Elene isn't adorable 24/7, we have three grandchildren but Elene is the one who always wants to be in the videos... in the schools Georgian children learn a lot of texts by heart.
Sir, this is so valuable for us who are interested in Georgian culture! There’s no other way I could have gotten this knowledge. Thanks so much for this video...
I'm so glad you liked Nodar Dumbadze. He's the funniest writer I have ever read, but also very kind to his characters. He humanizes even the worst people in თეთრი ბაირაღები (it's about the prisoners locked in a cell). I would recommend reading Dog or Helados, they are both short stories and easy to read (included in the school program for about 6th graders). if you like humorous works სამანიშვილის დედინაცვალი (it's a satire) is an amazing look into west Georgian culture with a captivating storyline. it's just as funny as dumbadzes work but the author is not as foriving as Dumbadze. ტრაგედია უგმიროთ (tragedy without a hero) heartbreaking short story. really don't want to spoil anything, it's about a poor family. One of the best Georgia can offer is იგი (it) by Jemal karchkhadze. it's about stone age people and the change that comes with thinking. also a short story. If you get your hands on translations I would recommend Guram Dochanashvili სამოსელი პირველი, but It's hard to read and very big so it would be better if you read კაცი, რომელსაც ლიტერატურა ძლიერ უყვარდა first it's much smaller but very interesting (basically an interview with a man who loves literature very much). and maybe then move on to სამოსელი პირველი. Aka morchiladze had many of his work adapted into movies or theatres (he mostly writes about modern Georgian realities) I would recommend some of his work if you enjoy that kind of story. from the newest ones I enjoyed ამ რომანში ყველა კვდება, I think it has translations. it's very different from the ones I have talked about above, but it's fun to read (very different from typical Georgian literature). I would start with short stories, but სამანიშვილის დედინაცვალი (Samanishvilis Stepmother) is a must. It's really great. language, story the culture. I myself am from west Georgia and the theatrical lifestyle of those regions are very well depicted. it's hard to understand culturally, but I think language is going to be easier. he actually had to relearn georgian, so it should be easier even with the dialect. many writings that I have talked about you can find in Georgian on here for free www.allgeo.org/index.php/ka/ hope you like them and best of luck
Thank you დიდ მადლობაfor all the recommendations. Dumbadze is so far the only Georgian writer I have enjoyed in translation. I notice you are called Ilarion like one of his characters. I don't know how long it will take me to reach a level to read even the simplest books in Georgian. I bought a biography of Nodar Dumbadze today, it is one of a series of biographies of great Georgians (დიდი ქართველები) intended for children, I intend to read it with the aid of Google Translate.
Loved hearing the poetry read in Georgian. The English doesn't sound like it has the same rhythm. I should get more familiar with Georgian literature. Very informative, thank you!😊
If you want genuinely good georgian literature, best look to the selection for the national exams. Some of them are: The right hand of the grandmaster The strife/torture of shushanik Jaqos dispossesed (debatable) Aluda qetelauri Gamzrdeli by akaki tsereteli (the one I had to write about) The travelers letters by ilia chavchavadze Otaraant widow/otaraant qvrivi Most of them are about social issues and were a chore to get through in my 1 year as an "abiturient" but there's no denying that it was a wild and pleasant ride.
Thanks. Poetry in translation loses so much because it isn't just the meaning of the words which is important but their sound. The word butterfly in English, for example, is papillon in French, Schmetterling in German, borboleta in Portuguese, farfalla in Italian and pepela in Georgian, all sounding quite different.
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff Yes, I see what you mean. I have a box of Barilla pasta in a kind of butterfly shape, called Farfalle. May I ask you, do you write poetry or fiction?
Very helpful, Jim. Donald Rayfield's survey of Georgian literature is the authoritative guide but still relatively little has been translated, so far as I know (which obviously isn't far).
Great list! I have a copy of The Pear Field that I haven't gotten to yet, and I downloaded a PDF of Granny, Iliko, Ilarion and I. It looks like it'll be a riot.
Dumbadze is my favorite of the Georgian writers I have read so far (all in translation). The Pear Field is dark and short, we read it for a local reading club in Tbilisi, members read versions in English, Georgian and German. There was a lot edited out from the English version, apparently.
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff Oh no, that's really disappointing to hear. Do you recall the reason why? The copy I have is from Peirene Press, so I'm wondering if it's a general abridgement because their "thing" is a 2 hour reading experience, or if it was more content-based editing.
