44
yeah and it's interesting how conversations between them

1228
1:11:45 --> 1:11:47
dialogues interactions like influence each other

1229
1:11:48 --> 1:11:51
because when the Cervantes published the second part of Don Quixote

1230
1:11:52 --> 1:11:55
you can see that Don Quixote picked up some stuff from Sancho Panza

1231
1:11:56 --> 1:11:57
and Sancho Panza also is like infected

1232
1:11:57 --> 1:12:00
infected by Don Quixote ideas

1233
1:12:01 --> 1:12:04
I don't want to go into the famous episode with windmills

1234
1:12:05 --> 1:12:06
because everybody knows what has happened

1235
1:12:07 --> 1:12:08
there were windmills in La Mancha

1236
1:12:09 --> 1:12:11
and Don Quixote he was thinking these giants like

1237
1:12:12 --> 1:12:15
waving their hands so he attacked windmills

1238
1:12:16 --> 1:12:19
he thought they are giants but actually one of the sails

1239
1:12:20 --> 1:12:22
just knocked them down

1240
1:12:23 --> 1:12:25
although Sancho Panza wanted that windmills

1241
1:12:25 --> 1:12:27
although Sancho Panza wanted that

1242
1:12:28 --> 1:12:31
senor senor it's not like it's like windmills windmills

1243
1:12:32 --> 1:12:34
I want to touch one episode

1244
1:12:35 --> 1:12:38
it's in the first part of Don Quixote and it's book 22

1245
1:12:39 --> 1:12:40
so he's with Sancho Panza

1246
1:12:41 --> 1:12:45
they are somewhere in this like area

1247
1:12:46 --> 1:12:47
where at the normal tree is nothing just stones

1248
1:12:48 --> 1:12:52
and they see the convicts going somewhere

1249
1:12:52 --> 1:12:55
so they go to the port because these are criminals

1250
1:12:56 --> 1:12:57
they got their convictions

1251
1:12:58 --> 1:13:02
and they will be sent on galleys to row the fleet

1252
1:13:03 --> 1:13:07
Don Quixote asks some of these criminals what they have done

1253
1:13:08 --> 1:13:11
one of them stole linen, another was a pin

1254
1:13:12 --> 1:13:14
some minute stuff

1255
1:13:15 --> 1:13:17
one of them is scandral and saying like

1256
1:13:18 --> 1:13:19
oh do you know in the prison I'm writing a book now

1257
1:13:19 --> 1:13:22
and Don Quixote is asking like have you finished the book

1258
1:13:23 --> 1:13:25
and the scandral is like how can I finish I'm still alive

1259
1:13:26 --> 1:13:27
so like that

1260
1:13:28 --> 1:13:31
but then there is a lot of fun in these dialogues and everything

1261
1:13:32 --> 1:13:36
it's so humane and a lot of humor and a lot of observation of the life

1262
1:13:37 --> 1:13:39
and then Don Quixote

1263
1:13:40 --> 1:13:41
so if we look from our point of view

1264
1:13:42 --> 1:13:43
and we see this scene at the start

1265
1:13:44 --> 1:13:46
is any heroic deed there to do?

1266
1:13:46 --> 1:13:47
we got criminals

1267
1:13:48 --> 1:13:50
they got their like sentences

1268
1:13:51 --> 1:13:52
so the justice is served

1269
1:13:53 --> 1:13:54
nothing to do there

1270
1:13:55 --> 1:13:58
because these people got their punishment like according to the law

1271
1:13:59 --> 1:14:00
but Don Quixote what he is doing he is saying

1272
1:14:01 --> 1:14:03
although they committed crimes, although they are sentenced

1273
1:14:04 --> 1:14:06
we need to treat them with compassion

1274
1:14:07 --> 1:14:10
so and he frees them from these chains

1275
1:14:11 --> 1:14:12
the guards run away

1276
1:14:13 --> 1:14:14
and these criminals are set free

1277
1:14:14 --> 1:14:15
do you know?

1278
1:14:16 --> 1:14:18
so what this episode is all about

1279
1:14:19 --> 1:14:22
when I read it for the first time I was thinking this is absurd

1280
1:14:23 --> 1:14:24
he is going against the law

1281
1:14:25 --> 1:14:26
he is going against the crown

1282
1:14:27 --> 1:14:30
Sancho Panse is saying that senior senior we need to save ourselves

1283
1:14:31 --> 1:14:35
because these guards will run to the city and tell Inquisition that we freed the prisoners

1284
1:14:36 --> 1:14:38
but Don Quixote gives his argumentation

1285
1:14:39 --> 1:14:41
he is saying some people are unfortunate

1286
1:14:41 --> 1:14:47
some people don't know what pulls to and whom to bribe

1287
1:14:48 --> 1:14:50
in some cases the judge wasn't

1288
1:14:51 --> 1:14:54
so he is actually saying about restoring social justice

1289
1:14:55 --> 1:14:56
so that's the character

1290
1:14:57 --> 1:15:01
yeah and there were 40 heroic deeds like that

1291
1:15:02 --> 1:15:04
heroic deeds by Don Quixote

1292
1:15:05 --> 1:15:06
they are quite different

1293
1:15:07 --> 1:15:10
but then when Cervantes published the second book

1294
1:15:11 --> 1:15:15
the character he transforms

1295
1:15:16 --> 1:15:18
he transforms he turns totally different

1296
1:15:19 --> 1:15:21
in the middle of the book he is not Don Quixote which was before

1297
1:15:22 --> 1:15:24
he is like more hesitant

1298
1:15:25 --> 1:15:28
if with these prisoners he didn't have any hesitation to free them

1299
1:15:29 --> 1:15:31
now in the second book we see his doubts

1300
1:15:32 --> 1:15:33
what I want to say

1301
1:15:34 --> 1:15:36
yeah it's the book like to read and reread

1302
1:15:37 --> 1:15:38
because every of these heroic deeds

1303
1:15:38 --> 1:15:41
like you can have conversations just about one chapter

1304
1:15:42 --> 1:15:43
but some of the chapters

1305
1:15:44 --> 1:15:47
it's some sort of literary game

1306
1:15:48 --> 1:15:53
where I think the writer Cervantes is just

1307
1:15:54 --> 1:15:56
make a joke when we are reading it

1308
1:15:57 --> 1:15:58
I will just give an example of the chapters

1309
1:15:59 --> 1:16:00
we say

1310
1:16:02 --> 1:16:04
for example the chapter where he frees prisoners

1311
1:16:04 --> 1:16:09
chapter 22 about Don Quixote freed many wretches

1312
1:16:10 --> 1:16:11
who march against their will

1313
1:16:12 --> 1:16:14
were being taken where they would have preferred not to go

1314
1:16:15 --> 1:16:17
it's like instead of saying they are prisoners

1315
1:16:18 --> 1:16:19
that should be sent to this galaxy

1316
1:16:20 --> 1:16:21
and then the chapter 20

1317
1:16:22 --> 1:16:27
about the unprecedented and unique adventure undertaken by the villain Don Quixote de la Mancha

1318
1:16:28 --> 1:16:33
the one that with the last danger was ever brought to a happy conclusion

1319
1:16:34 --> 1:16:35
the only famous knight in the world

1320
1:16:36 --> 1:16:37
so there is actually no notion of that

1321
1:16:38 --> 1:16:39
but in this chapter if you read

1322
1:16:40 --> 1:16:41
the episode is like that

1323
1:16:42 --> 1:16:43
it's a knight

1324
1:16:44 --> 1:16:45
Sancho Panza he got diarrhea

1325
1:16:46 --> 1:16:47
sorry

1326
1:16:48 --> 1:16:49
and he relieves himself

1327
1:16:50 --> 1:16:51
and Don Quixote hears that

1328
1:16:52 --> 1:16:54
and he smells it

1329
1:16:55 --> 1:16:56
and he says

1330
1:16:57 --> 1:16:58
oh Sancho you are afraid of the next heroic deed

1331
1:16:59 --> 1:17:00
because we hear these sounds

1332
1:17:01 --> 1:17:02
and there are sounds in the air

1333
1:17:02 --> 1:17:03
like boom boom boom

1334
1:17:04 --> 1:17:05
and when they are approaching to this boom boom

1335
1:17:06 --> 1:17:07
there are huge hammers

1336
1:17:08 --> 1:17:09
automatic hammers that work there

1337
1:17:10 --> 1:17:13
but at this point Don Quixote is sober

1338
1:17:14 --> 1:17:15
and he is telling to Sancho Panza

1339
1:17:16 --> 1:17:17
Sancho they are not giants

1340
1:17:18 --> 1:17:19
they are like hammers

1341
1:17:20 --> 1:17:21
so and he is saying like

1342
1:17:22 --> 1:17:26
if there was a magician who turned these hammers into giants

1343
1:17:27 --> 1:17:29
that will be the moment when they will like fight with them

1344
1:17:29 --> 1:17:30
okay

1345
1:17:31 --> 1:17:32
let's go to the next one

1346
1:17:33 --> 1:17:34
that's brilliant Nick

1347
1:17:35 --> 1:17:37
you should be a storyteller Yavgeny for children

1348
1:17:38 --> 1:17:39
seriously

1349
1:17:40 --> 1:17:41
give them back on track

1350
1:17:42 --> 1:17:47
so these children should abandon all electronic devices

1351
1:17:48 --> 1:17:49
throw them away

1352
1:17:50 --> 1:17:51
of course

1353
1:17:52 --> 1:17:54
to save humanity this atomization is like

1354
1:17:55 --> 1:17:56
although it's like paradox

1355
1:17:57 --> 1:17:58
when we got mobile devices

1356
1:17:59 --> 1:18:00
they are connected

1357
1:18:01 --> 1:18:02
but actually they make people disconnected

1358
1:18:03 --> 1:18:04
it's like a paradox

1359
1:18:05 --> 1:18:08
so can you expand on that Yavgeny

1360
1:18:09 --> 1:18:10
or haven't you thought about it really

1361
1:18:11 --> 1:18:13
so I think that's really important lesson

1362
1:18:14 --> 1:18:15
from the last four years

1363
1:18:16 --> 1:18:17
people are addicted to their phones

1364
1:18:18 --> 1:18:19
and to their computers

1365
1:18:20 --> 1:18:21
and what's more they don't realize

1366
1:18:22 --> 1:18:24
that yes you can use computers wisely

1367
1:18:25 --> 1:18:26
but you have to have self-discipline

1368
1:18:27 --> 1:18:28
they don't even know what self-discipline is

1369
1:18:29 --> 1:18:30
so

1370
1:18:31 --> 1:18:32
could you talk about things like that

1371
1:18:33 --> 1:18:36
and also if you don't have people having the same conversation

1372
1:18:37 --> 1:18:38
like grandparents and children

1373
1:18:39 --> 1:18:40
and great grandparents and parents

1374
1:18:41 --> 1:18:44
then it's very difficult to build up values

1375
1:18:45 --> 1:18:47
and if you don't have values in the society

1376
1:18:48 --> 1:18:49
that society won't survive

1377
1:18:50 --> 1:18:51
and that's exactly where we are now

1378
1:18:52 --> 1:18:53
yeah I would say

1379
1:18:54 --> 1:18:55
I share this notion

1380
1:18:56 --> 1:18:57
and they think that

1381
1:18:57 --> 1:18:58
what happens

1382
1:18:59 --> 1:19:03
people have just forgotten simple psychology we can say

1383
1:19:04 --> 1:19:05
or how the brain is working

1384
1:19:06 --> 1:19:10
that the brain wants something easy

1385
1:19:11 --> 1:19:12
you know

1386
1:19:13 --> 1:19:14
because we need to think

1387
1:19:15 --> 1:19:16
to read

1388
1:19:17 --> 1:19:18
to contemplate

1389
1:19:19 --> 1:19:20
to have a meaningful discussion

1390
1:19:21 --> 1:19:22
we need energy, glucose

1391
1:19:23 --> 1:19:24
and the brain is limited in that

1392
1:19:25 --> 1:19:26
so the brain prefers lazy mode to relax

1393
1:19:27 --> 1:19:28
to gather food

1394
1:19:29 --> 1:19:30
to stuff yourself and to lay down

1395
1:19:31 --> 1:19:32
like Sancho Panza

1396
1:19:33 --> 1:19:34
so

1397
1:19:35 --> 1:19:36
we need, I agree with you

1398
1:19:37 --> 1:19:39
so we need will and effort

1399
1:19:40 --> 1:19:43
to create a complex intellectual product in our head

1400
1:19:44 --> 1:19:46
so in the case if we listen classical music

1401
1:19:47 --> 1:19:48
or read books like that

1402
1:19:49 --> 1:19:51
or doing mathematics, physics

1403
1:19:52 --> 1:19:53
like some stuff

1404
1:19:54 --> 1:19:56
which doesn't include scrolling Twitter

1405
1:19:57 --> 1:19:58
or Instagram with pictures

1406
1:19:59 --> 1:20:03
we need to create a complex product in our head

1407
1:20:04 --> 1:20:06
and I always say that we need for that to read books

1408
1:20:07 --> 1:20:08
in the topics

1409
1:20:09 --> 1:20:10
so we need to suffer essentially

1410
1:20:11 --> 1:20:12
we need to suffer to grow

1411
1:20:13 --> 1:20:14
if we don't suffer

1412
1:20:15 --> 1:20:16
if we're always looking for something

1413
1:20:17 --> 1:20:18
if we're always living a comfortable life

1414
1:20:19 --> 1:20:20
we're gonna remain like infants

1415
1:20:21 --> 1:20:22
never mind children

1416
1:20:23 --> 1:20:24
yeah there is a painting by Bregel

1417
1:20:25 --> 1:20:26
I think it's called something like

1418
1:20:27 --> 1:20:29
the people, it's like the famous allegorical painting

1419
1:20:30 --> 1:20:31
15th or 16th century

1420
1:20:32 --> 1:20:33
where is a tree

1421
1:20:34 --> 1:20:35
and on the tree

1422
1:20:36 --> 1:20:37
I think the food or the bread is like falling down

1423
1:20:38 --> 1:20:40
and there are like three fat people

1424
1:20:41 --> 1:20:42
abyss people under this tree

1425
1:20:43 --> 1:20:44
and they just open the mouth

1426
1:20:45 --> 1:20:46
and everything is going into their like

1427
1:20:47 --> 1:20:48
into their like mouth

1428
1:20:49 --> 1:20:50
yeah

1429
1:20:51 --> 1:20:52
like McDonald's hamburgers

1430
1:20:53 --> 1:20:54
yeah sort of exactly

1431
1:20:55 --> 1:20:56
by the way

1432
1:20:57 --> 1:20:58
it applies to Twitter or Instagram

1433
1:20:59 --> 1:21:00
because people

1434
1:21:01 --> 1:21:02
they seek sort of pleasure

1435
1:21:03 --> 1:21:04
because they are seeking pleasure

1436
1:21:05 --> 1:21:06
exactly

1437
1:21:07 --> 1:21:08
the pleasure from

1438
1:21:09 --> 1:21:10
and you can see the behavior

1439
1:21:11 --> 1:21:12
when they are scrolling some pictures

1440
1:21:13 --> 1:21:14
and they stop on one of them

1441
1:21:15 --> 1:21:16
it means like the rest of the stuff is not interesting

1442
1:21:17 --> 1:21:18
but they're interested in something

1443
1:21:19 --> 1:21:20
and they're like

1444
1:21:21 --> 1:21:22
they're sort of informational

1445
1:21:23 --> 1:21:24
diabetes I will call it

1446
1:21:25 --> 1:21:26
it's just all the time supported by this

1447
1:21:27 --> 1:21:28
like Instagram or things

1448
1:21:29 --> 1:21:30
by the way I want to mention that

1449
1:21:31 --> 1:21:32
that's their cult

1450
1:21:33 --> 1:21:34
that's their cult Yergeny

1451
1:21:35 --> 1:21:36
so they stop at something which supports their cult

1452
1:21:37 --> 1:21:38
so it seems to me that human beings

1453
1:21:39 --> 1:21:41
everybody wants to get everybody else into their cult

1454
1:21:42 --> 1:21:45
and some are more successful than others in getting them

1455
1:21:46 --> 1:21:49
so I'm trying to get you into the cult of

1456
1:21:50 --> 1:21:52
reading and reading good fiction

1457
1:21:53 --> 1:21:54
yeah

1458
1:21:55 --> 1:21:56
this cult

1459
1:21:57 --> 1:21:58
I think

1460
1:21:59 --> 1:22:01
everybody recalls how internet appeared

1461
1:22:02 --> 1:22:05
that initially people were writing in internet blogs

1462
1:22:06 --> 1:22:07
huge articles

1463
1:22:08 --> 1:22:09
two, three pages or even more

1464
1:22:10 --> 1:22:11
and then we went to Twitter

1465
1:22:12 --> 1:22:14
where everything is like short

1466
1:22:15 --> 1:22:16
I don't recall how many

1467
1:22:17 --> 1:22:18
124 signs or whatever

1468
1:22:19 --> 1:22:20
everything is short

1469
1:22:21 --> 1:22:22
and then Instagram

1470
1:22:23 --> 1:22:24
we don't need to write anything

1471
1:22:25 --> 1:22:26
you just make a picture and publish it

1472
1:22:27 --> 1:22:28
I invented coined the terms

1473
1:22:29 --> 1:22:30
something like

1474
1:22:31 --> 1:22:32
digital imbecility

1475
1:22:33 --> 1:22:34
digital imbecility

1476
1:22:35 --> 1:22:36
or social media

1477
1:22:37 --> 1:22:38
quasi-dementia

1478
1:22:39 --> 1:22:42
because people if they are grown up in this way

1479
1:22:43 --> 1:22:44
when they are unable

1480
1:22:45 --> 1:22:46
to process and to create

1481
1:22:47 --> 1:22:48
have intellectual products

1482
1:22:49 --> 1:22:50
you can easily manipulate with them

1483
1:22:51 --> 1:22:52
absolutely

1484
1:22:53 --> 1:22:54
you can drop a slogan

1485
1:22:55 --> 1:22:56
and people just lose total ability

1486
1:22:57 --> 1:23:00
because the propaganda these days is very sophisticated

1487
1:23:01 --> 1:23:02
like safe and effective

1488
1:23:03 --> 1:23:04
safe and effective

1489
1:23:05 --> 1:23:08
and they all go along and show their left arm to whomever

1490
1:23:09 --> 1:23:10
yeah

1491
1:23:11 --> 1:23:12
so in the way that

1492
1:23:13 --> 1:23:15
the methods of propaganda now are very sophisticated

1493
1:23:16 --> 1:23:19
it's like how you choose the news to present on BBC

1494
1:23:20 --> 1:23:22
how you frame this news

1495
1:23:23 --> 1:23:25
for example yesterday or two days ago BBC reported

1496
1:23:25 --> 1:23:30
several dozens of Palestinians killed in explosions

1497
1:23:31 --> 1:23:32
in the tent camp

1498
1:23:33 --> 1:23:34
something like that in Rafa

1499
1:23:35 --> 1:23:37
so that's how it's framed

1500
1:23:38 --> 1:23:39
sort of passive form

1501
1:23:40 --> 1:23:41
you don't understand who is perpetrator

1502
1:23:42 --> 1:23:44
because we can frame it in another way

1503
1:23:45 --> 1:23:48
Israeli army bombed and killed and wounded

1504
1:23:49 --> 1:23:52
this amount of peaceful population

1505
1:23:52 --> 1:23:53
and people swallow it

1506
1:23:54 --> 1:23:55
they swallow

1507
1:23:56 --> 1:23:57
they don't just realize that

1508
1:23:58 --> 1:24:01
like they swallow this so called antidepressants

1509
1:24:02 --> 1:24:03
which are not antidepressants

1510
1:24:04 --> 1:24:05
which are doing more harm

1511
1:24:06 --> 1:24:07
because of these things

1512
1:24:08 --> 1:24:09
should I go into my list?

1513
1:24:10 --> 1:24:11
oh please yeah

1514
1:24:12 --> 1:24:13
so

1515
1:24:14 --> 1:24:15
from a psychiatrist point of view

1516
1:24:16 --> 1:24:17
what you just described

1517
1:24:18 --> 1:24:20
that people just go along with things

1518
1:24:20 --> 1:24:23
and do things which are harmful to themselves

1519
1:24:24 --> 1:24:26
can you see the explanation for that?

1520
1:24:27 --> 1:24:30
have they been psychologically tortured into a state of Stockholm syndrome?

