Zarian

[arabaliozian]

FROM THE DIARIES OF GOSTAN ZARIAN

***************************************

Selected and Translated by A.B.

****************************************

Beirut / April 1954

Rain.

Went to Antelias with Father Shahen and Shahan Berberian. I told them,

the Armenian church has become another shop.

April 6, 1954

Dinner with Shahen Vartabed and Shahan Berberian.

Old memories, new hopes.

Shahan understands a little of everything.

Generally speaking, the Armenian atmosphere is stifling.

Salzburg / December 12, 1956

Everywhere Mozart, Mozart, Mozart. He has become a source of revenue,

he who was buried in a paupers' grave.

Vienna / March 14, 1957

For a number of years now, we have been living like monks. Once in a

while a play or a concert, nothing else. I don't see any Armenians,

which is no great loss.

Vienna / April 5, 1957

We must oppose the concept of art as entertainment. Art must be a

mission and a destiny. One must be more than an artist.

Florence / November 26, 1957

Dinner with Mrs. Mann-Borgese [Thomas Mann's daughter]. Long

conversations about literature and her father. I didn't know that

Thomas Mann's mother was a Brazilian and he had thus a dual

sensibility: German and Latin. Mrs. Mann-Borgese is herself a talented

woman and the author of many essays. She can't be said to be a great

beauty, but is endowed with qualities far superior to beauty: a

graceful bearing and a high degree of intelligence

***

Five months now that I have not seen a single Armenian newspaper. So

much the better. The only thing that connects me to my fellow Armenians

is the language.

April 1958

We always forget that what interests us is not the nation itself but

our conception of it. (My case.)

[arabaliozian]

From GOSTAN ZARIAN'S "NOTEBOOKS"

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Selected and Translated by A.B.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Yerevan / 1961-1969

************************

God created the world, but the Dutch created Holland. Armenians would

have done the same if they had not relied too much on others.

***

With us, the emphasis is on cunning: a character trait of slaves,

devoid of creative impetus, never a source of strength.

***

Dante once wrote to a friend: "I found the prototype of my Inferno

right here where I now live."

***

"The world is an opinion," Marcus Aurelius tells us.

***

We are like the stars, divided by infinite spaces. By obliterating the

physical dimension, death (and here is its beauty) obliterates these

spaces too.

[arabaliozian]

ZARIAN ON STYLE

*******************************************

Translated by Ara Baliozian

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Translator’s note: The following passage is taken from

Gostan Zarian’s collection of essays, reminiscences,

travel impressions, diaries, and notebooks titled

NAVADOMAR (Logbook), edited with an introduction and

commentary by Youri Khachaturian (Yerevan, 1999).

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For an authentic writer nothing can be as easy as

being difficult; and nothing can be as difficult as

being easy.

"Make it simple," Oscar Wilde once wrote to a friend

from jail, "otherwise I will think you have nothing to

hide."

That which is simple has many layers of meaning.

Simplicity is like the skin that covers muscles,

nerves, and all the other secrets of the body.

That which is difficult has nothing to say. When you

finally unravel its mysteries you discover it is

devoid of all sense. And those who praise this kind of

writing are either simple-minded dupes or cunning

operators whose hidden motives have nothing to do with

literature.

[shun]

Ara,

It is worthwhile to update Kostan Zarian's page.

Armen