Author Archives: Steven Sklyarevskiy

In the stars…

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Destiny is the notion that certain parts of our lives are predetermined and no matter how much we will it to be different, it will not change. Greek culture and literature puts a large deal of importance on the idea of destiny. Sophocles’ tragedies of Oedipus Rex and Antigone are perfect examples of characters that fight the uphill battle against their destinies. In Oedipus Rex, a shaman foresees that Oedipus will kill his father and have sex with his mother. Out of fear that this will come true, Oedipus’ parents exile him and due to this he runs into them later on in life as a stranger and fulfills the prophecy. Oedipus’ parents attempted to change their fate and the fate of their son but in doing so put in motion events that led to their destiny unfolding.

In Antigone, two brothers named Eteocles and Polyneices fight for the throne and both die in the process. Creon, ruler of Thebes, orders Eteocles to be buried and Polyneices to be left to rot. Polyneices’ sister, Antigone, defies Creon’s orders and buries Polyneices. Creon buries Anigone alive in a cave but his son Haemon begs him not to. The prophet Tiresias comes and says that if Creon doesn’t release Antigone, he will lose a son. While Creon decides what he should do he finds out that Antigone, Haemon, and his wife Eurydice have killed themselves.

The idea of fate in a tragedy is to tell the reader what horrible thing is going to happen at the end of the story. The importance of this is to see how the characters use this knowledge and in most cases the characters misuse it or panic. Certain things are written and certain things can be changed by will but the tragedy of man is that he does not want to accept that certain things are out of his control.

Blurring the Line Between Food and Talk

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In her New York Times article, Daytime’s Talking Heads Are Now Eating Too, Alessandra Stanley reviews the new daytime talk-show “The Chew.” It is a new food related talk-show that premiered on ABC. The show features world renowned chef Mario Batalli, vegetarian author Daphne Oz, Top Chef winner Carla Hall, Food Network Star winner Michael Symon, and co-host of What Not To Wear Clinton Kelly. The show’s interesting dynamic comes from the unique personalities of the hosts and the styles that they bring to the show. The Chew takes its name from the wildly popular talk-show The View to show viewers that it will be just as upbeat and lively but on the topic of food. During the show one of the hosts will prepare a dish and discuss it with the others. This brings a much needed and refreshing change to the static shows where the chef talks to the camera.

Stanley does a great job reviewing the show. She discusses the premise of the show and gives descriptions of all of the hosts. She also brings in other shows to give examples of what to expect. She adds quotes from the host’s playful banter to give the reader a sense of what the mood of the show is like. At some times her examples may stray a little too far away from the topic but it doesn’t take away from the rest of the article. I found her review nicely written and interesting and I might just tune in to The Chew one of these days.

Interview with my Grandmother

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“You are so lucky to live in a part of the world where your ethnicity does not weigh you down.” It is hard for me to wrap my mind around the idea that in certain parts of the world uncontrollable factors such as race, religion, and gender lock you into a caste.

My grandmother is Jewish and lived in the Soviet Union for most of her life until she moved to the United States in 1992 with my grandfather. When she was growing up she was always at the top of her class, getting a 5 (maximum grade) on every assignment in every class. She took her studies very seriously and thoroughly prepared for every exam. She had to know more than what was expected ofher because she needed her work to be flawless. If there were any flaws they were exploited by the teachers and massive amounts of points were taken off. “There were some teachers that were basically waiting for me and the other Jewish kids to slip up so that they could give us the worst possible marks and they could tell which ones of us were Jewish just by glancing at our names on the attendance sheet,” she said.

“Oral exams were blatantly unfair. The professor would walk around the room and call you by your last name. You would stand up and they would ask you a question, if you got it right they would give you credit and tell you to sit down. When I stood up my professor would ask me questions that were levels above our curriculum. I would answer correctly and he would continue to ask incredibly difficult questions until he was satisfied.” Against all odds my grandmother stayed at the top of her class and was given the “Gold Medal” which is scholarship given to top students.

After leaving college, my grandmother looked for a job but was turned away from most places due to her ethnicity. “Our kind were not accepted and there was nothing you could do about it because the government was on theirside,” she said. My grandmother and my grandfather moved to a man-made island called Rusanovka where my grandmother got a job as an architect. “There was still racism there, there was racism everywhere,but there were enough Jewish communities there that you could find a suitable job.”

“I could have accomplished so much moreif I wasn’t held back but I’m happy with how my life turned out. My only wish now is for you to utilize the gifts that living in America has given you and achieve everything you want in life.”

Cultural Passport Choices

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I’ve been told by quite a few friends that I would greatly enjoy “Avenue Q” a crude and hilarious broadway show performed with puppets. I love to get a good laugh and this show seems like something I’d love to see. The show was supposed to close but will actually be moving from Broadway to an Off-Broadway theater.

I would also like to visit the Museum of Modern Art (aka the MoMA). I have lived in New York my entire life and it shames me to say that I’ve never gone. I’ve seem photographs of the exhibits but I really want to go see them for myself. They have added an exhibit called “An Auteurist History of Film” and hopefully I can find time to go sometime soon.

Music to my Ears

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In his review, New York Exhales With Mahler’s ‘Resurrection,’ Symphonic Salve, Anthony Tommasini describes the New York Philharmonic’s 9/11 memorial concert. Before he begins to talk about the music he gives the reader a back-story to the performance. This gives the reader a less formal relationship with the author and allows for a friendlier and more relaxed read. There is a part where Tommasini uses musical jargon such as “sonatta-allegro movement” and “quiet tremolos” and while this serves as proof of his knowledge of music and easily understood by a true connoisseur, it was hard to follow. Thankfully most of the article is not in “music-speak” and conveys his passion and understanding of the concert to everyone reading the article and not just to the musically competent. Tommasini’s use of words like frenzy, lustrous, ferociously, and cataclysmic give the reader an understanding of the depth and gravity of the emotions he felt listening to the concert. His review is positive but he is not afraid to point out a few shortcomings in the end. Overall, Tommasini seems like someone who lives and breathes music so his opinions on it are not only interesting but also informative and trustworthy.

