Book review: The Real North Korea (Lankov)

In an attempt to learn more about a country and culture absolutely foreign to me, I read the book “The Real North Korea. Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia” by Andrei Lankov. I had been perusing the summaries of various books on North Korea that an online bookseller provided and finally settled on this book. I thought that someone who grew up in the USSR might add some insightful comparison between the two communist countries. And, indeed, I did learn a thing or two about the USSR as well. And even more about South Korea. I made the right choice.

The book is intelligibly written and, so far as I can tell, all information presented and conclusions drawn seem very plausible. The author gives a good introduction to how the North Korean state and its leadership came to be and the type of changes that have occurred in the country over the past decades (and there has been a profound change in the economic sector). He does show how the North Korean elite has managed to manoeuvre itself into a position where it can exert pressure on the governments of other countries. I also liked that Lankov not only focusses on the purely political level but tries to draw attention to the common people as well. He explains how the lives of North and South Koreans have developed over the course of time and how this will most likely influence the future of the two states.

I cannot say that I enjoyed reading the book – that would purely be the wrong word in this context as the book left me rather depressed. Whatever happens to the North Korean state in the future, the outlook for the normal people is absolutely bleak. And that seems to be the description of the most positive outcome. Still, I feel that the author provided me with a good overview of the whole situation and that I now have a better understanding of how the North Korean state functions.

Book review: Historia von D. Johann Fausten (Spies)

My quest for reading more older literature led me to pick up the “Historia von D. Johann Fausten” (History of Dr Johann Fausten). The book was originally published in 1587 by Johann Spies who wrote that in it he had compiled various stories that were told about Faust at the time. This book was the source that the playwrights Marlowe and Goethe drew on for their works.

To put it in a nutshell: the book has its ups and downs. It starts with a very short description of the origins and education of Faust, followed by the pact with the devil and several chapters in which Faust tries to elicit the nature of the cosmos from his demonic servant Mephistopholes. This philosophical account makes up around one-third of the book. Then the narrative changes drastically. It turns into something resembling a picaresque novel, with an aggregation of chapters telling of tricks Faust plays on various people (e.g. he has the cart of a peasant vanish because Faust is annoyed by the behaviour of the peasant, or he has Mephistopholes fetch wine from some sovereign for his own dinner table). The last few chapters then turn to show a very desperate Faust who knows that his life is about to end and who laments his foolish decision that condemned his soul to hell. Well, it is not that he had not been warned throughout the book. But for some reason – that I did not really get – Faust refuses to repent and turn back to God. End of story.

So, all in all, it is not that I hated this book – but am I glad that storytelling has changed over the past couple of centuries. Only recommend for people who have a disposition to reading and pondering the deeper meaning of 16th century literature.

I would also like to add a note regarding the German of this book: it is suitable only for persons on a (near) native level with knowledge of antiquated terms! (Sentences are complicated; some vocabulary has undergone a drastic change of meaning; some verbs are conjugated differently from modern German.)

Da ich manchmal das Gefühl habe, ich hätte im Bereich der sogenannten Klassiker ein Defizit, habe ich mich für das Lesen der “Historia von D. Johann Fausten” entschieden. Das Buch wurde ursprünglich 1587 von Johann Spies veröffentlicht. Es handelt sich dabei, laut Spies, um eine Sammlung verschiedener Erzählungen, die zu jener Zeit über Faust in Umlauf waren. Das Buch war auch die Quelle, die Marlowe und Goethe für ihre Bühnenstücke nutzten.