1521
1:24:31 --> 1:24:34
or what happened in the last four years

1522
1:24:35 --> 1:24:38
that caused so many people to lose their heads

1523
1:24:39 --> 1:24:40
lose their brains

1524
1:24:41 --> 1:24:42
and they still

1525
1:24:43 --> 1:24:46
in my opinion they're still behaving like children

1526
1:24:47 --> 1:24:48
at least in the UK

1527
1:24:48 --> 1:24:49
I'm not like

1528
1:24:50 --> 1:24:53
anthropological sociologist or the person like that

1529
1:24:54 --> 1:24:56
but I think it was a process in time

1530
1:24:57 --> 1:24:59
and it didn't start like four years or even five years ago

1531
1:25:00 --> 1:25:01
it's like a long process

1532
1:25:02 --> 1:25:05
BBC as institution

1533
1:25:06 --> 1:25:08
was working as a propaganda tool

1534
1:25:09 --> 1:25:11
and I'm using the word propaganda in negative connotation

1535
1:25:12 --> 1:25:13
in the way that to hide the truth

1536
1:25:14 --> 1:25:15
to spin the facts

1537
1:25:15 --> 1:25:18
since its foundation in 28 or 29

1538
1:25:19 --> 1:25:22
or you can go through the periods, through the years

1539
1:25:23 --> 1:25:27
any conflict in country and outside was spinned

1540
1:25:28 --> 1:25:32
it was spinned by BBC who pretends to be like objective things

1541
1:25:33 --> 1:25:35
and they are selling this image through byproducts

1542
1:25:36 --> 1:25:37
through their soap operas

1543
1:25:38 --> 1:25:39
documentaries of Attenborough

1544
1:25:40 --> 1:25:42
through just telling their weather

1545
1:25:42 --> 1:25:46
or sort of so they are selling this

1546
1:25:47 --> 1:25:51
to do this like influence on the third country

1547
1:25:52 --> 1:25:53
and I'm thinking there is apart from that

1548
1:25:54 --> 1:25:56
there is an element of mass culture

1549
1:25:57 --> 1:25:59
which I think appeared with the capitalism

1550
1:26:00 --> 1:26:02
where it's like a paradox

1551
1:26:03 --> 1:26:05
this Don Quixote was published

1552
1:26:06 --> 1:26:08
I don't know 400 copies like first folio of Shakespeare

1553
1:26:09 --> 1:26:11
there were like 140 copies of first folio

1554
1:26:12 --> 1:26:14
1626 or whatever

1555
1:26:15 --> 1:26:16
so few people read that

1556
1:26:17 --> 1:26:21
but these days we can publish stuff in millions

1557
1:26:22 --> 1:26:25
we don't need to rewrite these manuscripts in monasteries

1558
1:26:26 --> 1:26:30
we don't need manually to print it like Gutenberg

1559
1:26:31 --> 1:26:34
in Amsterdam, in Madrid like on this primitive machines

1560
1:26:35 --> 1:26:38
now we can print this stuff in millions

1561
1:26:38 --> 1:26:41
and then with this thing

1562
1:26:42 --> 1:26:45
the industry, capitalist industry

1563
1:26:46 --> 1:26:48
they don't want to employ genius

1564
1:26:49 --> 1:26:51
they want something which will be like fast food

1565
1:26:52 --> 1:26:54
like Fifty Shades of Grey

1566
1:26:55 --> 1:26:57
Fifty Shades of Grey, bestseller, British bestseller

1567
1:26:58 --> 1:27:00
which is like from literary point of view

1568
1:27:01 --> 1:27:02
from my point of view is rubbish

1569
1:27:03 --> 1:27:05
we can analyze it as sociological

1570
1:27:05 --> 1:27:07
cultural logical thing

1571
1:27:08 --> 1:27:10
but this is like an example of mass culture

1572
1:27:11 --> 1:27:16
where you simplify everything to the point that anyone can consume it

1573
1:27:17 --> 1:27:19
even the idiot and you sell it

1574
1:27:20 --> 1:27:25
and you add there certain elements which could sell the product

1575
1:27:26 --> 1:27:32
either sex or images of little children or images of animals

1576
1:27:32 --> 1:27:34
so like that

1577
1:27:35 --> 1:27:37
Can I ask you again, you probably understand this

1578
1:27:38 --> 1:27:40
so the Soviet list of world literature

1579
1:27:41 --> 1:27:42
that fascinates me

1580
1:27:43 --> 1:27:45
Gorky goes along to Lenin

1581
1:27:46 --> 1:27:48
and Lenin takes Gorky's advice

1582
1:27:49 --> 1:27:51
presumably Gorky has huge influence over Lenin

1583
1:27:52 --> 1:27:54
but did he have influence over other people

1584
1:27:55 --> 1:27:59
and what would be the interest of the Soviet states

1585
1:27:59 --> 1:28:03
to kind of expose

1586
1:28:04 --> 1:28:06
so not only did they get the stuff translated

1587
1:28:07 --> 1:28:09
because of Gorky's intervention as far as I understand

1588
1:28:10 --> 1:28:12
but actually they printed a huge number of books

1589
1:28:13 --> 1:28:17
which reversed the previous culture of Tolstoy's books

1590
1:28:18 --> 1:28:19
only being read by a few people

1591
1:28:20 --> 1:28:22
maybe 20,000 people in the whole of Russia

1592
1:28:23 --> 1:28:24
is that right? In Tsarist Russia?

1593
1:28:25 --> 1:28:26
Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly

1594
1:28:26 --> 1:28:28
So why did they do that?

1595
1:28:29 --> 1:28:31
because it was a dictatorship

1596
1:28:32 --> 1:28:33
arguably the Bolshevik revolution

1597
1:28:34 --> 1:28:35
and along comes the dictatorship

1598
1:28:36 --> 1:28:38
a totalitarian state it became in the end

1599
1:28:39 --> 1:28:44
but what was the interest in educating the people?

1600
1:28:45 --> 1:28:47
or was it to defeat the rest of the world?

1601
1:28:50 --> 1:28:54
It's like a huge discussion maybe for a separate meeting

1602
1:28:54 --> 1:28:59
Karam maybe knows a lot of things that I think

1603
1:29:00 --> 1:29:02
it could be a lot of discussion

1604
1:29:03 --> 1:29:05
what is dictatorship, what is totalitarian

1605
1:29:06 --> 1:29:08
but my point of view is like that

1606
1:29:09 --> 1:29:14
since maybe 17th, 18th century

1607
1:29:15 --> 1:29:20
since France, absolute is France of Louis XIV

1608
1:29:20 --> 1:29:23
and further all states

1609
1:29:24 --> 1:29:26
if we're talking about states in Europe and in the world

1610
1:29:27 --> 1:29:28
they are totalitarian in their nature

1611
1:29:29 --> 1:29:30
when I say totalitarian it means

1612
1:29:31 --> 1:29:36
the ruling class in any country controls what people think

1613
1:29:37 --> 1:29:39
they control and they impose the ideas of the ruling class

1614
1:29:40 --> 1:29:41
imposed on middle class

1615
1:29:42 --> 1:29:44
and they put in the submission lower classes

1616
1:29:45 --> 1:29:47
so everything is about this

1617
1:29:48 --> 1:29:49
everything serves this purpose

1618
1:29:50 --> 1:29:51
laws of the country

1619
1:29:52 --> 1:29:53
educational system

1620
1:29:54 --> 1:29:56
literature, fiction, cinema, music

1621
1:29:57 --> 1:29:58
everything, everything

1622
1:29:59 --> 1:30:02
even innocent entertainment products of Hollywood

1623
1:30:03 --> 1:30:04
they bear propaganda

1624
1:30:05 --> 1:30:07
take Dark Knight for example

1625
1:30:08 --> 1:30:10
on the surface this is an action movie about

1626
1:30:11 --> 1:30:12
Batman and Joker

1627
1:30:13 --> 1:30:15
but there is a deep message there

1628
1:30:16 --> 1:30:17
because if you analyze this act

1629
1:30:18 --> 1:30:19
you can see that the main character

1630
1:30:20 --> 1:30:22
he lives in a palace

1631
1:30:23 --> 1:30:27
he's on the side of a police

1632
1:30:28 --> 1:30:29
sort of, and law

1633
1:30:30 --> 1:30:33
and he's defending this Gotham which is like New York

1634
1:30:34 --> 1:30:41
so they show the role model for your generation

1635
1:30:42 --> 1:30:43
so they show what you should strive for

1636
1:30:44 --> 1:30:45
to be a Batman

1637
1:30:46 --> 1:30:47
like a lone wolf who is fighting

1638
1:30:48 --> 1:30:49
not against the system

1639
1:30:50 --> 1:30:53
and this is just an action movie

1640
1:30:54 --> 1:30:57
so what was going through Lenin's head then?

1641
1:30:58 --> 1:31:00
because it appears like a contradiction

1642
1:31:01 --> 1:31:03
so I think

1643
1:31:04 --> 1:31:08
I don't want to say that there were some sort of revolutionary idealists

1644
1:31:09 --> 1:31:10
no, they were very pragmatic people

1645
1:31:11 --> 1:31:14
but I think they wanted people to be sort of enlightened

1646
1:31:15 --> 1:31:16
educated in the way that

1647
1:31:17 --> 1:31:19
we should bring these treasures to the people

1648
1:31:20 --> 1:31:25
so did Lenin realize that actually his revolution wouldn't survive

1649
1:31:26 --> 1:31:29
if they didn't try to get some semblance of truth

1650
1:31:30 --> 1:31:33
and the best way to get the truth was to look at world literature

1651
1:31:34 --> 1:31:37
it was a brilliant idea, Gorky's idea was unbelievably brilliant

1652
1:31:38 --> 1:31:39
I didn't know that though

1653
1:31:40 --> 1:31:41
anyway thank you so much

1654
1:31:42 --> 1:31:43
carry on please

1655
1:31:44 --> 1:31:49
yeah so I start the list with Iliad and Odyssey

1656
1:31:50 --> 1:31:55
and again in my list there are books we can say from the west and from the east

1657
1:31:56 --> 1:31:57
at some point they are like separated

1658
1:31:58 --> 1:32:00
because some books in the west like Bible

1659
1:32:01 --> 1:32:02
I didn't include the Bible in this list

1660
1:32:03 --> 1:32:04
but it should be there

1661
1:32:05 --> 1:32:06
and I want to show you an example

1662
1:32:07 --> 1:32:08
so we didn't study Bible in school

1663
1:32:09 --> 1:32:10
but in our recommendation literature to read

1664
1:32:11 --> 1:32:12
was this like small thin book

1665
1:32:13 --> 1:32:19
which have we can say adapted rendering of New Testament and Old Testament

1666
1:32:20 --> 1:32:23
so it got all the chapters all the books of Bible

1667
1:32:24 --> 1:32:26
also it's accompanied with the like illustrations

1668
1:32:27 --> 1:32:30
in the way that you know what these books about

1669
1:32:31 --> 1:32:34
because without this book you cannot read Dostoevsky

1670
1:32:35 --> 1:32:36
you cannot read other writers

1671
1:32:37 --> 1:32:41
the same Don Quixote you will not understand that at some points he's like Christ

1672
1:32:42 --> 1:32:47
there is an episode where by Mischief he's suspended by his hand after

1673
1:32:47 --> 1:32:50
sort of the last supper

1674
1:32:51 --> 1:32:52
where he was sitting at the table

1675
1:32:53 --> 1:32:57
a long elongated table with 12 people

1676
1:32:58 --> 1:32:59
and he was in the middle

1677
1:33:00 --> 1:33:01
and he was preaching something about kindness

1678
1:33:02 --> 1:33:04
and after that he's like suspended by his wrist

1679
1:33:05 --> 1:33:07
so it's referring like to Christ

1680
1:33:08 --> 1:33:09
it's a sort of Spanish Christ figure

1681
1:33:10 --> 1:33:13
yeah so that was the book important for reading

1682
1:33:14 --> 1:33:16
so was that a reference to the crucifixion?

1683
1:33:17 --> 1:33:19
in Don Quixote

1684
1:33:20 --> 1:33:22
the one where the scene where he's going

1685
1:33:23 --> 1:33:26
yeah so the story is like that

1686
1:33:27 --> 1:33:29
Sancho Panst in Don Quixote they go to the village

1687
1:33:30 --> 1:33:34
and they stay at some how say it like hotel all the time

1688
1:33:35 --> 1:33:37
and somebody brings the table

1689
1:33:38 --> 1:33:40
and Cervantes says there was no round table

1690
1:33:41 --> 1:33:42
and there was no square table

1691
1:33:43 --> 1:33:44
but there was like elongated table

1692
1:33:44 --> 1:33:48
so apart from Sancho Panst in Don Quixote

1693
1:33:49 --> 1:33:51
there are other 10 people at this table

1694
1:33:52 --> 1:33:54
sorry there are 12 people

1695
1:33:55 --> 1:33:58
including Sancho Panst and Don Quixote he is like 13

1696
1:33:59 --> 1:34:01
so there are like 12 disciples 12 apostles

1697
1:34:02 --> 1:34:04
and Don Quixote begins to speak something about

1698
1:34:05 --> 1:34:08
doing good about these heroic deeds

1699
1:34:09 --> 1:34:10
all the time Sancho Panst is telling them

1700
1:34:10 --> 1:34:12
senior senior you need to eat you need to eat

1701
1:34:13 --> 1:34:14
and he's like abstaining from food

1702
1:34:15 --> 1:34:16
so it resembles like the last supper

1703
1:34:17 --> 1:34:19
and then when everybody goes to sleep

1704
1:34:20 --> 1:34:21
Don Quixote because he's a knight

1705
1:34:22 --> 1:34:23
and he has to defend this castle

1706
1:34:24 --> 1:34:26
because he's thinking that this poor hotel is a castle

1707
1:34:27 --> 1:34:28
and he has to defend them

1708
1:34:29 --> 1:34:31
so he goes on vigilance with a spear

1709
1:34:32 --> 1:34:35
sitting on the horse outside this like hotel

1710
1:34:36 --> 1:34:37
where the gates are closed

1711
1:34:37 --> 1:34:40
and two ladies play a joke

1712
1:34:41 --> 1:34:43
so they go into high window and they shout him

1713
1:34:44 --> 1:34:45
Oh Don Quixote Don Quixote

1714
1:34:46 --> 1:34:48
can we touch your hand because you are a great person

1715
1:34:49 --> 1:34:51
we just want to touch the hand of the great man

1716
1:34:52 --> 1:34:53
so he's sitting on the horse

1717
1:34:54 --> 1:34:55
the window is high

1718
1:34:56 --> 1:34:57
he's putting hand like that and what they do

1719
1:34:58 --> 1:35:00
they take the bridle I think it's called bridle

1720
1:35:01 --> 1:35:03
bridle bridle bridle

1721
1:35:04 --> 1:35:06
which is actually the bridle from the donkey

1722
1:35:07 --> 1:35:08
they take a bridle

1723
1:35:09 --> 1:35:10
make a loop like make a noose

1724
1:35:11 --> 1:35:15
so they catch his wrist of his arm

1725
1:35:16 --> 1:35:21
and the other like end of this bridle

1726
1:35:22 --> 1:35:27
they tie it to the noose

1727
1:35:28 --> 1:35:29
the noose

1728
1:35:30 --> 1:35:32
so they tie to something

1729
1:35:33 --> 1:35:34
so he's fixed and he cannot escape

1730
1:35:35 --> 1:35:36
his hand is up he's sitting on the horse

1731
1:35:37 --> 1:35:38
by the way I think he stood on the horse

1732
1:35:39 --> 1:35:41
so actually he stood to get to this window

1733
1:35:42 --> 1:35:43
he's standing on this horse

1734
1:35:44 --> 1:35:48
and he's barely breathing because he's afraid that the horse will run away

1735
1:35:49 --> 1:35:50
and he will just cannot

1736
1:35:51 --> 1:35:52
and the horse eventually goes away

1737
1:35:53 --> 1:35:54
and he is experiencing a crusading pain

1738
1:35:55 --> 1:35:56
and he's on this wrist

1739
1:35:57 --> 1:35:58
eventually somebody took him down

1740
1:35:59 --> 1:36:00
but for me it's some sort of

1741
1:36:01 --> 1:36:02
I don't know how to describe it

1742
1:36:03 --> 1:36:05
is it a parody or is it a referral to the Last Supper

1743
1:36:05 --> 1:36:06
and crucifixion of the Christ?

1744
1:36:07 --> 1:36:08
exactly

1745
1:36:09 --> 1:36:10
well the latter probably

1746
1:36:11 --> 1:36:13
but the thing is that with Don Quixote

1747
1:36:14 --> 1:36:18
many episodes they could be interpreted in different ways

1748
1:36:19 --> 1:36:20
ambiguous

1749
1:36:21 --> 1:36:22
it's not something like

1750
1:36:23 --> 1:36:24
it's not something like Steven Spielberg movies

1751
1:36:25 --> 1:36:26
where everything is chewed up

1752
1:36:27 --> 1:36:28
there is no ambiguity

1753
1:36:29 --> 1:36:30
you know definitely what's going on

1754
1:36:31 --> 1:36:32
there is no mystery

1755
1:36:33 --> 1:36:34
like in Kubrick's movies we are puzzling

1756
1:36:35 --> 1:36:36
we are not going to go on there

1757
1:36:37 --> 1:36:38
so some of the chapters of Don Quixote is like that

1758
1:36:39 --> 1:36:41
we are trying to get into his head

1759
1:36:42 --> 1:36:43
it's not always described

1760
1:36:44 --> 1:36:45
and we are trying

1761
1:36:46 --> 1:36:47
and there are like do you know these sort of associations

1762
1:36:48 --> 1:36:49
just quick example

1763
1:36:50 --> 1:36:52
he's encountering people who are

1764
1:36:53 --> 1:36:55
Don Quixote encountering people who are in this desert

1765
1:36:56 --> 1:36:57
have a carriage with lions

1766
1:36:58 --> 1:36:59
I think with two lions

1767
1:37:00 --> 1:37:01
he's approaching them

1768
1:37:02 --> 1:37:03
he's with Sanchez Panza

1769
1:37:03 --> 1:37:04
and he's saying oh another heroic dance

1770
1:37:05 --> 1:37:06
can you open the

1771
1:37:07 --> 1:37:09
door of this cage so I can fight these lions

1772
1:37:10 --> 1:37:11
everybody is afraid

1773
1:37:12 --> 1:37:13
Sanchez Panza is saying no senior please

1774
1:37:14 --> 1:37:15
they will eat us

1775
1:37:16 --> 1:37:18
the guys who are carrying this lion saying that

1776
1:37:19 --> 1:37:20
is he crazy

1777
1:37:21 --> 1:37:22
Sanchez Panza is saying no he's not crazy

1778
1:37:23 --> 1:37:24
but he is audacious

1779
1:37:25 --> 1:37:26
he's a hero

1780
1:37:27 --> 1:37:28
eventually everybody runs away

1781
1:37:29 --> 1:37:30
they open the door

1782
1:37:31 --> 1:37:32
and the lion just stretching itself

1783
1:37:33 --> 1:37:34
Don Quixote is saying something

1784
1:37:35 --> 1:37:36
but the lion goes back

1785
1:37:37 --> 1:37:38
so that's all heroic did

1786
1:37:39 --> 1:37:40
but what it shows

1787
1:37:41 --> 1:37:42
that actually

1788
1:37:43 --> 1:37:44
there are

1789
1:37:45 --> 1:37:46
I will say associations with something

1790
1:37:47 --> 1:37:48
which happened in the old Spanish epic song

1791
1:37:49 --> 1:37:50
about El Cid

1792
1:37:51 --> 1:37:52
national hero of Spain

1793
1:37:53 --> 1:37:54
where this hero El Cid

1794
1:37:55 --> 1:37:57
again there was a lion who went out of the cage

1795
1:37:58 --> 1:37:59
everybody ran away

1796
1:38:00 --> 1:38:01
but this El Cid

1797
1:38:01 --> 1:38:02
he shouted at the lion

1798
1:38:03 --> 1:38:04
took the lion by

1799
1:38:05 --> 1:38:06
how say it

1800
1:38:07 --> 1:38:08
by the neck and threw away

1801
1:38:09 --> 1:38:10
by the scruff of the neck

1802
1:38:11 --> 1:38:12
and I'm thinking

1803
1:38:13 --> 1:38:14
is it a referral to this episode

1804
1:38:15 --> 1:38:16
maybe it's the same lion

1805
1:38:17 --> 1:38:18
because he already knew that

1806
1:38:19 --> 1:38:20
you don't play

1807
1:38:21 --> 1:38:23
jokes with national heroes of Spain

1808
1:38:24 --> 1:38:26
like this El Cid or Don Quixote

1809
1:38:27 --> 1:38:28
so the lion just retired

1810
1:38:29 --> 1:38:30
but again it just shows that

1811
1:38:31 --> 1:38:33
Don Quixote changes his title

1812
1:38:34 --> 1:38:35
so it's like important again moment

1813
1:38:36 --> 1:38:37
and we can interpret it in many ways

1814
1:38:38 --> 1:38:39
it just shows that

1815
1:38:40 --> 1:38:41
and also the question like why the lion retreated

1816
1:38:42 --> 1:38:44
was it interference of God or Providence

1817
1:38:45 --> 1:38:46
or was it a fate

1818
1:38:49 --> 1:38:50
Yeah

1819
1:38:51 --> 1:38:52
So Yevgeny

1820
1:38:53 --> 1:38:54
just very quickly

1821
1:38:55 --> 1:38:56
you're from the Soviet Russia

1822
1:38:57 --> 1:38:58
and

1823
1:38:59 --> 1:39:00
and

1824
1:39:01 --> 1:39:02
I think you

1825
1:39:04 --> 1:39:05
you're from the kind of

1826
1:39:06 --> 1:39:07
mid 70s is that correct

1827
1:39:08 --> 1:39:09
that's about the time you were

1828
1:39:10 --> 1:39:11
you came to life as it were

1829
1:39:12 --> 1:39:13
Yeah

1830
1:39:14 --> 1:39:17
So there was quite a bit of the Soviet Union still to run

1831
1:39:18 --> 1:39:21
but so there's a massively rich culture

1832
1:39:22 --> 1:39:23
in Soviet Russia

1833
1:39:24 --> 1:39:25
and then of course in Germany

1834
1:39:26 --> 1:39:27
and

1835
1:39:28 --> 1:39:29
and then of course you've got

1836
1:39:29 --> 1:39:31
Spain and Italy

1837
1:39:32 --> 1:39:34
and which Greece as well

1838
1:39:35 --> 1:39:37
but which of these cultures

1839
1:39:38 --> 1:39:40
you seem to be an admirer of the Spanish culture

1840
1:39:41 --> 1:39:42
is that right

1841
1:39:43 --> 1:39:44
is that the richest culture in your opinion or not

1842
1:39:45 --> 1:39:46
Ah

1843
1:39:47 --> 1:39:48
I would say like that

1844
1:39:49 --> 1:39:50
all world

1845
1:39:51 --> 1:39:52
all world

1846
1:39:53 --> 1:39:54
because there are treasures

1847
1:39:55 --> 1:39:56
which are spreaded everywhere

1848
1:39:57 --> 1:39:58
everywhere

1849
1:39:59 --> 1:40:01
you take the continent and you will find something there

1850
1:40:02 --> 1:40:04
you can take for example African continent

1851
1:40:05 --> 1:40:08
and I got anthology from this 200 like best books

1852
1:40:09 --> 1:40:11
and it comprises the best poets

1853
1:40:12 --> 1:40:13
of 20th century in Africa

1854
1:40:14 --> 1:40:16
in every single African country

1855
1:40:17 --> 1:40:18
Sure

1856
1:40:19 --> 1:40:20
You can see some stuff which is

1857
1:40:21 --> 1:40:22
we can see is like sort of political

1858
1:40:23 --> 1:40:25
and also like audacious what they wrote

1859
1:40:26 --> 1:40:27
Yeah

1860
1:40:27 --> 1:40:28
and there is stuff experimental

1861
1:40:29 --> 1:40:30
and there is a variety of that

1862
1:40:31 --> 1:40:32
and the same with Latin America

1863
1:40:33 --> 1:40:34
Hmm

1864
1:40:35 --> 1:40:37
So we can't ignore any of it

1865
1:40:38 --> 1:40:40
essentially because the genius might come from

1866
1:40:41 --> 1:40:42
the genius might come from anywhere

1867
1:40:43 --> 1:40:44
Yeah

1868
1:40:44 --> 1:40:45
It can't be predicted

1869
1:40:46 --> 1:40:47
Is that right?

