(excerpts from an interview on russian public radio)
tell us a little bit about your sea passage over here-
(pause)
uh...can I start it out with a quote?
sure.
ok then... thanks... not exactly sure how this applies... but oh well... in any case... one of my favorites... I think I've got this right... let's see... been a little while, you realize...
take your time, sir...
ok... but what if the so-called journey... circles back around... and absorbs us?
(pause)
what do you mean, sir?
do the stars... the sea bottom... the foam, the waves, the crustaceans... exist at all, I ask myself sometimes, in the night, in the dark... apart, that is, from your or my experience of them?
(long pause)
your or my experience of the people and inventions around us?
(long pause)
are you really looking for this kind of information on your radio program?
whatever you think applies to your sea passage is relevant.
(pause)
ok then... let me see here... it took about 25 days... had a contact over here... they needed a caretaker of sorts... were gonna be leaving the area for awhile and wanted someone to look after the property... they hired me... I accepted... I packed my bags and was off...
it happened that fast?
pretty freakin' fast, yeah...
what did you pack?
uh... let's see here... an extra set of clothes, a few books and notebooks, a few photographs, and an ipod stuffed with music and lectures.
ok then... care to give our listeners a few of the titles?
a little later, perhaps...
(pause)
why later?
I don't think it's relevant now.
(pause)
what would make it relevant later?
context.
and who's going to come up with that?
I don't know... you're the person in charge here.
not really.
oh... I guess I misunderstood.
(pause)
yeah, I think you seriously misunderstood.
(pause)
ok, then... if you absolutely insist... lao tzu... shakespeare... robert burton... montaigne... kafka... beckett... cervantes... joyce... foster wallace... barthelme... neitzsche... derrida... foucault... blanchot... bernhard... a few others...
(pause)
sounds like a fairly typical listing...
oh, sure... typical in every sense of the term.
maybe not as topical as some in our listening audience might wish...
I don't blame them...
(pause)
but I'm sensing you don't blame yourself either...
that's true to an extent...
(pause)
care to sketch out the parameters?
(pause)
a little later, perhaps...
why later?
same reason that I gave you before...
that was ages ago, sir... remind our listening audience...
(pause)
lack of context.
well, sir... c'mon! that's what we're trying to establish right now!
yeah, I get that.
you sure?
of course not.
something to do with the language barrier, probably?
(pause)
that's a factor, of course... but no, it's much more... fundamental than that...
(pause)
take for example your authors... many of them have been translations of translations of translations... some of them even extending out into a fourth generation...
more than that, in some cases...
that doesn't seem "fundamental?"
not really.
waking up in the morning?
waking up in the dead of the night?
why would you tell us that, sir? have you no sense of decorum?
not really.
(pause)
well... I suppose that's what makes you one of those classic "postmodern" types...
there's a chance...
always a chance...
no matter how slim or desperate...
but that's why you came to this country, right?
(pause)
in a manner of speaking.
just wanted some time alone with your books, right?
not really.
oh... I guess I misunderstood... once again.
that's ok... we can fix it...
you think we have enough time?
it's your program...
(pause)
not really... could you possibly come back tomorrow?
(pause)
not sure... it took quite a bit of time and trouble to get here...
we could put you up in a hotel... all expenses covered by us...
(pause)
and what exactly would we do tomorrow?
the same thing we're doing right now.
(pause)
endless misunderstandings, you mean?
yes... and their attempted repair...
(pause)
I don't know... I still don't think there's near enough context to make the effort worthwhile...
well that's what we're doing here, sir... this very moment...
(pause)
there's a hotel fairly nearby?
practically next door, sir...
(pause)
what if I stayed for a week, and we met maybe 3 or 4 more times altogether?
(pause)
that would be fantastic, sir.
ok, then. I guess we have a rough plan.
we do indeed, sir.
(long pause)
where were we?
you had just listed some authors.
oh, right... I'm remembering...
you wanted to start with a quote...
(pause)
