'The Rites of Spring'-Modris Elkins

[Guest mruk]

Deleted

[PBI]

Read this Book years ago,i must admit that i found it heavy going,i dont have it in my collection anymore,but i remember finishing it.I think that he definetly had a point with the change theory,howevere it seems that only the upper classes could devote themselves to the pursuit of Art etc,etc,whilst the Bloke on the Street had to get on with living in a country shattered by War,and i mean this as regards the Germans andFrench as well,am i right in saying that the Dancer Nijinsky gets a good mention in the Book,along with the Da Da Art movement.

[PBI]

For some reason this post war change really took off in Weimar Germany,indeed from what i have read the Weimar Republic really became the Powerhouse of Aristic and social change in Europe,just look at the work of Artist Otto Dix,the writings of Ernst Junger,and i must confess a great many more worthies whose names have been lost to me.From what i have been able to deduce it seems that Berlin in the Twenties and thirtys really was the place to be,remember the Film Cabaret ?,then of course there was the rise of the NSDAP amongst many other small political partys.We cannot forget the explosion of German science and medicine.May i suggest a Book for you which i am sure that you will find interesting regarding German Scientific Advances in the 30s and 40s,it is called "The Reich of The Black Sun",it deals with the German Scientific advances before and during the 2nd WW.A very interesting read.

[PBI]

BAD you!!!,i would rather starve than pass up the chance to purchase a Good Book,however we have all been guilty no doubt of committing the Cardinal Sin of..ah well it will still be there tomorrow,only for us to return and D,Oh!!,its gone.I think that in the 20s and 30s Berlin and some other major Citys were Europes version of Bangkok and some of the Thai Holiday resorts now,but only if you could afford it.Maybe this provided the spur for both the NSDAP and the Communists to aspire to gain control of Germany and expunge the Bourgeois element for good.A sad painting of Dix is the one of German War Widows prostituting themselves,as they had no means of support after their Men had been Killed,on the same theme he painted a picture called war profiteers.If you know of where i could buy a book of his paintings please let me know.

[PBI]

Good Idea re the Chavs and as we call them here "Borrowers",trouble is can they read or remember these titles.Regarding F ,i believe Hitler was a great admirer !.

[PBI]

Have you seen DOWNFALL yet,interestingly enough it is set in Berlin,but was Filmed in kiev in Russia,which was itself was designed buy the bloke who actually designed and built Berlin.If you get the Chance try and watch it.

[PBI]

I remember Berkoffs Hitler very well..camper than a row of Tents,seriously though,Bruno Ganz in downfall is utterly convincing as A.H..and really delivers the goodsThe Film itself is very underrated,but i think that it should have won a stack of Oscars,but i suppose if it doesent portray the yanks winning WW2 the Hollywood Moguls dont really want to know.Let me know what you think of Downfall once you have watched it.

[Fred van Woerkom]

Mruk,

Very interesting architecture ! Just like the Albert Town Hall.

Inside the station there was an old French aeroplane (pre-war II) hanging from the ceiling.

All the best,

Fred

[PBI]

I must confess that i think Albert has very little going for it in the Arcitechture department,or indeed anything else,i try and avoid it,as apart from the Museum there is precious little in the Town of any Merit. ,Amiens on the other hand isnt so bad.

[Arras100]

Just wanted to add an interesting note to this old discussion...

..I had Modris Eksteins as a professor when I was a student at the University of Toronto, doing my BA. I specialized in German and British history, and had him three times for different courses (Modern Europe, Modern German History and Weimar Republic). He is a fascinating lecturer, and in fact has quite the reputation at the university, though I didn't discover this until a bit later.

He had us read "Rites of Spring" in his Modern Europe course and I must say it was food for thought to a first year university student! In fact, so much in that book drove me to pursue interests, such as Sassoon. I owe a lot to that book. It's a fascinating thesis, and I remember in lectures him saying to us:

Imagine if it had been cold and rainy in August? Would so many people have turned up in Germany, demanding war?

It's an amazing book and he's an amazing man.

[jwfwarsaw]

If you enjoyed his "Rites of Spring", I would thoroughly recommend his "Walking Since Daybreak".

It is a fascinating look at Latvian history (including the war of independence in the immediate aftermath of the Great War), folded into his own experience of being an emigrant after WWII (first to the DP camps in Germany, as a baby, then on to his life and an outsider-on-the-inside in the very British-style education system of Canada in the 1950s-1960s).

Cheers,

Jonathan

[jwfwarsaw]

I should have added: not only is he a good writer, but also a top bloke. I had professional dealings with him a couple of years ago, related to news stories about a contemporary EU-Russia human rights spat which had ended up in a slanging match about the Latvians' and Soviets' WWII record (all very messy). He was not only extremely friendly and helpful but also very, very balanced.

Cheers,

Jonathan