Malebranche, Carlyle, Stefan Zweig And Your Pet

Today is Friday and it’s been a somewhat chilly and murky and windy day. It’s also been the last day of the popular dutch book-sale in the CoalMarket here in downtown Copenhagen. Like I told in my last post the friendly Vangsgaard booksellers have had their lease cancelled beginning Jan.1.

Of course I had to be there and loaf around a bit while trying to get a chance to browse the still well stocked shelves among the other book addicts.

The price today is 5 Kr. (75 cents) and I would like to present some of my finds.

But firstly let’s again take a quick look at a few of my recent tweets (indexed with an asteriks, my comments with an arrow):

*Top Chinese Banker Warns Against Buying Property “Because There’s No More Money To Be Made”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-25/top-chinese-banker-warns-against-buying-property-because-theres-no-more-money-be

>Yes, sadly, our homes have increasingly become gambling objects.

*The speed of light is 299,792,458 metres per second and the geographic co-ordinates for the Great Pyramid are 29.9792458°N, Dailystar co uk reports
https://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/940347/Time-travel-speed-of-light-prof-aliens-built-pyramids-UFO

>I have no idea if this is accurate. If it is true it seems interesting.

*Tonite had clairvoyant vision of being burglarized in #NewYearsEve by Mozzard hitsquad. The plan being that hardly anyone will notice kicked-in door, muffled gunshot, general racket in cacophony of exploding #fireworks. Mozzards are real clever, do gods work and can walk on water!

>Yes, that’s right. I am in fact occasionally clairvoyant (mostly) while sleeping. And sadly the TPTB hates my guts, and not least for this very reason.

Hence it’s a priority for the TPTB to have me ‘eliminated’ which, hovever, – and perhaps mostly on account of my modest clairvoyance gift? – has proven itself an elusive task.

But a New Years Eve is ofcourse a wonderful chance to ‘get even’ with a rather annoying critic.

‘But this doesn’t happen in a democracy like our Danish one’ – you protest?

But you have to grow up, dear Danish fellow citizen. Dont be clueless and naive. I can assure you, that our SecretService/SecretPolice (‘P.E.T’) does what their sister agencies do everywhere in the world: They increasingly operate outside the law, not inside but outside the law!

It’s a given, really, because everywhere with no oversight shabby characters feel irresistibly attracted and congregate! It’s simply one of the laws of human society and (in)human character!

And yes, P.E.T IS NOW IS ALSO A SECRET POLICE! The former director of the (then) danish SecretService (P.E.T), the honourable Ole Stig Andersen warned strongly against this development in an essay in leading Copenhagen Daily Politiken from 17. December 2005! (link 1)

Now to the recent G.20 conference:

*In early a.m. of Wednesday Nov.28.2018 had vision of US-President donning his new, green Chinese generals uniform. The Uniform was however in Russian Style. Thats why I tweeted that same wednesday that Xi and US are going to embrace in #G20 and split up #Russia.
THE GUSSIAN GOLD (A Satire)

*(28.Nov.2018) In early a.m. there were rumours in the ether that US & Xi are going to embrace at G20. The split: US to have Europe to Urals, Xi to have Siberia to Urals and IL gets MiddleEast?

>The above two tweets seem to have made quite an impact. You can follow a bit of the resulting panic reaction here:

*Trump Cancels G-20 Meeting With Putin
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-29/trump-cancels-g-20-meeting-putin

*One Snub Too Many: Kremlin Sours On Trump As “Patience Coming To An End”
“We can do ‘give and take’ but not ‘give and give’.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-06/one-snub-too-many-kremlin-sours-trump-patience-coming-end

*Trump told Erdogan in the Dec. 14 call, “OK, it’s all yours. We are done.”
Turkey Says US Agreed To Vacate Syrian Kurdish Enclave As Ground Attack Imminent
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-25/turkey-says-us-agreed-vacate-syrian-kurdish-enclave-ground-attack-imminent

*(The Race to Obfuscate: Meng Wanzhou The Red Herring?)
What does NOT make sense is that the arrest happened on Saturday and markets did not find out about it until Wednesday night.
This is where what had to be a massive conspiracy of silence begins to raise some interesting questions.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-12/larry-lindsey-something-about-huawei-cfo-arrest-doesnt-make-sense

*And then? Come G20, ‘nothing’. Trump stalks the edges of G20 looking tense and defensive. He was no alpha-male, dominating these events. He looked crocked. It was all a bit of a dud, really
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-10/what-didnt-happen-g20-far-more-important-what-did

*The Presidents of two pre-eminent military and nuclear powers, who sit astride major geo-political faultlines, and who need to talk, circled each other, closed-faced, and without stretching out hands – they could not find even, the subterfuge for sitting together.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-10/what-didnt-happen-g20-far-more-important-what-did

