Prizing ideas above all else, radical thinker Baruch Spinoza left little behind in the way of personal facts and furnishings. But what of the tug of necessity, the urgings of the flesh, to which this genius philosopher (and grinder of lenses) might have been no more immune than the next man-or the next character, as Baruch Spinoza becomes in this intriguing novel by the remarkable young Macedonian author Goce Smilevski.
Smilevski's novel brings the thinker Spinoza, all inner life, into conversation with the outer, all-too-real facts of his life and his day--from his connection to the Jewish community of Amsterdam, his excommunication in 1656, and the emergence of his philosophical system to his troubling feelings for his fourteen-year-old Latin teacher Clara Maria van den Enden and later his disciple Johannes Casearius. From this conversation there emerges a compelling and complex portrait of the life of an idea--and of a man who tries to live that idea.
Goce Smilevski (b.1975) was born in Skopje, Macedonia. He was educated at the Sts Kiril and Metodij University in Skopje, at Charles University in Prague and at the Central European University in Budapest. He is the author of the novels The Planet of Inexperience, Conversation with Spinoza and Sigmund Freud鈥檚 Sister. He won Macedonian Novel of the Year Award in 2003 for Conversation with Spinoza. In 2006, he was also awarded the Central European Initiative Fellowship for young European authors.
Upliv u nepoznato 膷esto zna da bude pra膰en razo膷aranjima, sa moje ta膷ke gledi拧ta i kroz pre膽a拧nja iskustva, daleko vi拧e nego odu拧evljenjima. Iz te perspektive Goce Smilevski predstavlja i upliv u nepoznati knji啪evni svet, ali istovremeno i jedno veoma pozitivno iznena膽enje, bar kada je re膷 o knjizi Razgovor sa Spinozom. Knjiga je zami拧ljena veoma intimno, kada je u pitanju sam 膷italac, zato 拧to je autor zamislio da razgovar sa Spinozom vodi upravo osoba koja 膷ita. To je postignuto na taj na膷in 拧to je ostavljeno prazno mesto gde mo啪e da se upi拧e ime, s mo啪e i da se zamisli da pi拧e vlastito ime 膷itaoca (kao 拧to sam i sam uradio, naprosto mi je bilo 啪ao da pi拧em po knjizi 馃檪) tako da se Spinoza obra膰a Miroslavu, Marku, Ivani ili bilo kome ko 膷ita delo. Na taj na膷in malo podse膰a na Pavi膰a, ali opet druga膷iji je stil pisanja, kao i tematika kojom se autor bavi. Delo je kombinacija filozofije (koja nije optere膰uju膰a, 拧ablonskog copy paste formata, ve膰 u duhu toka radnje), biografije, religioznog promi拧ljanja, rekao bih i samog autora i laganog ljubavnog dela. Neobi膷no i veoma interesantno.
"Zar je to va啪no, Spinoza, zar je va啪no 拧to su te radnje prolazne: za拧to da se sopstvena prolaznost provede u razmi拧ljanju o ve膷nim stvarima (koje su i tako ve膷ne), a u propu拧tanju prolaznih stvari, onih za koje je potrebna krajnja pa啪nja da bi bile prime膰ene, budu膰i da se ra膽aju i umiru iz trenutka u trenutak, (...) za拧to da se uzalud ustremljuje拧 ka ve膷nom i beskona膷nom, kada bi mogao, iako to traje samo trenutak, da do啪ivi拧 pulsiranje onoga ograni膷enog i prolaznog?"
