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AMAZON CHINA now carries Journey to Virginland! http://www.amazon.cn/Journey-to-Virginland...n/dp/1935097512 Please share with friends! Order your copy today! http://www.JourneyToVirginland.com

those friends and readers of mine who live in the Los angeles area can obtain my book, Journey to Virginland: Epistle I (English) from Sardarabad, Abril, and Berdj bookstores. I've handed these bookstores some copies before the publication date. Those who live in other cities, states, or countries, can order the book at this time through http://www.JourneyToVirginland.com

«ԱԶԳ» ՕՐԱԹԵՐԹ #202, 04-11-2010 Տեղադրվել է` 2010-11-04 00:00:03 (GMT +04:00) ՄԵԼԻՔՅԱՆԻ «ՃԱՆԱՊԱՐՀ ԴԵՊԻ ԽՈՊԱՆ» ԳԻՐՔԸ ՀԻՇԵՑՆՈՒՄ Է ՕՐՈՒԵԼԻ ԴԱՍԱԿԱՆ ՀԱՏՈՐՆԵՐԸ Հ. Ծ. «Չնայած ոչ մի իրական զուգահեռ հնարավոր չէ անցկացնել իր գաղափարական եւ կառուցվածքային վարպետությամբ «Ճանապարհ դեպի խոպան» վեպի նման եզակի մի գրքի հետ, այդուհանդերձ նշեմ, որ դա ինձ հիշեցնում է Ջորջ Օրուելի եւ միեւնույն մակարդակի այլ հեղինակների դասական դարձած գործերը: Երբ ես սկսեցի կարդալ այդ գիրքը, չգիտեի ինչ ակնկալել դրանից, բայց հայտնաբերեցի, որ դա ամենափիլիսոփայական, ստեղծագործական, իմաստային, թեմատիկ եւ մշակութային մեծ ձգտումներ արտահայտող վեպերից մեկն է, որ ես երբեւէ կարդացել եմ իմ պրոֆեսիոնալ կյանքի 35 տարիների ընթացքում: Ինձ զարմացրել է արտակարգ ոճը: Տեսլականը եւ յուրօրինակությունը, ամբողջ պատմության խորաթափանց միտքը», գրել է Օլստերի (Իռլանդիա) համալսարանի գրականության դասախոս պրոֆ. Պոլ ՄկՔարթին գրախոսելով անգլերեն լեզվով Լոս Անջելեսում հոկտեմբերի 28-ին լույս տեսած Արմեն Մելիքյանի «Ճանապարհ դեպի խոպան (Մասն առաջին)» («Journey to Virginland») հատորի ամուր կազմով նախնական տարբերակը: Գիրքը, որի պաշտոնական եւ զանգվածային հրատարակությունը նախատեսված է դեկտեմբերի 31-ին, արդեն իսկ մեծ աղմուկ է բարձրացրել տաբուները խորտակելու եւ գրական ընդունված նորմերը խախտելու իր համարձակությամբ: «Վերապրելու համար Ամերիկային հենց այս գիրքն է անհրաժեշտ», ավելացրել է Պոլ ՄկՔարթին: Գրքից օրինակներ ունենալու ցանկություն են հայտնել Հելսինկիից եւ Ֆինլանդիայի այլ քաղաքներից, ըստ այդ առթիվ խմբագրությանը հասցեագրված հաղորդագրությանը, որը դժբախտաբար գրքի թեմայի եւ հեղինակի կենսագրության վերաբերյալ մանրամասներ չի պարունակում: Գիրքը ցանկացողների համար խորհուրդ է տրվում այցելել http://www.JourneyToVirginland.com կայքը: http://www.azg.am/AM/2010110425

Armenian literature: Melikian's Journey to Virginland, the cutting edge of Armenian literature BOOK REVIEW http://www.journeytovirginland.com/armenian-literature.htm Despite a glittering legacy that traces its roots to the dawn of the Middle Ages, Armenian literature today has reached a crisis point. While the current political, cultural, and socioeconomic situation of the Armenian people can as ever benefit from the potential wisdom and guidance provided by Armenian literature, it continues its alarming decline – in terms of both output and quality, and in Armenia and the Diaspora alike. Be that as it may, it is sometimes apt to utterly debunk suspicions of its demise by producing works, rare as they have become, which can single handedly restore, even exceed, the great promise of Armenian literature. Thus, in 2010, Armenian writing received a splendid electric shock with the publication of Journey to Virginland, a genuinely revolutionary novel penned by Armen Melikian. In his review of Journey to Virginland, Paul McCarthy, New York Times bestselling author and a professor of English at the University of Ulster, Ireland, writes: “In the best sense, I’m reminded of George Orwell’s classics, and other authors of similar stature, though there is no true parallel possible with a novel as unique in concept and execution as Journey to Virginland.” With this novel, the first Epistle of a trilogy, Melikian turns Armenian literature upside down by shattering the taboos, slaughtering the sacred cows, and trumping vestiges of literary convention. But whereas in less-adept hands such an endeavor would run the risk of devolving into banal, inconsequential shock and awe, Melikian effectively helps transform Armenian writing into a wondrous force field of philosophical reckoning, cultural recalibration, and sheer storytelling prowess, once again enabling it to reclaim its role as a powerful agent of collective introspection and, ultimately, meaningful change. Looking for some of the best Armenian Literature? Get your copy of Journey to Virginland today! http://www.journeytovirginland.com/armenian-literature.htm

The ARMENIAN CHURCH through the eyes of Dog Son of Dog http://www.journeytovirginland.com/armenian-church.htm The world’s oldest national church, the Armenian Church (or the Armenian Apostolic Church) traces its origins to the missions of the apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus. It was established in 301, when Armenia became the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion. The Armenian Church is a key topic in Journey to Virginland, the debut novel by Armen Melikian. Ever since its founding, it has played a decisive role in Armenian history. The Church has resulted in magnificent legacies in terms of literature, music, architecture – medieval Armenian church architecture is viewed by many as the precursor to gothic architecture – and manuscript illumination. It has also often stepped in to assume national leadership in times of foreign invasion or occupation, providing the masses with guidance and even physical protection. In the novel Journey to Virginland, Armen Melikian explores the lesser-known, and even less-often discussed, dark side of the Armenian Church, presenting a powerful and unprecedented critique of its failings and its very raison d’etre. Essentially, Melikian views the Armenian Church as the conduit of an imported ideology that has not only obliterated the rich heritage of Armenia’s pagan civilization, but continues to hamper the development of the Armenian people’s human potential by perpetuating a credo of subservience (to masters both domestic and foreign), fatalism, and complacence vis a vis the larger patterns of history. A novelist of extraordinary erudition and wit, Melikian reserves some of his most ferocious brushstrokes for exposing the hypocrisy of the many men at the helm of the Armenian Church, who, far from embracing Christ’s tenets of humility and participation in humanity’s sorrows and struggles, pursue a path of greed, political power, and unfettered egotism. Looking for revolutionary writings about the Armenian Church? Read an unequaled exposé in Journey to Virginland! http://www.journeytovirginland.com/armenian-church.htm

RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION as human evolution: Armen Melikian’s ecstatic vision for change through transformative religious revolution BOOK REVIEW EXCERPT http://www.journeytovirginland.com/religious-revolution.htm In Journey to Virginland, Armen Melikian presents a jaw-dropping exposé of the Judeo-Christian legacy and other monotheistic systems, arguing brilliantly for religious revolution. Yet Melikian has neither pretensions of guruhood nor a prescription for a new religion per se. Rather, his call for revolution is a humanist’s entreaty for meaningful spiritual, philosophical, and emotional evolution, whereby the blinders are lifted to reveal our genuine potential for constructive transformation. Published in 2010, this novel, the first installment of a trilogy, quickly established Melikian as a brilliant novelist and an extraordinary thinker. Seamlessly weaving the story of Dog, his outrageously omniscient antihero, with a world of ideas, Melikian engages in a barrage of commentary on history, mythology, religion, politics, philosophy, and the quagmire of the genders, advocating religious revolution in, first and foremost, the heart and mind of the individual. As arrived at through Melikian’s painstaking yet beautiful, richly imagined analyses, religious revolution is fundamentally a function of intellectual self-liberation. Take obdurate, blind faith out of the equation, and the rest will follow, the author intimates as he makes the case for a religious revolution that is all but synonymous with human evolution itself. To read a novel that explores religious revolution, get your copy of Journey to Virginland. http://www.journeytovirginland.com/religious-revolution.htm

Religious fraud: Dog Son of Dog against the sacred cows. Fraud in the religious truth unmasked as Dog bites God http://www.journeytovirginland.com/religious-fraud.htm In Journey to Virginland, the explosive debut novel by Armen Melikian, religious fraud is exposed with the twin rigors of scholarly research and political criticism. In revealing the intricacies and modi operandi of religious fraud, Melikian skillfully interweaves his commentary and historic fact with the riveting story of Dog, the novel’s protagonist, whose travails and experiential wisdom help us acquire a fresh understanding of one of the world’s most lethal power systems: organized religion. Published in 2010, this novel is the first Epistle of a trilogy. To arrive at his exposé, Melikian mounts an eminently informed, kaleidoscopic investigation of the history of religion, taking as his starting point the Armenian church, the world’s oldest national Christian establishment. Often lacing his no-holds-barred critique with hilarious observations, the author challenges the core tenets of Judaism, Christianity, and other religions, bringing to light the breadth of the moral, political, and cultural ravages of religious fraud, viewed from the prisms of both dogma and institutional control. In unmasking fraud, Melikian reserves his most damning arrows for the malfeasance of today’s religious leaders, who advance the exclusive agenda of supranational powers, thus dealing the double blow of practicing religious fraud to the detriment of their flocks and serving the decidedly soulless interests of global masters. Interested in reading more about religious fraud? Read Journey to Virginland! http://www.journeytovirginland.com/religious-fraud.htm

