Weltschmerz

By Eric Le Roy

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‘We have fallen in the dreams the ever living

Breathe on the tarnished mirror of the world

And then smooth out with ivory hands and sigh.”

(Yeats)

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My life at an advanced age vacillates between flashes of murderous rage and periods of unaccountable serenity. When I sense the futility of thinking that anything much is going to change during my ‘golden years’, I … Read the rest

Europe Today: Inept, Embarrassing, Pathetic

By Eric Le Roy

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   When I was a young lad long ago in the bland, faceless, smugly prosperous America of the 1950s, I had an itch to be somewhere else. As I heard the expression put first on the TV series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, I would indulge myself regularly in a game called “Anywhere but Here.” The Germans have a beautiful word for it: Wanderlust.

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But … Read the rest

Come To The Cabaret, Old Chum

By Eric Le Roy

Content 18+ The gray days turn now to early darkness – light-swallowing afternoons that have me leaving the apartment with my dogs when it is still daylight and returning 30 minutes later to sudden winds and the pitch black of precocious night. These afternoons end quicker than friendships when talking about places like Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Palestine. Believe me, I know.

In the morning, … Read the rest

Victory Day Among the Spoils

Content advisory 18+ Thinking to write about the up-and-coming “Victory Day” in Russia on 9 May (the whole world celebrates it today, 8th May – Artem), I decided to consult Artem regarding the wisdom of saying ANYTHING negative. And since I am not one to mince words whatever the subject, this was quite a concession for me to make.

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The reason for my indecisiveness stems from the enormous … Read the rest

The Language of Ghosts (for Vera)

Контент 18+ I read an essay years and years ago in a Norton Anthology which I no longer know how to put my fingers on (recalling neither author nor title), but it made a strong impression on me then, and I thought of it again this morning as I was walking in the woods with Casper and Poppendoshka.

It was the account of a man, at the time grown older, … Read the rest