IPOD
RADIO
In some old magazine or newspaper, I recollect a story, told as truth, of a man - let us call him Wakefield who absented himself for a long time, from his wife. The fact, thus abstractedly is not very uncommon, nor without a proper distinction of circumstances to be condemned either as naughty or nonsensical. Howbeit, this, though far from the most aggravated, is perhaps the strangest instance, on record, of marital delinquency; and, moreover, as remarkable a freak as may be found in the whole list of human oddities.
This is the beginning of a short story called "Wakefield" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. What follows is the authors interpretation, a suggestion on the nature of Wakefields character. Of a man who one morning walked out the door of his house in London, where he lived with his wife, like he did every morning when he went to work. But on this particular morning he went to a flat a street away from his own house and lived there like a hermit for the next 20 years without getting in contact with his wife or family or friends. After that period he went back to his house again one evening as if nothing had happened.
To Hawthorne, Wakefield is a feeble-minded madman who had this crazy idea, but no real concept or plan of what he is doing. I didn't like this interpretation, although it is of course completely legitimate. Still, I always assumed that he was not just a crazy fool, but knew exactly what he was doing and had his reasons for it. And whatever the truth is, I am impressed by the determination of going through with such a (crazy) plan.
Now, one could argue that there's nothing heroic about leaving people behind, but I think that's not what this story is about. This is about something else that is reflected in the final conclusion that Hawthorne comes to at the end of his tale. I like that last part very much and I kept remembering it now and again years after I had read the story:
Amid the seeming confusion of our mysterious world, individuals are so nicely adjusted to a system, and systems to one another, and to a whole, that, by stepping aside for a moment, a man exposes himself to a fearful risk of losing his place forever. Like Wakefield, he may become, as it were, the Outcast of the Universe.
Wakefield choose to become an outcast of the system he was living in. But that system is of course still there and I don't mean just the social, cultural system we live in, but a more primal system of human behavior and communication that governs our lives and to which there is no alternative. Deciding against it would still make one a complete outcast today as much as it did a hundred or a thousand years ago.
Well, that's what i come up with when i try to avoid doing the stuff i'm supposed to do. But enough of that now. If you're interested, the complete story can be found all over the net. One copy is over here.
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I also went to see The Brian Jonestown Massacre tonight. It was the first time i saw them play. They are well known for their rather unusual shows that have often ended in total chaos, band members attacking each other, quiting to play halfway through the set, etc. This evening they seemed a bit tired though, but in a funny mood, joking around a lot and taking long breaks between songs. The atmosphere was good and when they actually DID play songs it was great 
If you like to know a bit more about their history, i recommend watching DiG!, a documentary about them and the Dandy Warhols. It's a very good film !
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Ok, one last thing: Flux and Elf left the site. I think that Flux was (is) a class of her own. No one else on the site came even close. I'm serious about this. Elf also had a very unique style that will be missed 
JUL 08, 2008 08:20 AM
Ich hab ja wenigstens noch 2 Jahre (so lange wie ich noch studiere) den Supervorteil über meine ELtern privat versichert zu sein...
Aber Deutschland ist echt ganz weit vorne, was Krankenversicherungen angeht. Ich hab bisher nur erlebt, dass es in Finnland noch besser ist (die haben nen Health Service an der Uni gehabt. Für Standardsachen ging man zur Krankenschwester - kostenlos. Inklusive Bluttest etc. pp.).
Hach. Finnland
JUL 08, 2008 11:43 AM
zum drawing: ja, das ist nichts, wo man schnell mal rüberguckt.
ich hab nur den "scarlet letter" von hawthorne gelesen, aber die geschichte hört sich wirklich interessant an. too bad, das ich immer augenschmerzen bekomme, wenn ich zu viel am bildschirm lesen. ich brauche eine anständige brille!
schon witzig, wenn man was ganz anderes aus den büchern liest, als wie der autor es vielleicht angedacht hatte. hört sich für manche vielleicht befremdlich an, aber das ist auch das schöne, dass was bei dem recipient ankommt zählt und nicht die meinung oder deutung des autors (auch bei musik, malerei etc.). früher bin ich immer sofort in die buchhandlung, um mir interpretationen über ein buch einzuholen (z.b für den unterricht) und habe oft vergessen, selbst mitzudenken.
JUL 08, 2008 12:24 PM
wenn ich mal wieder etwas zeit übrig hab, werd ich vielleicht auch mal hawthorne wieder lesen. zur zeit bevorzuge ich für die wenige freie zeit die ich habe eher leichte lektüre (wie ray bradburys "der tod ist ein einsames geschäft" zur zeit )
den weggang von flux fand ich auch ziemlich schade!
JUL 09, 2008 03:22 AM
von lem haben wir hier auch ein paar bücher stehen. die hab ich das letzte mal aber so vor 3-4 jahren gelesen. ich hab einfach nicht genügend zeit.
ich liebe bradbury (obwohl ich wirklich kein großer science fiction fan bin) und dies ist eine sehr melancholische und düstere kriminalgeschichte. an seinem schreibstil mag ich, dass ich sofort in der handlung gefangen bin und die gerade beschriebene szenerie auch sofort vor meinem geistigen auge sehe. und er ist der erste und bisher einzige der es geschafft hat, dass ich am ende einer kurzgeschichte tränen in den augen habe! 
Natürlich musst du ein perverser Stalker sein, wenn du mehr von Flux lesen willst, was sonst?! 
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