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Chekhov: “Cultured people must, in my opinion, satisfy the following conditions”

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Re: Chekhov: “Cultured people must, in my opinion, satisfy the following conditions”

#211

Post by bryondowd »

nybblet wrote: post #158
bryondowd wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not savvy enough to know whether or where to find a list of works the Chekhov studied in his lifetime. I'll leave that search to others. Just floating idea that him coming across a translated work and it influencing his writing without him actually referencing it directly anywhere seems at least comparably likely as independent invention. Especially given that such translations at least existed in his time. I've…

Just following up on the fascinating prospect you initiated. Which Russian missionaries translated which Chinese classics, since that you've already searched? I'm turning up Russian -> Chinese, not the other way around.

Here's one of the resources I came across. I only perused it briefly, but it mentions a Father Yakinf returning to St Petersburg and translating "the Confucian classic Four Books (Sishu)" among other things.

Hopefully this link works for you and isn't dependent on local cookies or something. But the book is: China and Japan in the Russian Imagination, 1685-1922: To the Ends of the Orient By Susanna Soojung Lim

https://books.google.com/books?id=RQldRM5wlfcC&pg=PA65&lpg=P...

Re: Chekhov: “Cultured people must, in my opinion, satisfy the following conditions”

#212

Post by nybblet »

bryondowd wrote: post #211
nybblet wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just following up on the fascinating prospect you initiated. Which Russian missionaries translated which Chinese classics, since that you've already searched? I'm turning up Russian -> Chinese, not the other way around.

Here's one of the resources I came across. I only perused it briefly, but it mentions a Father Yakinf returning to St Petersburg and translating "the Confucian classic Four Books (Sishu)" among other things. Hopefully this link works for you and isn't dependent on local cookies or something. But the book is: China and Japan in the Russian Imagination, 1685-1922: To the Ends of the Orient By Susanna Soojung Lim https:…

Haha: "He developed a questionable reputation among the other members of the Mission..."

Yes, I can see it, and this is very cool. Thank you very much!

Re: Chekhov: “Cultured people must, in my opinion, satisfy the following conditions”

#213

Post by solipsism »

kerbalspacepro wrote: post #199
solipsism wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you should do all you can to appear clean and groomed Ah yes, unlike that Einstein. That disheveled example of a someone who could have been so much more, had he just reached for a comb. /s

Was Einstein actually considered and describes by his peers/comrades as disheveled? Or is that just a cultural archetype we tell ourselves?

You're joking right? Are you asking if everyone looked like that back then?

Re: Chekhov: “Cultured people must, in my opinion, satisfy the following conditions”

#214

Post by frankzinger »

vatotemking wrote: post #181
whack wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Characterizing a town's inhabitants as being "drunkards" and "dull" doesn't really sound much in keeping with his own first rule...

No man is perfect, even Checkhov. From the article: "These eight conditions are not a checklist, but a guideline—a “true north” of sorts that reveals to us the direction we must go…"

Also:

  What is needed is constant work, day and night,
  constant reading, study, will ... Every hour
  is precious for it …

Re: Chekhov: “Cultured people must, in my opinion, satisfy the following conditions”

#215

Post by Filligree »

twic wrote: post #154
simonh wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The more I think about it and learn about the functioning of the brain, the less I believe in the unitary 'self'. I once read the suggestion that what we think of as the 'self' is really just the brain's public relations department.

I picked that idea up from Greg Egan's short story 'Mister Volition': http://greg-egan.wikia.com/wiki/Mister_Volition

Apologies for the unrelated comment, but I saw one of yours from three months ago:

> Is it 'Into Darkness' that has the idea of a space where you can only move forwards, not sideways? This sounds like that mixed with the rigorous alternative physics of the Clockwork Rocket series.

...and that sounds like my kind of book, but googling only gives Star Trek links. Can you tell me the author?

Re: Chekhov: “Cultured people must, in my opinion, satisfy the following conditions”

#217

Post by uzoodoo »

c-smile wrote: post #171
uzoodoo wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if you remove "pre" from "прекрасно", you get "red-colored", so it doesn't quite work here. (Actually, it would make the first part of the sentence a bit too literal.)

"прекрасно" consists of two parts : "пре" ("very" here) and "краса" ("beauty") in Russian so it is pretty close etymologically to English beautiful. Slightly different connotation in this particular case but still close enough.

You have to jump through some mental hoops to somehow get "краса" out of "прекрасно". It's literally "пре" + "красный", where "красный" in modern Russian means "red".

I'm not disputing that it originated from a word meaning "beautiful" (which happened to also mean red, as in the archaic "красная девица", which does not actually mean "red girl" as google translate might think). But saying that you could simply split up the word and get "краса" out of it is disingenuous.

Re: Chekhov: “Cultured people must, in my opinion, satisfy the following conditions”

#218

Post by Filligree »

Filligree wrote: post #215
twic wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I picked that idea up from Greg Egan's short story 'Mister Volition': http://greg-egan.wikia.com/wiki/Mister_Volition

Apologies for the unrelated comment, but I saw one of yours from three months ago: > Is it 'Into Darkness' that has the idea of a space where you can only move forwards, not sideways? This sounds like that mixed with the rigorous alternative physics of the Clockwork Rocket series. ...and that sounds like my kind of book, but googling only gives Star Trek links. Can you tell me the author?

Found it...
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