Старуха: Рассказы. Сцены. Повесть

by Daniil Kharms, Даниил Хармс

«Старуха» — повесть Даниила Хармса, написанная в 1939 году.

Genres: Short Stories, Russia, Fiction, Russian Literature, Humor, Classics, Poetry

126 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev (Даниил Хармс) was born in St. Petersburg, into the family of Ivan Yuvachev, a well known member of the revolutionary group, The People's Will. By this time the elder Yuvachev had already been imprisoned for his involvement in subversive acts against the tsar Alexander III and had become a religious philosopher, acquaintance of Anton Chekhov during the latter's trip to Sakhalin.

Daniil invented the pseudonym Kharms while attending high school at the prestigious German "Peterschule". While at the Peterschule, he learned the rudiments of both English and German, and it may have been the English "harm" and "charm" that he incorporated into "Kharms". Throughout his career Kharms used variations on his name and the pseudonyms DanDan, Khorms, Charms, Shardam, and Kharms-Shardam, among others. It is rumored that he scribbled the name Kharms directly into his passport.

In 1924, he entered the Leningrad Electrotechnicum, from which he was expelled for "lack of activity in social activities". After his expulsion, he gave himself over entirely to literature. He joined the circle of Aleksandr Tufanov, a sound-poet, and follower of Velemir Khlebnikov's ideas of zaum (or trans-sense) poetry. He met the young poet Alexander Vvedensky at this time, and the two became close friends and inseparable collaborators.

In 1927, the Association of Writers of Children's Literature was formed, and Kharms was invited to be a member. From 1928 until 1941, Kharms continually produced children's works and had a great success.

In 1928, Daniil Kharms founded the avant-garde collective OBERIU, or Union of Real Art. He embraced the new movements of Russian Futurism laid out by his idols, Khlebnikov, Kazimir Malevich, and Igor Terentiev, among others. Their ideas served as a springboard. His aesthetic centered around a belief in the autonomy of art from real world rules and logic, and the intrinsic meaning to be found in objects and words outside of their practical function.

By the late 1920s, his antirational verse, nonlinear theatrical performances, and public displays of decadent and illogical behavior earned Kharms — who always dressed like an English dandy with a calabash pipe — the reputation of being a talented but highly eccentric “fool” or “crazy-man” in Leningrad cultural circles.

Even then, in the late 20s, despite rising criticism of the OBERIU performances and diatribes against the avant-garde in the press, Kharms nurtured a fantasy of uniting the progressive artists and writers of the time (Malevich, Filonov, Terentiev, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Kaverin, Zamyatin) with leading Russian Formalist critics (Tynianov, Shklovsky, Eikhenbaum, Ginzburg, etc.,) and a younger generation of writers (all from the OBERIU crowd—Alexander Vvedensky, Konstantin Vaginov, Nikolai Zabolotsky, Igor Bakhterev), to form a cohesive cultural movement of Left Art. Needless to say it didn't happen that way.

Kharms was arrested in 1931 together with Vvedensky, Tufanov and some other writers, and was in exile from his hometown (forced to live in the city of Kursk) for most of a year. He was arrested as a member of "a group of anti-Soviet children's writers", and some of his works were used as an evidence. Soviet authorities, having become increasingly hostile toward the avant-garde in general, deemed Kharms’ writing for children anti-Soviet because of its absurd logic and its refusal to instill materialist and social Soviet values.

He continued to write for children's magazines when he returned from exile, though his name would appear in the credits less often. His plans for more performances and plays were curtailed, the OBERIU disbanded, and Kharms receded into a very private writing life. He wrote for the desk drawer, for his wife, Marina Malich, and for a small group of friends, the “

Reviews

[Vit Babenco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once Carl Gustav Jung suggested that the collective unconscious rules over human minds putting within them instincts and archetypes. In the first half of the twentieth century, the collective unconscious sowed absurdist concepts into many creative heads. The ideas, the collective unconscious instilled into Daniil Kharms’s head, were even more absurd than those sown in the heads of the others…

There was a red-haired man who had no eyes or ears. Neither did he have any hair, so he was called red-haired theoretically.
He couldn’t speak, since he didn’t have a mouth. Neither did he have a nose.
He didn’t even have any arms or legs. He had no stomach and he had no back and he had no spine and he had no innards whatsoever. He had nothing at all! Therefore there’s no knowing whom we are even talking about.
In fact it’s better that we don’t say any more about him.