Waiting for Godot and existential angst: Is Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot transcended in the 21st century groundbreaking novel Journey to Virginland? BOOK REVIEW EXCERPT: http://www.journeytovirginland.com/waiting-for-godot.htm Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) is widely considered one of the greatest English-language plays of the 20th century. Beckett’s play encapsulates the sense of alienation, ennui, and collapse of absolute values and identities emblematic of the modern human condition. The central themes and concerns of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot find powerful resonance in the 2010 novel Journey to Virginland, penned by the American author Armen Melikian. In Journey to Virginland, the first Epistle of a massive and intricate trilogy, Melikian gives the topics broached – and alluded to – in Waiting for Godot a much broader context, framing the novel in terms of a new global paradigm marked by economic imperialism, unfettered social inequity, and the hubris of organized religion. Melikian demonstrates that these historic patterns increasingly breed cynicism and despair among the marginalized and disenfranchised, making way for either the existential void of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot or types of fanaticism which impose retrogression to absolutist systems and institutions. Paul McCarthy, New York Times bestselling author and a professor of English at the University of Ulster, Ireland, whose lifelong career is marked by key posts at some of the largest publishing houses in the world, writes of Melikian’s work: “In the best sense, I’m reminded of George Orwell’s classics, and other authors of similar stature, though there is no true parallel possible with a novel as unique in concept and execution as Journey to Virginland.” Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot shares another aspect with Journey to Virginland in that it contains several canine references and allusions. Thus Journey to Virginland tells the story of Dog, the picaresque antihero, who tries to make sense of the 21st-century state of the human condition through Melikian’s kaleidoscopic commentary on history, culture, religion, and politics. According to Eugene Webb, Waiting for Godot suggests that “Time… is not a linear sequence, but an endlessly reiterated moment, the content of which is only one eternal event: death.” Journey to Virginland structurally builds on this definition of time, yet entrances its reader with an ecstatic vision of human transformation, standing in life-affirming contradistinction to the stylized bleakness of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Interested in learning more about Journey to Virginland? Click here to read an excerpt. http://www.journeytovirginland.com/excerpt.htm http://www.journeytovirginland.com/waiting-for-godot.htm

Armine Barseghyan: Արմեն, էս հարցազրույցիցդ շունչս համարյա կանգ էր առել հիացմունքից http://forum.hayastan.com/index.php?showtopic=41068 Armine Barseghyan: Today I sent a request to the University of Helsinki, all the city libraries of Helsinki and two other cities to acquire the book. http://www.JourneyToVirginland.com Շնորհակալ եմ, Արմեն: Արմինե