@@KetevanReads I don't know the reason, maybe it is Peirene's press length constraints. I read the English version and the story I felt was okay (I gave it three stars). Some of the scenes would work well cinematically (the kids raiding the cherry tree and the drama at the airport).
I'm glad you liked it. The Georgian kids have to learn a lot of things by heart in school, some of it is good like the poems but a lot of it is banal and they forget t the following week.
Very interesting! Georgian - and Kartvelian languages in general - always strike me as being intimidating to even entertain the idea of learning, never mind actually trying!
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff Heh, crazy linguists sounds about right. When I was at university, the Honours-track Linguistics degree involved being randomly assigned a non-Indo-European language at the beginning of fourth year. We all hoped and prayed that we wouldn't be assigned a language like Georgian! 🤣 I was massively lucky and scored Swahili. 😎
"Wing whirls", very musical in Georgian. I loved it. I'm sorry to not know Elvish type languages... and Latin suffices. By the way, you are becoming a master in producing videos. 11 years already?! The time I spent in UK :-)
Thank you for this video, these sound interesting :) The Georgian alphabet also looks beautiful, it reminds me a little bit to the Malayalam alphabet in India, although they probably they have nothing to do...
The Georgian alphabet is unique, only shared by other Kartvelian languages, although the order is a bit like in Greek: alpha, beta, gamma etc... ა,ბ,გ ... Neighboring Armenia also has a unique alphabet but there's looks more like parts of a plumbing manual....
Wonderful! I appreciate your struggles with the language. I speak Polish (the most inflected language I know) I don't know in which part of the language tree Georgian resides, but if it's like Polish it is precisely nowhere near English. I wandered over to your link about living in Georgia. Extremely interesting, do keep these cultural videos coming, I do do enjoy hearing about other cultures 😀👍
djinkuje, Georgian isn't even on the European language tree. I hear Polish is difficult but it is connected to other Slavic languages like Russian and Czech. Georgian is a Kartvelian language the only other members of the family are smaller languages in the region like Svan and Laz. There are loanwords form Turkish and Persian but that doesn't help me as I don't know those languages.
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff my goodness! That is complicated, for me very interesting. I think I might listen to some Georgian on UA-cam. Thank you very much for the information.👍😀👍
Garmajoba and madloba. I would like to read more Georgian literature, but there isn't a lot available in English and my progress in Georgian is slow....
Also, I recommend Mikheil Javakshishvili, one of the greatest Georgian writers of all time imho, I think almost all of his writings are available in English.
Some writings of Konstantine Gamsakhurdia (another great Georgian writer, almost on par with Mikheill) are also available in English, even online if you search throughly.
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff You're welcome, also, if e-books are your thing (personally i can't read them), you can download Saba Reader from playstore/appstore, monthly subscribtion is really cheap and you get unlimited access to e-books, they had Otar Chiladze in English last time i checked. if they had Chiladze they must have other stuff too.
I visited Georgia as a tourist in 2008 and met Khatuna, we got on well and I returned in 2009 and we got married. I work as an English teacher and native speaking English teachers can find work easily in Tbilisi, so I moved here. I made a video about what I like and dislike about living in Georgia, but overall I am very happy here.
Wonderful video! Thanks for this little window into some Georgian literature.
And your granddaughter is adorable!! :) :)
You are most welcome. I am glad you enjoyed it.
Elene isn't adorable 24/7, we have three grandchildren but Elene is the one who always wants to be in the videos... in the schools Georgian children learn a lot of texts by heart.
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff My 3-year old isn't adorable 24/7 either, hahahaha!
Sir, this is so valuable for us who are interested in Georgian culture! There’s no other way I could have gotten this knowledge. Thanks so much for this video...
You are most welcome, I am still discovering Georgian Literature, so much has not been translated into English.
I'm so glad you liked Nodar Dumbadze. He's the funniest writer I have ever read, but also very kind to his characters. He humanizes even the worst people in თეთრი ბაირაღები (it's about the prisoners locked in a cell). I would recommend reading Dog or Helados, they are both short stories and easy to read (included in the school program for about 6th graders).
if you like humorous works სამანიშვილის დედინაცვალი (it's a satire) is an amazing look into west Georgian culture with a captivating storyline. it's just as funny as dumbadzes work but the author is not as foriving as Dumbadze.