But any, however absurd, idea contains a corpuscle of rationality anyway.
I wonder how many red-haired men of this sort inhabit the modern world…

A certain old woman, out of excessive curiosity, fell out of a window, plummeted to the ground, and was smashed to pieces.
Another old woman leaned out of the window and began looking at the remains of the first one, but she also, out of excessive curiosity, fell out of the window, plummeted to the ground and was smashed to pieces.
Then a third old woman plummeted from the window, then a fourth, then a fifth.
By the time a sixth old woman had plummeted down, I was fed up watching them, and went off to Mal’tseviskiy Market where, it was said, a knitted shawl had been given to a certain blind man.

Some believe that man is the measure of all things and some are sure that the measure of all things is absurdity.

[Glenn Russell]

At least with Dostoyevsky, if you kill an old pawnbroker, she stays dead and doesn't turn up three hours later crawling around in your apartment. Not so with Kharms.

The Old Woman is case in point. The unnamed narrator, a writer I'll call Daniil, spots an old woman holding a clock as he walks through a courtyard. He stops and asks her for the time. The old woman tells him to have a look whereupon he discovers there are no hands on the clock. The old woman peers at the clock face herself and says: it is now a quarter to three. Daniil walks on but this is not the last of the old woman, and that's understatement.

Further along, Danill runs into Sakerdon Mikhailovich and invites his buddy for a drink of vodka at the local cellar bar. After which he proceed on his leisurely stroll but then Daniil suddenly remembers: he forgot to turn off his electric oven! He turns round, walks home, takes off his jacket, locks the door and lies down on the couch in order to get some needed sleep before resuming his writing.

His rest is interrupted by offensive shouting from urchins out on the street. Danill engages his imagination: those urchins are infected by tetanus and since they are frozen stiff, their parents must drag them home. The urchins recover but he hits them with another tetanus infection and they all croak. Hehehe – serves them right.

Ah, the stove is still on! Danill jumps up and turns the damn thing off. He lies down again, this time with pen and paper. Ever the creative artist, he feels a terrible power within. He starts a story about a miracle worker who never once in his life performed miracles. Imagination on fire, Daniil pops up, grabs different objects and starts running around the room, from window to table to oven to window where he can see a man with an artificial leg walking along knocking loudly with his leg and stick.

Suddenly, there’s a knocking on his door. It’s the old woman from the courtyard! He’s dumbfounded. The old woman says: so, here I am. The old woman walks in, takes a seat in his very own armchair and tells him to shut and lock the door. Then the old woman orders: kneel. Daniil gets down on his knees. He feels all is absurd. He tells the old woman he should kick her out. Unflustered, she demands that he lie down on his stomach and bury his face in the floor. He obeys.



But then he comes to his senses and moves toward the old woman. Her head is drooping. He grabs the old woman and realizes: the old woman is dead. Daniil is annoyed beyond measure. “What did she die in my room for? I can’t stand dead people.”

What to do? Speak with the house manager? Cover the old woman with a newspaper? Then he hears the engine driver in the next apartment moving around. That’s all he needs – another tenant finding out he has a dead old woman sitting in his armchair. Daniil lights his pipe, pulls his legs up on his couch, relaxes and ponders his next step. He drifts off into a dream where his hands have turned into a fork and spoon. Moments later, a clay Sakerdon Mikhailovich is sitting next to him in a folding chair.

Upon waking, Daniil is filled with joy – the old woman is not in the armchair. Ah, it all was only a dream! He gives a sigh of relief: oh, my good Lord, all the things that can happen in dreams. Well, at least now there's no reason to go to the house manager. But then he catches sight of the dead old woman lying face up on the floor, her dentures out of her mouth and clamping into her nose. What a swine! Danill runs over and kicks the old woman in the chin. Not a good idea – people will think he murdered the old woman. Drats! And on top of it all, he’s starving. Off to the bakery for bread.