And I understood… How the House of Vassalson has originated. Professor McBennett. Shakespearestani don at the Humiversity of Calipornia. Behold, brethren, master McBennett of Calipornia Humiversity. He who in the lap of Judah doth fumble with Paradiseology, beaming a perennial grin upon his visage and in possession of an ever-vigilant propensity to take grave offense. He the godfearing yoohoossor, lamb of deum and rex, 25 percent of whose vocabulary comprises the dicta “president,” “the president,” “the presidential medal,” “with presidential honors.” Whose valiant rump is offered in unremitting oblation to God (baaaaaaah) and haughty adjutant of same: namely the chief of VirginComScribeScrew, the Paradisean writers’ union, which heaps incessant curses upon dissident writers. The very chief who, along with the entirety of his family, has been rendered fashionably imperious and laden with riches, as reward for his station as drummer for Sir God. The chief who, in the heart of Virginabad, has offered the hearth and land of writers to God’s minions. The chief who has snatched the last morsel of bread from the mouth of the starving wordsmith. The chief who has dishonored the cadaver of the writer that has dared to disobey Deum. The very chief who has persecuted authors and expelled them from Paradise. Yes, the chief of VirginComScribeScrew who, on the day of his election, has collected a hundred butchers from the bazaar and herded them off to the ballot box. The chief who has been elected by said riffraff. The very same chief who, given the blessings of God, has expunged with a single prayer the 40 offenses enumerated upon his rap sheet. The holy-of-holies chief who happens to be great friends with the wifey of master McBennett, she of fame as daughter of a papa known for his expertise in Stalinological literature—that Apollonian supercurrent that has inundated messianic Paradise obsessed with a millennialist—essentially MacYehuist and equally intolerant—philosophy rooted in a naïve Marxist snapshot of man, and all too eager to flush Eros down the toilette, or substitute it with governable, coquettish verisimilitudes. For goodness’ sake, what do they want with my husband? See? See? They’re all jealous. Long live our ballot-casting people! Long live the learned matrons of our diaspora! Death to the rabble of anti-God writers! It is upon the aforementioned chief whom the illustrious and God-pleasing mastermaster McBennett confers the privilege to administer the list of participants in a writers’ conference which he has organized unbeknownst to postgraduate students of Paradiseology at the Humiversity of Calipornia, after personally removing the names of some dissident writers which have been submitted, unwittingly, by certain yokels. Banned dissidents whose names on the list are replaced by those of diamond smugglers accorded godic patronage, leisure poetesses of suspicious wealth—queenies who for decades have opened wide the doors of their private Satanland chateaus to entertain the chiefs of VirginComScribeScrew and sundry sister institutions, who have dedicated the-devil-knows what-felt poems to their illustrious house guests, who have made a name for themselves through sham documents and nominations—as well as a scattering of hacks teeming around them. Brown-nosery ad nauseam. Oh, please, I don’t have time to read a book about dogs. Even if you give me a copy, I won’t read it. My whole literature is sacred! Only up do I go! Like so, only upward! Ascends the thumb of the short poetess along with her neck, which strives to separate from her torso. When I win the prize, I shall travel the world, I shall meet with all the presidents of the world, and tell them to recognize our Genocide. That’s right, my dear. My daughter shall be the first woman president of America. I am our nation’s best ambassador! Let me say this incidentally, so you’ll know, that the great men of Paradisean literature are saying very bad things about your book. Request made 20 years ago: Son, you’re on good terms with the president of the Academy of Sciences of Virginland. When you go see him, get me a commendation so I can present my candidacy for the earthshaking prize. I’ve already prepared the commendation. Let him just sign it. The Shakespearestani’s augustly human and magnificently godish pride is offended to the nth degree when the exiled writers complain that this acolyte of letters, who has nothing whatsoever to do with literature, who moves on the advice of his cook of a wifey, is not led by even the most basic of moral standards for which Shakespeareland is known. McBennett of Paradiseology considers it the debt of his life to hedge his students from dissident writers of their generation, is poisoned by mere mention of authors who criticize the apparatus of the judeo-macyehuic religion, pays tribute strictly to the great dead and suckling darlings, even in Satan’s free humiversity unctuously cedes the definition and contextualization of Paradisean literature to the goons of the KGB. Who’s in, who’s out. To this three-day conference devoted to Dreamstani authors writing in non-Paradisian languages is invited not one of the hundreds of such authors. Except, that is, the 12 obliging disciples who have cultivated precious relations with God and accordingly sing the praises of his magnificence. Peacocks of glory. Including some who speak and write not a lick of a language other than godic. A parade of glittering corpses. Through which they define Dreamstan’s literature to the benefit of the world. And under the label of studying its new directions, via the staging of suffocatingly gaudy, vapid affectations, are buried precisely those new directions, in particular those which make mincemeat of the judeo-macyehuic serfocracy and intellectual despotism. Buried with the collusion and contribution of the taxpayer-supported free Humiversity of Calipornia. The contribution of the Dreamstani multimillionaires who fund the academic chair. The contribution of an educational fund unable to come up with 4,000 washingtons for the publication of a book that would revolutionize our understanding of Paradisean cultural history yet not a moon later perfectly able to endow the University of Calipornia with 4,000 franklins from its coffers to help provide a hefty salary for the Shakespearestani puppet building a fabulous career at the expense of exiled authors’ lives—the defense of whose rights is his ethical duty. The contribution of Masonic, ass-giving Board of Directorites nursed to old age with donkey milk and with a fondness for reverentially kissing the jujug of the judolicos. The contribution of Board members who politely accept the application of a well-mannered fellow, prior to his transformation into a dog, only to boorishly hurl the application form at his face following a Board meeting. “What’s going on? What happened?” “Can’t tell you. It’s better that you don’t speak with me anymore.” Dreamstan reiterates: “We can’t tell you. It’s better that you don’t speak with us anymore.” O, the impregnable human pride of the vain and opportunistic heir apparent to the chair… The uber-sensitive and perennially simpering Shakespearestani yoohoossor derides the request of exiled Paradisean writers to present, if not their works (newsflash: they write in other languages partly as a result of being expelled from their homeland), then at least their collective odyssey. After all, sweet is the yoke of the Celestial One, the marvel of summers in Paradise beneath the chuppah of Omnipotentus, the participation in arsehological colloquia, the glory of the eternal, the relish of God’s bullug. The voice of dissident writers is being smothered by the cemented rejectionism of the Calipornia Humiversity’s caciques, in the rat den of thunderous applause emitted by generations of Los Angelos-nesting Dreamstanis who heap curses upon the mothers of anti-God writers. To the glory of humanity’s future. The Republic of Paradise is among those post-Soviet states where autocracy has been consistently solidified since independence. Systematic persecution of writers, and intellectuals in general, who dare criticize the crimes of the ruling junta, including the mass-scale plunder of the country’s wealth, is being intensified. The oppressive measures are being carried out by an iron-gripped administration, with the aggressive collaboration of central and local state structures alike, especially the National Security Agency, police, attorney general, and Department of Justice. We the undersigned have been personally subjected to humiliating persecutions at the hands of the above bodies. Their oppressive acts are committed in a variety of manners, such as: Expropriation of personal properties and funds. Deportation and permanent ban on return. Application of pressure on publishers and bookstores to impede the publication and reading of books by the undersigned, at least in Paradise. Terrorism and harassment of individuals involved directly or indirectly in the publication of our works. Particularly through the invasion of homes, searches of personal possessions, confiscation of unpublished manuscripts and personal documents (with the purpose of stealing critical computer data), raids of news agencies and apprehension of reporters who have penned positive reviews of our writings. Issuance of trumped-up charges, production of false witnesses and coercion of witnesses apprised of the truth, demand for enormous bribes, issuance of arrest orders. Interrogation of close friends of the author, attempting to convince them to take part in conspiracies for his murder, attempting to bribe them with the author’s own properties in Paradise, or threatening to bring against them bogus charges of “treason against the homeland.” We believe that an immoral government which tramples upon the most basic rights of its people has no basis for demanding morally upright conduct from another country, particularly when recognition of the Genocide is at issue. Any external force which assists, directly or indirectly, in the establishment and protection of the junta deeply disappoints our people and well-meaning individuals among all nations concerned for its future. We hereby appeal to security bureaus of democratic countries to investigate and expose agents of the junta, who, by operating abroad, threaten our freedom of speech as citizens of such countries. None of the 300 cheerleaders of the Dreamstani literary mafia, called to life by the joining of hands of the Calipornia Humiversity and VirginComScribeScrew, and not one of the invitees to the simpering-uber-sensitive Shakespearestani’s conference has signed or would sign the appeal of 120 intellectuals from 18 nationalities, of which the above is an excerpt. On the contrary, said cheerleaders and invitees are playing chorus to the uber-sensitive yoohoossor in functioning as the mortal enemies, belittlers, mockers, and dishonorers of the appeal’s signatories. Under the spectacular pontification of hags flailing about with yens of the earth-shattering prize, oleaginous ragmen inseparable from the pussies of the same, the free humiversity’s cowardly, fawning, petty lecturers who lock true authors out of discourse and debate through the imposition of self-censorship (woe to the writer who offends these slavishly scorning and isolating pedants), those tall styloettes who occupy the first rows of public events, and diverse ultrawise suits of my dreaming nation. “Criminals who sow discord, traitors who divide our nation, dogs who sully the names of our great men!” they yelp to the faces of writers that have disturbed their heavenly peace. “This won’t do, my dear! There is a right way of talking! Are these people savages or what? And they call themselves writers… McBennett treated them like human beings. ‘Come,’ he told them, ‘have a meeting with the VirginComScribeScrew chief after the conference, like human beings. If you have a discontent, explain it to him, he’s an understanding man.’ McBennett is a humanly human, my dear. Not a savage like them. But no! Either they’ll be part of the conference or won’t show up at all. What the hell do they take themselves for?” “They’re playing dirty. You don’t know these people. I heard the story from McBennett himself—his wife is a relative of ours, we’re over at their home every week. We invited these writer guys ‘cause we treated them like human beings. But they didn’t come. ‘If we come, we’ll spill blood in the hall,’ they said. Now they’re badmouthing us. And talking trash about McBennett. Is this the right way, my dear?” “Last year we already threw one of them in jail. He had come to that literary event. Mixed with the crowd. We didn’t know him then. Otherwise we would’ve broken his legs. We wouldn’t let him step foot inside. Without our permission he got up to speak at our meeting and then began to scream: “Writers are being persecuted in Paradise and you’re not opening your mouths!’ Man, we’ve got a political party, a committee and stuff. If you have something to say, you make a formal request. That’s the way to go. If the party considers it appropriate, you come forward and talk. So we made him shut his trap, dude. Our people covered their ears and yelled ‘lulululu’ in one voice. It was all so loud that his words stuck in his jaw. Then, man, you won’t believe it, we held the fucker by the hands and feet, until the cops got there in no time.” “We’ve seen a lot of jackoffs like this one before. Back in Beirut we used to pick them up and take them to the club, then have the guys piss all over them. But here? The government has tied our hands. We can’t do shit, bro.” “They started raising their voices. I tell you, we gotta cut their tongues off.” “Если Вы видите это сообщение значит кто то пытался оскорбить Вас. Сообщите нам об этом http://forum.hayastan.com/index.php?act=report&t=34878 ’em, man, they can’t do a thing. Let ’em bark like dogs.” Thus has been built the history of Paradise. http://forum.hayastan.com/index.php?showto...200#entry922699

