October 14, 2010

Danil Kharms, Today I Wrote Nothing, trans. Matvei Yankelevich (Ardis, 2009). I'm not sure where I came across Kharms' name, but this book arrived in the mail today. This writing is absolutely brutal. Take for instance "Sonnet" (48). A group of people forget which number comes after 6 -- is it 7 or 8? They go to a grocer to ask, but she offers conflicting nonsensical information, so they go to a park to count trees, but begin arguing after they reach the tree after 6. The argument is broken ("luckily") by a child breaking "both" its jawbones.

Kharms (1905-42) helped found the OBERIU (Union of Real Art) movement in the Soviet Union.