Um es kurz zu machen: das Buch hat eindeutig seine Höhen und Tiefen. Es beginnt mit einer sehr kurzen Beschreibung der Herkunft und Ausbildung von Faust. Dann kommt der Pakt mit dem Teufel und es folgen mehrere Kapitel, in denen Faust seinen teuflischen Diener Mephistopholes über die Beschaffenheit der Welt und des Kosmos befragt. Dieser sehr philosophische Diskurs macht etwa ein Drittel des Buches aus. Danach ändert sich die Erzählung drastisch und erinnert mehr an einen Schelmenroman. Es handelt sich bei den Kapiteln um eine recht lose Aneinanderreihung von Berichten über Streiche, die Faust anderen Leuten spielt (z.B. lässt er den Karren eines Bauern verschwinden, weil Faust von dem Bauern genervt ist, oder er lässt Mephistopholes Wein bei einem Fürsten für seine eigene Tafel stehlen). Die letzten Kapitel des Buches zeigen dann einen sehr verzweifelten Faust, der weiß, dass seine Zeit um ist, und der bitterlich darüber klagt, was für eine dumme Entscheidung es war, seine Seele auf ewig zu verdammen. Nicht dass er nicht während des Buches mehrfach gewarnt worden wäre. Aber aus irgendeinem Grund, der sich mir zugegebenermaßen nicht wirklich erschlossen hat, lehnt Faust es bis zum Ende ab, Reue zu empfinden und sich wieder Gott zuzuwenden. Ende der Geschichte.

Fazit: Es ist nicht so, dass ich das Buch gehasst hätte – aber ich bin doch froh, dass sich die Kunst des Geschichtenerzählens schon ein wenig über die letzten Jahrhunderte geändert hat. Nur empfohlen für Personen, die sich gerne mit Literatur des 16. Jahrhunderts auseinandersetzen mögen.

Hier auch noch eine Anmerkung zum Deutsch des Buches: es ist nur geeignet für Personen auf (fast) Muttersprachniveau mit Vorwissen zu veralteten Ausdrücken! (Teils verschachtelte Sätze; einiges Vokabular, dessen Bedeutung sich verändert hat; Verben werden teils anders konjugiert als im modernen Deutsch.)

Drama at the insect hotel

The number of solitary wasps around my insect hotel today has increased to at least four. And my pessimism regarding the fate of the solitary bees, which I did voice yesterday, seems to have been justified. Although, apparently, the next generation of solitary bees will not be what the larvae of the solitary wasps will feast upon. Rather, the holes in the mud covers of the tubes seem to have been more of an eviction note. I saw that one of the wasps was busy around one of these smaller holes today. She crawled in, head forward, then, a short moment later, crawled out again backwards, grasping something in her mandibles and with her front legs. She flew away to the side, then came back empty-handed (empty-legged?) and went in again. Initially I thought that maybe it had been some piece of dried-up mud that she was clearing out of the cavity. But the next bit she took out she let fall more or less straight down in front of the insect hotel. It was not a piece of mud. It was a larvae, black and white and still wriggling slowly. There were more to follow…

As I said, shame about the solitary bees. But that is nature. Still, the wasps have one disadvantage in my eyes: they are not as fluffy as the bees and look way less cuddly.

But there was even more drama going on. While observing the one solitary wasp busy cleaning, I saw a second one hovering in front of some of the as yet unoccupied openings. She was cruising up and down, left and right, inspecting some parts with her antennae and making attempts at landing. While doing so, she must have touched some kind of trigger because out of a nook some black tentacles started unfolding, slowly advancing, ready to grab whatever should come into their reach. I could not make out how big the spider actually was because it kept its body hidden. But the real drama at this point was that the wasp started showing interest for a cavity some distance away from the spider, so the spider might actually go hungry for quite a while longer. What an inconsiderate wasp.

I am worried

I am worried about the solitary bees in the insect hotel on my balcony. Last year, shortly after I had hung it up, several cavities had been used by some Osmia cornuta and probably one other species of solitary bee for laying their eggs. They had sealed the openings neatly with a clot of mud. I had assumed that I would naturally see more bees and more traffic this year but either I missed the bee’s hatching – or something worse has happened.