The author of Capturing a Yearning Fit for a Prince, Vivien Schweitzer, takes a different approach in reviewing “Music for a Rash Prince — Favorite Composers From the Court of Charles the Bold in Medieval Burgundy” at Bargemusic. Her article is significantly shorter than Tommasini’s and severely lacking in flair or personality. Schweitzer talks about four pieces from the concert each with a one-sentence description of the music and a related factoid about the composers. All in all, it is difficult to even broach the subject of whether or not Schweitzer instills a sense of trust because she doesn’t say much at all. Her review was slightly informative but very dry and boring.

Remembrance

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Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, Namesake, are similar in their ability to evoke remembrance within a reader but the way in which they do it is quite different. Foer relies on tangible objects and events to remind the reader of similar situations. Lahiri, on the other hand, incorporates the idea of roots and origins into Namesake. These themes help illuminate the past and, consequently, the future for the main characters in both novels.

In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Oskar clings to objects to remember his father and his journey. Oskar’s obsession with the key he found in his father’s vase drives him to explore, by himself or accompanied by old Mr. Black, the urban jungle that is New York City. As Oskar continues his journey he catalogs his memories in photographs that he adds to his scrapbook. This scrapbook serves as his link to the adventures he had and the people he met. The idea of physical remembrance is not only expressed through Oskar but by a few other characters as well. Mr. Black’s apartment is a collection of his travels and adventures with the most important piece being his catalog of names with one-word descriptions. Oskar’s grandfather remembers his pain for the loss of his first true love with his “yes” and “no” tattoos and by marrying Oskar’s grandmother because of the physical similarities she shares with her sister (the first true love). These tokens of the past are the character’s want to hold on to something lost whether it be youth, love, adventures, or even a father.

In Namesake, a major theme arises that centers on the idea of a person’s cultural roots: their family, their culture, and their home country. Gogol is mentally torn between India, the country where his family is from and the heritage they attempt to raise him with, and the United States, where he was born and raised. He feels different and chooses his girlfriend and her American family over his own, Indian family. He eventually realizes that he must embrace both the Indian and American aspect of himself, which sends the message of self-understanding. Gogol is also ashamed of his name once he learns that he was named after Nicolai Gogal, a well-known Russian poet who lost his mind. Remembrance does not always have to be a memory, but can also be a reawakening through understanding who you are and where you came from.

Both Jhuma Lahiri and Jonathan Safran Foer evoke remembrance within the reader but in two different ways. Foer writes about loss and sadness, which everyone can relate to in a specific way. In this sense he is bringing up specific memories with general circumstances in the book. Lahiri evokes remembrance through self-understanding and tracing one’s roots and heritage to different countries and cultures. Although they use different themes, Foer and Lahiri both emphasize the affects that the past can have on a person and their actions in the present.

I Remember

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Reading Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was not just a school assignment because of the memories it helped evoke some pleasant memories. I was touched by how the old Mr. Black loved Oskar like a grandson even though they weren’t related. It wasn’t because I was surprised that he put in the effort, it’s not that hard to love someone even if you’re not related to them, it was because I had a similar experience. I have always had my grandparents from my mother’s side of the family and I love them dearly. My father’s side of the family is a bit trickier. His mother, my grandmother, was married and had two kids. Her husband, like all Russian men, had to go and fight in the war and sadly died on the battlefield. My grandmother remarried and my father was born. There was a lot of turmoil within the family because even though my grandmother’s new husband treated my dad like a child, he did not treat the children from the first marriage with the same love. Due to this my grandmother divorced him and he lived in Israel until he died a few years ago. I had never spoken to him nor did he send me a postcard or call on my birthdays. Perhaps he was distancing himself like Oskar’s grandfather but to be completely honest, I don’t care. Throughout my childhood I had another grandfather. Although our bloodlines were different, we loved each other like family. His name was Feydor, but everyone just called him Fedya. He was my grandmother’s neighbor and they spent every waking moment of every day together. I would stay with my grandmother and the tree of us would walk around Brooklyn together, go to the parks, and buy a large container of lemon sorbet to eat later on. Fedya didn’t have to do all of those things; he didn’t have to love me but he did. I don’t forgive my biological grandfather for what he did but I am truly thankful that Fedya filled the void that he left.

Howdy to you too

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Hello everybody, my name is Steven Sklyarevskiy and I was born and raised in NewYork. I spent my early years growing up in Brooklyn and then moved to Staten Island. I always hesitate before I tell someone I’m from Staten Island because I have noticed that people seem to have certain preconceived notions regarding it (thank you Jersey Shore). The island is mainly comprised of Italians and Russians, myself being the latter I might add, and it’s a strange place to say the least. I’ve always thought of Staten Island as its own microcosm; anytime you step out of your house you are more than likely to see someone you know, one train and a few buses connect the entire island, and it is covered with forests that although have more than their fair share of garbage can almost be described as serene. There are very few things to do when you want to hang out with your friends so Manhattan is frequented often. Going to school in the city is strange because even though I’ve been to Manhattan plenty, being a part of a gigantic beehive is much different than just soliciting it for its honey every once in a while. I walk down the streets bright-eyed like a tourist and take it all in every single day. I don’t know if eventually I’ll end up walking around, headphones in my ears, hands in my pockets, and staring at my shoes like the majority of commuting New Yorkers but I hope that through this class I’ll be able to keep that spark going as long as possible.