VIRGINHACKSCREW, WRITERS' UNION OF VIRGINSTAN It behooves me already to write you about Virginhackscrew, the renowned writers’ union of Virginstan. Virginhackscrew is an institution of chimney smokers engaged in constructing Virginstan’s ideological superstructure. The union’s matchmaker is the prince Haji Abdullah Hamidoghlu. Nom de plume: Abdullah Ruhullah. It is by Ruhullah’s special invitation that the honor of membership into Virginhackscrew is bestowed upon an elite assemblage of eminent and proliferous scribblers, tributaries of God, as long as they are well past seventy and have scraped seventy prizes of the stanski varietal. Haji endows the God-charmed penmen with eternal glory, persecutes the children of whores, jejune enemies of the Thruster, heaps growling damnation. Long live the supernal and amaranthine kingdom! Death to the rabble of the proletariat! Prizes are distributed jointly by God and his orator, Ruhullah. The awards are given to those scribes who plant the “I am” narthex before each of the three godic nouns. I am Armenia. I am Ararat. I am the Genocide. Naturally forgetting not the hindquarters of the above trilogy: I am the loyal servant of the Thruster. Servants, obedient be to thy suzerains! Haji Abdullah Ruhullah whinnies day and nox: “The Virginstani author is bound to glorify Virginstan. Godic propaganda is the foundation of our national politics. Death to dogism! Death to the emissaries of Satan!” Haji Abdullah Ruhullah succeeded comrade Plentyhelios Plentyheliossen, when the latter, at the invitation of the Supreme Gate, gave up the ghost in the hands of the Heavenliege. May God illumine his soul. Within Haji Abdullah Ruhullah’s phalanx are found opusless entities who prior to the quietus of Papa Stalin had written a grand total of six words, to which they added, in the time of God, the seventh godic vocable. As those six words have been consumed by fire, now there remains only the seventh, the word God. Said penmen now cultivate Virginstan’s literature-fabrication policy, thereby deepening the worship of the dead. Virginhackscrew has also instituted a foreign-affairs wing, whose function is the boosterism of the dead. Nomenclature: Coffinlettersdepot. Most capably led by illustrious art specialist, penetrating virginologist, heaven-immersed necrologist, august everythingologist, and vinegar-visaged Ayatollah Montazeri, who prior to the demise of Papa Stalin had farted six words, which oeuvre had thenceforth been gutted by fire. One day, following his arrival in Hell, Herr Montazeri got me on the blower. “Oh you pathetic dastard, not a soul will read your book. You’re a failed writer! And your book is a flop! Don’t you dare contemplate having it translated into another tongue!” “Thy wish is my command, melord! The cherubim of Virginhackscrew are to the hilt reined in by taboos. Have neatly been arrayed in a puxos, their traps sealed with wax. Hypocrisy screams in literature as in art. For the ants inside, it’s a beauteous world; for anyone looking in, from the cosmic fields of creation, a ghastly nullity. Stuffed into a parcel of tight shoes, wide hats, leaden bags and mantles, they starve of the creative vitalforce. Huddled behind the pall of esthetics, produce platitudinous chimeras, confusing them with literature and art. Cackling unirhythmically with them, in that overflowing darkness, is Necrostan itself, land empyrean, which duly catapults its din across the ether of a sprawling Dreamstan. Quarantined and hounded are the writers who evince the spirit of the time while the necrophiliacs are rewarded with honoraria, with the daily extolment of the Holy Trinity and Monodivinity Party, sundry disease-ridden cultural associations, and virginpussied television programs. Thus has been written the history of Paradise. This volume, beloved reader, coils and curves, coils and curves, and rams directly into the anuses of Haji Abdullah Ruhullah and his 400 adjutants. And God. Today a light was extinguished in Paradise. http://forum.hayastan.com/index.php?showto...200#entry922699