As it happens, some of the mud seals recently did show signs of having been opened. But the mud had only been partially removed, too small for a solitary bee to fit through. At least that is what I assume. However, a couple of days ago, I noticed a solitary wasp (some sort of potter wasp or Eumeninae) flying around the insect hotel. Then, today, I saw the solitary wasp crawl into one of the holes. It fit through nicely. Solitary wasps have their offspring feed on other insects and spiders. *sigh* Shame about the solitary bees.

I’m an idiot

“There is always going to be someone idiotic enough to turn up for a ride even in weather like this,” was what my bike dealer said when I popped into the shop on Wednesday afternoon. It was pouring down with rain and the forecast for the evening, in time for the weekly group ride, was not looking any better. “Well, let’s see… we are going to ride together, by the way, no splitting into groups today… ah, the internet says there’ll be less rain to the north-east. North-east it is then, on a relatively flat route.” To which my only reply was: “So, what you’re saying is that you have just convinced me to get on my bike and ride tonight?” The answer was a shrug, followed by: “Don’t forget your overshoes. And better put on that rain jacket that you have.”

Yes, the rain jacket. I have bought a new one to be worn on my road bike. I have to admit it has a rather tight fit. But I was told that that is the way your clothes should be on a road bike. It has to do with being more aerodynamic and stuff. The label of the jacket actually said something like “breathable” and “atmungsaktiv”. And when the zip is closed I am able to breathe. A shallow breath once every hour or so. This whole “active breathing” thing is a bit of an overstatement, I have to admit. But the advertising people have to put something on the label, don’t they? Still, why did I buy it? One, the other rain jacket I have definitely is far too big by now and would only flap around wildly (and I doubt it would adequately cover my lower back on the road bike). Two, this new one was a bargain (at least in comparison). And the selling argument my bike dealer offered: “But didn’t you say you wanted to lose some more weight anyway?” To which I answered with some disgruntled mumbling but, in the end, I had to concur. And yes, the jacket already fits better than the first time I tried it on some weeks ago (although I wished I would be losing more weight faster at present). At the same time, I am also working hard on improving my apnoea skills…

When I stepped out of the house with my road bike, clad in said rain jacket, short rain trousers, and overshoes, it was still raining. Heavily. And when I rolled up at our meeting point a couple of minutes later, I was greeted by a cheerful: “Told you that there are always some idiots ready to ride, no matter what!” There you have it – I am now officially an idiot. But I was not the only one, we were a total of four.

So we set out in the rain and I began to notice that subconsciously I was starting to act out my safety routine again. I kept my distance to the other three and felt apprehensive to go at a higher speed. It is one thing to tell yourself at home that your riding skills will only benefit from a ride in unfavourable weather conditions, and another to actually be out on the road. My bike dealer tried to install more confidence in me by telling me that my wheels should still have around 80% of the grip that they have in dry conditions as well as by giving me tips on how to break in the wet. And I tried to tell myself that I needed to be more confident or else I would eventually risk an accident just by feeling insecure.

I sensed that I was starting to mentally tire myself by mulling over this and after around 10 km, while stopping at a traffic light, I said that I was thinking about turning back. Which was met by a plain: “No.” Beg your pardon? Well, according to the others there was no need for me to cut the ride short as it was starting to clear up and I was promised they would reduce their speed somewhat so it would be easier for me to keep up. At the same time my bike dealer also publicly revoked my status as a novice rider. (Thanks for the compliment.)

And indeed the weather did clear up shortly thereafter. For about half an hour. And when the rain picked up again (more forcefully than before), we were too far gone on our way for me to think about quitting again. I accepted my fate and trudged on even as the water was washing over the pavement in ripples. Oh, that sounds more downbeat than it should. Actually, I am glad that I pulled through for the whole two and a half hours – even though I felt mentally drained by the end, I also felt elated because I was braving the elements. I overcame some of my anxiety and I feel that my cycling skills have indeed improved (for example, I was cycling much closer to the others later on, without feeling outright alarmed). However, I am not too eager to ride in conditions like that every day.