A long way from the gulag and Siberia, one of the escapees from Slavomir Rawicz’s group, impressed by the hospitality of the Mongols and Tibetans, reflects that “these people make me feel very humble. They do a lot to wipe out bitter memories of other people who have lost their respect for humanity”. And really, it is hard to imagine how it is possible that filthy, ragged foreigners, with the ghastly appearance of those who have crossed Siberia and the Gobi Desert on foot, grunting strange phonemes in an unknown language, could, as a rule, have been welcomed by peasants as brothers. The East really is special… And although they have also not escaped corruption and evil, the Orientals have never failed to point out the qualities that distinguish them from other animals.
Category: Notes
The Long Walk, by Slavomir Rawicz
A narrative like this can hardly be matched by pure fiction. To do so, the writer has to use extreme skill in dosing the drama of the plot, so that it does not sound exaggerated, but at the same time moves and convinces. Very, very difficult… because sometimes the drama is concentrated in the unsaid, the not possible or not attempted, in what did not happen. On the other hand, we have this impressive narrative, in which what is reported appears with the exact weight of what happened. Exaggerations are methodically dispensed with, and yet, with each chapter, each page, the impression is that the narrative is always going to extremes, and the reader has to make an effort to imagine the degree of intensity of that which could be expressed with numerous exclamations. What is artistic artifice in the face of such an experience?
Psychology Should Explain Why…
Psychology should explain why, of all people, logic experts are the most often illogical when they try to analyze real-world situations. One only has to give them a chance to find out: reality is very different from an equation! However, it is a mystery that they can get it so wrong and still continue to enjoy unshakable credit. Some professions are really privileged… A clown does not last long in his career if he is affected by such foolishness.
It Is Crazy That One Has Gone so Far…
It is crazy that one has gone so far as to say and admit that philosophy is an occupation for those who like “abstract arguments”. This shows just how corrupting universities are. If nothing else, the etymology of the word should be enough to refute the nonsense. But, in truth, the new definition is far more accurate in portraying the modern wave of philosophers, who are much more fond of argument than of knowing. Academic practice has created this new type, denying outsiders the credentials to exercise the old occupation. It must be hard having to take them seriously in exchange for a monthly payment…