KARS, I have a feeling that there is a communication problem here. I think some of these people do not have a good knowledge of English (as I don't have almost no knowledge of Russian). It is possible that they are overreacting without even fully understanding what the earlier note says regarding my book. I think the moment they read something critical about their notions of history, they think it's the end of the world, without even bothering to clearly understand what's been said, let alone what the book says. The note simply says that there is a character in the novel whose name is Vardan Mamikonian. This Vardan Mamikonian, who personifies the machismo of present-day Armenians, picks up Dog Son of Dog from the Zvartnotz airport in his MBZ 600, tinted windows, when Dog arrives in Virginabad (Yerevan). If you consider this offensive, you can consider anything else in the world offensive as well. I advise them to read the book before commenting on it in such fashion. The issue of Vardan and Vasak is not at all what the book is about. It has much more serious issues to deal with than this. There are good books on the Vardan and Vasak issue, and I may be able to suggest one by a Lebanese-Armenian historian. This issue is simply a subtext that comes forth within the larger issue of naming a given character in a given novel with a given name. This has certain connotations, of course. But I guess we have to impose censorship on fiction as well to excel the Turks in everything that we do... They kicked me out of Armenia, now they want to silence me even in the diaspora. Moreover, they want to take from me even my right to imagine and dream. They are a bunch of sick people, full of hatred toward anything that they don't like. They need help and compassion. May be. Shun Shan Vordi http://www.JourneyToVirginland.com

Hargeli Kars, Mardkayin voghj' patmuthyan ^nthac'qum j"shmartuthyun^ viravorakan e' hamarvel medzamasnuthyan koghmits. Shun Shan Vordi

Vardan Mamikonian or Mamikonyan, an unorthodox character, meets Dog Son of Dog in Journey to Virginland Was Vardan Mamikonian worthy of his legend? Vardan Mamikonian is celebrated by Armenians as one of the greatest military leaders of ancient Armenia. Vardan Mamikonian has also been elevated to sainthood by the Armenian church, due to the fact that he died defending the Christian faith at the Battle of Avarayr, waged in 451 against Armenia's Persian overlords. Thus the Battle of Avarayr, also known as Vartanants, is now a beloved Armenian holiday and an overarching symbol of Armenian freedom. But was Vardan Mamikonian indeed worthy of his legend? And what would be an acceptable cost for liberty? Today a growing number of scholars unaffected by nationalistic rhetoric present compelling evidence that Vardan Mamikonian was made to shine on the stage of history at the expense of another contemporary leader, Vasak Syuni, satrap of Armenia. These scholars point out that after being given an ultimatum by Persia to convert Armenia to Zoroastrianism, Armenia's leading princes were thrown into disarray. While many proposed to rise against Persia, Vasak Syuni pleaded for realpolitik and diplomacy, suggesting a bona fide Machiavellian plan to outwit the Persians into revoking their demand. Vardan Mamikonian himself fled to Byzantium but was brought back to Armenia by Vasak Syuni. The ensuing developments, during which the vicious rivalries of Armenian power politics, combined with shortsightedness and ultranationalism, played themselves out to heinous effect, culminating in the utterly doomed Battle of Avarayr. Vardan Mamikonian was sung as a martyr. Vasak Syuni – a brilliant politician, an outstanding patron of the arts, and a genuine patriot – was tried, humiliated, and ultimately vilified as a traitor by a power-hungry junta. To this day, no Armenian dares name their child after Vasak. Vardan Mamikonian is also the name of a character in Journey to Virginland, a novel by Armen Melikian, whose antihero is named Dog Son of Dog. In Melikian's phantasmagoric, bitingly sobering universe of ideas and their titanic clashes, a dead ringer mainly for present-day Armenia, Vardan Mamikonian is a personification of the machismo, puerile bravado, and gratuitous jingoism that continues to stem the growth of an otherwise magnificent culture. "In the best sense, I'm reminded of George Orwell's classics, and other authors of similar stature, though there is no true parallel possible with a novel as unique in concept and execution as Journey to Virginland."Prof. Paul McCarthy University of Ulster, Ireland New York Times bestselling author http://www.journeytovirginland.com/vardan-mamikonian.htm

Kurt Vonnegut and Journey to Virginland: got Bokononism, will travel. Explore the parallel universes of Kurt Vonnegut's Bokonon and Armen Melikian's Son of Dog Kurt Vonnegut is renowned for novels that advance his humanistic ideals with biting political and social satire. In major works such as Cat’s Cradle (1963), Kurt Vonnegut posits his convictions through science fiction – a conduit which Vonnegut utilizes to wonderful effect in populating his imagined worlds with metaphors and cautionary tales for our own times. The transformative vision of Kurt Vonnegut registers strong parallels with Journey to Virginland, the first novel of Armen Melikian, published in 2010. Whereas Melikian’s primary tools of the trade are the epistolary and the picaresque, he shares with Kurt Vonnegut a powerful, genuinely revolutionary conception of the human journey whereby cherished tenets are rigorously questioned, often with dark humor, and positive change is always within reach, irrespective of the scope of ills ailing the globe. Melikian also shares with Kurt Vonnegut a unique take on religion... Click below to read the article: http://www.journeytovirginland.com/kurt-vonnegut.htm