*Jatras concludes, more in sorrow than in anger, “it would be only a small exaggeration to say that with respect to foreign and security policy, Trump is now a mere figurehead of the permanent state. Even if Trump and Putin do happen to meet again, what can the latter expect the former to say that would make any difference?”.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-10/what-didnt-happen-g20-far-more-important-what-did

>Also the former insider, gen. Wesley Clark, is obviously confused. He would be, ofcourse, because he haven’t had a chance to read my blog (unlike a few other top players); hence he simply don’t know the lay out:

*Ex-NATO Commander Wesley Clark To CNN: Did Erdogan Blackmail Trump?
“Was there a payoff or something? What was it? Why would a guy make a decision like this?”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-24/ex-nato-commander-wesley-clark-cnn-did-erdogan-blackmail-trump

Finally petty news from our homely Danish turf:

*Kineserne slås om dansk by: – Man kniber sig selv i armen
https://ekstrabladet.dk/nyheder/samfund/kineserne-slaas-om-dansk-by-man-kniber-sig-selv-i-armen/7450517

*Danmarks sjettestørste by er faktisk i så høj kurs, at to byer fra Shanghai-området kæmper om at få lov til at bygge en kopi af Randers Midtby.
Både statuen af Niels Ebbesen og Randers Rådhus skal bygges i Kina.
https://ekstrabladet.dk/nyheder/samfund/kineserne-slaas-om-dansk-by-man-kniber-sig-selv-i-armen/7450517

*Skal stå færdigt i 2020. Randers er kendt vidt og bredt for sit 250 år gamle rådhus, statuen af byens beskytter, Niels Ebbesen, og Randers Regnskov. Det er især de tre varemærker, som kineserne siden sidste sommer har haft et brændende ønske om at få i fuld størrelse til Kina.
https://ekstrabladet.dk/nyheder/samfund/kineserne-slaas-om-dansk-by-man-kniber-sig-selv-i-armen/7450517

*Dansker forandrede verdenskortet — men han er mere kendt i Rusland.
WEBDOK: Danske Vitus Bering er kendt af alle i Rusland. Han har fået et hav, et stræde og en ø opkaldt efter sig.
https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/webfeature/vitus

>The two danish heroes, Niels Ebbesen and Vitus Bering are most likely virtuelly unknown to any and all modern Danes? Even our 16-volume Biographical Dictionary insist the family relationship of Niels Ebbesen is absolutely unknown. Which may reasonably be stamped as carelessness or even, perhaps, utter incompetence, as it reasonably may be regarded to have been proved beyond reasonable doubt more than a century ago?

The article by Sigvard Mahler Dam is from Personalhistorisk Tidsskrift 1993:1.

But now back to the beginning – the final sale in the CoalMarket. Here are 8 titles – at 75 cents for each volume:

1. DE LA RECHERCHE DE LA VERITE. Par M.Malebranche. Paris, 1749. 4 vols. (complete). Somewhat shabby half-calf, inside almost like new.

This is obviously a lucky strike for anyone interested in french literature and thinking. Imagine – $3 for the set!

Of course the binding is definitely not pretty, but it’s nevertheless fully intact, just a bit shabby. But all volumes are real nice inside, making it a pleasure to use them.

2. HISTORY OF FRIEDRICH II OF PRUSSIA – Called Frederick the Great. By Thomas Carlyle. In six volumes. London without year (ca. 1870-1900?). Chapman-Hall, bound in sturdy dark-blue cloth (with occational cracks).

I’m looking forward to hopefully getting leisure to peruse Mr. Carlyle’s original history on 18. century Prussia (and France & etc.).

Major historical works can be quite boring if they are mere recitals of the accepted, politically correct views of their time.

But I’m sure Mr. Carlyle has his own views to propound and thank you very much for that. Of course I feel this is also almost a steal for the princely price total of $4,50!

3. DIE SPIELE DER GRIECHEN UND RÖMER. Von Dr. W.Richter. Leipzig, 1887, Seemann Verl. 219 p. Original cloth.

Some of the chapters:

1. Die Spiele der Kinder.
3. Sport und Jagd
5. Das Rätsel und andere gesellige Spiele
7. Die olympischen Spiele.
10. Römische Festspiele und ihr Charakter.

This seems to be not only a curious but also a uncommon little book. At least I have not yet found it for sale anywhere on the web.

4. DOSTOJEWSKI OG NIETZSCHE. Af Walter Schubart. København 1947. Det Danske Forlag. 110 p. Soft cover.

From the foreword I quote:

‘Hermed udsendes for første gang paa dansk en bog af W.S.

‘Mange danskere kender Walter Schubarts navn fra hans store europæisk berømte bog: Europa und die Seele des Ostens, som udkom i 1938 og siden er blevet drøftet i vide kredse.

‘I 1939 udkom Dostojewski og Nietzsche, og i 1940 Geistige Wandlung.