Standing in the queue at the bakery, Daniil meets an attractive young woman. They strike up a conversation; its love at first sight. Danill invites his beautiful lover back to his apartment. She gladly accepts and off they go. But wait – what will she think once she catches sight of the dead woman? Alarmed, Daniil starts running in the opposite direction. And so the tale continues with many more topsy-turvy happenings.



I relayed the opening portion of Danill Kharms’ The Old Woman to share a specific taste of the author’s brand of absurdism. The more Kharms we read, the more we encounter the author’s recurring themes of starvation, falling out of windows, senseless violence, verbal abuse and men and women being hauled off to jail. And Kharms offers no overarching moral judgement - these things just happen as they happen.

However, those in power within Soviet Russia were of quite a different mind: they interpreted the author's writing as a slap in the face to all things Soviet. Daniil Kharms faced ongoing harassment up until the day when he was locked away in a mental institution where it is reported he died of starvation at the age of thirty-eight.

If your interest has been piqued, as I certainly hope it has, I encourage you to pick up Incidences published by Serpent's Tale, a collection of dozens of the author's shorter fiction along with the 30-page The Old Woman. Additionally, as a bonus, the book also includes Neil Cornwell's extensive introduction to the life and writing of Daniil Kharms within historical, cultural and literary context.


Russian absurdist Daniil Kharms, 1905-1942

“I am interested only in "nonsense"; only in that which makes no practical sense. I am interested in life only in its absurd manifestations.” ― Daniil Kharms

[Guðrún Gunnarsdóttir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Þetta er æði, langar að lesa meira eftir Kharms.

[Neli · Rating 5 out of 5]

humorné a opravdu poněkud originální povídky

[Matěj Pejša · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asi před měsícem se mi do ruky doslala malá knížečka ze začatku 90. let plná absurdních próziček. Hned první je o človeku, který nic neměl, ani tělo němě, a tak se ani neví o kom byla řeč. Druhá je o stařenácha vypadávajících zvědavostí z okna. Třetí je seznam příběhů lidí, kteří furt jen umírají, přichází o rozum, nebo se třeba jen nějak zatoulají.
Namám slov na to jí, nějak lépe popsat, vymyká se všemu, co co jsem kdy četl, ale jsme z ní úplně unešený.
Jmenuje se Sen a napslal jí Daniil Charms.
Na Goodread bohužel vůbec není, ale Stařena je i v té sbírce, která výšla v češtině tak o Snu píšu pod ní. Jestli se vám podaří sen najít, určitě mu dejte šanci.

[Megi · Rating 5 out of 5]

YES!!!

[Olga Horn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Любимейшая.
Со "Старухой" всё предельно просто и сложно. Она как никто другой вдохновляет на написание собственных текстов. Кажущаяся простота и абсурд говорят моему подсознанию, что всё может быть предельно просто, что писать можно и нужно. Волшебный текст. Люблю и часто перечитываю.

[Aleksei Kuklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Я: Простите, можно вас спросить об одной вещи?
ОНА (сильно покраснев): Конечно, спрашивайте.
Я: Хорошо, я спрошу вас. Вы верите в Бога?
ОНА (удивлённо): В Бога? Да, конечно.
Я: А что вы скажете, если нам сейчас купить водки и пойти ко мне. Я живу тут рядом.
ОНА (задорно): Ну что ж, я согласна!"

[systryonka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Живая, завлекающая, абсурдная история. Это то, что я хотел прочитать в четыре часа ночи перед сном. Но спать не стал.

[Timothy Coplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dostoyevsky meets Seinfeld.

[jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a different kind of absurdity for everyone. Kharms', though quirky, is not it for me.