The first order for Journey to Virginland was received on August 24, 2010. Armine Barseghyan from Finland has pre-ordered 2 copies of the book. Pre-orders are crucial. Pre-order today if you plan to buy the book. http://www.JourneyToVirginland.com/ Armine has also sent me two subsequent messages, posting them on my Facebook profile: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001284455364 Armine Barseghyan: Today I sent a request to the University of Helsinki, all the city libraries of Helsinki and two other cities to acquire the book. Armine Barseghyan: Արմեն, էս հարցազրույցիցդ շունչս համարյա կանգ էր առել հիացմունքից http://forum.hayastan.com/index.php?showtopic=41068 Շնորհակալ եմ, Արմեն: Արմինե

Ayo, kphoxver, sireli SAS. Amboghj' xndir^ mi hogebanuthyan masin e'. Voj"ragorcnerin nerelu. Qaghaqakan xndir^ petq e' stana qaghaqakan lucum. ^nkerayin anardaruthyun6 qaghaqakan xndir e'. Kron^, hatkapes qristonya kron^ kurac'num e' mardun hetmahu xostumnerov. Kyanq^ sa e', u aystegh petq e' steghcel Draxt^. Voch the hetmahu zar'anc'akan ashxarhum. Ardaruthyun^ pahanj'um e' havasaruthyun. Isk havasaruthyun chi karogh linel ar'anc' tntesakan havasaruthyan. 150 tarva xosq, vor der' chi mtel hayu ugheghi mej'. Ar;anj;nashnorhyal das^ erbeq chi zichelu ir ar'anjnashnorhumner^ ayloc'. Uremn miayn qaghaqakan payqari mij'oc'ov kareli e' verakangner hay mardu anotareli ays iravunq^. Bolor oligarxneri voghj' unec'vacq^ patkanum e' hay azgin. Nerar'yal nranc' kanayq, ovqer jer'q en bervel anhavasar ^nkerayin paymannerum. HAYi vordiner^ chen karogh ar'anjnashnorhyalner linel. Hayastanum voch mi mard iravunq chuni 3-senyakanoc' tun unenalu, qani der' amen hay 2-senyakanoc'i ter che. Nuyn^ veraberum e' nyuthakan bolor bariqnerin. Amen hay anhat iravunq uni havasar paymannerum skselu kyanq^. Sra mecaguyn thshnamin nyuthakan zhar'anguthyan iravunqn e', vor arden mardkuthyan anc'yalin patkanogh ban e---gone amen mi gitakic' mardu hamar. Qristineakan kron^ haverzhac'num e' ays anhavasaruthyun^, vor^ himqn e' mardkayin chariqneri mec (medz) masin. Nerelu catarsis-ov haverzhax'num anardaruthyan chariq^. Isk qani hay mardu shahagorcogh^ chi zichelu ir dirqer^, nran petq e' br'ni uzhov durs gc'el. Miak j"anaparh^ da e'. Bayc' qani vor hay^ mtapes kurac'ac e', nra vij"ak^ gnalov vatanalu e'. Sa der' skizbn e' miayn. Kga zhamanak, vor hayrenasiruthyan hetqn e'l chi mna Hayastanum, qani vor ar'oghj' hayrenasiruthyun^ karogh e' aprel miayn ardaruthyan u ^nkerayin havasaruthyan paymannerum. Hetevabar, Mariamn u nra j"atagov mer Sevak^ mer hasarakuthyun^ ktanen inqnakorcanman. Narekac'in nuynpes. Shun Shan Vordi

U petq e der' ayspes sharunakvi mi 1.000 tari. inchu che 5.000. Nuyn philisophayuthyun^: zoher^ petq e' neren dahij"nerin. Phoxanak ntranc' satkac'nelu. Ov keghc qristonyaner, mi por'nik hrea knoj' strukner, ardaruthyan voxerim thshnaminer. Sevakn e'l mej'^

Philosophical Writings: The Wondrous Universe of Armen Melikian REVIEW EXCERPT In his philosophical writings, posited strategically throughout the novel, Melikian exposes the myriad tenets and assumptions, including those of religion, that have brought humanity to the complex, interwoven paradigms of hyper-consumerism, global capital, and environmental degradation on the one hand, and an ominous resurgence of nationalism and religious extremism on the other. This novel proposes a radically humanistic alternative to our present plight, with Melikian’s philosophical writings providing an eminently sensible rationale for an exuberant vision of change. Paul McCarthy, New York Times bestselling author and a professor at the University of Ulster, Ireland, whose lifelong career has included key posts at three of the largest publishing houses in the world, has written of Melikian’s work: “In Journey to Virginland, what I have found, consistently, was one of the most creatively, philosophically, culturally, semantically, and thematically ambitious novels I’ve ever read in my 35 years of professional life.” Click here to read the article: http://www.journeytovirginland.com/philoso...al-writings.htm

