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It Happened Like This: Stories and Poems
A collection of ten stories by a Russian writer who, after the overthrow of the tsar, turned to writing children's stories when he could no longer publish his politically charged adult works. "Hilarious as well as absurd."-Book Links
48 pages, Hardcover
First published October 5, 1998
About the author
Daniil Kharms
239 books412 followersDaniil 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 “
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 “
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 19, 2015
Kharms' [Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachov, 1905-1942] stories are very short. 'Garrulity is the mother of mediocrity,' he wrote in his diary. He also wrote, at the height of the purges that would eventually take his life (he died of starvation while in prison), 'I am interested only in 'nonsense'; only in that which makes no practical sense. I am interested in life only in its absurd manifestation.'
He had other pseudonyms as well. He wrote for adults and for children, stories, plays, poetry, erotica. Most of his adult writing, saved after his arrest by his friend, the philosopher Yakov Semyonovich Druskin, was not published in Russia until the Gorbachev period.
In this book we have a few brief stories, purportedly for children although adults might like them just as well. The first is "Mysterious Case," which is presented as an introduction, the writer directly addressing the audience. I'll reproduce some of it:
A short bio and extensive sample of his writing is available here: http://lib.ru/HARMS/xarms_engl.txt.
He had other pseudonyms as well. He wrote for adults and for children, stories, plays, poetry, erotica. Most of his adult writing, saved after his arrest by his friend, the philosopher Yakov Semyonovich Druskin, was not published in Russia until the Gorbachev period.
In this book we have a few brief stories, purportedly for children although adults might like them just as well. The first is "Mysterious Case," which is presented as an introduction, the writer directly addressing the audience. I'll reproduce some of it:
This is incredible! Who can tell me what's going on? I've been lying on a couch for three days now, scared to death. I don't understand it at all.
It happened like this.
In my room, on the wall, is a picture of my friend Karl Ivanovitch Shusterling.
Three days ago, when I was cleaning my room, I took the picture down, dusted it, and put it up again. Then I stepped back to see from a distance if it was hanging crooked. But when I looked my feet turned cold and my hair stood straight up on my head.
Instead of Karl Ivanovitch Shusterling, a terrifying stranger was looking at me from the wall--
[...]
I have taken a photograph of this picture and sent to the people who are making the book. They tell me that the kids who will be reading it are very smart.
Maybe you can tell me where my dear friend Karl Ivanovitch Shusterling has gone?
A short bio and extensive sample of his writing is available here: http://lib.ru/HARMS/xarms_engl.txt.
March 4, 2010
Technically this is a compilation of children's stories; in reality the tales in It Happened Like This: Stories and Poems are acerbic criticism of Soviet politics. Dark, dark, dark, like coffee without cream reflecting a starless sky--a book as dark as the devil's heart.
October 13, 2021
Excellent book
October 18, 2015
I'm not sure how I feel about the artwork. I'd need to do more research into Russian art.
I did enjoy a lot of the short little poem/stories. However, the one was frustrating because I knew in the original puns had to have been happening everywhere, but all of that was lost in translation, and there was no way to find out what the original puns had been *sigh*
I did enjoy a lot of the short little poem/stories. However, the one was frustrating because I knew in the original puns had to have been happening everywhere, but all of that was lost in translation, and there was no way to find out what the original puns had been *sigh*
March 5, 2012
This is the ultimate kid's book.
June 15, 2013
I enjoyed it a lot, willing to read more of his works.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews