There once was a master of the satiric
Who was known for being quite satyric.
What a difference "y" makes:
Handshakes to heartaches.
He was cancelled as his words won panegyrics.
The Satyric Satirist’s Limerick
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BOOKS: “Ali and Nino” by Kurban Said
Ali and Nino: A Love Story by Kurban SaidMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Amazon.in Page
I read this book as travel literature for a trip to Azerbaijan and was pleased that it both met my needs as travel literature (i.e. offering insight into the local culture(s),) and it turned out to be an engrossing story, as well. You may have caught that “turned out to be.” It’s true that the first one-third to half of the book is a slow-burn on the story front. Through those early chapters, the book is the character-driven, plotless novel one frequently sees among literary fiction. Don’t get me wrong, it is still interestingly written and engaging (if you’re a literary fiction reader,) and it definitely met my needs for travel literature. But just as I’d resigned myself to this character-driven literary fiction formulation, it shifted into being a compelling and even action-packed story.
This is a tale of star-crossed lovers but set in the Caucuses in the WWI era (i.e. the time of the Armenian Genocide, when the Ottoman Empire was in its violent death throes.) Unlike Romeo and Juliet, in which the lovers came from feuding clans that were culturally quite similar, cultural divergence is the crux of the matter for Ali and Nino. While the families of the two kids get along fine enough, Nino is from an aristocratic Georgian family of progressive Western (and Christian) proclivities. The protagonist, Ali, is also from an upper-crust family, but they are of a much more conservative Muslim bent. While Ali, himself, is an educated and moderate personality and somewhat of a bridge between the old world Persian mindset of his family and the liberal European one in which he was educated, he has friends and family that it would not be unfair to call fanatics. So, while the families bless the union, it is ill-fated because the worldviews of Ali and Nino make it so there is no place they can both be happy living, except a Baku that is being contested by the Ottoman Empire and a Russia in the midst of its own transmutation. In Persia, Nino is a soulless possession who is not allowed to interact with anyone but Ali, eunuch and female servants, and her own family when they visit. On the other hand, Ali can’t bear to go to Europe or America, where he’d be so far out of his element. So, they are stuck with a Baku besieged by multiple entities.
The writer made a couple of unconventional but clever choices that I found to be brilliant. I’d highly recommend this book for readers of literary fiction and / or historical fiction.
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“The Donkey” by G.K. Chesterton [w/ Audio]
When fishes flew and forests walked
And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood
Then surely I was born.
With monstrous head and sickening cry
And ears like errant wings,
The devil's walking parody
On all four-footed things.
The tattered outlaw of the earth,
Of ancient crooked will;
Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,
I keep my secret still.
Fools! For I also had my hour;
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.
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Bee and Butterfly [Haiku]
bee & butterfly,
drawn to the same fragrant bloom,
work in harmony.
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Yellow Field [Haiku]
a yellow field
stands warm & bright, even
under rain clouds.
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DAILY PHOTO: Sunflowers
“He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven” by William Butler Yeats [w/ Audio]
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with the golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
NOTE: This poem is also sometimes entitled, “Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven.”
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DAILY PHOTO: Buddhas of the World
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Five Seasonal Poems of Miura Chora [w/ Audio]
NEW YEAR
New Year's Day:
the ancient voice of a
nightingale.
SPRING
idyllic nights
and quiet days:
spring rains.
SUMMER
cold water, and
a couple of rice cakes:
it's summertime.
AUTUMN
morning glories
are tousled by
Autumn winds.
WINTER
lingering wind
and snow fall
upon me.
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PROMPT: Pets
What animals make the best/worst pets?
BEST: Dogs (but house-cats if one is of a less energetic / more lazy persuasion.)
WORST: Hippopotamus / Rhinoceros tie
Tiger Riding for Beginners 