trei grasani
so, three fat men by yury olesha.
in a recent comment on the blog, elena gave me a link to an english-language description/adaptation of the book, and because it doesn't work very well i searched some more and found this one, instead - the same text, just not with broken images. but that's only a summary, not the book itself. so for an actual translation - which is much, much better because the way the story is told is part of its appeal - here is the full text in english. it really is a great ["revolutionary fairy-"] tale. :)
ok, that first link for the book is to a site called "sovlit" which seems to be related to the literature section of marx.org, where the second link points to. and because of those links, i feel i should mention at least in passing some of my thoughts on marx. anyway.
as to three fat men, even though one aspect of it is the allegorical communist propaganda (not so hidden but at least to a kid not that obvious, either), as elena says, "well, beyond comunism, three evil fat capitalists vs. the working class circus guys doesn't really bother me... i mean, what's happening now around us is not so different... at least, that's how i feel..." - which i thoroughly concur with.
for further insight, there's also this review on amazon.com [but amazon sucks (yes, in a capitalist kinda way :) ) so that link comes with its own caveat]:
Yes, this is an ideological piece written to glamorise the Soviet revolution etc etc, but in reality, it's a great book that can be enjoyed by anyone from children that are old enough to appreciate the idea of justice (quite early).i'm just starting to remember all my past thoughts on this book... i definitely loved it as a child! and it is about justice, so really what's not to like?!
Set in a fictional, magical Italian-type world, the tale tells of a revolution in a country that is ruled by a greedy and immoral aristocracy (that indulges opulently while the populace starves) headed by the Three Fat Men. The men have a young boy Tutti who they are raising as their heir. To make him cruel they forbid contact with children allowing him only a doll for a companion and they build a zoo with wild animals so that he learns cruelty.
The book begins with the capture and encagement of the revolutionary Prospero and the breaking of Tutti's doll. Enter the elderly Dr Gaspar and a bunch of ordinary extraordinary people whose lives are brought together in this crucial moment in the life of the country.
An absurd ... story with elements of the tragic, feels timeless and is a great read for all.
elena also says, "the illustrations were different" [in the romanian edition of the book]. it's true, as far as i remember they were a bit less stylized and more colorful, even though the idea was quite similar. but the cover was definitely the same as the one over here, which i guess is a slovakian edition.
anybody have any more details about it? impressions to share about the book?
2 comentarii:
hehe i haven't heard of this tale.. i think i'm gonna read it. too bad the 3 fat-men are evil.. was it the meat they ate that made them so evil? :P
But are you sure they were fat? MAYBE they were big boned just like me :P =))
actually a lot of the book is about the 3 fat men trying to lose weight (they start to grow fatter when they're worried). it's the gluttony that makes them evil, not necessarily meat. :D but meat is totally associated with cruelty in the book, though more in terms of the tigers at the zoo who eat raw meat/people, not animal meat as human food.
they were definitely fat. didn't you look at the pictures? :D (& termina!)
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