ტრაგედია უგმიროთ (tragedy without a hero) heartbreaking short story. really don't want to spoil anything, it's about a poor family.
One of the best Georgia can offer is იგი (it) by Jemal karchkhadze. it's about stone age people and the change that comes with thinking. also a short story. If you get your hands on translations I would recommend Guram Dochanashvili სამოსელი პირველი, but It's hard to read and very big so it would be better if you read კაცი, რომელსაც ლიტერატურა ძლიერ უყვარდა first it's much smaller but very interesting (basically an interview with a man who loves literature very much). and maybe then move on to სამოსელი პირველი.
Aka morchiladze had many of his work adapted into movies or theatres (he mostly writes about modern Georgian realities) I would recommend some of his work if you enjoy that kind of story.
from the newest ones I enjoyed ამ რომანში ყველა კვდება, I think it has translations. it's very different from the ones I have talked about above, but it's fun to read (very different from typical Georgian literature).
I would start with short stories, but სამანიშვილის დედინაცვალი (Samanishvilis Stepmother) is a must. It's really great. language, story the culture. I myself am from west Georgia and the theatrical lifestyle of those regions are very well depicted. it's hard to understand culturally, but I think language is going to be easier. he actually had to relearn georgian, so it should be easier even with the dialect.
many writings that I have talked about you can find in Georgian on here for free www.allgeo.org/index.php/ka/
hope you like them and best of luck
Thank you დიდ მადლობაfor all the recommendations. Dumbadze is so far the only Georgian writer I have enjoyed in translation. I notice you are called Ilarion like one of his characters. I don't know how long it will take me to reach a level to read even the simplest books in Georgian. I bought a biography of Nodar Dumbadze today, it is one of a series of biographies of great Georgians (დიდი ქართველები) intended for children, I intend to read it with the aid of Google Translate.
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff Some of the books I wrote do have translations, hope you get your hands on any of them
Loved hearing the poetry read in Georgian. The English doesn't sound like it has the same rhythm. I should get more familiar with Georgian literature. Very informative, thank you!😊
Georgian Literature is very niche, not many of the writers are known outside Georgia, certainly not in the west.
If you want genuinely good georgian literature, best look to the selection for the national exams. Some of them are:
The right hand of the grandmaster
The strife/torture of shushanik
Jaqos dispossesed (debatable)
Aluda qetelauri
Gamzrdeli by akaki tsereteli (the one I had to write about)
The travelers letters by ilia chavchavadze
Otaraant widow/otaraant qvrivi
Most of them are about social issues and were a chore to get through in my 1 year as an "abiturient" but there's no denying that it was a wild and pleasant ride.
Have these been translated into English?
Jim, this was fascinating. Thank you! It was lovely to hear your granddaughter recite!
Translation is difficult, an art.
Thanks. Poetry in translation loses so much because it isn't just the meaning of the words which is important but their sound. The word butterfly in English, for example, is papillon in French, Schmetterling in German, borboleta in Portuguese, farfalla in Italian and pepela in Georgian, all sounding quite different.
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff Yes, I see what you mean. I have a box of Barilla pasta in a kind of butterfly shape, called Farfalle. May I ask you, do you write poetry or fiction?
@@tomaria100 I only write book reviews. On my blog and on goodreads.
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff I will take a look for your links. Thank you!
I've never thought about how translation can change the feel of poetry! Interesting 🤔
I'm glad you found it interesting. Poetry is a challenge in translation.
Thank you, very interesting as always! Waiting for other videos.
Another video due out tomorrow 8pm (Tbilisi Time). The G Tag, where one of the Gs I mention is G is for Georgia.
These books sound really interesting. Great goal and great video!
I'm hoping to find some which read well when translated into English.
Great video Jim and compliments to Elene!
I'll pass on the compliments. Thanks for commenting.
Very helpful, Jim. Donald Rayfield's survey of Georgian literature is the authoritative guide but still relatively little has been translated, so far as I know (which obviously isn't far).
I read his translation of Vazha-Pshavela...almost 40 years old now....
Great list! I have a copy of The Pear Field that I haven't gotten to yet, and I downloaded a PDF of Granny, Iliko, Ilarion and I. It looks like it'll be a riot.
Dumbadze is my favorite of the Georgian writers I have read so far (all in translation). The Pear Field is dark and short, we read it for a local reading club in Tbilisi, members read versions in English, Georgian and German. There was a lot edited out from the English version, apparently.
