The Apocalypse of Our Time, and Other Writings

by Vasily Rozanov, Василий Розанов

English, Russian (translation)

Genres: Philosophy, Russia

301 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1918

About the author

Vasily Vasilievich Rozanov (Russian: Васи́лий Васи́льевич Рóзанов) was one of the most controversial Russian writers and philosophers of the pre-revolutionary epoch. His views have been termed the "religion of procreation", as he tried to reconcile Christian teachings with ideas of healthy sex and family life and not, as his adversary Nikolai Berdyaev put it, "to set up sex in opposition to the Word". Because of phallic notions in his writings, Klaus von Beyme called him the Rasputin of the Russian intelligence.

Reviews

[Tijana]

Rozanova sam otkrila pre dosta godina jer sam čula da je presudno uticao na stil Viktora Šklovskog (a Šklovski je ljubav, ko ne veruje nek uzme "Zoo, pisma ne o ljubavi"). Kod nas je srazmerno malo prevođen i tada sam se domogla samo Osamljenosti koje su mi se svidele jer su tako neki iscepkani i šašavi ali iskreni fragmenti na sve moguće teme, pri čemu se Rozanov uopšte ne usteže da sam sebi protivreči. Apsolutno nije moguće uhvatiti ga ni za glavu ni za rep.
Apokalipsa našeg vremena je... to isto... samo idejno oskudnije i mnogo žalosnije na više nivoa; ovi fragmenti pisani su i objavljivani 1918/1919. dok je Rozanov s bolesnom ženom i decom gladovao (kao i najveći deo Rusa u to doba) sa idejom da će na njima zaraditi dovoljno da ne umre (nije uspelo). I iz njih se može iščitati i grozničavost i glad i očajanje autora, ali iz rascepkanih pasaža koji često ne vode nikuda ne može da se iščeprka nekakav objedinjujući stav. Ima dosta momenata u kojima se Rozanov kaje zbog svojih antisemitskih pamfleta pisanih samo koju godinu pre toga; ima momenata u kojima napada hrišćanstvo (divna slika o tome kako je "hrišćanstvo kao pirog iz kog je Hristos istresao sav fil - to ne može da bude ukusno"); ima ponegde i trenutaka kad je blaži prema njemu; ima dosta pominjanja hrane, uzgred ali užasno, kad npr. pomene kako je putovao u susedni grad jer je čuo da je tamo ražano brašno mnogo jeftinije.
I konačno, moram da kažem kako me mori podozrenje da je ova knjižica (sedamdesetak strana) kod nas objavljena samo jer je izdavač smatrao da je odlična fora 1993. godine u Srbiji objaviti knjigu pod naslovom "Apokalipsa našeg vremena".

[Frankie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rozanov was not a great writer but he is a readable one, if for no other reason than as a literary link in Russian history. He was often accused of political vacillation, as if anyone writing during the Bolshevik revolution could stand still. Rozanov chose to write miscellany but uniquely honest miscellany, a sort of cinéma vérité of literature (vérité de plume?).

He wrote out of necessity to feed his family; he wrote to pay the doctors to keep the love of his life's terminal illness at bay. He wrote scraps of self-edification, self-loathing, sentimental blubbering, angry rants and curses. But just when you get tired of him, there's a sweet story about what his smart young daughter told him, or how a friend takes care of him. Or something witty like this entry- "If anyone reads a eulogy over my open grave, I'll get out of my coffin and smack his face." (p79)

There are some repulsive things about Rozanov, but they may be the only things that keep him from becoming trite. He at least attempts to be candid, though even in honesty he is not consistent. One thing that rings unfortunately false is his blustering avoidance of fame. "I don't want fame!" he shouts into the megaphone of his pre-commissioned journal. But who among us could publish our thoughts in the dark moods, embarrassing rages and depressions we experience daily?

Some clue to his method of full disclosure can be seen in this entry:

Reading letters sometimes for my servants, I was often struck by the color of speech of the common people, of their souls, of their outlook and way of life. And I thought: 'Yes, this is literature, the finest literature!' Writers' letters are boring and colorless on the whole. Like misers, they keep the 'best bits' for publishing, and their letters are faded, dim…

Rozanov's experiment follows on the heels of Dostoevsky's A Writer's Diary, and in some ways surpasses it in its documentarian integrity. But where D polished up his opinions and thoughts as any columnist would, Rozanov does not. This leads one to wonder if he was capable of polishing them at all. Most of his prose (the last fourth of this volume) is educated but pedantic, rushed and awkward.

The essay I most looked forward to is titled "Apocalypse of Our Time", an anti-orthodox Christianity thesis that D.H. Lawrence had touted in Phoenix. I was disappointed and often lost. It was not so much a rebuttal against Christianity, as a melee of crackpot and ill-conceived theology. The highlight of this is his parallel between the Egyptian sarcophagus and a chrysalis, leading to the butterfly as the soul of the caterpillar, leading to a vague comparison with the Holy Ghost. His ultimate conclusion somehow bizarrely insists that Jesus was a disappointment to God.

The crux of it all seems to be that Rozanov needs God to be mistaken. To be faulty. It certainly explains the "apocalypse" of his title, for a monotheism cannot exist with a fallible deity. Maybe we're not meant to examine his ravings on a social scale, but psychologically as a map of the mental Rozanov. He's the fallible deity, the disappointed father, the disparagingly judgmental god frowning on Russians. Rozanov is nothing special but perhaps that's what makes him significant.

[Maurizio Manco · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Il nichilismo è la disperazione dell'uomo incapace di fare ciò che non è per nulla chiamato a fare." (p. 101)

[Algirdas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dabar tvyro nuomonė, kad reikia nusigręžti nuo rusų autorių, patiems neskaityti ir vaikams mokyklose neleisti. Kažkiek su tuo sutinku, bet nepulkim į kraštutinumus. Yra autorių, į kuriuos mes anksčiau nebuvom atkreipę dėmesį. Vienas jų Vasily Rozanov, labai literatūriškai rašęs filosofas, aršiai dar prieš gerą 100 metų kritikavęs tiek rusų literatūrą, tiek revoliuciją, tiek pačią minėtą tautą, bei turėjęs savitą požiūrį į krikščionybę. Rekomenduoju. Prieš gerą dešimtmetį man šį autorių parekomendavo Maskvoje gyvenantis lietuvis. Už tai jam dėkingas.

[Tona Negrete · Rating 2 out of 5]

No pude con él, demasiado "inestable" para mi. Algunos escritos simplemente magníficos, otros... de verdad que no me gustaron. Tal vez más adelante pueda terminarlo, pero por el momento, no.

[Ben]

author mentioned in doctor zhivago as having nice prose, might not work as a translation though