1870
1:40:47 --> 1:40:48
Yeah because the treasures

1871
1:40:49 --> 1:40:50
the treasures like they are spreaded everywhere

1872
1:40:51 --> 1:40:52
but there are certain books I would say

1873
1:40:53 --> 1:40:54
that are very influential

1874
1:40:55 --> 1:40:56
they appear at certain time

1875
1:40:57 --> 1:40:58
and they are like these things

1876
1:40:59 --> 1:41:01
like I will say that

1877
1:41:02 --> 1:41:03
Russian culture is close

1878
1:41:04 --> 1:41:05
we can say in spirit to European cultures

1879
1:41:06 --> 1:41:07
in great extent

1880
1:41:08 --> 1:41:09
Hmm

1881
1:41:10 --> 1:41:11
Don Quixote is we can say

1882
1:41:12 --> 1:41:13
is a Russian character as well

1883
1:41:14 --> 1:41:15
in Moscow by the way Spain at some point

1884
1:41:16 --> 1:41:17
I think it was in 60s and 70s

1885
1:41:18 --> 1:41:19
they give a present a copy of the monument

1886
1:41:20 --> 1:41:21
to Cervantes

1887
1:41:22 --> 1:41:23
so it's in Moscow in one of the parks

1888
1:41:24 --> 1:41:25
and the thing is that

1889
1:41:25 --> 1:41:27
again because of our writers and poets

1890
1:41:28 --> 1:41:29
like Pasternak

1891
1:41:30 --> 1:41:32
these writers they are like part of our

1892
1:41:33 --> 1:41:35
sort of cultural background

1893
1:41:36 --> 1:41:37
they are like in our

1894
1:41:38 --> 1:41:39
in a head

1895
1:41:40 --> 1:41:42
in a similar way where my parents can tell me that

1896
1:41:43 --> 1:41:44
or you are fighting with windmills

1897
1:41:45 --> 1:41:46
like with this your psychiatry things

1898
1:41:47 --> 1:41:48
what you are trying to do

1899
1:41:49 --> 1:41:50
it's like

1900
1:41:51 --> 1:41:52
sort of crazy behavior where you are jumping on

1901
1:41:53 --> 1:41:54
these lines

1902
1:41:55 --> 1:41:56
and you don't know what are the consequences

1903
1:41:57 --> 1:41:58
but the main point is to be audacious

1904
1:41:59 --> 1:42:00
so that's the thing that you learn

1905
1:42:01 --> 1:42:02
Yeah we like danger don't we

1906
1:42:03 --> 1:42:04
and to restore justice

1907
1:42:05 --> 1:42:06
so that's like

1908
1:42:07 --> 1:42:08
that's the idea in Don Quixote

1909
1:42:09 --> 1:42:10
Yeah

1910
1:42:11 --> 1:42:13
So Jenny I think people will be very interested in your list

1911
1:42:14 --> 1:42:15
and I wonder whether

1912
1:42:16 --> 1:42:17
how you organized it

1913
1:42:18 --> 1:42:19
so have you started

1914
1:42:20 --> 1:42:21
is it kind of the first books

1915
1:42:22 --> 1:42:23
are they the most important in your view

1916
1:42:23 --> 1:42:25
or are they just the first you thought of

1917
1:42:26 --> 1:42:28
No I think they are in chronological order

1918
1:42:29 --> 1:42:31
I just took the list of these 200 volumes

1919
1:42:32 --> 1:42:33
and I look at them

1920
1:42:34 --> 1:42:35
200 not 100

1921
1:42:36 --> 1:42:37
How to explain that

1922
1:42:38 --> 1:42:39
these 200 volumes

1923
1:42:40 --> 1:42:41
like Russian project

1924
1:42:42 --> 1:42:43
some of the books they included

1925
1:42:44 --> 1:42:45
books so in one

1926
1:42:46 --> 1:42:47
under one cover

1927
1:42:48 --> 1:42:49
for example under this cover

1928
1:42:50 --> 1:42:51
there are

1929
1:42:51 --> 1:42:52
six different dramatists

1930
1:42:53 --> 1:42:54
and several plays

1931
1:42:55 --> 1:42:56
so they are under one cover

1932
1:42:57 --> 1:42:58
so I counted them one volume

1933
1:42:59 --> 1:43:00
I understand

1934
1:43:01 --> 1:43:02
for example the Picaresque novels

1935
1:43:03 --> 1:43:04
there are six novels there

1936
1:43:05 --> 1:43:06
five of them are Spanish

1937
1:43:07 --> 1:43:08
and the sixth one is by Thomas Nash

1938
1:43:09 --> 1:43:10
actually who was a contemporary of Shakespeare

1939
1:43:11 --> 1:43:12
so there are six of them

1940
1:43:13 --> 1:43:14
but in my list it's like very

1941
1:43:15 --> 1:43:16
compromised thing

1942
1:43:17 --> 1:43:18
I tried to pick up something like

1943
1:43:19 --> 1:43:20
important and they are arranged just in chronological order

1944
1:43:21 --> 1:43:22
So which is the best way to

1945
1:43:23 --> 1:43:24
talk about these books so that we mention

1946
1:43:25 --> 1:43:26
each one of them

1947
1:43:32 --> 1:43:34
So what I'm essentially trying to do is

1948
1:43:35 --> 1:43:36
so it's not just the people on the call

1949
1:43:37 --> 1:43:38
people watch these videos afterwards

1950
1:43:39 --> 1:43:40
you know and it may be that

1951
1:43:41 --> 1:43:42
you know this is your first interview ever

1952
1:43:43 --> 1:43:45
well if it's an interview I can't interview

1953
1:43:46 --> 1:43:47
but I'm trying my best

1954
1:43:48 --> 1:43:49
and so I think that people

1955
1:43:49 --> 1:43:50
will be very interested in your list

1956
1:43:51 --> 1:43:52
and I'm trying to sell the list

1957
1:43:53 --> 1:43:55
and the reason why they need to look at the list

1958
1:43:56 --> 1:43:57
which you've explained

1959
1:43:58 --> 1:43:59
but maybe people have missed it

1960
1:44:00 --> 1:44:01
you know you've got limited time now

1961
1:44:02 --> 1:44:04
when you're a teen you think you've got all the time in the world

1962
1:44:05 --> 1:44:06
but actually

1963
1:44:07 --> 1:44:09
other things take over and you haven't got much time to read

1964
1:44:10 --> 1:44:11
so most people anyway

1965
1:44:12 --> 1:44:13
a lot of people like you make time

1966
1:44:14 --> 1:44:15
So I would say that

1967
1:44:17 --> 1:44:18
the people who are interested in the

1968
1:44:19 --> 1:44:22
books which are so the list is arranged in chronological order

1969
1:44:23 --> 1:44:25
it's chronological order starting from the ancient times to the

1970
1:44:26 --> 1:44:27
like 20th 21st century

1971
1:44:28 --> 1:44:29
so and

1972
1:44:30 --> 1:44:33
the older we can say the book the most cultural importance

1973
1:44:34 --> 1:44:36
because it's influenced more literature that followed it

1974
1:44:37 --> 1:44:39
for example Don Quixote was influenced by books which

1975
1:44:40 --> 1:44:42
appeared before that and Don Quixote influenced literature

1976
1:44:43 --> 1:44:44
which came after that

1977
1:44:45 --> 1:44:46
so I will recommend maybe to start with the first

1978
1:44:47 --> 1:44:48
books in this list

1979
1:44:49 --> 1:44:51
I will give an example although in my list for example

1980
1:44:52 --> 1:44:53
number 11 is Dante Divine Comedy

1981
1:44:54 --> 1:44:56
to appreciate it you need to know

1982
1:44:57 --> 1:44:59
to know for example almost like by heart

1983
1:45:00 --> 1:45:02
Virgil's Aeneid number four

1984
1:45:03 --> 1:45:04
it's about what has happened after

1985
1:45:05 --> 1:45:06
the sack of Troy

1986
1:45:07 --> 1:45:08
with Aeneas his travel

1987
1:45:09 --> 1:45:11
because a lot of stuff Dante

1988
1:45:12 --> 1:45:14
putting in Divine Comedy is taken from

1989
1:45:15 --> 1:45:16
Virgil's Aeneid

1990
1:45:16 --> 1:45:18
so at the top of the list is

1991
1:45:19 --> 1:45:20
Aeneid and Odyssey

1992
1:45:21 --> 1:45:23
and European culture like in my opinion is based upon

1993
1:45:24 --> 1:45:26
his text plus Bible mostly

1994
1:45:27 --> 1:45:29
because even I mentioned Dante

1995
1:45:30 --> 1:45:31
is influenced by Virgil

1996
1:45:32 --> 1:45:34
but Virgil is influenced by Aeneas

1997
1:45:35 --> 1:45:36
and Odyssey

1998
1:45:37 --> 1:45:39
because if there was no Homer there would be no poem Aeneid

1999
1:45:41 --> 1:45:43
a lot of even episodes in Aeneid

2000
1:45:43 --> 1:45:44
they rhymes with a

2001
1:45:45 --> 1:45:47
like Homer the sort of homage

2002
1:45:48 --> 1:45:49
but in the by another poet

2003
1:45:50 --> 1:45:52
so he's doing something on the same topic

2004
1:45:53 --> 1:45:54
but in a different way

2005
1:45:55 --> 1:45:56
so that's why maybe from the top of the list

2006
1:45:57 --> 1:45:59
then Ramayana it's an ancient epic poem

2007
1:46:00 --> 1:46:01
from India it's important

2008
1:46:02 --> 1:46:04
in the way that if you go to the west

2009
1:46:05 --> 1:46:07
India Sri Lanka Vietnam Cambodia

2010
1:46:08 --> 1:46:10
Thailand a lot of imagery there in the temples

2011
1:46:10 --> 1:46:11
music as theater

2012
1:46:12 --> 1:46:13
is based upon the story

2013
1:46:14 --> 1:46:15
because for this agent

2014
1:46:16 --> 1:46:17
it wasn't the Bible

2015
1:46:18 --> 1:46:19
it was Ramayana

2016
1:46:20 --> 1:46:22
one of the ancient epic poems from India

2017
1:46:23 --> 1:46:25
then in my list Apuleos the Golden Ass

2018
1:46:26 --> 1:46:27
it's a fantastic thing

2019
1:46:28 --> 1:46:29
it's the novel from the ancient Rome

2020
1:46:30 --> 1:46:32
I think it's the start of the second century

2021
1:46:33 --> 1:46:34
which survived totally

2022
1:46:35 --> 1:46:37
and the influenced European literature

2023
1:46:38 --> 1:46:39
it influenced the

2024
1:46:40 --> 1:46:42
it influenced European right like

2025
1:46:43 --> 1:46:45
Decameron Bacaccio for example number 12

2026
1:46:46 --> 1:46:48
several of his novels are based upon this writer

2027
1:46:49 --> 1:46:51
in Don Quixote there are several episodes

2028
1:46:52 --> 1:46:54
which are sort of homage or remake

2029
1:46:55 --> 1:46:56
of some things from Golden Ass

2030
1:46:57 --> 1:46:58
and it's written in a fantastic way

2031
1:46:59 --> 1:47:01
it's the story of the man who by mistake

2032
1:47:02 --> 1:47:04
was turned from the human being into donkey

2033
1:47:05 --> 1:47:06
and his travel and what's going on

2034
1:47:07 --> 1:47:08
it's a fantastic book

2035
1:47:08 --> 1:47:10
then number five I put

2036
1:47:11 --> 1:47:13
Icelandic sagas there are a lot of them

2037
1:47:14 --> 1:47:15
but these are family sagas

2038
1:47:16 --> 1:47:17
and they are very dramatic

2039
1:47:18 --> 1:47:19
the first one Gisli saga

2040
1:47:20 --> 1:47:21
is how one brother

2041
1:47:22 --> 1:47:23
saved another brother

2042
1:47:24 --> 1:47:26
and how the brother whom he saved betrayed him

2043
1:47:27 --> 1:47:29
so and Gisli the main character

2044
1:47:30 --> 1:47:32
because of the betrayal he need to go to exile

2045
1:47:33 --> 1:47:34
he need to hide himself

2046
1:47:35 --> 1:47:36
to save himself from the foes

2047
1:47:36 --> 1:47:37
it's very dramatic

2048
1:47:38 --> 1:47:40
and the thing is that it's based upon real story

2049
1:47:41 --> 1:47:42
but it's written in a literary way

2050
1:47:43 --> 1:47:44
10,000 years ago it's unimaginable

2051
1:47:45 --> 1:47:46
and Jalsaga again

2052
1:47:47 --> 1:47:48
a story how the

2053
1:47:49 --> 1:47:50
the young girl

2054
1:47:51 --> 1:47:52
with the naughty character

2055
1:47:53 --> 1:47:54
destroyed her three husbands

2056
1:47:55 --> 1:47:57
and how she brought the destruction to all her family

2057
1:47:58 --> 1:47:59
and to all people in this family

2058
1:48:00 --> 1:48:01
again a real story

2059
1:48:02 --> 1:48:03
written in a dramatic way

2060
1:48:04 --> 1:48:05
and you're just amazed

2061
1:48:06 --> 1:48:07
how people

2062
1:48:08 --> 1:48:09
were telling this family stories

2063
1:48:10 --> 1:48:12
which are based upon real events

2064
1:48:13 --> 1:48:14
in real locations

2065
1:48:15 --> 1:48:16
in Iceland

2066
1:48:17 --> 1:48:19
how they are written from a literary point of view

2067
1:48:20 --> 1:48:21
number six I unite

2068
1:48:22 --> 1:48:23
text epic poems at the start of European literature

2069
1:48:24 --> 1:48:25
it's Beowulf

2070
1:48:26 --> 1:48:27
a poetic athetis

2071
1:48:28 --> 1:48:29
Icelandic sagas about the gods

2072
1:48:30 --> 1:48:31
the Song of Nibelungs

2073
1:48:32 --> 1:48:35
some of these things they are based again upon real stories

2074
1:48:36 --> 1:48:37
about the dragons

2075
1:48:38 --> 1:48:39
and the dragons

2076
1:48:40 --> 1:48:44
and it's interesting how the poets of the time transformed everything into some sort of legendary events and heroic deeds

2077
1:48:45 --> 1:48:46
fighting the dragons

2078
1:48:47 --> 1:48:48
number eight Kalivala

2079
1:48:49 --> 1:48:50
which was influenced by

2080
1:48:51 --> 1:48:52
which influenced Tolkien

2081
1:48:54 --> 1:48:56
this is an old Finnish epic song

2082
1:48:58 --> 1:48:59
if we look at them

2083
1:49:00 --> 1:49:02
we can say social relations

2084
1:49:03 --> 1:49:04
or relations between people

2085
1:49:04 --> 1:49:07
and Kalivala it predates even Homed, Iliad and Odyssey

2086
1:49:08 --> 1:49:09
it's more archaic in this way

2087
1:49:10 --> 1:49:13
it describes this like state of the mind of people

2088
1:49:14 --> 1:49:15
even before kings appeared

2089
1:49:16 --> 1:49:18
and it's a fantastic piece

2090
1:49:19 --> 1:49:20
number nine Arabian Nights

2091
1:49:21 --> 1:49:22
nothing to introduce people know what is that

2092
1:49:23 --> 1:49:24
there are different anthologies of this

2093
1:49:25 --> 1:49:28
I will recommend the translation of Richard Burton

2094
1:49:29 --> 1:49:31
so he was an explorer in Victorian England

2095
1:49:32 --> 1:49:33
who by the way

2096
1:49:34 --> 1:49:36
entered Mecca in disguise

2097
1:49:37 --> 1:49:38
as an infidel

2098
1:49:39 --> 1:49:40
and in certain way

2099
1:49:41 --> 1:49:44
how he translated Arabian Nights is like Odyssey

2100
1:49:45 --> 1:49:47
describing his travels

2101
1:49:48 --> 1:49:49
fantastic thing

2102
1:49:50 --> 1:49:52
then number ten Shahnameh

2103
1:49:53 --> 1:49:55
it's an epic poem from Persia, Iran

2104
1:49:56 --> 1:49:57
number eleven Dante

2105
1:49:58 --> 1:49:59
it's a separate story we can make a program about this

2106
1:50:00 --> 1:50:02
we can talk about Divine Comedy like thousands

2107
1:50:02 --> 1:50:05
it's the work of the genius

2108
1:50:06 --> 1:50:11
who was going through middle ages to renaissance period

2109
1:50:12 --> 1:50:14
and this is like a whole universe

2110
1:50:15 --> 1:50:16
the way he describes

2111
1:50:17 --> 1:50:18
so he created universe which we see now about

2112
1:50:19 --> 1:50:21
Inferno, Purgatoria and Paradise

2113
1:50:22 --> 1:50:23
great piece

2114
1:50:24 --> 1:50:25
the next one Bacaccio

2115
1:50:26 --> 1:50:27
it's a collection of the novels

2116
1:50:28 --> 1:50:31
the same city as Dante, Florence

2117
1:50:32 --> 1:50:35
again a huge influence on European literature

2118
1:50:36 --> 1:50:37
Chossa

2119
1:50:38 --> 1:50:42
so this is perfect just giving a couple of sentences on each

2120
1:50:43 --> 1:50:44
that's brilliant again

2121
1:50:45 --> 1:50:46
then the next one 14

2122
1:50:47 --> 1:50:49
14 and 15 it's two utopias

2123
1:50:50 --> 1:50:52
there were several utopias written in 16th, 17th century

2124
1:50:53 --> 1:50:56
we know Thomas More who wrote utopia about ideal communist state

2125
1:50:57 --> 1:50:58
and number 15

2126
1:50:59 --> 1:51:01
there was a writer

2127
1:51:02 --> 1:51:03
called Cyrano de Bergerac

2128
1:51:04 --> 1:51:06
it's like some sort of musketeer

2129
1:51:07 --> 1:51:08
it's like almost D'Artagnan he was a real person

2130
1:51:09 --> 1:51:11
and he wrote a book about his travel to the moon

2131
1:51:12 --> 1:51:13
where he describes utopian state

2132
1:51:14 --> 1:51:18
but in this book he predicted how you can go into the space travel

2133
1:51:19 --> 1:51:23
using stage rockets on the sides of your spaceship

2134
1:51:24 --> 1:51:28
he describes how he felt that the gravity of the earth leaves him

2135
1:51:29 --> 1:51:30
and he feels the gravity of the moon

2136
1:51:30 --> 1:51:33
and that's written in 1640

2137
1:51:34 --> 1:51:38
so that's just the middle of 17th century

2138
1:51:39 --> 1:51:42
the time of musketeers, the time of civil war in the UK

2139
1:51:43 --> 1:51:45
and in this book he describes how in this planet

2140
1:51:46 --> 1:51:47
in this utopian state in the moon

2141
1:51:48 --> 1:51:49
there are no libraries

2142
1:51:50 --> 1:51:51
I mean like there are no books like in humans

2143
1:51:52 --> 1:51:54
they have mechanical devices that are winded up

2144
1:51:55 --> 1:51:58
they put them as an ear into their earlobes

2145
1:51:58 --> 1:52:00
and the mechanical voice tells them the book

2146
1:52:01 --> 1:52:05
and their students they study better

2147
1:52:06 --> 1:52:08
because all the time they are wearing these things and they are studying

2148
1:52:09 --> 1:52:11
and this is guys again the middle of 17th century

2149
1:52:12 --> 1:52:14
huge predictions and they are a lot of fun

2150
1:52:15 --> 1:52:16
so this is Cyrano de Bergerac

2151
1:52:17 --> 1:52:18
the next one Francois Rabelais

2152
1:52:19 --> 1:52:21
this is like the funny book to read

2153
1:52:22 --> 1:52:24
the author was a doctor and he described a lot of

2154
1:52:24 --> 1:52:27
funny moments with the main characters

2155
1:52:28 --> 1:52:32
I cannot even describe this book

2156
1:52:33 --> 1:52:34
but it's just something

2157
1:52:35 --> 1:52:37
the next one people know Shakespeare

2158
1:52:38 --> 1:52:39
his main planes

2159
1:52:40 --> 1:52:41
he wrote a lot of plays but there are plays

2160
1:52:42 --> 1:52:43
I believe that we need to read again

2161
1:52:44 --> 1:52:46
because there are referrals to them all the time

2162
1:52:47 --> 1:52:48
Cervantes we have a talk

2163
1:52:49 --> 1:52:52
19th I already mentioned Queveda and Buscon

2164
1:52:52 --> 1:52:57
it's like one of the picaresque novels by this minister of king of Spain

2165
1:52:58 --> 1:53:00
where he describes a scandal

2166
1:53:01 --> 1:53:03
the next one Pascal the philosopher

2167
1:53:04 --> 1:53:06
thoughts Milton Paradise Lost

2168
1:53:07 --> 1:53:09
again it's a great poem

2169
1:53:10 --> 1:53:17
which it's not a coincidence that appeared during the huge social upheaval in England

2170
1:53:18 --> 1:53:19
when there was a civil war

2171
1:53:19 --> 1:53:25
you can even see some sort of historic parallels in this retelling of the bible

2172
1:53:26 --> 1:53:27
great piece

2173
1:53:28 --> 1:53:29
22 Grimmelshausen

2174
1:53:30 --> 1:53:36
so this is 17th century and this writer described the life of the person during I think 7 year world war

2175
1:53:37 --> 1:53:40
7 year war

2176
1:53:41 --> 1:53:42
huge piece

2177
1:53:43 --> 1:53:45
23 Robert Burns Scottish poet and ballad

2178
1:53:46 --> 1:53:48
although he's from Scotland he doesn't belong to Scotland

