{"id":20576,"date":"2022-11-16T11:13:08","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T10:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jezykikaukazu.pl\/?p=20576"},"modified":"2023-04-25T21:28:07","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T19:28:07","slug":"the-caucasusu-talks-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jezykikaukazu.pl\/en\/the-caucasusu-talks-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Caucasus put into one train \u2013 \u2018Literature Express\u2019 by Lasha Bugadze"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"20576\" class=\"elementor elementor-20576\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-a944c42 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"a944c42\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-c0b2231\" data-id=\"c0b2231\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cb4f37e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cb4f37e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Russians and Georgians in one train just a month after August war in 2008. Now add to it Armenians sitting in front of Azerbaijanis, being joined after few seconds by a Chechen. All of them being in a bus in Lizbon. This is just the beginning of the \u2018Literature Express\u2019 written by Lasha Bugadze.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-72545e4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"72545e4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=51909609&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f22cf74 elementor-widget elementor-widget-video\" data-id=\"f22cf74\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;youtube_url&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/youtu.be\\\/3E_wEv_dSGs&quot;,&quot;video_type&quot;:&quot;youtube&quot;,&quot;controls&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"video.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-wrapper elementor-open-inline\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-video\"><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9436235 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9436235\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>I was starting the \u2018Literature Express\u2019 being a bit sceptical about it, I do admit it. I will tell you, why it was so in the end. However from the very first pages I started being under impression this may be one of the best Georgian books I have ever read. The description of the Georgians travelling by plane from Tbilisi to Portugal made me laugh so hard I cried. I was laughing so much, I had to stop reading few times. Whoever was flying with Georgians would love this part of the book.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-927b59c elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"927b59c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Why \u2018Literature Express\u2019?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5ff6901 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5ff6901\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-d8861f0\" data-id=\"d8861f0\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2af4293 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2af4293\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Let\u2019s start with the title \u2013 \u2018Literature Express\u2019 is a German project in which participate nearly 100 writers and poets from all over the Europe. They are supposed to spend a couple of weeks in a train travelling together across Europe from Lisbon to Warsaw (via Kaliningrad and Moscow). The stay in each of the countries is used by Lasha Bugadze as an opportunity to show the stereotypes and the complexity of relations among the representatives of those several nations.<\/p><p>Stay positive \u2013 we do not get to know all 99 travelers. Nevertheless those described created a vivid mix of what we may call \u201cEurope intelligentsia\u201d. We meet all of them via the eyes of Zaza, our narrator, one of two participants from Georgia who were chosen by the Georgian Ministry to participate in the project. The second one is Zviad, poet who does not speak English. Exactly those parts of the story. Who talks with whom or should (not) talk and using which language? This becomes the extremely interesting addition to the main plot as well as the second or the third layer of the whole book.<\/p><p>The main one though is the constatation of own inability to create and write by our Georgian narrator as well as his falling in love with beautiful Greek lady, married to the translator from Poland. For me being Polish this part of the book was additionally interesting to read and to get to know how the author depicts a Polish man. May I only assume you will have the same fascination on how your nation was described. By the way, if there are any scientists and researchers listening. Maybe you can devote part of your academic study to analyse how your nation is being described in Georgian literature. It would be a hit. For sure I would read it.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ffa21ba elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ffa21ba\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">How does the life of Georgian writer look like?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7a02ffb elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"7a02ffb\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-e9488c5\" data-id=\"e9488c5\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c4209da elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c4209da\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The writers and poets, not only Georgian ones, are often fascinating people for me. To be more precise, my pragmatic approach to life always makes me ask: \u201cHow do they earn money for living?\u201d. This piece of information you will find in \u00a0\u2018Literature Express\u2019 by Lasha Bugadze as well. The discussions with a little of jealousy why the colleague from another country is more popular than I am. My work is equally good if not better. \u2018I could write hundreds of stories like that\u2019 \u2013 just to paraphrase the Chechen writer talking about his colleague from Bulgaria whose piece was published in the New Yorker. Not sure if I am going too deep and try to find hidden illusions, but my impression is that the Bugadze\u2019s choice to write about American magazine was not by accident. There are more threads like that but I have to stop here not to spoil you the whole book.<\/p><p>We should add to this, the beauty of the last chapter \u2013 the moment when the reader (at least me) is thinking: Ok, so now will be just the story summary, boring. You cannot be more wrong. There is a genius plot connecting President of Russia, shooting and who cannot be a Muslim as well as jihad. I will just add that our main character changes his perception of Georgia.<\/p><p>Last but not least, my two favourite scenes. The firs one is the one in the plane I have already told you about. The second one is the debate in Paris in which our Zaza (narrator) is one of the panelists and he wants to talk about Georgian-Russian war. One of the other panelists is his Russian counterpart and the mix of it makes the French moderator quite nervous. This is the perfect depiction of the complexity and multiplicity of the modern Caucasus.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-39e66bd elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"39e66bd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Is it worth reading Georgian literature?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fcff4ca elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"fcff4ca\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Before I finish today with strong encouragement for this book and the sentence: \u201cPlease read Georgian literature!\u201d I will add that there are 2 editions of this book in English. In one of them the letters the express participants write are written not only in English but also in their native languages (and alphabets). Thanks to this you can really get a grasp and visualization of how the group is mixes and the communication complexity we have in Europe, especially in the Caucasus. \u00a0<\/p><p>Of course there are many more interesting threads about which we could talk for hours. However, if I continue I will tell you the whole story. Instead of it I want you to discover it on your own and have as much fun as I had reading Georgian \u2018Literature Express\u2019 by Lasha Bugadze.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c6d2193 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"c6d2193\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Where can you buy the \u2018Literature Express\u2019?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f01a59 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3f01a59\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>As promissed, I have to reveal why I was sceptical when buying this book. I had an assumption that I want to read books from the Caucasus region which will show me the \u201ctrue Caucasus and Georgia\u201d via the eyes of the people who live here. \u201cCome on, I know the Europe already\u201d \u2013 that was my though. Luckily for me the rule I have \u201cbuy each book from the Caucasus region\u201d paid off.<\/p><p>As mentioned there are two editions of the book. One is by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dalkeyarchive.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dalkey Archive Press<\/a> and the second one by <a href=\"https:\/\/rights.sulakauri.ge\/about-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sulakaluri Publishing<\/a>. The second one is mainly available in Georgia.<\/p><p>If you have already read this book, let us know in comments what were your thoughts! Additionally, if you like our series, you can let us know by liking it, following us as well and sharing it with your friends. It will help us a lot in connecting with other fans of the region.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Russians and Georgians in one train just a month after August war in 2008. Now add to it Armenians sitting in front of Azerbaijanis, being joined after few seconds by a Chechen. All of them being in a bus in Lizbon. This is just the beginning of the \u2018Literature Express\u2019 written by Lasha Bugadze. https:\/\/youtu.be\/3E_wEv_dSGs [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20578,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[796,798],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-georgia","category-category-the-caucasus-podcast"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jezykikaukazu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jezykikaukazu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jezykikaukazu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jezykikaukazu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jezykikaukazu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jezykikaukazu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jezykikaukazu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jezykikaukazu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jezykikaukazu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jezykikaukazu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}