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff Oh no, that's really disappointing to hear. Do you recall the reason why? The copy I have is from Peirene Press, so I'm wondering if it's a general abridgement because their "thing" is a 2 hour reading experience, or if it was more content-based editing.
@@KetevanReads I don't know the reason, maybe it is Peirene's press length constraints. I read the English version and the story I felt was okay (I gave it three stars). Some of the scenes would work well cinematically (the kids raiding the cherry tree and the drama at the airport).
What a great video, Jim! Thank you! And Elene's recitation of Autumn was fantastic.
I'm glad you liked it. The Georgian kids have to learn a lot of things by heart in school, some of it is good like the poems but a lot of it is banal and they forget t the following week.
Very interesting!
Georgian - and Kartvelian languages in general - always strike me as being intimidating to even entertain the idea of learning, never mind actually trying!
The only reasons I can see for learning Georgian is wanting to live here or you are some crazy linguist looking for a fresh challenge.
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff Heh, crazy linguists sounds about right. When I was at university, the Honours-track Linguistics degree involved being randomly assigned a non-Indo-European language at the beginning of fourth year. We all hoped and prayed that we wouldn't be assigned a language like Georgian! 🤣
I was massively lucky and scored Swahili. 😎
@@RememberedReads Jambo! (the only word I know in Swahili)
"Wing whirls", very musical in Georgian. I loved it. I'm sorry to not know Elvish type languages... and Latin suffices. By the way, you are becoming a master in producing videos. 11 years already?! The time I spent in UK :-)
Obrigado. I'm glad you like the videos. I may well see out my days in Georgia, since Brexit, I have no desire to return to UK.
Thank you for this video, these sound interesting :) The Georgian alphabet also looks beautiful, it reminds me a little bit to the Malayalam alphabet in India, although they probably they have nothing to do...
The Georgian alphabet is unique, only shared by other Kartvelian languages, although the order is a bit like in Greek: alpha, beta, gamma etc... ა,ბ,გ ... Neighboring Armenia also has a unique alphabet but there's looks more like parts of a plumbing manual....
Wonderful! I appreciate your struggles with the language. I speak Polish (the most inflected language I know) I don't know in which part of the language tree Georgian resides, but if it's like Polish it is precisely nowhere near English. I wandered over to your link about living in Georgia. Extremely interesting, do keep these cultural videos coming, I do do enjoy hearing about other cultures 😀👍
djinkuje, Georgian isn't even on the European language tree. I hear Polish is difficult but it is connected to other Slavic languages like Russian and Czech. Georgian is a Kartvelian language the only other members of the family are smaller languages in the region like Svan and Laz. There are loanwords form Turkish and Persian but that doesn't help me as I don't know those languages.
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff my goodness! That is complicated, for me very interesting. I think I might listen to some Georgian on UA-cam. Thank you very much for the information.👍😀👍
interesting!
You are already familiar with the Eighth Life by Nino Harataschwili, did you like it?
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff loved it! and Time Shelter by Gospodinov
or is he Bulgarian?
@@AnnNovella Georgi Gospodinov is a writer, poet and playwright based in Sofia, Bulgaria.
@@AnnNovella He is from the other side of the Black Sea.
Very good and informative video, keep it up, greetings from fellow Tbilisian.
Garmajoba and madloba. I would like to read more Georgian literature, but there isn't a lot available in English and my progress in Georgian is slow....
Also, I recommend Mikheil Javakshishvili, one of the greatest Georgian writers of all time imho, I think almost all of his writings are available in English.
Some writings of Konstantine Gamsakhurdia (another great Georgian writer, almost on par with Mikheill) are also available in English, even online if you search throughly.
@@Iraklius9 Thanks for the names, my local Biblusi doesn't have much. But I can ask about them.
@@jimsbooksreadingandstuff You're welcome, also, if e-books are your thing (personally i can't read them), you can download Saba Reader from playstore/appstore, monthly subscribtion is really cheap and you get unlimited access to e-books, they had Otar Chiladze in English last time i checked. if they had Chiladze they must have other stuff too.
Why do you live in Georgia?
I visited Georgia as a tourist in 2008 and met Khatuna, we got on well and I returned in 2009 and we got married. I work as an English teacher and native speaking English teachers can find work easily in Tbilisi, so I moved here. I made a video about what I like and dislike about living in Georgia, but overall I am very happy here.