Satire Books and Mr. Dog Son of Dog: The Diabolical Satire of Journey to Virginland. Dating back to the Egypt of the 2nd millennium BCE, satire books (or parchments, as the case may be) have always played a powerful role as agents of societal change. With his novel Journey to Virginland, Armen Melikian joins the great luminaries of satire books as he mounts a systematic, fiercely witty critique of the state of the world, ensconcing his acerbic satire in a modern tale of discovery and release. To form an idea about the far-reaching impact of this genre, think of Horatian and Juvenalian satire, the medieval authors Al-Jahiz and Geoffrey Chaucer, early-modern wordsmiths such as François Rabelais and Jonathan Swift, and modern giants like Mark Twain, George Orwell, and Terry Pratchett. Today, while the storied tradition of this genre enters the fecund territory of the Internet, with sites such as The Giant Napkin and The Onion, Melikian’s outrageously inventive Journey to Virginland (the first Epistle of a trilogy) establishes a fresh benchmark for the genre. Click here to read: http://www.journeytovirginland.com/satire-books.htm

The Armenian diaspora: a powerful new vision for the Armenian diaspora in the novel Journey to Virginland. In his review of Melikian’s work, Paul McCarthy, a New York Times bestselling author and professor of English at the University of Ulster, Ireland, writes: “In the best sense, I’m reminded of George Orwell’s classics, and other authors of similar stature, though there is no true parallel possible with a novel as unique in concept and execution as Journey to Virginland.” Click to read: http://www.journeytovirginland.com/armenian-diaspora.htm

Exiled writers and a whirlwind called Journey to Virginland: Solzhenitsyn and Milan Kundera revisited Click to read: http://www.journeytovirginland.com/exiled-writers.htm

Good News!! Dear Reader, Journey to Virginland: Epistle I will soon be published in both English and Spanish editions. Both hardcover. The English edition will be released from the printer on September 30, 2010 and will be available in U.S. bookstores early next year. In the meantime, the book will be available on the website for the book which has already been completed and submitted to major search engines. The book can be pre-ordered now. Pre-order to be among the first readers of the book--and comment on it if you like. The Spanish version will be published a bit later. It has been thoroughly translated and designed, but there seems to be some editorial problems which will be taken care of within the next two months. I expect the Spanish version to be published most likely in the first few months of 2011. You can freely download the Map of the World According to Dog. Visit the site and familiarize yourself with it. And if you like to pre-order, please do so. There are also links from the site to my Facebook and Twitter accounts. LIKE the page and Follow on Twitter to get the latest news on the book. Armen Melikian http://www.JourneyToVirginland.com/

Հակոբ Բադալյան և այլոք ծախու լրագրողներ. Ես ձեզ ներում եմ քաղաքական աքսորի պատճառով կորցրածս տունը հայրենիքում, գործս ու մնացյալ նյութական միջոցներս: Ես ձեզ ներում եմ ԱՄՆ-ում զրպարտությամբ բանտարկվելու պատճառով կորցրածս տունն ու գործս Շվեդիայում և կորցրացս ընտանիքը: Ես ձեզ ներում եմ այն, որ ձեր կազմակերպված, հանցավոր լռության պատճառով չեմ կարողանում դատի հասցնել իմ դեմ կիրառվող քաղաքական հետապնդումը, տասնամյակից ավելի տարի: Բայց ես չեմ ներում ձեր համագործակցությունը օտարների հետ, սեփական երկրի քաղաքական դաշտն ամայացնելու տմարդի գործում: ՈՒ չեմ ներելու, քանի ձեզ չի հաջողվել մեղա գալ, խոստովանել հանցագործությունը, մերկացնել հանցակիցներին: Վայ ձեզ ու ձեր սիրելիներին, եթե դուք լավ չհասկանաք թե ինչ ասել է չեմ ներելու... Vahe, Es voch mekin e'l chem nerum veronshyal 3 nerumneri hamar, qani vor qo nman qristonya chem. U hreakan ar'aspelabanuthyan struk Narekac'u girqn e'l petqarani t'ght'i het chem p'oxanakum. Galu e' ayn or^ vor ays qreakan hanc'aqorcnern irenc' 7-port tereri het p't'elu en zntannerum. Hayastani petuthyunic' e'l pahanj'um em $100,000,000 AMN dolari vnasuc' hatuc'um im dem iragorcvac vochirneri dimac'. Oligarxnerov thogh havaqven, u ayd dram^ mej'tegh beren, ethe chen uzum aveli medz hetevanqneri ar'j'ev kangnel. Shun Shan Vordi

The "best" Armenians are necrophiliacs and moral degenerates The Armenian brain only understands one thing: genocide. I have not met yet a single Armenian who understands what it means to be an exiled writer, persecuted by your government and people alike--if, granted, he is not an exiled writer himself. They all curse you for tarnishing the image of their country, none is willing to take its criminal government to task. All opposition parties in Armenia are a bunch of crooks who aim to replace one criminal regime with another "in the name of the people." None of them --and for that matter, not a single Armenian political or community leader, or a news media outlet among several thousand across the globe, including the most democratic countries--is willing even to entertain the thought that there are writers persecuted in and exiled from Armenia. They all consider it a mortal crime to even mention their existence. Even your best friends who sympathize with you are unwilling to take action, are unable to truly understand the depth of your loss--material, physical, health, emotional, mental, spiritual and literary. Should you assert your rights, most of your friends will desert you--if they do not become your enemy outright. The "best" Armenians are necrophiliacs. It is your duty to die, and their privilege to trumpet their curses or whisper their sympathies. Do not be surprised if Facebook receives a hundred reports by these evolutionary moral degenerates, labeling this as an instance of hate against a group, requesting my account to be shut down as a result of this or any other similar note. Collective hate makes you majority, gives you power. Defend yourself against this monster, and you're a pariah, even in the United States. And Facebook, like all politicians in mobocratic countries, always goes with the overwhelming majority. Armen Melikian