‘Walter Schubart er Tysk-Balter af fødsel, men Lettisk – og fra 1940 Sovjetrussisk – statsborger. Indtil 1941 var han professor i filosofi og sociologi ved statsuniversitetet i Riga. Fra 1941 findes ingen efterretninger om ham.

‘I talrige artikler i Baltiske og Polske, senere ogsaa i Østrigske og navnlig Svejtsiske tidsskrifter saavel som i sit hovedværk og den her foreliggende bog har Schubart beskæftiget sig med Russisk aands- og religionshistorie og med de Slaviske folks kultur.

‘I denne bog stilles østen og vesten over for hinanden i to af deres mest fremntrædende skikkelser, Dostojewski og Nietzsche. Schubarts forventninger er rettet mod øst.’
(Forordet af Johs. Novrup, oversættelsen af Palle Nielsen).

5. DIE HEILUNG DURCH DEN GEIST. Mesmer – Mary Baker-Eddy – Freud. Frankfurt/Main, 1985, Fischer Taschenbuch. 395 p. Paperback.

I don’t know Mary Baker-Eddy, but ofcourse I know the names of Mesmer (the man that mesmerizes you) and Freud (likewise?).

I’m looking forward to learn how this master author treats of the three pioneers.

6. GROWTH AND STRUCTURE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. By Otto Jespersen. 9.ed., Leipzig, 1938, Teubner. 244 p. Original cloth.

A well known work by the internationally renowned danish linguist.

From page 78 I quote:

‘If with regard to the Scandinavian invasion historical documents were so scarce that the linguistic evidence drawn from the number and character of the loan-words was a very important supplement to our historical knowledge of the circumstances, the same cannot be said of the Norman Conquest.

‘The Normans, much more than the Danes, were felt as an alien race; their occupation of the country attracted much more notice and lasted much longer; they became the ruling class and as such were much more spoken of in contemporary literature and in historical records than the comparatively obscure Scandinavian element; and finally, they represented a higher culture ((perhaps mr. Jespersen meant ‘civilization’?)) than the natives and had a literature of their own, in which numerous direct statements and indirect hints tell us about their doings and their relations with the native population.’ (Link 2)

7. DET LITTERÆRE LIV. ESSAYS. Af Anatole France. I udvalg og oversættelse ved Kristen D. Spanggaard. København, 1946, Athenæum. 160 p. Private half cloth.

Anatole France is, I believe, highly regarded by many francophiles. Personally I find his writing perhaps a little bit shallow?

Nevertheless his essays as presentet here (I already own a copy of this volume, though a poor specimen) are well worth consulting for the most part. Here are some of the chapters:

– Guy de Maupassant og de franske Novellister
– I anledning af Goncourt’ernes dagbog
– Balzac
– For Latinen
– Gustave Flaubert
– Bibliofili
– Forsvar for Plagiatet

8. PENNEHUG. Sarkastiske Citater. (CYNICAL QUOTATIONS). Af Jonathon Green. Dansk bearbejdelse ved Ejgil Søholm. VibyJ, 1997, Centrum, 364 p. Org. papirbind.

A few samples:

– Verden er idel forfængelighed i forskellige former (G.S.Halifax)

– Verden er et mægtigt tempel viet til splid. (Voltaire)

– Det eneste, der afholder Gud fra at sende endnu en syndflod, er, at den første var forgæves. (de Chamfort)

– Mennesker klamrer sig til deres herlige tyrannier og til deres udsøgte vås som en dranker til sin flaske og fortsætter med det, indtil døden stirrer dem i øjnene. (Sydney Smith)

– Tro alt, hvad du hører om verden – intet af det er for slemt. (Balzac)

– Samfundet er et hospital med uhelbredeligt syge. (Emerson)

– At alle mennesker skulle være brødre, er en drøm, som folk uden brødre har. (Charles Chincholles)

– Menneskeheden er en svinesti, hvor løgnere, hyklere og de modbydelige i ånden forsamles. (George Moore)

– Folk, som ingen fejl har, er forfærdelige – der er ingen måde, man kan udnytte dem på. (Anatole France; it seems I may perhaps be mistaken about A.F. – see above).

And lastly the always(?) witty Oscar Wilde:

– Det er kun overfladiske mennesker, der ikke dømmer efter det ydre.

That’s it for today. But today also has startet a new dutch book-sale in the HeiligGeist Church House in downtown Copenhagen. Today the price is 60 Kr ($9,-), but soon the price will be attractive enough for me to report a bit from there and the likewise friendly Forum booksellers.

Link 1.
http://blocnotesimma.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/dark-energy/ and

Ved hjælp af bedrag

Link 2.
La Chanson de Roland des Normands?

(28./30.December.2018/13.Okt.2019)

Crossposted on www.gamleboeger.dk and http://blocnotesimma.wordpress.com

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