Kirsten Lodge: Scholar and Translator of Russian and Eastern European Decadents

If you have enjoyed the Dedalus Book of Russian Decadence and Solitude, Vanity, Night: An Anthology of Czech Decadent Poetry, you have Kirsten Lodge to thank. Much of the material collected in these anthologies is in English for the first time, and nearly all of it by writers unknown to otherwise jaded readers: Jiri Karasek ze Lvovic, Otokar Brezina, Aleksandr Kondratiev, etc.

Dr. Lodge, currently at Columbia University, has published widely on the phenomenon of literary decadence, focusing primary on Russian and Czech authors. Here are links to a generous fete noire:

http://www.interfolio.com/portfolio/KirstenLodge/#footerContainer

http://www.interfolio.com/portfolio/KirstenLodge/published-works/

Thanks mucho for the links. More reading for the week.

You should grab the slim but concentrated package of deviancy and death-worship: Solitude, Vanity, Night: An Anthology of Czech Decadent Poetry.

"Life is repulsive and death is banal" (, etc....)

Jiri Karasek ze Lvovic

Thank you Ben for the info and the links. I am hot on the trail of a reasonably priced copy of Solitude, Vanity, Night: An Anthology of Czech Decadent Poetry. Look there's a touchstone now.

The Dedalus Book of Russian Decadence is a wonderful collection of treasures. Kirsten Lodge's translations of Zinaida Hippius, Briusov, Sologub, etc are sublime.

Also, I just snagged a ex-library copy of On the Banks of the Yaryn for under 10 bucks on abebooks. I can't believe my luck. It's been on my wish list forever. I'm so excited.

Good move on the Kondratiev! (I still need to read it).

By the way, I have an extra copy of The Poet and the Idiot and Other Stories - if anyone wants it, get in touch.

Tuglas:

http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/european-literature/104-friedebert-tug...

Oh Ben, could I have it????? Thanks a million!
:-))

I've been wanting On the Banks of the Yarn, too. Can anyone who has it tell me if it has a pictorial cover or a dust jacket?

Cindy

No dj... glossy illustrated cover. Looks as though it's still available:

http://www.peterlangusa.com/Index.cfm?vID=66746&vHR=1&vUR=2&vUUR=1&a...

I have ordered the Solitude, Vanity, Night anthology. I await delivery with great anticipation.

Thanks, Ben, for recommending this. I got my copy in the mail a few days ago and it's absolutely splendid. So nice to come across absolutely new material, and such desperately delirious material at that....

My pleasure - I was happy to recommend it and happier that others enjoy it as much as I do. And to think - the LibraryThing archons send me those irritating auto-reminders all the time, urging me to review (selective service marketing) the "early reviewer" books I managed to have sent me, lest I get sent no more (I seldom read them - but I'm thinking that should not preclude me from reviewing them).

Call off the Furies and get me a commission! ;)

A nice article on Romanian Symbolism:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolist_movement_in_Romania

She has translated some Jiří Karásek ze Lvovic novels and short stories forthcoming on Twisted Spoon. I'm drooling already!

Many of you probably know this already, but Twisted Spoon announced Lodge's translation of Karasek's A Gothic Soul for sometime in 2013. Exciting!

Anorther Czech decadent:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Breisky

Just came out (another czech writer Mynona):
http://wakefieldpress.com/mynona_creator.html

On a similar but tangential note, I should mention two books about Byzantium, the decadent Eastern European empire that lays like a shadow across modern memory:

Byzantium Rediscovered by J.B. Bullen, chronicling the "Byzantine Revival" aesthetic movement in arts and architecture.

Byzantium: Faith and Power by Helen C. Evans, an exhibit catalog from a Museum of Modern Art show. Great visuals, wonderful presentation, and scholarly analysis of Byzantium from 1261 to 1557.

Thanks for this - I love histories of the Byzantine empire (and of its rival, Venice).

The first volume of A History of Private Life examines life in the 11th century Byzantine Empire.

... and Venice deserves its own thread, what with everyone from the fictional Charlie Ryder to Death in Venice to Proust, Pound, etc. A city of schools and churches built upon the filthy lucre of international trade, not unlike Las Vegas or Atlantic City

A Gothic Soul by Jiri Karasek is now published by Twisted Spoon Press. There's a rumour that a follow-up book will come out at some point with Karasek's short stories also by TSP. I look forward to checking it out.

A fascinating article about "The Nutcracker" ballet and its various interpretations:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/arts/dance/the-nutcracker-and-its-many-mysteri...