Письмо Ральфу
Dear Ralph!
Once upon a time a strange idea came to my mind. I thought that the famous poem (not a poem in fact but named so) "Moscow-Petushki" (originally "Moskva-Petushki"), classic of modern Russian literature is a Russian version of... Yes! "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". It was written by Venedikt Erofeev in 1969 (just 2 years before "F&L"). Erofeev is a legend of Russian literature, alcohol addict and a strange distillation of Russian soul and Russian make. "Moscow-Petushki" is shorter but it tells a lot.
You can find English version of "Moskva-Petushki" on Amazon, it was translated and became "Moscow to the End of the Line". Unfortunately, I didn't read it in English and I can't tell you how it is. In my opinion, it is very difficult to translate such things. But maybe the translator was genius and made a miracle. Maybe he really translated Russian soul... Or you can find it somewhere else, I don't know.. But I recommend you to read it anyway. So, if you want... you should try IT!
The main character named Venichka (invented person from the one side, but from the other side - the alter ego of the author) travels from Moscow, our capital, to the small town Petushki situated just 130 kilometers eastern to it. But Petushki is another world. A province, all that situated outside of Moscow is a rural territories. Terrible fact. So... He travels to the heart of Russian Soul. To the heart of Russian Soul and his abstract girlfriend. Using vodka and other drinks or even chemicals (which contain alcohol of course) breaking himself to very strange, sometimes hallucinogenic journey. Of course, he will see the heart of Russian All flying as a substance to it and through it.
So… There are a lot of similar events in these stories, similar persons, maybe even similar facts. But very very very different cultures.
So, I imagined "Moscow-Petushki" with your illustrations... And it became... unbelievable. An incredible contact and mix of American, European and Russian culture. Boom!
You can find photo of the V.Erofeev here
http://www.geocities.com/FashionAvenue/1305/erofeev.jpg
and the book at
http://www.amazon.com/Moscow-End-Line-Venedikt-Erofeev/dp/0810112000/sr=1-1/qid=1162059068/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-2026991-1660934?ie=UTF8&s=books
By the way, I have just bought "The Joke's Over" and will read it soon.
Thanks a lot!
В общем, Ральф до сих пор думает... )
Для тех, кто в танке, Ральф - это Ральф Стидмен (Ralph Steadman), иллюстратор "Страха и Отвращения в Лас-Вегасе" и других книг Хантера С. Томпсона, да и просто талантливый художник.
http://www.ralphsteadman.com
Once upon a time a strange idea came to my mind. I thought that the famous poem (not a poem in fact but named so) "Moscow-Petushki" (originally "Moskva-Petushki"), classic of modern Russian literature is a Russian version of... Yes! "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". It was written by Venedikt Erofeev in 1969 (just 2 years before "F&L"). Erofeev is a legend of Russian literature, alcohol addict and a strange distillation of Russian soul and Russian make. "Moscow-Petushki" is shorter but it tells a lot.
You can find English version of "Moskva-Petushki" on Amazon, it was translated and became "Moscow to the End of the Line". Unfortunately, I didn't read it in English and I can't tell you how it is. In my opinion, it is very difficult to translate such things. But maybe the translator was genius and made a miracle. Maybe he really translated Russian soul... Or you can find it somewhere else, I don't know.. But I recommend you to read it anyway. So, if you want... you should try IT!
The main character named Venichka (invented person from the one side, but from the other side - the alter ego of the author) travels from Moscow, our capital, to the small town Petushki situated just 130 kilometers eastern to it. But Petushki is another world. A province, all that situated outside of Moscow is a rural territories. Terrible fact. So... He travels to the heart of Russian Soul. To the heart of Russian Soul and his abstract girlfriend. Using vodka and other drinks or even chemicals (which contain alcohol of course) breaking himself to very strange, sometimes hallucinogenic journey. Of course, he will see the heart of Russian All flying as a substance to it and through it.
So… There are a lot of similar events in these stories, similar persons, maybe even similar facts. But very very very different cultures.
So, I imagined "Moscow-Petushki" with your illustrations... And it became... unbelievable. An incredible contact and mix of American, European and Russian culture. Boom!
You can find photo of the V.Erofeev here
http://www.geocities.com/FashionAvenue/1305/erofeev.jpg
and the book at
http://www.amazon.com/Moscow-End-Line-Venedikt-Erofeev/dp/0810112000/sr=1-1/qid=1162059068/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-2026991-1660934?ie=UTF8&s=books
By the way, I have just bought "The Joke's Over" and will read it soon.
Thanks a lot!
В общем, Ральф до сих пор думает... )
Для тех, кто в танке, Ральф - это Ральф Стидмен (Ralph Steadman), иллюстратор "Страха и Отвращения в Лас-Вегасе" и других книг Хантера С. Томпсона, да и просто талантливый художник.
http://www.ralphsteadman.com