2179
1:53:49 --> 1:53:50
but in this century it's something

2180
1:53:51 --> 1:53:52
it's about humanity it's about justice

2181
1:53:53 --> 1:53:55
it's about that it doesn't matter what rank you are

2182
1:53:56 --> 1:53:57
and how much gold you are

2183
1:53:58 --> 1:54:00
you still be a fool if you are a fool

2184
1:54:01 --> 1:54:04
everything in a human person is his brain and his honor

2185
1:54:05 --> 1:54:06
so this is Robert Burns

2186
1:54:07 --> 1:54:08
24 Faust

2187
1:54:09 --> 1:54:10
that's really important isn't it

2188
1:54:11 --> 1:54:12
yeah go ahead

2189
1:54:13 --> 1:54:15
yeah so Goethe Faust influential text

2190
1:54:16 --> 1:54:17
a lot of questions

2191
1:54:17 --> 1:54:21
should we sell our soul to the devil for the best in this world for immortality

2192
1:54:22 --> 1:54:27
and there are a lot of variations of this topic in the literature before Goethe and after that

2193
1:54:28 --> 1:54:30
Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe

2194
1:54:31 --> 1:54:35
an experiment can the person survive in an uninhabited island

2195
1:54:36 --> 1:54:42
by the way it's interesting how in this book when he met the first human being he turned him into slave into his servant

2196
1:54:43 --> 1:54:44
it's funny

2197
1:54:44 --> 1:54:49
yeah but also Defoe teaches us that when everything is bad in your life

2198
1:54:50 --> 1:54:53
you need to look at the bright sides of the life and you see also positives

2199
1:54:54 --> 1:54:56
it's like Robinson Crusoe making a list

2200
1:54:57 --> 1:54:58
I am saved that's good

2201
1:54:59 --> 1:55:00
I have five grains of wheat it's good

2202
1:55:01 --> 1:55:02
I have a dog that's good

2203
1:55:03 --> 1:55:07
so to balance the bads and goods evils and goods in our life

2204
1:55:08 --> 1:55:11
then the next two writers this is 18th century France

2205
1:55:12 --> 1:55:13
this is just before evolution

2206
1:55:14 --> 1:55:18
this shows one of the book the dangerous liaison

2207
1:55:19 --> 1:55:23
it just shows there what was the moral codex of the aristocracy

2208
1:55:24 --> 1:55:26
how they were betraying each other

2209
1:55:27 --> 1:55:28
framing each other

2210
1:55:29 --> 1:55:31
but it's fantastic pics and the first one Manon Lusco

2211
1:55:32 --> 1:55:36
this is the first psychological French novel published maybe like 1740

2212
1:55:37 --> 1:55:41
and it describes what I like the psychology of the people

2213
1:55:41 --> 1:55:44
the main character the young man he describes his love

2214
1:55:45 --> 1:55:49
the lady who abandons him and then comes him back saying that he loves him

2215
1:55:50 --> 1:55:53
and then he abandoned so he does that like several times in the book

2216
1:55:54 --> 1:55:56
when I was reading this book first time I was just tortured

2217
1:55:57 --> 1:55:58
you know tortured

2218
1:55:59 --> 1:56:00
I was thinking oh my god

2219
1:56:01 --> 1:56:03
and the thing is that he goes into the head of the characters

2220
1:56:04 --> 1:56:07
so he describes like what he thinks and what he feels it's fantastic

2221
1:56:08 --> 1:56:09
it's very short

2222
1:56:09 --> 1:56:14
and there are two operas

2223
1:56:15 --> 1:56:21
one of them is by Puccini and another by Masnet

2224
1:56:22 --> 1:56:27
so French composers created both of them are masterpieces

2225
1:56:28 --> 1:56:32
both of them based upon Galvestre's travels

2226
1:56:33 --> 1:56:34
it's not a book for the children

2227
1:56:35 --> 1:56:38
actually it's a satire if you reread it you will see the same

2228
1:56:39 --> 1:56:44
you know the same thing about the parliament about the judges about science about academy

2229
1:56:45 --> 1:56:52
it's the book which just shows that nothing has changed since the time of Anne of Stuart

2230
1:56:53 --> 1:56:56
early 18th century England

2231
1:56:57 --> 1:57:03
the corruption of the power and the hypocrisy and the bribe elections

2232
1:57:04 --> 1:57:05
everything is the same

2233
1:57:05 --> 1:57:08
the next one Goldsmith the Wicker Wakefield

2234
1:57:09 --> 1:57:13
I think it's one of the we can say proper realistic novels in 18th century

2235
1:57:14 --> 1:57:15
Tolstoy adored it

2236
1:57:16 --> 1:57:17
so Tolstoy liked Wicker Wakefield

2237
1:57:18 --> 1:57:20
the next one Stern the life and the penis of Tristan Chandler

2238
1:57:21 --> 1:57:22
that's a funny book

2239
1:57:23 --> 1:57:24
it's sort of literary experiment

2240
1:57:25 --> 1:57:27
forget about what's his name

2241
1:57:28 --> 1:57:30
Marokami the Japanese writer

2242
1:57:31 --> 1:57:32
forget about him

2243
1:57:32 --> 1:57:35
all these experiments were already done in the past and one of them by Stern

2244
1:57:36 --> 1:57:39
so this book which promises to show the life and the penis

2245
1:57:40 --> 1:57:43
almost the whole book is spent for the pregnancy of his mother

2246
1:57:44 --> 1:57:47
and his early like years when he's just barely working and speaking

2247
1:57:48 --> 1:57:52
like age of two and all the time the writer is just annoying and teasing us

2248
1:57:53 --> 1:57:56
and one of the pages in this book is just a black page there is no text there

2249
1:57:57 --> 1:57:58
it's a huge huge fun

2250
1:57:59 --> 1:58:00
the next one 31 Schiller

2251
1:58:00 --> 1:58:02
this his plays Mary Stuart

2252
1:58:03 --> 1:58:04
Tilly Oll...

2253
1:58:06 --> 1:58:07
what's his name?

2254
1:58:08 --> 1:58:09
Wilhelm Tell and the rest

2255
1:58:10 --> 1:58:11
they just influence Don Carlos

2256
1:58:12 --> 1:58:14
they influence political thinking in Europe

2257
1:58:15 --> 1:58:16
they are very influential

2258
1:58:17 --> 1:58:20
and it's not a surprise that one of the poems

2259
1:58:21 --> 1:58:25
by Schiller is the text lyric of Ninth Symphony by Beethoven

2260
1:58:26 --> 1:58:27
Schiller is something

2261
1:58:28 --> 1:58:29
very influential

2262
1:58:30 --> 1:58:32
the next one Anderson fairy tales

2263
1:58:33 --> 1:58:35
again they are not tales for the children

2264
1:58:36 --> 1:58:39
it's the tales about adults in disguise of fairy tales

2265
1:58:40 --> 1:58:44
it's like the swing head and the porcelain like ballerina

2266
1:58:45 --> 1:58:47
when this swing head

2267
1:58:48 --> 1:58:49
they sit on a mantelpiece I think

2268
1:58:50 --> 1:58:51
and he said let's see the huge world

2269
1:58:52 --> 1:58:54
so she follows him to the roof but then she's afraid and says

2270
1:58:55 --> 1:58:56
oh we should return back like to the flat

2271
1:58:57 --> 1:58:59
for me it reminds like the husband who is restrained by his wife sort of

2272
1:59:00 --> 1:59:02
and some of the things he describes in the tales

2273
1:59:03 --> 1:59:04
it's about again it's sort of

2274
1:59:05 --> 1:59:07
isopoph tail language

2275
1:59:08 --> 1:59:09
isopos

2276
1:59:10 --> 1:59:11
isopos

2277
1:59:12 --> 1:59:13
the next one Balzac

2278
1:59:14 --> 1:59:15
Balzac just put one book Lost Illusions

2279
1:59:16 --> 1:59:17
but he wrote a lot of great stuff

2280
1:59:18 --> 1:59:19
I think I will add into Lost Illusion

2281
1:59:20 --> 1:59:24
that's his huge novels just two or three short novels

2282
1:59:25 --> 1:59:28
Colonel Chabret which I recently reread and Per Gorio

2283
1:59:28 --> 1:59:31
so these two small we can say stories

2284
1:59:32 --> 1:59:33
Thomas Hardy Tess the Abbeville

2285
1:59:34 --> 1:59:38
so in 19th century in the literature there are three great female characters from my opinion

2286
1:59:39 --> 1:59:41
Madame Bovary by Flaubert

2287
1:59:42 --> 1:59:44
Anna Karenina and this one

2288
1:59:45 --> 1:59:46
Tess of the Abbeville

2289
1:59:47 --> 1:59:49
the next one Nikolai Gogol

2290
1:59:50 --> 1:59:51
the Russian writer Dead Souls

2291
1:59:52 --> 1:59:55
this is sort of Russian Divine Comedy where he travels through the villages

2292
1:59:55 --> 1:59:57
and he shows like the life in the country

2293
1:59:58 --> 2:00:04
unfortunately this book is untranslatable because of their a lot of juicy like Russian rich language

2294
2:00:05 --> 2:00:08
but from cultural point it's important it's very influential in Russia

2295
2:00:09 --> 2:00:12
in Russia I will say that it's maybe one of the favorite novels people read

2296
2:00:13 --> 2:00:18
so you've got your email address includes a reference to Nikolai Gogol

2297
2:00:19 --> 2:00:23
oh yeah exactly exactly my address is like that Nikolai Gogol yeah exactly

2298
2:00:23 --> 2:00:24
so is he a hero of yours?

2299
2:00:25 --> 2:00:26
yeah the next one Hoffman

2300
2:00:27 --> 2:00:32
so this German romantic writer who was a poet and artist

2301
2:00:33 --> 2:00:34
he left a lot of great stuff

2302
2:00:35 --> 2:00:39
short novels one of them influenced not Krakow by Tchaikovsky

2303
2:00:40 --> 2:00:43
but he wrote a funny novel called The Life and Opinion of Tom Cat Moore

2304
2:00:44 --> 2:00:46
so the book written from the point of view of Cat

2305
2:00:46 --> 2:00:53
and the first pages it's like description how he recalls his time spent in the tummy of his mom when she was pregnant

2306
2:00:54 --> 2:00:57
his mother cat and when he was taken out he's still blind

2307
2:00:58 --> 2:01:01
how he scratched somebody and got like kicked and how he gave him a milk

2308
2:01:02 --> 2:01:09
but the fun is that in this book Hoffman I think he was possibly a disciple of Hegel in the university

2309
2:01:09 --> 2:01:14
so there are a lot of this cat learns how to speak in German

2310
2:01:15 --> 2:01:21
and quite often he makes comments in the language of philosophers of these times

2311
2:01:22 --> 2:01:26
and funny episodes are like combined with this sort of philosophy

2312
2:01:27 --> 2:01:30
it's a great book and fun just a huge and it's amazing

2313
2:01:31 --> 2:01:34
it's amazing how he again is some sort of satire at the same time

2314
2:01:34 --> 2:01:39
but and the life of the people of humankind seen from the point of view of the cat

2315
2:01:40 --> 2:01:43
it's like you go into the side of the cat and you try to think like a cat

2316
2:01:44 --> 2:01:45
it's fantastic

2317
2:01:46 --> 2:01:47
so the next one Hugo

2318
2:01:48 --> 2:01:49
and could you think like a cat Yevgeny?

2319
2:01:50 --> 2:01:53
no I don't think so I need to observe the behavior of the cat

2320
2:01:54 --> 2:01:57
so I can figure out sort of what the cat is thinking I need to observe

2321
2:01:58 --> 2:02:00
the next writer I put only one book

2322
2:02:00 --> 2:02:04
I put only one book but that was my favorite writer when I was a child

2323
2:02:05 --> 2:02:08
because in my grandparents there was a library of all his works

2324
2:02:09 --> 2:02:10
because he wrote several great novels

2325
2:02:11 --> 2:02:17
Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Ninety-three

2326
2:02:18 --> 2:02:20
and the others but I chose like The Mustache

2327
2:02:21 --> 2:02:28
because it gives a description of the seismic events like revolution close to our time

2328
2:02:28 --> 2:02:34
so we can draw parallels what's going now with this like social shift like huge events

2329
2:02:35 --> 2:02:38
because I think we are living in some sort of great events these days

2330
2:02:39 --> 2:02:45
the next one Dickens again a huge prolific writer a lot of stuff but they leave just only Oliver Twist

2331
2:02:46 --> 2:02:47
you cannot read everything yeah

2332
2:02:48 --> 2:02:52
the next one 39 but for this one Dostoevsky It's Must

2333
2:02:52 --> 2:02:57
Brother Karamazov I will put it on the same level as Don Quixote

2334
2:02:58 --> 2:03:04
so it comprises universe and again it's very so it book which have all the humanity there

2335
2:03:05 --> 2:03:08
a lot of characters a lot of philosophy a lot of thoughts which are relevant

2336
2:03:09 --> 2:03:12
a lot of prophetic moments a lot of prophetic moments

2337
2:03:13 --> 2:03:16
so and again these books they grow bigger

2338
2:03:16 --> 2:03:18
Idiot by the way is some sort of version of Don Quixote

2339
2:03:19 --> 2:03:24
again the main character is some sort of Christ figure who is like sort of sort of sacred idiot

2340
2:03:25 --> 2:03:28
the next one I mentioned today already Emile Zoliat, Therese Raken

2341
2:03:29 --> 2:03:33
so this possibly one of the books you can start reading even today

2342
2:03:34 --> 2:03:35
you don't need to read other books for this one

2343
2:03:36 --> 2:03:40
a very very short like 200 pages just three main characters

2344
2:03:41 --> 2:03:43
and it follows them from their birth to their death

2345
2:03:43 --> 2:03:48
and it's fantastic again in psychology getting into it's like love triangle

2346
2:03:49 --> 2:03:53
and the murder which is unsolved and the writer gets into the head of the people

2347
2:03:54 --> 2:03:57
and we can see their evolution Zoliat is amazing writer

2348
2:03:58 --> 2:04:03
Germinal it's about the strike on the mine again it's some sort of realism

2349
2:04:04 --> 2:04:09
where by some magic you go inside of the life of these people how they work what they were doing

2350
2:04:09 --> 2:04:13
and the end of the book when the mine is flooded resembles just Titanic

2351
2:04:14 --> 2:04:16
love triangle and somebody has to survive

2352
2:04:17 --> 2:04:27
Henry Gibson his plays I think must read again it's psychology and also we're trying to figure out why people do what they do

2353
2:04:28 --> 2:04:32
in one of the plays I think it's Dollhouse the main character the lady

2354
2:04:32 --> 2:04:37
so she realized that because of the owner because of her past crime

2355
2:04:38 --> 2:04:41
she can't stay with her husband and her child and she abandons the family

2356
2:04:42 --> 2:04:45
so it's very paradoxical like decision of this lady

2357
2:04:46 --> 2:04:49
because most of the lady will just forget about this crime stay with the family

2358
2:04:50 --> 2:04:56
but this one some sort of yeah you're we need to look like why she's doing that it's fantastic

2359
2:04:56 --> 2:05:02
the next one Pondklais so that was a romantic playwright and poet

2360
2:05:03 --> 2:05:13
his plays are good and the novel Michael Callas it was by the way there was adaptation of this play recently

2361
2:05:14 --> 2:05:18
Charles de Castel so this is the writer from France sorry from Belgium but he's French writing

2362
2:05:19 --> 2:05:24
and this is the legend of Thierry Lundenspiegel so this is the national character of Netherlands

2363
2:05:24 --> 2:05:33
of these areas when they are fighting with the Spanish because Netherlands were the colony in 15th 16th century of Spain

2364
2:05:34 --> 2:05:39
because of Habsburgs and the guys who tried to control this Protestant territories and eventually there was a revolution

2365
2:05:40 --> 2:05:48
in lowlands which just swept away after 40 years this Spanish rule and the book of Belgian writer who is writing in French

2366
2:05:48 --> 2:05:55
creates like a great character and description of these events sort of folklore figure must read

2367
2:05:56 --> 2:06:07
the next one Melville Moby Dick it's like Jaws spillback we got a captain who is following somebody you know to his death

2368
2:06:08 --> 2:06:17
but this is intermingled with the description of this whale trade what the how they hunt and also a lot of sort of allusions to Bible

2369
2:06:18 --> 2:06:28
and a lot of philosophy and a lot of great like episodes it's good the next one Mary Mayer this is the French

2370
2:06:29 --> 2:06:36
writer of 19th century he wrote psychological novels and also Chronicles of Rain of Charles the Ninth this is novel very short one

2371
2:06:37 --> 2:06:46
I think it's like 50 pages it's the description of the religious war in France in the end of 16th century when during the marriage

2372
2:06:46 --> 2:06:55
there was a wedding of King de Navarre and the daughter of the sister of the French King so Catholics invited Huguenots for this wedding

2373
2:06:56 --> 2:07:04
and I think in one or two nights St. Bartholomew night they assassinated everyone if you recall like most of them so it's something

2374
2:07:05 --> 2:07:12
and the book describes two brothers who belongs one of them is Catholic another Protestant it's about civil strife and about this

2375
2:07:12 --> 2:07:21
again like huge seismic events in the France the next one psychological writer from France who was in some way

2376
2:07:22 --> 2:07:32
disciple of Russian writer Turgenev Mopassan so his two novels Bellamy about the journalist and Unvie like The Life of the Lady from her childhood

2377
2:07:33 --> 2:07:41
to her death and just short stories which are very concise like two three pages they're just masterpieces the next one

2378
2:07:42 --> 2:07:55
the style the psychology the development the ending Guido Mopassan the next one 47 Edgar Allan Pooh so this is American romantic writer and poet

2379
2:07:56 --> 2:08:04
who invent in several genres and whose stories I think are unsurpassable Gothic novels forget about Stephen King people read like Stephen King

2380
2:08:04 --> 2:08:14
they haven't read Edgar Allan Pooh this is something and this is real when you read them you just believe what he's writing although he can write about Macabre and Gothic

2381
2:08:15 --> 2:08:26
the next one Walter Scott again this is important writer in Europe he wrote first important historical novels which influence the historical genre in Europe in the world

2382
2:08:26 --> 2:08:36
without Walter Scott there will be no other writers like he because he was for the first time showing that you can do simple thing take historic events huge historical canvas

2383
2:08:37 --> 2:08:47
and just personal story of the people on the front of this canvas and these people they speak in different genres so in the regional novels you can see the difference

2384
2:08:47 --> 2:08:59
how the people from the bottom speak servants how aristocracy speaks it's like amazing and it's like a clockwork mechanism the action is just developing developing and you're all the

2385
2:09:00 --> 2:09:10
the next one stand all the French writer the red and black realistic novel from France then the next one Mark Twain the adventures of Huckleberry Finn

2386
2:09:10 --> 2:09:24
I will say like epic thing this personal story of this boy who travels with African American who absconded or like run away from these plantations and they're joining on Mississippi

2387
2:09:25 --> 2:09:39
and on their way they just encounter many situations historical background when there was still slavery in the US then we go with Leo Tolstoy Leo Tolstoy and Karen and Elisabeth

2388
2:09:40 --> 2:09:52
and then we have the little resurrection so this is a novel about the young aristocrat who is summoned to be a jury in a court over the prostitute who poisoned her customer

2389
2:09:53 --> 2:10:04
and when he goes to jury he recognizes that these prostitutes is a girl whom he seduced and just abandoned years ago and the story how he redeemed himself

2390
2:10:04 --> 2:10:13
how this aristocrat and the count I think he was a count or Duke he just left his family and went with this girl into exile into Siberia

2391
2:10:14 --> 2:10:23
it's like a huge piece from for this book the Russian Orthodox Church they I'll say like they expelled from Russian Church Tolstoy for this book

2392
2:10:23 --> 2:10:38
Ivan Turgenev a great stylist with his fathers and sons on the even sportsman sketches many writers in Europe they learned how to write from Turgenev Oscar Wilde the picture of Dorian Gray

2393
2:10:38 --> 2:10:55
the profoundness about his experience in prison 56 Radit Kipling short stories again the masterpieces in short stories Radit Kipling who was born British and Indian in the subcontinent

2394
2:10:55 --> 2:11:10
but eventually turned to be one of the great although he was a sinner of imperialism in Soviet writer all the time he was translating because there was a great literary qualities in all his writings

2395
2:11:11 --> 2:11:21
take up the white man's burden take forth the best you breathe yeah with the comments obviously the next one Walt Whitman the great poet from the United States Flaubert

2396
2:11:21 --> 2:11:38
I already mentioned Madame Bovary and then sentimental education two novels must read Anton Chekhov so this is we can say antipode for Ibsen if Ibsen something extraordinary happens with the people in Chekhov is just description of boring life in Russia just

2397
2:11:38 --> 2:12:03
and between that there is something else and all his plays about dignity and the values what's important and again the place about people who are between the times going from one era to another one it's interesting like to see how the whole system of their ideas collapses how the new appears it's like interesting to see like the shifting moments

2398
2:12:03 --> 2:12:24
it's not it's not a surprise that many great books appeared just at the time of the seismic movements the next one Akutagawa Rinoseke so this is I think master number one Japanese writer who wrote novels and short stories some of them are influenced by European literature but they are like in Japanese disguise

2399
2:12:24 --> 2:12:51
if you have seen Kurosawa movies he made several adaptations of Shakespeare so he took Shakespeare's place but they're in like Japanese disguise so the same was with Rinoseke Eva Andreech so he described in these two books the beach on Drina Chronicles of Trabnik so he describes area in former Yugoslavia in the time where it was still under Ottoman Empire and how the indigenous people lived in the region

2400
2:12:54 --> 2:13:23
and in this area a lot of influences a lot of strains were like in the cauldron you know Turks Arabs Jews Christians you know Russia Austria France and it's interesting to see how complex is it how complex is it so yeah he got Nobel Prize for these books the next one Louis Aragon so the French writer this is the book published in the same year as Dr. Zhivago

2401
2:13:24 --> 2:13:52
Holy Week it's a historical novel with the elements of stream of consciousness which goes to the time when Napoleon returned from his first exile during his like 100 days so and what was happening in Paris and around Paris at this time in this novel again the writer goes into the head of the people and a lot of like historic shows like a huge canvas of history and also personal history of the people

2402
2:13:52 --> 2:14:19
Holy Week 63 Henry Barbus I will say Under Fire is the best book about the First World War is the best there are other great books like Nothing Has Changed on the Western Front or for example Hemingway his Farewell to the Arms we can say also about the First World War but the way how the trenches are described and also how people get into this madness the best one is this one is something that I think is very interesting

2403
2:14:22 --> 2:14:44
and what was the name of that book? Under Fire. Oh right. Okay. Henry Barbus Under Fire and that's his personal experience. So who is the author? Henry Barbus. It's like the way how you pronounce in French yeah?