[Matyáš Sáva · Rating 4 out of 5]

bengr, ideální četba na záchod, kromě titulní báby to fakt vychází plus mínus jedna povídka = jedna návštěva prevétu. bábu si člověk buďto musí rozdělit, nebo počkat na zácpu. když vás to hodně chytne, tak je knížka postavou tak malá (ač duchem velká), že se vejde fakt do každý kapsy, dokonce je z edice, která se jmenuje něco jako malé knihy (idk jak přesně, už jsem to zapomněl). rozhodně si od něj musím přečíst něco dalšího, fakt hodně mě to bavilo číst. jedinej důvod proč dávám hvězdičku dolů je, že jak to byly povídky, tak jsem neměl úplně potřebu to přečíst celý najednou, což je ale asi v pohodě, já jsem jen teď zmlsanej těma hladovejma hrama.

[Joseph Daniell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daniil Kharms: a literary Houdini who escaped the prison of normal stories and landed in a world so weird, it makes your socks do the cha-cha. He took everyday life, squeezed it like a tube of toothpaste, and out popped the absurd – like a clown car full of dead old ladies in "The Old Woman." "Elisaveta Bam" is basically language going nuts, like Beckett on a bender.

[Silvia Letture caldi abbracci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mi è arrivato per la biblioteca scolastica alla primaria.
Le 3 stelle sono per la paté grafica che si rifà al costruttivismo russo.
Ma il testo mi ha lasciata perplessa. Se qualcuno vorrà aiutarmi, leggerò volentieri.

[eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toto bolo skvelé.

[mashaallie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Этот рассказ, как впрочем и все у Хармса - с изрядной долей безуминки. И чёрного юмора здесь хватает. Очень подходит, чтобы перевести дух.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A escrita do Daniil Kharms difere do convencional, um dos maiores da modernidade.

[Tatjana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Когда абсурд есть правда.

[Omar Mahir · Rating 1 out of 5]

خريط

[Vít · Rating 3 out of 5]

Útlá sbírka absurdních povídek ze Sovětského svazu 30. let, které vás pobaví ještě i dneska. Tenkrát to ovšem zdaleka taková sranda nebyla, jak můžeme vidět na autorově osudu.

[soeluhtet · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not comprehensive Kharms' works, but enjoyable.

[Tonksová888 · Rating 4 out of 5]

😂❤️
První příběh se zrzkem byl nejlepší!

[♡ julia ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

nossa eu adorei esse toque de terror e loucura e sei lá mais o que tem nesse livro, só queria realmente que tivesse um final decente

[Kodzuken · Rating 5 out of 5]

ya v vostorge

[Airam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gogol meets Dostoevsky

[Julia Petryshena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Теперь мне хочется спать, но я спать не буду.
Я возьму бумагу и перо и буду писать. Я чувствую в
себе страшную силу. Я все обдумал еще вчера. Это
будет рассказ о чудотворце, который живет в наше
время и не творит чудес. Он знает, что он
чудотворец и может сотворить любое чудо, но он
этого не делает. Его выселяют из квартиры, он
знает, что стоит ему только махнуть платком, и
квартира останется за ним, но он не делает этого,
он покорно съезжает с квартиры и живет за городом
в сарае. Он может этот сарай превратить в прекрас-
ный кирпичный дом, но он не делает этого, он про-
должает жить в сарае и в конце концов умирает, не
сделав за свою жизнь ни одного чуда.

[Mark Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much of Daniil Kharms’ small but devoted fanbase considers him to have been an unacknowledged genius. Based on this collection I’d say genius is a bit strong. Some of the pieces (including the title story) are very funny and he clearly had a gift for amusing non-sequitur; others read like the half-formed jottings of a slightly irritating, self-styled eccentric. The circumstances in which Kharms died, as with so many Russian artists of that time, were tragic. Part of the tragedy is that he didn’t live to develop into a more fully developed writer (and that much of the work he did produce appears to have been destroyed).

[Jeremy Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I caught the back end of a Radio 4 play about this author and couldn't believe the writing I heard. It had an absurd, surreal quality to it that was both earnest and appealing. Such a wealth of material that makes you think, laugh, philosophise and groan. Genius.

[Nepala]

First book I read in Russian! But I really don't know what to make of it and I don't think it's just because of possible language barrier.
I read it because I saw a theatre play, hoping to understand it, but things only got more complicated

[Katt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epická sbírka.