Kroz odnos Spinoze i Klare Marije pro啪imaju se i ideali o ve膷nim idejama i metafizici, sa prolazno拧膰u i ograni膷enim elementima misli i 膷ove膷ijeg 啪ivota. Koja je razlika izme膽u tela i misli odnosno 膷ove膷ijeg duha? Da li se kroz duh kao metafizi膷ki i beskona膷an element 膷oveka nastavlja i nadogra膽uje misao samog 膷oveka, da li dolazi do napretka ili je i 啪ivot misli ograni膷en jedino na ono 拧to je putem teksta ostavljeno generacijama? Kroz ideale Spinozine misli autor nas lagano vodi kroz njegovu biografiju, ali i na zanimljiv na膷in opisanu Evropu 17. veka. Lepo su opisani obi膷aji tog doba, kultura, prisutne slobode, inkvizicija, zabrane i zablude. Fiktivno je opisan i mogu膰i razlog za ekskomunikaciju Spinoze iz hebrejske zajednice, koji u istoriji nigde ne mo啪e da sigurno拧膰u da se prona膽e. Dakle ovo je kombinacija i fikcije i istorije povezane sa biografijom slavnog filozofa. A samo膰a kojoj Spinoza te啪i predstavlja samog autora, odnosno predstavlja izvor koji autoru dariva re膷i, koji ga 膷ini piscem. Veoma zanimljivo delo, napisano avangardno, ali istovremeno i u skladu sa utvr膽enim knji啪evnim pravilima uz obilje elemenata za saznavanje i neizmerno u啪ivanje. Nadam se da od Gocea dolazi jo拧 ovakvih tekstova.
"...osam dana nakon ro膽enja dobio sam ime Bento, a kasnije su me zvali i Baruh i Benediktus, a sva tri imena imala su isto zna膷enje- blagosloven, iako bi mom 啪ivotu mo啪da vi拧e odgovaralo moje prezime, koje je dolazilo od portugalske re膷i espinosa- trn. Biti blagosloven trn, ili blagosloven me膽u trnjem, blagosloviti trnje ili, pak, blagoslovenog baciti u trnje."
Jak na pierwszy kontakt z literatur膮 macedo艅sk膮 - rewelacja! Bardzo dobra ksi膮偶ka. GS od偶egnuje si臋 od postmodernizmu, staraj膮c si臋 dowie艣膰, 偶e napisa艂 powie艣膰 'romantyczn膮'... To czemu dorzuca "smaczki", jakich nie powstydzi艂by si臋 jakikolwiek pisarz oklejony 艂atk膮 "POST"? Ale nie zamierzam komukolwiek psu膰 lektury - spojler贸w nie b臋dzie! U艂omno艣ci (nieliczne) nikn膮 wobec bardzo sp贸jnej narracji i niezwykle ciekawej fabu艂y. Ciekawa i m膮dra opowie艣膰.
Felsefesini ve panteist evren/do臒a-tanr谋 g枚r眉艧眉n眉 kendime yak谋n buldu臒um Spinoza'n谋n hayat谋n谋n, duygular谋n谋n ve felsefesinin d眉艧眉nsel (homo intellectualis) ve duygusal (homo sentimentalis) olmak 眉zere farkl谋 bak谋艧 a莽谋lar谋 ile iki k谋s谋mda yarat谋c谋 bir 眉莽l眉 sohbet 艧eklinde kurgulanm谋艧 biyografik bir roman olan, gen莽 yetenek Smilevski'nin bu eserini be臒eni ile alt谋n谋 莽izerek okudum.
Kitaba ba艧lad谋ktan k谋sa s眉re sonra y谋llar 枚nce okumu艧 oldu臒um Spinoza'n谋n Etika's谋n谋 raftan indirip tekrar g枚zden ge莽irmenin yararl谋 olaca臒谋n谋 d眉艧眉nd眉m ve bu tekrar okuman谋n fazlas谋yla yarar谋n谋 g枚rd眉m.
De臒erlendirmemi be艧 y谋ld谋z olarak yapmama ra臒men yazar谋n, Spinoza'n谋n bu konularda hakk谋nda 莽ok 艧ey bilinmeyen ve kesinli臒i olmayan biseks眉el ve nekrofilik duygular ta艧谋d谋臒谋n谋 枚ne 莽谋karmas谋n谋 pek ho艧 ve adil bulmad谋臒谋m谋 da belirtmeliyim. Bunu yazar谋n, kitab谋n sonundaki "Sonu莽 Yerine: Neden Spinoza" b枚l眉m眉nde ifade etti臒i 眉zere kendi bak谋艧 a莽谋s谋na ve bir bak谋ma ilgiyi art谋rmak ama莽l谋 oyun oynama 枚zg眉rl眉臒眉ne veriyor ve puan k谋rm谋yorum ;)
The last part of the novel, that actually isn't the novel, just a postscriptum where the author explains why he chose Spinoza as main character of his novel pretty much compensated the bland first part and the less bland and more poetic second part. Call me a prude, but I'm not a fan when a writer oversexualizes a character's life (especially if s/he is/was REAL) - here Smilevski turns poor Spinoza into a necrophiliac (gross!) and into a latent gay (in my opinion, a bit over the top). Yes, I know, when not much is known about a person, one can imagine millions of lives of him/her, but still...the oversexualization, I just can't.