2404
2:14:44 --> 2:15:11
And from his personal experience he delivers this experience and again from we can say realistic point of view we can see everything we can smell everything we can feel everything and also there is a humanistic touch in this even when he's describing like bodies which are mutilated or something horrible happens something like going down in Palestine he is using sort of

2405
2:15:11 --> 2:15:33
of poetical things even to describe like the way of this of these bodies with a static thing he trying to relieve us from this torture like witnessing and traumatized by what he's describing actually where people blown like into pieces or he described like somebody's body on this wire above the wire.

2406
2:15:33 --> 2:15:53
Bertolt Brecht I think maybe I will just say that the rest of the book the rest of the list it will be 20th century and the principle is just from every country or every continent for one to writers.

2407
2:15:53 --> 2:16:07
So the Russian writer will be Ivan Bunin he got Nobel Prize for his short stories. Yaroslav Khashak this is another good book about this first world war and it's not about atrocities it's about fun.

2408
2:16:07 --> 2:16:18
How the guy volunteered to go he's like he did from the village here how he goes to the trenches. So and it's like fun a lot of fun in this book it's like a comical book.

2409
2:16:18 --> 2:16:38
Then the British saga goes worthy the Russian writer Maxim Gorky then drives an American tragedy it's about how the guy killed his fiance just to get into another marriage and how he was found like and trialed Icelandic writer how the Luxus.

2410
2:16:38 --> 2:16:47
So these two books it's great to see how these books are connected to the great Icelandic literature which I mentioned before the sagas and their poetry.

2411
2:16:47 --> 2:17:06
Jack London great stories great great stories apart from the novel Martin in Martin is in some sort of biography but it shows how the person suffers to get to be acknowledged writer nobody wants them to publish and how the things destroys him like to suicide.

2412
2:17:06 --> 2:17:16
Lucy this is the Chinese classics of 20th century famous for short stories and then we got two brothers man one of them professor on the right.

2413
2:17:16 --> 2:17:28
And another one Thomas man who is philosophic he liked the German Tolstoy will say like Tolstoy plus the staff ski but on the German soil buddenbrocks Joseph and his brothers magic mountain.

2414
2:17:28 --> 2:17:43
Vladimir Mike Oski although he's a poet his point was influenced in the 20th century poetry in Italy in France in Spain so and the path from the point he describes a lot of again seismic events around the Russian Revolution.

2415
2:17:43 --> 2:18:00
Oh my God I'm on 76 so through the countries Danish writer Martin others and exit so this is about childhood in Denmark and how it how it was in the end of 19th century beginning of 20th.

2416
2:18:00 --> 2:18:12
77 remember alone Jean Christophe it's the life of the composer who resembles slightly bithoven good realistic novel and psychological as well stained back the grapes of wrath.

2417
2:18:12 --> 2:18:18
So this is I think the time of depression the states are being drawn out the gore who was a prize.

2418
2:18:18 --> 2:18:36
Who was a prize the Nobel Prize laureate his poems and short stories again great humanist some of his stories is just amazing there is a story called Kabul eval about the little girl if you find it it should be on the Internet free of charge just three four pages just read it.

2419
2:18:36 --> 2:18:50
Because there is like a pearl in the novel in the short story genre polkner light in August dimension like the great writer no need to like to do to do some Hemingway.

2420
2:18:50 --> 2:18:58
Yeah so this is something different to 19th century how to write without adjectives without other just nouns and verbs.

2421
2:18:58 --> 2:19:11
How not to go into the head of the people but describe what they think and what they feel with the small touches with the description of environment yeah in the way they behave behave so that's that's amazing.

2422
2:19:11 --> 2:19:24
How he goes and the children almost the same effect where we know what the character is feeling and farewell to us I don't think it's a book and the war book or a book about the first world war I think it's the greatest love story.

2423
2:19:24 --> 2:19:33
That's from my point of view of a well terms is the next one Michael Sherlock of it's a great epic novel about the Civil War in Russia.

2424
2:19:33 --> 2:19:36
The Civil War in Russia.

2425
2:19:36 --> 2:19:42
Gabriel Garcia Marcus 100 years of solitude it's something like Don Quixote like Bible.

2426
2:19:42 --> 2:19:50
Where the book where magical things they are portrayed as natural and natural things portrayed as magical.

2427
2:19:50 --> 2:19:57
I think it's some sort of poetry poetry in prose the next one 84 the name of the Rose ball the Lena.

2428
2:19:57 --> 2:20:06
Great books a lot of stuff there and these books survive multiple readings multiple readings some people say that it's difficult to read them.

2429
2:20:06 --> 2:20:14
I for some time I refused to read one of his books I was convinced by my colleague I read it once twice but then I appreciated that.

2430
2:20:14 --> 2:20:24
Horace Lewis Borges his short stories Christopher Nolan's movies will be impossible without his short stories this paradoxes and referrals to everything.

2431
2:20:24 --> 2:20:39
Pablo Neruda I think he was one of the greatest poets in the 20th century he got Nobel Prize in 1972 and 73 when the coup d'etat by Pinochet happened in September several days.

2432
2:20:39 --> 2:20:49
For some reason he died some people by the way he thought that he was poisoned so this great poet and was the name of him Losa was that sorry.

2433
2:20:49 --> 2:21:00
Was that the proven sorry he was Chilean he was he was he was from Chilean okay who is the Peruvian who is the Peruvian writer Losa was it.

2434
2:21:00 --> 2:21:05
He's in my list he's number 89 Mario Mario Vargas Losa.

2435
2:21:05 --> 2:21:10
He became president of Peru was it.

2436
2:21:10 --> 2:21:20
I don't think so maybe he was a minister but the thing is with Marco Vargas Losa he started as a left person but then he ended like as a pro-American right wing guy.

2437
2:21:20 --> 2:21:23
I don't know if he's a regalia.

2438
2:21:23 --> 2:21:26
I think he's good for president but he didn't win that's right.

2439
2:21:26 --> 2:21:33
Maybe but possibly you're talking about somebody else but I don't recall that Vargas Losa was the president maybe you're talking about.

2440
2:21:33 --> 2:21:37
He wasn't the president but he stood for president I think.

2441
2:21:37 --> 2:21:43
Maybe I just didn't follow his career as a right wing politician he is not interested to me but he's.

2442
2:21:43 --> 2:21:45
Didn't he win the Nobel Prize.

2443
2:21:45 --> 2:21:47
I think yes I think yes.

2444
2:21:47 --> 2:21:49
Yeah.

2445
2:21:49 --> 2:21:55
Then number 87 Stanislav Lem he's from Poland and his greatest novel Solaris.

2446
2:21:55 --> 2:22:09
There are three movie adaptations on this book on this book which have multiple like layers which is mystical beside like this just space space space travel and he wrote.

2447
2:22:09 --> 2:22:18
And he wrote if you will be interested in Lem he wrote other fantastic short science fiction novels in different genres some of them are satire like Galvest travels.

2448
2:22:18 --> 2:22:26
Some of them are sort of detectives but this is the greatest it's like philosophy and sort of prediction about the future.

2449
2:22:26 --> 2:22:34
Marcel Proust we already discussed him today the guy who looked under we can say with a slow motion every moment in his life yeah.

2450
2:22:34 --> 2:22:40
His books you will not appreciate them if you don't read them all but you don't have time to read and read them all.

2451
2:22:40 --> 2:22:46
I will suggest to read just the first I put I think four in the list.

2452
2:22:46 --> 2:22:53
The next one French writer who was a pilot and died during the Second World War Santok Zipary.

2453
2:22:53 --> 2:22:59
So he wrote this thing Southern Mail Night Flight and everyone know the Little Prince.

2454
2:22:59 --> 2:23:07
So very good humanistic writer he was a dog in Soviet Union although he wasn't a communist he was a dog for his humanism.

2455
2:23:07 --> 2:23:13
Sort of make peace may garden in your planet look after your planet save it.

2456
2:23:13 --> 2:23:20
Yeah the next one couldn't call us and that it so this is Latin America.

2457
2:23:20 --> 2:23:22
The next one to it will be from Latin America.

2458
2:23:22 --> 2:23:31
So that's the best writers from this part of the world together with the whole he Louis Borgeson public in the next one.

2459
2:23:31 --> 2:23:40
Heinrich Böhl so that was a German writer who was in sort of immigration spiritual immigration in Ireland.

2460
2:23:40 --> 2:23:50
And his book his novel and the famous short novel Katharina Bloom which got like movie adaptation and Irish Journal is like worth to read.

2461
2:23:50 --> 2:23:59
Alberto Moravia so the communist Italian writer I will call him it's like Italian the state of ski Italian the state of ski.

2462
2:23:59 --> 2:24:05
These three the first two books they were even adapted into the movies again get into the head of the characters.

2463
2:24:05 --> 2:24:15
Showing social background and show how the environment the family and the social events influence decisions of the people and to their demise.

2464
2:24:15 --> 2:24:17
Yeah.

2465
2:24:17 --> 2:24:18
Ninety five.

2466
2:24:18 --> 2:24:21
So this is the 60s and 70s.

2467
2:24:21 --> 2:24:23
The Japanese writer.

2468
2:24:23 --> 2:24:25
So the next will be Camila has a salad.

2469
2:24:25 --> 2:24:27
This is the Spanish writer Carlos Fuentes.

2470
2:24:27 --> 2:24:29
This is the writer from Mexico.

2471
2:24:29 --> 2:24:36
So again the writers to read because we need to know what the great achievements in this part of the world.

2472
2:24:36 --> 2:24:41
Although there are more Mexican writers but again for shortness I just put the best one.

2473
2:24:41 --> 2:24:45
Lausanne the Chinese another Chinese classic.

2474
2:24:45 --> 2:24:50
So cat country it's like anti utopia which he wrote in the early 30s.

2475
2:24:50 --> 2:24:54
And the plot is almost like Cyrano de Bergerac.

2476
2:24:54 --> 2:25:05
The character goes not to the moon but the character the Chinese astronaut goes to the to the Mars and there is a top and cat country where countries ruled by cat civilization.

2477
2:25:05 --> 2:25:08
And there are many prophetic moments.

2478
2:25:08 --> 2:25:15
The book is written in early 30s but he describes there something which looks like cultural revolution in China in the in 60s.

2479
2:25:15 --> 2:25:17
It's amazing.

2480
2:25:17 --> 2:25:22
And during this cultural revolution actually he was people believe beaten to death.

2481
2:25:22 --> 2:25:29
He was he already retired but he was perceived as a like enemy of state and which were like writer.

2482
2:25:29 --> 2:25:40
So either he was beaten to death by this red gods this like crazy youths or he committed suicide after that.

2483
2:25:40 --> 2:25:43
And cat country it's translated into English.

2484
2:25:43 --> 2:25:55
I think it's if people know 1984 or this wonderful world or animal farm they definitely should read like Thomas More Cyrano de Bergerac and this guy this guy.

2485
2:25:55 --> 2:26:00
It's a fantastic how you how you predict cultural revolution that will happen in 30 years.

2486
2:26:00 --> 2:26:02
It's it's an unimaginable.

2487
2:26:02 --> 2:26:06
The next one the Japanese writer again.

2488
2:26:06 --> 2:26:09
So this is Japan.

2489
2:26:09 --> 2:26:21
If you if you want to travel to Japan don't travel unless you read Rino se care I could have gotten a sicker or and this writer must read must read.

2490
2:26:21 --> 2:26:28
I didn't include me Shama in the list because everybody know Osama Mishima who wrote The Golden Temple.

2491
2:26:28 --> 2:26:37
And the last one is who like our to sell a great experiment in Latin American writing again just to show that.

2492
2:26:37 --> 2:26:44
Not nothing new under the world and in Latin America there is literally process and the people they also can play with words.

2493
2:26:44 --> 2:26:45
Yeah.

2494
2:26:45 --> 2:26:46
OK.

2495
2:26:46 --> 2:26:49
So that's brilliant.

2496
2:26:49 --> 2:26:51
Again.

2497
2:26:51 --> 2:27:00
So I never I didn't think you'd complete it but you have done and you're very passionate and also you're very determined.

2498
2:27:00 --> 2:27:09
And most important of all after the last four years you you're very wise through reading all these books.

2499
2:27:09 --> 2:27:13
And so thank you so much for coming on.

2500
2:27:13 --> 2:27:16
So we can take some questions if anybody wants to put their hands up.

2501
2:27:16 --> 2:27:20
John Lukacs or you've gone what you want.

2502
2:27:20 --> 2:27:23
But anybody else who wants to ask questions please put your hands up.

2503
2:27:23 --> 2:27:28
Sorry about the format today.

2504
2:27:28 --> 2:27:32
Again a very impressive.

2505
2:27:32 --> 2:27:40
I was wondering if you were going to give some of your opinions on current events but I guess I'll have to wait for a second round.

2506
2:27:40 --> 2:27:44
But I'm very curious when are we going to see a book written by you.

2507
2:27:44 --> 2:27:46
Sure.

2508
2:27:46 --> 2:27:48
Good question.

2509
2:27:48 --> 2:27:49
OK.

2510
2:27:49 --> 2:27:54
I think I doubt that there will be some sort of great fiction.

2511
2:27:54 --> 2:27:59
Because I should be sort of sort of humble.

2512
2:27:59 --> 2:28:07
I believe that great books they come from the people who get great life experience.

2513
2:28:07 --> 2:28:11
And I just made this conclusion upon two books.

2514
2:28:11 --> 2:28:23
Don Quixote with his Cervantes Miguel who survived the battle wounded survive the capture in the Saljea.

2515
2:28:23 --> 2:28:29
Then and execution and then he survived this imprisonment in Spain.

2516
2:28:29 --> 2:28:33
So there is something in life where you see a lot of stuff.

2517
2:28:33 --> 2:28:40
And the same with the same with the same with the same with the same.

2518
2:28:40 --> 2:28:42
So I think you have Kenny.

2519
2:28:42 --> 2:28:52
He's asking you that because you have all these characters in your head and you've got an amazing memory with instant recall of just about everything you want to get hold of.

2520
2:28:52 --> 2:28:55
And it was just amazing to listen to you.

2521
2:28:55 --> 2:28:58
And I don't think you realize how wonderful this is.

2522
2:28:58 --> 2:29:20
I mean, I think what I would like you to do is write a book on what you've just told us now with a little bit more thought maybe and and just guide people through why they should read the classics and the classics you like most and and why they're important, you know, for people to read that kind of thing.

2523
2:29:21 --> 2:29:26
I have a suggestion just just to mull over because I could tell he's not really enthused by this idea.

2524
2:29:26 --> 2:29:37
But, you know, when I when I write myself because I put out a couple of books and trust me, they're nowhere near as good as the ones you're picking out.

2525
2:29:37 --> 2:29:40
They're more complaints than anything else.

2526
2:29:40 --> 2:29:42
But there's a lot of information there.

2527
2:29:42 --> 2:29:48
But I take my cues when I'm being creative for my blog from all the books that I've read.

2528
2:29:48 --> 2:29:51
And I'm always pulling on examples.

2529
2:29:51 --> 2:29:55
And I've mastered the colorful analogy.

2530
2:29:55 --> 2:30:10
And people, I think, respond a good bit when you touch on something that they're familiar with and tie it to something that's going on.

2531
2:30:10 --> 2:30:15
It's a great way to make a point delicately when you have to.

2532
2:30:15 --> 2:30:18
And I just think you'd be wonderful at that.

2533
2:30:18 --> 2:30:22
Your little bio that Stephen put out said you're a bit of a whistleblower.

2534
2:30:22 --> 2:30:25
You got tagged. We all did here.

2535
2:30:25 --> 2:30:29
I just think that your insights would be good professionally.

2536
2:30:29 --> 2:30:36
I think it would come across fantastically coming from a man like you is so well read.

2537
2:30:36 --> 2:30:39
Exactly.

2538
2:30:39 --> 2:30:51
The thing is that the literary product should be unique, I believe, in sort of maybe topic potentially and also in a way like innovative technique and breakthrough.

2539
2:30:51 --> 2:30:57
And the thing is that there is a lot of already informational noise, we can say.

2540
2:30:57 --> 2:31:05
Already so much stuff written through the centuries that we don't have life even to read this.

2541
2:31:05 --> 2:31:13
And it will be a sin against humanity to increase this informational noise to something else.

2542
2:31:13 --> 2:31:16
I want just to return quickly again to Dostoevsky.

2543
2:31:16 --> 2:31:22
So I said that Cervantes, yeah, a soldier who survived captivity and injury and prison.

2544
2:31:22 --> 2:31:24
Dostoevsky, who was a revolutionary.

2545
2:31:24 --> 2:31:27
So Dostoevsky, it was like that.

2546
2:31:27 --> 2:31:33
In his revolutionary cycle, he was captured with his friends and they were sentenced to execution by a firing squad.

2547
2:31:33 --> 2:31:44
So they're standing in front of this firing squad and with the sex on their heads, he's thinking, what would be my last words I tell to my comrade?

2548
2:31:44 --> 2:31:52
And then the next moment, the messenger from the palace, winter palace arrives and say, oh, the Tsar pardoned you.

2549
2:31:52 --> 2:31:55
You go to exile in Siberia, help yourself.

2550
2:31:55 --> 2:32:09
And then he go to Siberia where he describes this excruciating experience to be with the thieves or whoever like all the and also different people in this hard labor placement.

2551
2:32:09 --> 2:32:18
So and I was thinking that's not a surprise that after that Dostoevsky is writing like his version of Christianity, what to say?

2552
2:32:18 --> 2:32:24
Yeah, somebody asked me in the in the chat, I see how I find the time to read.

2553
2:32:24 --> 2:32:36
I also find myself, ask myself and I recall that for some time ago I found the list what I was reading when I was in medical school in the Soviet Union.

2554
2:32:36 --> 2:32:38
So six years we study.

2555
2:32:38 --> 2:32:41
So and medicine is very hard subject.

2556
2:32:41 --> 2:32:44
And in contrast to the UK, for example, we study six years.

2557
2:32:44 --> 2:32:54
And in addition to anatomy, surgery, physiology, biochemistry, we have we had additional subjects in the medical school.

2558
2:32:54 --> 2:32:56
It was proper Latin.

2559
2:32:56 --> 2:33:05
It was proper ancient Greek, not to the level of philologists, but to the level that you can at least read, understand like simple texts.

2560
2:33:05 --> 2:33:12
There was psychology, history of medicine, history of the of the communist party of the Soviet Union and sociology.

2561
2:33:12 --> 2:33:15
So and I mean, I looked on the list.

2562
2:33:15 --> 2:33:20
Some of the huge novels from the list, by the way, I read them like Thomas Mann, huge novels, philosophical.

2563
2:33:20 --> 2:33:25
I read during the university, almost all important.

2564
2:33:25 --> 2:33:33
Ancient Rome and Greece literature I read in the university and in this list, just some pieces of it.

2565
2:33:33 --> 2:33:44
But it includes, you know, pre-Homeric hymns, Homer, ancient lyrics, ancient Rome lyrics and the lyrics of ancient Rome,

2566
2:33:44 --> 2:34:00
because there were a lot of great guys there, Catullus, Avidius with his metamorphosis, the great Greek historians, Herodotus, Themostoclus, you know, Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Plutarchus.

2567
2:34:00 --> 2:34:04
Oh my God. And so this is during university.

2568
2:34:04 --> 2:34:12
And because I was all the time put down like how the time is spent and I knew how many pages I can read of this and that.

2569
2:34:12 --> 2:34:14
So I was sort of planning that.

2570
2:34:14 --> 2:34:17
And at this time I was reading just one book at the time.

2571
2:34:17 --> 2:34:26
But since then, I am using sort of the method, how say it, it's like umbrella, umbrella, not umbrella.

2572
2:34:26 --> 2:34:33
In Chinese seconds, there's like a trick where they put like the saucers like to rotate on the poles and they run like together.

2573
2:34:33 --> 2:34:39
So I'm reading mostly at the same time several things by small pieces.

2574
2:34:39 --> 2:34:43
I'm not Russian. When I'm reading, I'm like reading aloud in my head.

2575
2:34:43 --> 2:34:47
So to see the picture, I don't rush. It's not for the tick box.

2576
2:34:47 --> 2:34:49
I want to understand what they're writing.

2577
2:34:49 --> 2:34:52
So I'm reading and it's like from the same period.

2578
2:34:52 --> 2:35:03
If I'm if, for example, we had a discussion about Don Quixote with Karam in April and then I begin to read at this point Don Quixote.

2579
2:35:03 --> 2:35:10
So at the same moment in parallel, I'm reading plays at the same day.

2580
2:35:10 --> 2:35:19
So like 20 pages, for example, of this play of Calderon at the same day, like Arabic poetry from Andalusia.

2581
2:35:19 --> 2:35:23
10 pages or 15 pages from the Quivada.

2582
2:35:23 --> 2:35:33
So it's like that in parallel, several things from to have the sort of three dimensional thing and a lot of things like they associate with each other and resonates.

2583
2:35:33 --> 2:35:39
So that's my method. And the way I'm trying to avoid digital devices.

2584
2:35:39 --> 2:35:57
So I'm checking my I'm aiming like to check my notifications, like messages like at nine, for example, at 12, you know, like every three hours and sometimes like even making bigger period not to check like from three to nine because it will be a destruction.

2585
2:35:57 --> 2:36:05
You're restating something I threw in the chat response to someone else earlier.

2586
2:36:05 --> 2:36:18
You know, we since all this digital stuff has invaded our lives, there's a tremendous advantage to be able to just simply press a button and talk to anyone in the world.

2587
2:36:18 --> 2:36:24
But there's also an information overload. We didn't get more hours in the day.

2588
2:36:24 --> 2:36:32
We just got more things to do. And this is a drawback. This has a very insidious nature.

2589
2:36:32 --> 2:36:35
Not to. I would just say, you know, you have to.