Also, I didn't like how Smilevski incorporated parts of Spinoza's philosophy into the dialogues - it felt so dull and lazy, as if he just took the original text of Spinoza's Ethics and put it into the philosopher's mouth every time he opened it. Still, despite these totally subjective remarks of mine, I think the novel is technically very original - Smilevski structured it as a conversation between the reader and Spinoza (you could write in your name on a line intended for the reader's name). So I guess if it weren't for his technical innovation, I would give the book 2 stars.
Un libro coraggioso e sperimentale per certi versi. Coraggioso perch茅 tratta di un personaggio quasi mitico della filosofia e del pensiero occidentale ricostruendo con la fantasia i tratti della sua personalit脿 da alcuni eventi della sua vita. Per alcuni potrebbe sembrare un'operazione quasi sacrilega, per altri liberatoria e foriera di libert脿 innanzitutto intellettuali. E si tratta di una libert脿 di cui abbiamo estremamente bisogno nel mondo omologato sin nel pensiero che le previsioni algiritmiche del mercato ci dipingono davanti agli occhi. Sperimentale (almeno in parte) perch茅 sceglie come espediente narrativo quello del dialogo tra il personaggio e lo scrittore in un rimando immaginario tra passato e presente o in una dimensione senza tempo che chiede sin dal principio del romanzo una forte immersione nella finzione poetica. Un romanzo molto pensato e costruito, la cui costruzione in alcuni momenti pare emergere al di sotto della narrazione e svelare il meccanismo della messa on scena rendendola pi霉 rigida e meno naturale.
Premesse buone, intenzioni discrete, svolgimento altalenante e conclusione confusa. Non 猫 semplice cercare di tradurre le algide dimostrazioni more geometrico in un linguaggio da romanzo; qualche volta l'operazione 猫 riuscita, come quando ci si chiede insistentemente cosa si possa conoscere con i sensi; altre volte il tentativo risulta artificioso. Poi mi sembra fuori luogo la ripetizione costante di improbabili immagini sessuali, addirittura uno Spinoza che sogna di avere un rapporto con un suo allievo...Non ci siamo! 3 stelle e non di meno solo per rispetto di Spinoza
Rede en hartstocht. Zo zou je 'Het web van Spinoza' kunnen samenvatten. Naar analogie met de dualiteit in Spinoza's 'Ethica'. Maar een web telt meer draden. Het zijn in dit geval de kleine draadjes die het verhaal iets bijzonders meegeven. Fijne details die je pas achteraf ontdekt. Nadat Smilevski heeft verteld waarom hij een boek over Spinoza schrijft. Jammer misschien. Of net niet. Ik weet het niet, maar soms bleken de draden van het web plots te breken. En verloor ik even de leeslust. Een andere keer bleef het web aan me kleven. Dan wilde ik de draad eindeloos volgen. Hmm, rede en hartstocht. Ik vermoed dat Smilevski hier een vernuftig spel met me heeft gespeeld...
Conversation with Spinoza contains the original narrative. Portions of the text are interspersed between the three POVs: narrator-observer who reported the events as a spectator; narrator-interlocutor, who turns directly to Spinoza; and the narrator-Spinoza, who replies to the reader. Smilevski the intended to write "beautiful book"; a tribute to the philosopher. It came, how it came out. The book is mostly melancholic and difficult to understand for someone who has not studied the philosophy of Spinoza. Perhaps because the author has posted afterword, explaining both the design "Conversations with Spinoza", as the content of the book.