2590
2:36:35 --> 2:36:41
What all that is, it replaced other things of value.

2591
2:36:41 --> 2:36:47
So you found a way to time manage and still live in both worlds.

2592
2:36:47 --> 2:36:56
I would just say, you know, to anybody who cares that we need to pull back from this one a little bit. We have more than enough.

2593
2:36:56 --> 2:37:17
Yeah. And I want to I want to stress again that, yeah, I always say that reading a fiction a day and it should include all genres, novel, short stories, poetry and drama, all genres, because there is a beauty in every genre and the poetry as well.

2594
2:37:17 --> 2:37:28
So, guys, you just don't imagine how much great stuff is left in poetry in the East, in India, Korea, Vietnam, I mean, the Middle Ages.

2595
2:37:28 --> 2:37:44
I don't mention even Chinese poetry where there's a long tradition, where it's fun to see how they take the same topic, observing moon like at night and how they try to create that and how it's some sort of interaction and dialogue through the centuries between different poets.

2596
2:37:44 --> 2:37:52
So I think it's important to allocate the time for reading every day at certain time to make it a habit.

2597
2:37:52 --> 2:37:54
It's like going to work regularly.

2598
2:37:54 --> 2:37:57
You know, it's like the work.

2599
2:37:57 --> 2:38:02
And there is another like trick in my system when I read several things.

2600
2:38:02 --> 2:38:15
If I sort of like bored or like tired with this text, do you know, like with the play when I'm losing concentration, I am putting it aside and I'm changing sort of activity.

2601
2:38:15 --> 2:38:19
I'm like reboosted and I'm trying to read like with renewed interest.

2602
2:38:19 --> 2:38:30
Another thing which I haven't finished yesterday, there is an element there of 1001 night because you want to read further like what's going in this play, like what's the intrigue as well.

2603
2:38:30 --> 2:38:37
And apart from that, with some of the texts, it's not sort of necessary to read the whole thing.

2604
2:38:37 --> 2:38:56
It's necessary at least, for example, Divine Comedy of Dante, you know, it's better to know the most important bits of it and to read the sentence on context like Cantos several, several times to the point that all the images, the way how they are developed just retain in your brain.

2605
2:38:56 --> 2:39:08
So in parallel with my sort of Spanish period now, because it will change when I will satiate myself, I will go like to sort of French period or some other.

2606
2:39:08 --> 2:39:20
But at the same point, because these guys in Baroque Spanish Golden Period, they were under the influence of Latin literature, especially Ovid and Virgil.

2607
2:39:20 --> 2:39:35
So at the same time, I'm reading important bits of Virgil and it's very slow reading guys very slow because every like line there's like mythological creature or geographical thing or whatever.

2608
2:39:35 --> 2:39:39
You need to imagine actually what he's describing and he's describing.

2609
2:39:39 --> 2:39:42
OK, this is the start of Sec of Troy.

2610
2:39:42 --> 2:39:47
This is the guy deceived them that the horse is OK.

2611
2:39:47 --> 2:39:53
This is the priest who said like, oh, this is a dangerous animal we need to destroy.

2612
2:39:53 --> 2:40:02
So you need to understand like what he's describing in the verse at this point and how every and again, a lot of referrals, a lot of references.

2613
2:40:02 --> 2:40:04
And if you read it several times.

2614
2:40:04 --> 2:40:13
So in this case, if I don't sort of keep in my head structure of this versus from in it or from Dante the next day, I will not read the next like lines.

2615
2:40:13 --> 2:40:25
I will still stay on this thing unless it's like totally clear because these texts when I say like Homer Virgil Ovid very influential.

2616
2:40:25 --> 2:40:31
So they influence Latin literature, not to mention like Roman and ancient Greece, but also like Renaissance and the stuff.

2617
2:40:31 --> 2:40:36
Do you know all the roots are there? All the roots are there.

2618
2:40:36 --> 2:40:40
Oh, thank you. You can have a brilliant answer.

2619
2:40:40 --> 2:40:46
And Caram to whom I'm indebted for telling me about you.

2620
2:40:46 --> 2:40:49
And I said, oh, that sounds interesting.

2621
2:40:49 --> 2:40:53
And that's when I asked him whether he could help me get you on.

2622
2:40:53 --> 2:40:58
So I'm glad I got you on. Great. Thank you so much.

2623
2:40:58 --> 2:41:03
You're going to go ahead, Karen. Yeah, that was amazing, wasn't it, guys?

2624
2:41:03 --> 2:41:18
I think we can all agree that if Kenny is an authentic force of nature, which who I had the pleasure of meeting in my first year of clinical medicine when I was 24 years old in the north of Scotland.

2625
2:41:18 --> 2:41:26
And I don't think anybody in that area had met somebody as unique as my friend here.

2626
2:41:26 --> 2:41:31
And he started obviously that part of his career. He started a lot later than the rest of us.

2627
2:41:31 --> 2:41:39
So he he stood out like a sore thumb and he did his best to stand out even even more than that.

2628
2:41:39 --> 2:42:02
And I have to say that, you know, I grew up in the UK following, let's call it the dumbed down curriculum that we have now and where I hear speeches by, you know, Robert Kennedy, the elder who's passed away talking about certain poems.

2629
2:42:02 --> 2:42:08
And I think God, I've never even heard of that author, let alone the poem, never mind the line.

2630
2:42:08 --> 2:42:23
So I think we have been robbed. And if Kenny's been, you know, a really important part of my personal development and he through his difficulties in psychiatry, which he stumbled on quite innocently when he realized that none of his patients were getting any better.

2631
2:42:23 --> 2:42:33
And just just all just like coming back to clinic and having all number of issues started to do his own reading to try and solve the problem.

2632
2:42:33 --> 2:42:44
And then he worked out that, you know, there was this tremendous fraud and abuse in that in that industry, which is very much an industry.

2633
2:42:44 --> 2:43:07
So he is he's he's had some incredibly significant challenges over the last few years, including and we have all the paperwork and again, you have again, he's never signed any non disclosure agreements and the dirt we have on some people that are working day in day out to allegedly take care of patients.

2634
2:43:07 --> 2:43:21
Is a disgrace. And I'm talking about black and white lies, people presenting a topic X in writing and then changing it retrospectively and thinking they're going to get away with it.

2635
2:43:21 --> 2:43:39
Complete manipulation of words, inversion of the truth and all of the worst things that you could imagine. But he's even I mean, you can imagine a guy like you have getting so educated, so knowledgeable for about a year and a half.

2636
2:43:39 --> 2:43:42
He was he was on benefits in the UK.

2637
2:43:42 --> 2:43:47
Having just suspended by his hospital.

2638
2:43:47 --> 2:43:56
For trying to protect a patient from emergency tranquilization that that patient didn't need because they couldn't handle the behavior.

2639
2:43:56 --> 2:44:03
You know, we're in a we're in a crisis of doctor shortage in the UK and.

2640
2:44:03 --> 2:44:13
If Kenny was on benefits when when he could have been working with working for patients and to help them. So he's been through a lot.

2641
2:44:13 --> 2:44:27
Unfortunately, I think someone like you have Kenny, he shows people up. He's so incredibly well read and well educated that unfortunately the reaction of many people is jealousy.

2642
2:44:27 --> 2:44:34
I don't personally feel jealousy, but I had to kind of reeducate myself that a lot of people do.

2643
2:44:34 --> 2:44:47
They're driven by jealousy and they will attack people like you have Kenny and anyone who stands out and does the right thing because they're showing those people are showing those bastards up.

2644
2:44:47 --> 2:44:49
That's that's correct. Yes.

2645
2:44:49 --> 2:44:54
And so they may quickly just respond to several there in the chat.

2646
2:44:54 --> 2:44:59
There are several remarks, for example, that people don't see Camus in my list.

2647
2:44:59 --> 2:45:02
So, yeah, we can say there are books.

2648
2:45:02 --> 2:45:04
There are books beyond this list.

2649
2:45:04 --> 2:45:06
There are books beyond this list.

2650
2:45:06 --> 2:45:08
Camus.

2651
2:45:08 --> 2:45:12
I think Camus should come after this one hundred.

2652
2:45:12 --> 2:45:15
I think I like Camus all the time.

2653
2:45:15 --> 2:45:20
If I want to update my French, I'm just reading his stanger.

2654
2:45:20 --> 2:45:21
Yeah.

2655
2:45:21 --> 2:45:25
So I'm trying to get to see this like phenomenon of this like alienated person.

2656
2:45:25 --> 2:45:30
And at the same time, I'm just revising French Camus definitely.

2657
2:45:30 --> 2:45:33
Then somebody mentioned Stephensweig.

2658
2:45:33 --> 2:45:38
I will say that his huge novels like huge novels, they're not great.

2659
2:45:38 --> 2:45:45
He was a master in short novels, although there are like around 40, like 40 or 50 of short novels.

2660
2:45:45 --> 2:45:52
There are pearls there, just fantastic pearls like Leporello, for example, or the letter of unknown lady.

2661
2:45:52 --> 2:45:54
Again, it's like beyond the list.

2662
2:45:54 --> 2:46:04
But guys, it's like if we go to the country, to Austria, we'll see several great writers there at the same time, at the time of Freud.

2663
2:46:04 --> 2:46:08
Hoffman's style with his plays and short stories.

2664
2:46:08 --> 2:46:10
Stephensweig.

2665
2:46:10 --> 2:46:11
Robert Musil.

2666
2:46:11 --> 2:46:21
You can't say Robert Musil in my list, but again, it's sort of essential because the great literature is beyond this like very concise list.

2667
2:46:21 --> 2:46:25
I will not agree with the Atlas, Chuck, the shoulders.

2668
2:46:25 --> 2:46:39
I know that many people admire this book, but I think this book is flawed from the point of view of topic, the idea, and also as a literary product.

2669
2:46:39 --> 2:46:52
Do you know there are certain books in my list which are not perfect from a literary point of view, for example, Cyrano de Bergerac, but it's listed great in this prophetic and great ideas of utopia in the moon.

2670
2:46:52 --> 2:46:53
I'm just looking.

2671
2:46:53 --> 2:46:56
I'm just looking through the things.

2672
2:46:56 --> 2:47:02
So, again, what I like about your list is you cast the net very wide indeed.

2673
2:47:02 --> 2:47:08
And there's no room for people like George Orwell and Aldous Huxley.

2674
2:47:08 --> 2:47:14
And I can't believe it, but I can't remember the author's name of Lolita.

2675
2:47:14 --> 2:47:15
Who was that?

2676
2:47:15 --> 2:47:16
Nabokov.

2677
2:47:16 --> 2:47:17
Nabokov.

2678
2:47:17 --> 2:47:18
Nabokov, yes, of course.

2679
2:47:18 --> 2:47:20
So I will just comment quickly.

2680
2:47:20 --> 2:47:24
I didn't put it in the list because it's in the compulsory reading.

2681
2:47:24 --> 2:47:29
I will say they use just the propaganda of the Western democracies.

2682
2:47:29 --> 2:47:32
So everybody like Riddho know them.

2683
2:47:32 --> 2:47:34
They are culturally important.

2684
2:47:34 --> 2:47:41
I will just say that in this way, you need to read the novel that influenced this and to utopias.

2685
2:47:41 --> 2:47:52
And it's the novel by Evgeny Zemmetin-We, where he described like the things which we already see in 1984, some sort of this totalitarian state.

2686
2:47:52 --> 2:47:56
There is a comment, Wuthering Heights is a fantastic read.

2687
2:47:56 --> 2:48:05
Yeah, I agree that Wuthering Heights is a marvelous piece.

2688
2:48:05 --> 2:48:07
It's beautifully constructed, I will say.

2689
2:48:07 --> 2:48:13
There is like a composition which is just amazing like this, the composition of the novels.

2690
2:48:13 --> 2:48:16
And it's good, guys.

2691
2:48:16 --> 2:48:18
You know, it's like the meat.

2692
2:48:18 --> 2:48:20
Yeah, you can't put everything.

2693
2:48:20 --> 2:48:21
Wuthering Heights, I agree.

2694
2:48:21 --> 2:48:23
Yeah. But do you see my...

2695
2:48:23 --> 2:48:33
What I want to do in this list, I put the writers maybe whom you never heard even the names of, yeah, from different continents.

2696
2:48:33 --> 2:48:37
So don't forget that great literature doesn't exist only in the UK.

2697
2:48:37 --> 2:48:43
In my opinion, by the way, all great English literature ended up in the past.

2698
2:48:43 --> 2:48:45
It's Shakespeare.

2699
2:48:45 --> 2:48:47
It's 18th century.

2700
2:48:47 --> 2:48:48
Fielding.

2701
2:48:48 --> 2:48:49
Stern.

2702
2:48:49 --> 2:48:51
Goldsmith.

2703
2:48:51 --> 2:48:53
19th century.

2704
2:48:53 --> 2:48:55
Dickens.

2705
2:48:55 --> 2:48:58
You know, Wuthering Heights, Thomas Hardy.

2706
2:48:58 --> 2:49:00
Everything great in the past.

2707
2:49:00 --> 2:49:02
Everything great in the past.

2708
2:49:02 --> 2:49:11
I will add maybe that at some point I thought that William Golding, his greatest novel is, I thought, The Spire.

2709
2:49:11 --> 2:49:13
I think it's called Spy or The Spire.

2710
2:49:13 --> 2:49:18
Everybody knows William Golding by his A Lot of the Flies.

2711
2:49:18 --> 2:49:22
These boys on the uninhabited islands who turn into some sort of barbaric state.

2712
2:49:22 --> 2:49:24
But The Spire is very good.

2713
2:49:24 --> 2:49:26
It's very poetical, I think.

2714
2:49:26 --> 2:49:28
It's like a stream of consciousness.

2715
2:49:28 --> 2:49:35
And it requires several readings so you can see this vision of this main character and what's going on.

2716
2:49:35 --> 2:49:36
It's very good.

2717
2:49:36 --> 2:49:47
I will say that maybe from my point of view, maybe The Spire or Spire is the best English novel in 20th century by William Golding.

2718
2:49:47 --> 2:49:49
This, I think, must be.

2719
2:49:49 --> 2:49:59
It's like poetry, imagery and again like innovative modernistic technique of Virginia Woolf or James Joyce.

2720
2:49:59 --> 2:50:05
Yeah. And he had a very good hold on cults, which was what...

2721
2:50:05 --> 2:50:09
Yeah. I'm trying to look through the list.

2722
2:50:09 --> 2:50:15
And again, I always say don't forget the literature is a well thing.

2723
2:50:15 --> 2:50:18
I will give you just one example.

2724
2:50:18 --> 2:50:25
Several years ago in one anthology, I discovered the Pillow Book.

2725
2:50:25 --> 2:50:30
It's called The Pillow Book and it's written by the lady in medieval Japan.

2726
2:50:30 --> 2:50:32
It's, I think, the ninth century.

2727
2:50:32 --> 2:50:40
She is a lady at the emperor's court and her name was Say Shonagon.

2728
2:50:40 --> 2:50:43
Say Shonagon, The Pillow Book.

2729
2:50:43 --> 2:50:47
It's not about some plot or adventure.

2730
2:50:47 --> 2:50:58
It's just the personal diary of a person who was writing for herself, her observations about the nature, events in the courts, relationship with people.

2731
2:50:58 --> 2:51:02
When people compose some poetry, she like put it down.

2732
2:51:02 --> 2:51:09
But this is, I think, the first example in the world literature where we got personal sort of diary.

2733
2:51:10 --> 2:51:15
We got something like that in Marcus Aurelius in his reflections.

2734
2:51:15 --> 2:51:23
I don't know how you translate Marcus Aurelius' book where he wrote these things for himself.

2735
2:51:23 --> 2:51:28
But her account, her diary is more personal.

2736
2:51:28 --> 2:51:34
I just believe that after her death, somebody found that and they saw that this is of great literary quality and they rewrote that.

2737
2:51:34 --> 2:51:43
And that after this, it influenced the whole strain of certain books in Japanese literature where Buddhist monks were trying to write like this self.

2738
2:51:43 --> 2:51:51
I always say if you want to learn how to meditate and to go into this Zen thing, start to read Say Shonagon.

2739
2:51:51 --> 2:51:55
She was translated into English and Penguin published this Pillow Book.

2740
2:51:55 --> 2:51:56
It's not very thick.

2741
2:51:56 --> 2:52:02
And again, it's very slow meditative reading where there are sort of days or events.

2742
2:52:03 --> 2:52:08
And it's like interacting with the person who is just alive beside you.

2743
2:52:08 --> 2:52:09
It's amazing.

2744
2:52:09 --> 2:52:10
It's like immediate emotion.

2745
2:52:10 --> 2:52:12
And it's amazing.

2746
2:52:12 --> 2:52:18
Evgeny, can we take a question from Hans Benjamin Braun?

2747
2:52:18 --> 2:52:21
So he's in Switzerland and he's a professor of theoretical physics.

2748
2:52:21 --> 2:52:31
And he has proved in 11 different ways, I think it is, that the Nord Stream pipeline explosions were thermonuclear explosions.

2749
2:52:31 --> 2:52:32
Secret.

2750
2:52:34 --> 2:52:38
Yeah, my question is not exactly related to that.

2751
2:52:38 --> 2:52:39
Can you hear me?

2752
2:52:40 --> 2:52:41
Yeah, yeah.

2753
2:52:41 --> 2:52:42
Can you hear me?

2754
2:52:42 --> 2:52:43
Okay.

2755
2:52:43 --> 2:52:47
Yeah, that's unrelated, but it may be a subject to another time discussion.

2756
2:52:48 --> 2:52:51
No, that was a wonderful overview.

2757
2:52:51 --> 2:52:58
And I think what also, I mean, A, I want to join Stephen in the suggestion that you would write something.

2758
2:52:58 --> 2:53:05
Just actually how you explained it to us, because I think it's wonderful to see a personal opinion.

2759
2:53:05 --> 2:53:18
Now we have all this streamlined stuff which you can, which essentially agrees with everybody else, but actually an individual opinion on these literary works.

2760
2:53:18 --> 2:53:19
That would be wonderful.

2761
2:53:19 --> 2:53:28
And then, of course, also thank you for your, you know, apparently I've heard that you had your difficulties relating your career.

2762
2:53:28 --> 2:53:31
And I've witnessed similar things.

2763
2:53:31 --> 2:53:37
So maybe we could exchange privately, you know, or even.

2764
2:53:37 --> 2:53:39
But now back to the scene.

2765
2:53:39 --> 2:53:46
What is so impressive about your list is that it encompasses essentially all cultures.

2766
2:53:46 --> 2:54:00
And I think in these times, that's very, very important where there are forces which try to drive and to divide and, you know, and single out one thing over another thing.

2767
2:54:00 --> 2:54:08
And in this context, actually, what did strike me when you were talking, I also learned Greek and Latin at school.

2768
2:54:08 --> 2:54:13
Even though I try to pursue physics.

2769
2:54:13 --> 2:54:21
So and we read actually Homer original and we read Virgil and his original.

2770
2:54:21 --> 2:54:32
And then, but in recent times in schools, at least here in Europe, there has been this push to eliminate classics from from the curriculum.

2771
2:54:33 --> 2:54:38
And actually, if you see, there is practically nobody doing this and, you know, at school anymore.

2772
2:54:38 --> 2:54:56
And that takes us maybe to the topic of these conversations, you know, over the past few years organized by Stephen is, you know, how exactly and why exactly did the Roman Empire collapse?

2773
2:54:56 --> 2:55:12
And I think some of the Roman and Latin texts, and even if you actually look at it, so, you know, legal stuff, I mean, now, apparently, even in discussions, even in blogs, you know, one of the most frequent snippets in Latin is Cui Bono.

2774
2:55:12 --> 2:55:16
Right. And that is Cicero's phrase.

2775
2:55:16 --> 2:55:24
And I mean, another thing is which comes to my mind is part of the elder right.

2776
2:55:24 --> 2:55:35
Parking in a set of end, which is, you know, somehow this obsession of powers to eliminate their competitor, no matter what.

2777
2:55:35 --> 2:55:52
So, but I think even functionally, the decline of the Roman Empire, I mean, some voices say that it was a detached elite, which essentially, you know, was enriching themselves and leaving the great mass on their own.

2778
2:55:54 --> 2:56:02
It's, of course, hard to see because, you know, the average people didn't write books, you know, maybe you find some paintings in Pompeii.

2779
2:56:02 --> 2:56:16
But I think it's a very, very, very important thing and aspect which we should not realize in, you know, in these times, in these current times, which are indeed very challenging.

2780
2:56:16 --> 2:56:18
So thank you very much.

2781
2:56:20 --> 2:56:22
Just quick. Thank you for your contribution.

2782
2:56:22 --> 2:56:34
I think I believe Seymour Hersh who published his version of events in regards to Nordic pub pipeline.

2783
2:56:34 --> 2:56:39
The thing is, it doesn't even matter how they did it because they're...

2784
2:56:39 --> 2:56:42
Well, I think it did. Just a second, because you came back.

2785
2:56:42 --> 2:56:46
Actually, Seymour Hersh was via contact of mine at MIT.

2786
2:56:46 --> 2:56:49
He was in possession of my analysis.

2787
2:56:49 --> 2:57:01
So about a month before mid-January, he got what I wrote and I just, I didn't, you know, it was not contact or rumors.

2788
2:57:01 --> 2:57:10
I just analyzed the seismic data and plus many other signature, you know, satellite data.

2789
2:57:10 --> 2:57:22
And actually in the next few weeks, perhaps there will be kind of an update of a talk which I gave also based on this English synchronization, maybe online.

2790
2:57:22 --> 2:57:31
So we can then look at it, I think, as a, you know, scientifically educated person, you can follow.

2791
2:57:31 --> 2:57:36
I mean, in the audience there were actually lots of physicists and engineers and captains.

2792
2:57:37 --> 2:57:44
So I didn't get any kind of valid objections to what I presented.

2793
2:57:44 --> 2:57:48
And I mean, this has been going around since a year.

2794
2:57:48 --> 2:57:53
I mean, it went up to White House, Kremlin, Ben Hark.

2795
2:57:53 --> 2:57:57
So no, just to reply to your remark.

2796
2:57:57 --> 2:58:02
No, no, indeed it's how one did it is indeed it matters.

2797
2:58:02 --> 2:58:14
Because if you look at all the, you know, now the tenor and accusing, oh, they are threatening with nuclear weapons.

2798
2:58:14 --> 2:58:17
And I just say, wait a minute, this is long gone.

2799
2:58:17 --> 2:58:28
You know, this ship has sailed and probably never actually stopped sailing ever since this, you know, really thing started.

2800
2:58:28 --> 2:58:31
And that's what people just do not understand.

2801
2:58:31 --> 2:58:34
They don't want to see it because they have been brainwashed.

2802
2:58:34 --> 2:58:38
And it's actually a very, very, very important thing.

2803
2:58:38 --> 2:58:41
And if we are not doing something, we're doomed.

2804
2:58:41 --> 2:58:52
Really. I mean, that's my that's now my personal opinion, but it comes from a really strict scientific analysis.

2805
2:58:52 --> 2:58:53
And I mean, all all.

2806
2:58:53 --> 2:59:04
And I know actually, in the meantime, I've heard of cases people have been working on this along similar lines than myself.

2807
2:59:04 --> 2:59:12
And I've been told they are not allowed to pursue their research in this direction.

2808
2:59:12 --> 2:59:19
So now you can actually make your own, you know, you can make your own story, your own conclusion about that.

2809
2:59:19 --> 2:59:23
And also why my results are just silenced.

2810
2:59:23 --> 2:59:28
I mean, it's just kept on the cover and it keeps on increasing.

2811
2:59:28 --> 2:59:38
I mean, every every couple of weeks I come up with another package, which is even more outrageous in its in its implications.

2812
2:59:38 --> 2:59:44
So so that is just, you know, to whoever is still here at the time.

2813
2:59:44 --> 2:59:48
I'd have like to give an update on that matter.

2814
2:59:48 --> 2:59:49
Thank you.

2815
2:59:49 --> 2:59:53
So, Evgeny, I can put you in touch with Stans Benjamin if you want.

2816
2:59:53 --> 2:59:57
Yeah. OK. Just quick comments to the chats.

2817
2:59:57 --> 3:00:03
So people asking about translation into into English, I don't know, to be honest.

2818
3:00:03 --> 3:00:08
I can say about Russian translations, maybe Penguin Classics.

2819
3:00:08 --> 3:00:15
But I will always say that maybe it's worth to read with two translations.

2820
3:00:15 --> 3:00:20
I think there is another translation in Oxford University Press like Oxford Classics.

2821
3:00:20 --> 3:00:26
So when you read them in two different translations, maybe then.

2822
3:00:26 --> 3:00:30
But again, I'm not a specialist. You need to read certain reviews.

2823
3:00:30 --> 3:00:38
And also, it's difficult to see honest reviews from they're just publishing enterprises when they want to sell something.

2824
3:00:38 --> 3:00:46
But I noticed, for example, when I was preparing today, this scene with the prisoners, which were going like through the desert,

2825
3:00:46 --> 3:00:50
which Don Quixote like freed from all the crimes and let them free.

2826
3:00:50 --> 3:00:55
By the way, after this heroic deed, they stoned him.

2827
3:00:55 --> 3:01:04
So the beginning of the chapter, they write that Don Quixote put down his eyes.

2828
3:01:04 --> 3:01:13
And there was a group of people who were connected by the iron chain on their necks like beads.

2829
3:01:13 --> 3:01:19
So in the original Spanish, there is a word, this word like Quentus, it's beads.

2830
3:01:19 --> 3:01:30
But the thing is that if I'm a translator and because when he's writing beads, I see the Rosary.

2831
3:01:30 --> 3:01:38
So we are living in the modern world. It means like in the times of Cervantes, this metaphor was obvious.

2832
3:01:38 --> 3:01:45
These people, they are like the beads in the Rosary in this line connected like to the necks.

2833
3:01:45 --> 3:01:54
So the way he writes it for the modern English reader, I will translate them that were like beads in the Rosary.

2834
3:01:54 --> 3:02:01
If I was a translator, you know, sort of chew up this thing, because I doubt that you will notice this thing.

2835
3:02:01 --> 3:02:10
Do you know? Borges, he wrote a book, like a very short story about like the guy who is trying to translate, I think, Don Quixote,

2836
3:02:10 --> 3:02:16
I think in the modern Spanish. And actually he writes it again because you need to go back into this context.

2837
3:02:16 --> 3:02:20
People write about Shakespeare in the list. Yes, Shakespeare.

2838
3:02:20 --> 3:02:24
I think for British speaking people, you need to read it.

2839
3:02:24 --> 3:02:33
For English speaking, you need to read it in a bilingual translations where there is a literal translation of all these archaic words,

2840
3:02:33 --> 3:02:38
unusual use of grammar and the stuff and the decipherment of his metaphors.

2841
3:02:38 --> 3:02:46
Otherwise, what's the point? Yeah, it's a beautiful music to recite against the winds and fortune of outrageous fortune.

2842
3:02:46 --> 3:02:52
But the thing is like, what's the point if you don't understand what actually he's trying to say?

2843
3:02:52 --> 3:02:57
Yeah, because the good literature is about two things.

2844
3:02:57 --> 3:03:03
It's about emotion, which could be because of the beautiful consonants and rhythm, which is on subconscious level.

2845
3:03:03 --> 3:03:05
But there is also some idea there.

2846
3:03:05 --> 3:03:11
OK, then people write about Epictetus. I totally agree. Like Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus.

2847
3:03:11 --> 3:03:14
But again, it's like beyond the list. It's like further reading. Yeah.

2848
3:03:14 --> 3:03:17
But I think it's essential reading, actually.

2849
3:03:17 --> 3:03:21
The death of Socrates or the trial of Socrates.

2850
3:03:21 --> 3:03:27
If people mean the account by Xenophon or Xenophon, definitely.

2851
3:03:27 --> 3:03:34
Or one of the plate dialogues where there is a description, because I think both pupils of Socrates give this

2852
3:03:34 --> 3:03:40
good luck. So I will not waste my time for that, to be honest.

2853
3:03:40 --> 3:03:43
And I'm honest and I will explain why.

2854
3:03:43 --> 3:03:53
So from one hand, Solzhenitsyn, he got a great literary talent like Tolstoy.

2855
3:03:53 --> 3:03:58
He is a great master of the word how to put the sentences on the page.

2856
3:03:58 --> 3:04:09
Here in Glasgow, he created a dictionary of Russian root words, which used in different villages.

2857
3:04:09 --> 3:04:15
And the funny way, it's like the thing with the Russian language where we got the word, but with different variations.

2858
3:04:15 --> 3:04:17
So it's fun to read it.

2859
3:04:17 --> 3:04:23
But another thing, it's a huge, huge novel.

2860
3:04:23 --> 3:04:26
I recall it like five, six pages at times.

2861
3:04:26 --> 3:04:29
And people think it's some sort of documentary thing.

2862
3:04:29 --> 3:04:32
This is not a documentary account.

2863
3:04:32 --> 3:04:35
This is like literary work with a certain purpose.

2864
3:04:35 --> 3:04:37
So it bears certain purpose.

2865
3:04:37 --> 3:04:41
Part of it, I will say it's like mostly it's propaganda.

2866
3:04:41 --> 3:04:45
So certain things contain truth where he called something or says something.

2867
3:04:45 --> 3:04:52
But some of this, it's like sort of myths or legends he's like putting down to appreciate the fact that

2868
3:04:52 --> 3:05:00
to appreciate sort of the thing about Gulag, it's worth to read just one short novel by Solzhenitsyn,

2869
3:05:00 --> 3:05:03
One Day Over Van Denisevich, I think it's called.

2870
3:05:03 --> 3:05:06
It just, I don't know, I don't recall exactly.

2871
3:05:06 --> 3:05:14
I think maybe it's 20 pages and you will save your life because there is no need to reread this tedious accounts from the trials,

2872
3:05:14 --> 3:05:16
which he just took from newspaper.

2873
3:05:16 --> 3:05:22
So for me, it's some sort of raw material combined with this sort of myths.

2874
3:05:22 --> 3:05:27
If he published separately the myths about Gulag, it's one thing.

2875
3:05:27 --> 3:05:35
But again, if you want to know about Gulag, I will recommend another writer who wrote short stories and in five, six short stories

2876
3:05:35 --> 3:05:39
from his personal experience and of great literary merit,

2877
3:05:39 --> 3:05:45
you will get more from this like six or seven volumes of Archipelago Gulag.

2878
3:05:45 --> 3:05:47
And this is, I think, just the time waste.

2879
3:05:47 --> 3:05:57
We should be more like sort of concise in the way that we can get the same, but like in a shorter text, which has more literary qualities there.

2880
3:05:57 --> 3:06:00
Then Tomas Snesh.

2881
3:06:00 --> 3:06:09
Yeah. So the Picaresque novel, which is in my anthology of Picaresque novels is Tomas Snesh, this writer from...

2882
3:06:09 --> 3:06:18
I forget to include in my list Voltaire, so I should admit, because I was in April, I was telling Karam, Karam, have you read Candide?

2883
3:06:18 --> 3:06:20
You know, read it immediately.

2884
3:06:20 --> 3:06:30
You know, in the time of these conflicts in Palestine and this like strife, just look at this text about tolerance, Candide and his philosophical place by Voltaire.

2885
3:06:30 --> 3:06:37
Yeah, Voltaire, philosophical novels, I should include in my list, but I need to remove somebody from this list.

2886
3:06:37 --> 3:06:38
Yeah.

2887
3:06:38 --> 3:06:40
Kafka.

2888
3:06:40 --> 3:06:46
What I will say, everybody knows Kafka, you know, everybody knows.

2889
3:06:46 --> 3:06:57
I will say that maybe it's worth to reread his Metamorphoses, just from time to time to reread the same short novel and not to go into the huge, because the theme is the same.

2890
3:06:57 --> 3:06:59
The theme is the same.

2891
3:06:59 --> 3:07:04
But before Kafka, guys, I will suggest to read Metamorphoses by Ovid.

2892
3:07:04 --> 3:07:12
Yeah, just to go to this image, to see what Metamorphoses was in Ovid, because it's more culturally important than Kafka Metamorphoses.

2893
3:07:12 --> 3:07:17
Images of Ovid, they go everywhere in literature, in poetry, in music.

2894
3:07:17 --> 3:07:23
They're like ballets, operas, you know, suites and also paintings like everywhere.

2895
3:07:23 --> 3:07:27
So what's the point to see the painting if you don't understand that that's the subject?

2896
3:07:27 --> 3:07:33
And the descriptions of these transformations in Ovid, they are quite innovative.

2897
3:07:33 --> 3:07:40
Some of the scenes there of bad taste in Ovid, where he describes how centaurs like destroys each other and what traumas they sustained.

2898
3:07:40 --> 3:07:43
It's like almost reading an orthopedic textbook.

2899
3:07:43 --> 3:07:47
It's like disgusting, but it's in poetry.

2900
3:07:47 --> 3:07:57
And then Metamorphoses by Apuleos, this great novel where there are certain erotic scenes there, but they are described.

2901
3:07:57 --> 3:08:07
He uses sort of language and words, which are sort of detached in some sort of Hemingway way.

2902
3:08:07 --> 3:08:16
He describes like the atmosphere, how this servant girl was preparing like something in the pot and there was something boiling and it was like a pathos in smell.

2903
3:08:16 --> 3:08:24
And she was moving with her thighs. So he creates sort of atmosphere, erotic atmosphere without actually describing a sex scene.

2904
3:08:24 --> 3:08:32
But it's like very erotic. I don't know. This is maybe unique experience like in the world literature, how you write about like sort of forbidden things,

2905
3:08:32 --> 3:08:44
but in a pristine language, because the fathers of church, all the St. Augustine and the guys like St. Thomas, they adored like the Golden Ass Metamorphoses by Apuleos.

2906
3:08:44 --> 3:08:50
This forbidden literature, they adored it. They adored it to the point that they copied the style of Apuleos.

2907
3:08:50 --> 3:09:00
If you manage to read it in Latin or in good English translation, you will see how beautifully he constructs the sentence and everything apart from the topic itself.

2908
3:09:00 --> 3:09:05
So it's a great book. So Kafka. I don't know who was the writer for Kafka.

2909
3:09:05 --> 3:09:11
I think he was describing his like struggles in this bureaucracy like in Austria.

2910
3:09:11 --> 3:09:16
You know, OK. But if you read Kafka, Metamorphoses, that's enough. That's enough.

2911
3:09:16 --> 3:09:24
But actually it's very important to write about bureaucracy. So Kafka is the master of that's my opinion anyway.

2912
3:09:24 --> 3:09:34
But the thing is that if you take some of the plays by Gogol, Nikolai Gogol, some of the stuff, that's Kafka or Hoffman.

2913
3:09:34 --> 3:09:39
Do you know this sort of thing? Do you know there is like a spirit of that?

2914
3:09:39 --> 3:09:54
Yeah, Kafka just went on to this level where somebody is going to approach this castle or somebody is like falsely accused and this like thing with a person is transformed to something or panel calling like a very short story like two or three pages.

2915
3:09:54 --> 3:10:00
Yeah, I will say that Kafka is good for when you revise in your German.

2916
3:10:00 --> 3:10:10
So then the next one, Polish writers. I will say that I don't know the writer which was mentioned in the chat.

2917
3:10:10 --> 3:10:25
I know better Polish poets. Obviously, they are classic poet of 19th century Adam Mickiewicz, who was just a genius, I think, and wrote a beautiful poem Pan to Deusz.

2918
3:10:25 --> 3:10:39
Then I write classical like Polish writers like Sienkiewicz, Boleslaw Proust-Ferrow and from 20th century Jerzy Anzijewski, The Gates of Paradise and I think it's called Ash and Diamond.

2919
3:10:39 --> 3:10:49
But again, and there is a great writer, by the way, in Poland who wrote, we can say, the first proper Polish novel, although he wrote it in French.

2920
3:10:49 --> 3:11:01
Jan Potocki, the manuscript found in Saragossa. This is for Kanaswas. This is for people who like sort of literary game.

2921
3:11:01 --> 3:11:11
He uses the technique of Thousand and One Nights, Russian doll, where one story is inside another story and another one story. It's just mind blowing.

2922
3:11:11 --> 3:11:22
I read it several times and it's fantastic. The action, by the way, takes in Spain, but he goes like inside of the story, he goes into another one and they link together.

2923
3:11:22 --> 3:11:33
You cannot describe it in this book. The manuscript found in Saragossa. Yeah, this is I think that will be on the maybe Lem is possibly the greatest.

2924
3:11:33 --> 3:11:42
And the second place I will put this one manuscript found in Saragossa. Tolkien. Yeah, Tolkien, I think is great.

2925
3:11:42 --> 3:11:54
But you will appreciate him if you read Beowulf, if you read Kaliwala, if you read Son of Nibelungen, if you read all these all Germanic and Finnish epic poems and Icelandic sagas,

2926
3:11:54 --> 3:12:01
because we will appreciate how Tolkien managed to recreate the poetry and the style of these old guys.

2927
3:12:01 --> 3:12:08
Because when you read in it, it's not just the thing which he's doing for money. He's doing it from the heart.

2928
3:12:08 --> 3:12:16
It's like Umberto Eco writing The Name of the Rose. He's specialist in this in medieval ages. He lives in them.

2929
3:12:16 --> 3:12:22
He knows all the literature of the time. He can recreate the thinking. So that's what Tolkien, I think he has achieved.

2930
3:12:22 --> 3:12:31
It's like this ancient poet who is composing Beowulf when he believes that Beowulf is a real dragon.

2931
3:12:31 --> 3:12:38
That's the fun in Beowulf. You know, apart from these alliterations and the descriptions and the economical rhymes,

2932
3:12:38 --> 3:12:49
you can also amaze that potentially these peoples, although they were on the brink of Christianity and they adopted Christianity and he's Christian, still there are pagan elements there.

2933
3:12:49 --> 3:12:55
They are just they're hidden there and they believe that he believes that they were dragons because they believed in that.

2934
3:12:55 --> 3:13:05
They believed in that till I don't know 13th, 14th century. Bodleir, yes. But again, the poetry, it's like huge continents.

2935
3:13:05 --> 3:13:10
I've already mentioned Africa or Latin America. So and you take it by periods.

2936
3:13:10 --> 3:13:20
For example, we take separately the Renaissance poetry and it goes country by country, not only Germany, not only Germany.

2937
3:13:20 --> 3:13:25
I mean, like all these duketems, not only France or England or Spain or Italy.

2938
3:13:25 --> 3:13:32
There was great poets in Dalmatia or in Iceland or in Hungary or in Poland.

2939
3:13:32 --> 3:13:37
So we need to look at the best poets in these countries at this period.

2940
3:13:37 --> 3:13:45
18th century, the same principle, country by country, 19th century, country by country like that.

2941
3:13:45 --> 3:13:55
So otherwise, we'll just miss some poets who just wrote one poem, which is like great.

2942
3:13:55 --> 3:14:02
When I'm reading this Spanish poets, I found one guy and in Russian anthology, there is just one poem to his father.

2943
3:14:02 --> 3:14:09
And it's like that that our life is some sort of Johnny. Our life is like a river.

2944
3:14:09 --> 3:14:15
Our life is like a river that goes into the stream of the ocean. It was sort of infinity.

2945
3:14:15 --> 3:14:22
Oh, my God. And the thing is that the images, they repeat another poet as well, because, you know,

2946
3:14:22 --> 3:14:29
it's like they don't exist in a vacuum. Somebody is writing almost like similar to that.

2947
3:14:29 --> 3:14:39
And again, it's interesting like how when you mentioned Badler, I recall in one of his poems, I think it's Badler, if I'm not mistaken.

2948
3:14:39 --> 3:14:44
So he's writing about the character that the character looked at them at despise.

2949
3:14:44 --> 3:14:56
At this point, I'm thinking, is he referring to the Divine Comedy to Inferno, where in one of the cycles there is Bertrand de Bourgh.

2950
3:14:56 --> 3:15:05
And he was a poet, a real poet, whom Dante placed in Inferno. And this poet, so he keeps in front of his head.

2951
3:15:05 --> 3:15:15
So his head is so weird and he's keeping his head in front of him like a like a torch, like showing the way like in the darkness of Inferno.

2952
3:15:15 --> 3:15:26
And Dante is describing that in this like sort of statue, this poet, he sort of defied the even Inferno.

2953
3:15:26 --> 3:15:33
He defied everything, you know, in his punishment. And when I'm reading Badler, I'm just like, and it's not obvious.

2954
3:15:33 --> 3:15:44
And I'm thinking, is it some sort of quotation from Dante? Because Dante or Don Quixote, they influenced 19th century like romantics, definitely, like Shakespeare.

2955
3:15:44 --> 3:15:51
So there are a lot of these hidden sort of connections and we don't see them at the first time as like as a quotation.

2956
3:15:51 --> 3:15:57
Candide, Thomas Nash. Yeah.

2957
3:15:58 --> 3:16:03
That's if you're coming to an end or you're feeling a bit tired.

2958
3:16:03 --> 3:16:07
I think I think we should come to the end. I think people are just overloaded.

2959
3:16:07 --> 3:16:14
The thing is that the only advice will be don't rush like allocate the time for every day.

2960
3:16:14 --> 3:16:19
It's like food, the food for your brain. Do you know the food for your intellect?

2961
3:16:19 --> 3:16:22
You're taking food every day, right? I don't know.

2962
3:16:22 --> 3:16:27
Every day. It's like it should be like a habit.

2963
3:16:27 --> 3:16:32
Nothing should stop it unless you are in coma or dead.

2964
3:16:32 --> 3:16:36
Allocate the time. I think it's.

2965
3:16:36 --> 3:16:39
Can you really come back to talk to us?

2966
3:16:39 --> 3:16:41
Yeah, certainly.

2967
3:16:41 --> 3:16:48
The thing, it will be lovely at some point if we read the same text to reconvene and discuss it.

2968
3:16:48 --> 3:16:57
Yes, one of the greatest thing is Russia, which maybe I hinted at that we discuss the same thing in the same circle.

2969
3:16:57 --> 3:17:02
Do you know we have topic for discussion and I want to mention another thing in my funny thing in my school.

2970
3:17:02 --> 3:17:07
There was a hooligan hooligan who was like he got bad marks in all subjects,

2971
3:17:07 --> 3:17:15
but he got his parents got like the largest library like in our class where we borrowed his books and he was reading certain books.

2972
3:17:15 --> 3:17:22
Even we read before them. We read not only what it was compulsory, but not also compulsory like Gorky,

2973
3:17:22 --> 3:17:29
which wasn't some of his novels were not compulsory, but we learned about from this novels about like what is love, what is sex.

2974
3:17:29 --> 3:17:34
And we were like as adolescents. It was I will not say that this is a pornography.

2975
3:17:34 --> 3:17:42
It's not exciting, but do you know it's the knowledge about the life I will say introduction into adult life through the great books.

2976
3:17:42 --> 3:17:43
This is the best way.

2977
3:17:45 --> 3:17:53
Well, if everybody is like you in Evgeny, if everybody is well educated as you in Russia, then the West has got a big problem.

2978
3:17:53 --> 3:18:02
Because apparently the UK is at war with Russia now and Rishi Sunak said that he didn't want to be a wartime prime minister.

2979
3:18:02 --> 3:18:05
I don't know whether that was a joke, but that's what I heard this week.

2980
3:18:05 --> 3:18:10
We're living in very frightening times.

2981
3:18:10 --> 3:18:15
Actually, I think the danger of nuclear inhalation is real.

2982
3:18:15 --> 3:18:21
Although some in this group, they think that or there are no jokes that this is like a bluff and whatever.

2983
3:18:21 --> 3:18:24
I don't think so. It's real.

2984
3:18:24 --> 3:18:46
And the danger is that there are some people in military on both sides that believe that if they destroy the systems of early like recognition that missiles are going, you know, this system systems, they can destroy the country without like retaliation.

2985
3:18:46 --> 3:18:49
And there are people on both sides who believe in that.

2986
3:18:49 --> 3:18:56
So and these people are dangerous because all their actions, not just the words actions, they're dangerous.

2987
3:18:56 --> 3:19:09
Yeah, because this this moment, if the F-16 or whatever plane who can carry nuclear weapons will go from Poland or Romania or Germany, I think Russia will respond to that.

2988
3:19:09 --> 3:19:12
They will destroy it on the territory of Poland or Germany or Romania.

2989
3:19:12 --> 3:19:14
There will be no hesitation in that.

2990
3:19:14 --> 3:19:19
And that will be the first act to the third world.

2991
3:19:19 --> 3:19:33
Well, of all the countries in the world, if you look at the size of Russia, even now, I mean, the Soviet Union was, I think, two million square miles more than it is currently, which currently is just over six million, I think, square miles.

2992
3:19:33 --> 3:19:36
It's the biggest country in the world.

2993
3:19:36 --> 3:19:40
So it's going to take a heck of a lot of invading to take over Russia.

2994
3:19:40 --> 3:19:45
And the notion that you can somehow beat Russia seems incredibly stupid to me.

2995
3:19:45 --> 3:19:53
But anyway, and and we've seen Napoleon fail and we saw Hitler fail if we can believe any history at all.

2996
3:19:53 --> 3:19:55
But anyway, you're going to thank you so much.

2997
3:19:55 --> 3:20:00
So you're incredibly well read, Evgeny, and you're incredibly wise, I imagine.

2998
3:20:00 --> 3:20:08
And how long did it take you to work out what was going on in 2020?

2999
3:20:08 --> 3:20:12
In the COVID-19.

3000
3:20:12 --> 3:20:19
How long did it take you to work out the COVID-19 pandemic, so-called, was a fraud?

3001
3:20:19 --> 3:20:21
Oh, I don't recall.

3002
3:20:21 --> 3:20:29
But at some point, I don't recall at some point I was thinking because there were several still there are several sort of versions in my head.

3003
3:20:29 --> 3:20:34
First of all, I've seen the movie called Contagion.

3004
3:20:34 --> 3:20:39
And I was thinking that what is that?

3005
3:20:39 --> 3:20:48
And I thought that the main thing which I noticed, I thought was like the dressage of the population.

3006
3:20:48 --> 3:20:52
If you know the word dressage, there is a French word dressage.

3007
3:20:52 --> 3:21:03
It's like when you take the horse and to take the horse like in a circus, you train the horse to do different movements, galoping or whatever.

3008
3:21:03 --> 3:21:05
I think it's called dressage.

3009
3:21:05 --> 3:21:09
So that was sort of dressage of population.

3010
3:21:09 --> 3:21:22
Because I was thinking like, how did they manage at the same time in most of the countries to install some sort of martial law and people abdicated from all their rights?

3011
3:21:22 --> 3:21:33
Is it just a pure coincidence that they were afraid of COVID or were they checking whether the population can deliberately do what the government told them?

3012
3:21:33 --> 3:21:36
Sit at home, don't do anything, don't work.

3013
3:21:36 --> 3:21:51
And then I said like after it finished and it showed that almost in all countries, the population is compliant because we live all, I believe, in all totalitarian states, not only like in China, in Russia.

3014
3:21:51 --> 3:21:56
Or Lukashenko, I think the UK.

3015
3:21:56 --> 3:22:02
It's the question how everything is masqueraded and how you just deal with your political opponents.

3016
3:22:02 --> 3:22:03
Sure. That's the question.

3017
3:22:03 --> 3:22:07
Just is it an open dictatorship or just in disguise?

3018
3:22:07 --> 3:22:20
And then I thought that potentially that if some social upheaval will start in the United States and if there will be a lot of protests there,

3019
3:22:20 --> 3:22:27
the government will just put army on the streets and will say that, oh, these are enemies of the country, we need to destroy them.

3020
3:22:27 --> 3:22:40
The people will just believe the government will listen to that because they already have done all these things and showed they can submit to the power during the COVID pandemic.

3021
3:22:40 --> 3:22:41
Yeah.

3022
3:22:41 --> 3:22:45
And now we can do everything.

3023
3:22:45 --> 3:22:48
Yeah, it was a stunning time to be alive, wasn't it?

3024
3:22:48 --> 3:22:50
And still is, actually.

3025
3:22:50 --> 3:22:52
But I agree with you, Yevgeny.

3026
3:22:52 --> 3:23:09
One of the biggest problems is the public's, people's addiction to mobile phones and computers and their absolute inability to control their wishes or their wants, you know, and no wisdom at all.

3027
3:23:09 --> 3:23:12
And no wonder because nobody reads.

3028
3:23:12 --> 3:23:28
And I think you're absolutely right that societies have become atomized and that's extremely dangerous when you've got no conversation taking place between generations, between husbands and wives, because of feminism and all the rest of it.

3029
3:23:28 --> 3:23:33
You know, they've sought to divide us and they've succeeded and we need to reverse this.

3030
3:23:33 --> 3:23:40
And I see you as providing the solution.

3031
3:23:40 --> 3:23:42
It's difficult to say what we can do.

3032
3:23:42 --> 3:23:43
We can think.

3033
3:23:43 --> 3:23:56
The thing is that it's like a huge question whether what kind of regime we're living in, like what kind of regime, like what regime is doing with the people, with the population, what's the purpose of it?

3034
3:23:56 --> 3:23:58
I see it in some sort of my Russian.

3035
3:23:58 --> 3:24:01
Psychopaths are in control, in my opinion.

3036
3:24:01 --> 3:24:23
Yeah, so I think I think I think like in the in the terms or in the categories of like Marxist sort of theory, if we look at the from the point of view of like capitalism, what for me it's obvious that capitalism as a system or regime, certain regime is just need modernization all the time.

3037
3:24:23 --> 3:24:38
So in order to survive it as a regime, when a few people will get an access to everything and will responsible for distributing of the goods in the society, you need to reinvent the system.

3038
3:24:38 --> 3:24:50
So at certain point it works as like Victorian labor factory where even the kids doing the jobs like 24 hours per day and there are no hospitals, nothing.

3039
3:24:50 --> 3:25:00
But then you go to the system where people are allowed to have eight hours work, to have rest that Saturday and Sunday, kids not to work, NHS.

3040
3:25:00 --> 3:25:04
So and all the time there's like reinvention of capitalism.

3041
3:25:04 --> 3:25:30
And it was definitely a project to reinvent sort of capitalism where you remove people from working places to put on androids robots like in their place where every many industries like state controlled and also to put everybody back on the public transport to reduce using private cars.

3042
3:25:30 --> 3:25:39
So all this stuff and to switch consumption from meat to vegetables or I don't know to insects.

3043
3:25:39 --> 3:25:46
Yeah. So but the thing is that I believe that there is no I believe there is no universal government.

3044
3:25:46 --> 3:25:54
Even so there are corporations and there are different like groups of interest in every country.

3045
3:25:54 --> 3:26:02
Like if we take the United States, there are certain like I don't know how many groups which are competing with each other.

3046
3:26:02 --> 3:26:05
Some of them like purely military industrial complex.

3047
3:26:05 --> 3:26:10
Some of them could be a financial financial like circles.

3048
3:26:10 --> 3:26:35
One center of power now is emerging looks like is this digital power with the social media where people who owns Twitter, Instagram and this stuff, they got their capitals just selling us as like the base for the marketing to the companies who like produce the stuff which appears like in advertising.

3049
3:26:35 --> 3:26:39
So there and also there are old elites, especially in Europe.

3050
3:26:39 --> 3:26:50
There are old elites connected to the royal families in the UK royal family in the UK and associated banks with it and the aristocracy.

3051
3:26:50 --> 3:26:55
So aristocratic families. And I think there is a competition with them at certain points.

3052
3:26:55 --> 3:26:59
They go together, but at some points there are like a fight with them.

3053
3:26:59 --> 3:27:18
I think some of the groups of these groups, they actually sabotage in this plan, you know, of how call it of restart or like reinvention of capitalism because they know that everything will end with social revolution.

3054
3:27:18 --> 3:27:20
So they need to do something.

3055
3:27:20 --> 3:27:26
Possibly it will be just state state regulation in all spheres.

3056
3:27:26 --> 3:27:30
In this group, you're going to were incurable rebels.

3057
3:27:30 --> 3:27:39
And we like big stakes and fast cars, the faster the better and the bigger the better and caramels to say something now.

3058
3:27:39 --> 3:27:45
Yeah, I just wanted to kind of maybe agree with you a little bit on some of those points and challenge.

3059
3:27:45 --> 3:27:59
I think that I can agree with you that those those, you know, those different groups might have disagreements from time to time where they their their goals or their their desires go against each other.

3060
3:27:59 --> 3:28:19
I think for me, a great example of that was when you saw, I think a lot of people think that the the revelation of Prince Andrew with Virginia Guifa and and Jeffrey Epstein was like, like some sort of like white knight campaign to out him as a as a as a sex

3061
3:28:19 --> 3:28:22
pest or, you know, inappropriate guy.

3062
3:28:22 --> 3:28:27
For me, I know I have a feeling for how the media work in the West.

3063
3:28:27 --> 3:28:44
And I think that when all of the different channels were and I'm going to use this word were in lockstep with each other on this on this this bit of news, I my first thought wasn't, oh, Prince Andrew's done this.

3064
3:28:44 --> 3:28:50
It's what else is Prince Andrew done that they're holding back on that they're now using hangouts?

3065
3:28:50 --> 3:28:51
Yeah, exactly.

3066
3:28:51 --> 3:28:59
Well, actually, for me, I said, what do these people need from the royal family that they're willing to blackmail them on the international stage and disgrace them?

3067
3:28:59 --> 3:29:04
So I said to myself, this is this is actually the royal family being blackmailed.

3068
3:29:04 --> 3:29:10
And then we found out about, you know, Epstein's honey pot operation and whether Mossad is involved.

3069
3:29:10 --> 3:29:11
I don't know.

3070
3:29:11 --> 3:29:19
But so what I would say is that, yes, they do probably have their own, you know, their own interests in it.

3071
3:29:19 --> 3:29:23
And maybe they're not all completely, you know, on song all the time.

3072
3:29:23 --> 3:29:27
But I think that the state where is Kate Middleton?

3073
3:29:27 --> 3:29:28
Someone's written.

3074
3:29:28 --> 3:29:33
I think that she may be dying.

3075
3:29:33 --> 3:29:35
Yeah, she may already be gone.

3076
3:29:35 --> 3:29:36
Who knows?

3077
3:29:36 --> 3:29:48
But the I think that Covid was almost like I feel a bit foolish after Covid because I feel like you look back in history on things that came before and you think, oh, how did I miss that?

3078
3:29:48 --> 3:29:56
Because I think Covid was the great revealer because you saw every single one of these countries marching lockstep with each other.

3079
3:29:56 --> 3:30:02
And that's that's Russia, Ukraine, roughly the same policy, Texas, roughly the same policy.

3080
3:30:02 --> 3:30:10
All of these different nations who are allegedly enemies somehow managed to come up with exactly the same policies and potentially barring China.

3081
3:30:10 --> 3:30:12
Who knows what exactly what was happening there?

3082
3:30:12 --> 3:30:27
But even Iran, allegedly the enemy of the West, managed to pull off the fanciest, swankiest vaccine passport that linked to payment systems.

3083
3:30:27 --> 3:30:32
So are they our enemies?

3084
3:30:32 --> 3:30:35
I'm not so sure.

3085
3:30:36 --> 3:30:41
And Yevgeny was making a cheeky remark about me not believing in nukes.

3086
3:30:41 --> 3:30:45
And when he said some people in this chat don't believe in this.

3087
3:30:45 --> 3:30:47
Thank you for that, mate.

3088
3:30:47 --> 3:30:50
It's not that I don't believe in nukes.

3089
3:30:50 --> 3:30:51
I don't believe in nukes.

3090
3:30:51 --> 3:31:06
It's just that I don't believe that people that are going to such extent to organize things are about to detonate the switch on all of their hard work over the last 100, 200.

3091
3:31:06 --> 3:31:07
Yeah, I agree.

3092
3:31:07 --> 3:31:12
Well, so you mean that it's a big play.

3093
3:31:12 --> 3:31:16
Who was it who said all the world's a stage?

3094
3:31:16 --> 3:31:17
Yeah, yeah.

3095
3:31:17 --> 3:31:26
You know, I personally I think that I need to be careful what I say here because I haven't outed myself from my profession yet, Stephen.

3096
3:31:26 --> 3:31:35
But I know for a fact that the European Union had eight eight slots on their vaccine passport digital app.

3097
3:31:35 --> 3:31:40
And most of the population haven't come anywhere near eight.

3098
3:31:40 --> 3:31:45
And that means that we had an operation that was incomplete.

3099
3:31:45 --> 3:31:57
And that means that we have loose ends that need tying up and whether that means that this is a distraction for the cancers that are happening or the other issues that are taking place.

3100
3:31:57 --> 3:32:03
I mean, this is just an exercise in imagination.

3101
3:32:03 --> 3:32:13
But is it possible that we have a lot of people that need to be hushed and that a war between the biggest powers would achieve that?

3102
3:32:13 --> 3:32:15
I don't know.

3103
3:32:15 --> 3:32:18
But I get the impression that we're being pushed into war.

3104
3:32:18 --> 3:32:21
So from that point of view, yeah, destruction is coming.

3105
3:32:21 --> 3:32:26
But I don't think it's going to be with with and I don't know much about nukes, but I think of nukes.

3106
3:32:26 --> 3:32:31
I think of, you know, big fucking bombs.

3107
3:32:31 --> 3:32:37
I don't think it's going to be that it should be more tactical because lots of effort has gone in before this.

3108
3:32:37 --> 3:32:40
So but yeah, what do you think about that?

3109
3:32:40 --> 3:32:43
Again, because I think I think that covid was the great revealer.

3110
3:32:43 --> 3:32:49
And I don't think you can I don't think you can like absolutely say they're not all working together.

3111
3:32:49 --> 3:32:50
There isn't one world government.

3112
3:32:50 --> 3:33:00
There isn't one one guy pulling the string on everything because actually we've got a great deal of evidence that says there is somebody that there is a whip for every single country.

3113
3:33:00 --> 3:33:02
And you saw it happen.

3114
3:33:02 --> 3:33:04
And you can't rule out.

3115
3:33:04 --> 3:33:09
First time in history, all the nations in the world agreed with each other or damn nearly all the nations.

3116
3:33:09 --> 3:33:14
Yeah, just just quick reply to the comment in the in the chat.

3117
3:33:14 --> 3:33:18
Somebody mentions, I think, and if mentions their time.

3118
3:33:18 --> 3:33:22
Tamil poet, medieval poet, T. R. Kural.

3119
3:33:22 --> 3:33:30
I will say, yes, I got it at home here in in the anthology of the medieval Indian poetry in Russia.

3120
3:33:30 --> 3:33:35
By the way, this poet, he was there was a separate book of all his poems.

3121
3:33:35 --> 3:33:49
But again, there were so many points that, you know, it's only like a Babylonian library or Alexandria Library can like have like all all these books like all these translations.

3122
3:33:49 --> 3:33:52
Yeah.

3123
3:33:52 --> 3:33:58
But again, you can find the you can find the like masterpieces and the pills like everywhere, everywhere.

3124
3:33:58 --> 3:34:06
And quite often apart from the poems, we need to know the historical and cultural ground.

3125
3:34:06 --> 3:34:08
What was going on there?

3126
3:34:08 --> 3:34:11
Because again, like it's a huge ocean.

3127
3:34:11 --> 3:34:20
I didn't mention that in India, apart from the medieval drama by Kalidasa and the rest, there were I think in 12th, 13th century,

3128
3:34:20 --> 3:34:31
there were several anthologies of tales like we can say similar in the similar to in certain way 2001 nights composed by some endeavor.

3129
3:34:31 --> 3:34:33
And this is something, guys.

3130
3:34:33 --> 3:34:40
I mean, like the world the world treasure is just full of like of pearls.

3131
3:34:40 --> 3:34:44
And they want you to to waste your time for a plan.

3132
3:34:44 --> 3:34:47
A plan shrug the shoulders, you know.

3133
3:34:47 --> 3:34:48
Yeah.

3134
3:34:48 --> 3:34:59
And there and there is so much wisdom like in all these guys from the past that, you know, what else?

3135
3:34:59 --> 3:35:00
What else?

3136
3:35:00 --> 3:35:01
Yeah.

3137
3:35:01 --> 3:35:05
There's certainly not much wisdom in the in the in the people these days.

3138
3:35:05 --> 3:35:06
Yeah.

3139
3:35:06 --> 3:35:08
The people are purporting to lead us.

3140
3:35:08 --> 3:35:09
Yeah.

3141
3:35:09 --> 3:35:19
The thing is that we're dealing with this when we're analyzing certain like events, it's difficult to get it because there's so much informational noise.

3142
3:35:19 --> 3:35:20
Yeah.

3143
3:35:20 --> 3:35:28
And as we know, the same fact could be like shown like in different ways, like manipulated or whatever.

3144
3:35:28 --> 3:35:40
But the certain crucial information and I always say it will be interesting like to search and to look into power.

3145
3:35:40 --> 3:35:50
We can say people in charge or how call them today ruling class, which is in shadow.

3146
3:35:50 --> 3:35:57
Whom we see on the surface is like the king and his family or certain people like in the parliament or whoever.

3147
3:35:57 --> 3:36:01
But we don't see people in shadow because they are in shadow.

3148
3:36:01 --> 3:36:03
All these guys like in every country.

3149
3:36:03 --> 3:36:08
So we don't we see Putin, but he's like on the surface, just a symbol of the system.

3150
3:36:08 --> 3:36:15
But there are definitely several competing like, I don't know, seven, eight groups with the different people.

3151
3:36:15 --> 3:36:22
So and I know that in Russia, in Russia, it's impossible to predict what does it mean.

3152
3:36:22 --> 3:36:34
For example, the former Minister of Defense, Sho Yigo, he's now promoted or fired, whatever, to the position of the secretary of this defense committee.

3153
3:36:34 --> 3:36:36
So what does it mean?

3154
3:36:36 --> 3:36:39
Does it mean anything in the past?

3155
3:36:39 --> 3:36:42
A lot of people, they try to make some sort of predictions or make any conclusions.

3156
3:36:42 --> 3:36:52
It's impossible in this sort of Byzantine system, which I believe exists almost in every country where there are a lot of actors with whom we don't see.

3157
3:36:52 --> 3:36:58
Yeah. So you're getting that's a good place, maybe to end.

3158
3:36:58 --> 3:37:02
And well, not least because I think you need a rest.

3159
3:37:02 --> 3:37:06
You've been going for three hours and 45 minutes almost.

3160
3:37:06 --> 3:37:07
That's pretty good.

3161
3:37:07 --> 3:37:14
I feel I feel guilt and shame because I thought that we will do everything we should do everything like in two hours, 15 minutes.

3162
3:37:14 --> 3:37:18
But I went just on gentle for everything.

3163
3:37:18 --> 3:37:22
Yeah. Well, we were encouraging you, Yevgeny.

3164
3:37:22 --> 3:37:27
So all I hope and I'm not a very good interviewer.

3165
3:37:27 --> 3:37:29
I never thought I'd be doing.

3166
3:37:29 --> 3:37:31
Well, it wasn't an interview, was it?

3167
3:37:31 --> 3:37:44
But but I just tried to create an atmosphere in which you felt comfortable because I thought that you well, I was convinced before you even started that this was going to be a special call.

3168
3:37:44 --> 3:37:47
So anyway, you haven't had the letters down.

3169
3:37:47 --> 3:37:49
Thank you so much.

3170
3:37:49 --> 3:37:52
Don't mention it.

3171
3:37:52 --> 3:37:53
Okay. Thank you so much.

3172
3:37:53 --> 3:37:59
You'll get to all the invitations for future meetings now, Yevgeny, as a past guest.

3173
3:37:59 --> 3:38:01
Let me just check with Hans Benjamin.

3174
3:38:01 --> 3:38:10
Hans Benjamin, do you get the all the invitations still?

3175
3:38:10 --> 3:38:16
You muted Hans.

3176
3:38:16 --> 3:38:21
Yeah, I think I get most of them.

3177
3:38:21 --> 3:38:22
Sometimes I wonder.

3178
3:38:22 --> 3:38:25
So you'll get all the future invitation.

3179
3:38:25 --> 3:38:28
We have meetings twice a week, Yevgeny.

3180
3:38:28 --> 3:38:31
You don't have to come, but you're very welcome if you do come.

3181
3:38:31 --> 3:38:36
And especially if you like asking good questions.

3182
3:38:36 --> 3:38:38
Okay.

3183
3:38:38 --> 3:38:39
Thanks so much.

3184
3:38:39 --> 3:38:41
Thanks for everybody who stayed.

3185
3:38:41 --> 3:38:42
Thank you.

3186
3:38:42 --> 3:38:44
Yes.

3187
3:38:44 --> 3:38:47
Oh, by the way, we'll send you the chat.

3188
3:38:47 --> 3:38:49
Oh, maybe I should save that.

3189
3:38:49 --> 3:38:55
And we will send you the link to this video, which is recorded.

3190
3:38:55 --> 3:38:58
The only thing I just noticed, somebody asked the question in the last moment.

3191
3:38:58 --> 3:38:59
Do you read in the original languages?

3192
3:38:59 --> 3:39:07
I will say that, first of all, and I am getting everything in my head in Russian translations, in good Russian translations.

3193
3:39:07 --> 3:39:16
I read in the original languages only in the case if I want to revise the language, if I want to revise like Spanish or French or Italian or German.

3194
3:39:16 --> 3:39:17
So in this case, all Latin.

3195
3:39:17 --> 3:39:26
So that will be like the month or two months where I will read the same extracts, the books I'm reading, like in parallel.

3196
3:39:26 --> 3:39:34
I enjoy reading in Russian because Russian, they have more associations with my like what I read.

3197
3:39:34 --> 3:39:38
But your list, we should be able to find at least in English, shouldn't we?

3198
3:39:38 --> 3:39:41
All of them.

3199
3:39:41 --> 3:39:43
But of course, the translations may not be as good.

3200
3:39:43 --> 3:39:49
But anyway, we'll try to wade through all those books.

3201
3:39:49 --> 3:39:51
Thank you so much.

3202
3:39:51 --> 3:39:52
OK, bye for now.

3203
3:39:52 --> 3:39:53
Brilliant presentation.

3204
3:39:53 --> 3:39:54
Thank you.