But yeah that guy who said you can't go home again also had "an image of man's whole life upon the earth. It seemed to him that all man's life was like a tiny spurt of flame that blazed out briefly in an illimitable and terrifying darkness, and that all man's grandeur, tragic dignity, his heroic glory, came from the brevity and smallness of this flame. He knew his life was little and would be extinguished, and that only darkness was immense and everlasting. And he knew that he would die with defiance on his lips, and that the shout of his denial would ring with the last pulsing of his heart into the maw of all-engulfing night." so there's that
Aug 19, 2022·edited Aug 19, 2022Liked by Gary Shteyngart
My mom, who is 80 and from Belarus, says she used to spend summers at a similar Russian camp called Lost Lake in Wisconsin back in the early 1970s. She said is was lots of fun. :-) Also, Rova Farms in New Jersey.
My father spent summers in a bungalow colony when he was a boy in the 1930s & 1940s. Looks like it hasn't changed much.
If you buy the place to make a writers' or artists' colony, I'd be happy to make pickles, kraut & cheese for you. In exchange for a good borscht recipe.
Thank you for the tour. The tone of your writer’s voice captures the absurd feeling we get seeing shit we loved and that cradled us go to the weeds and entropy.
I grew up in the middle of nowhere beautiful Pennsylvania, on a small almost-farm with chickens. The only time I went back it was in a similar state of decay, with a pool dedicated to growing algae and habitat for dragonflies, and the house shedding its vinyl skin. I swear there was a phantom woman rocking in a chair inside, but I did not have the courage to knock. Did you conjure any ghosts?
As soon as I saw these bungalows I thought of your book “ Our Country Friends.” I wondered if it was a real place. I hope I am not as transparent in my book but I have always believed a writer puts him/herself in one of the characters. Of course the names are changed to protect the true identity. Thank you for showing your memories of places that inspired your writing!
With that being said it would be fitting that you create a writers retreat/colony!
I think it’s make a great writers’ colony, Gary. I used to have bungalows in Woodbridge, close to Ellenville. We were attached to a spiritual/meditation center in that Hasidic-bungalow swarming area. Hint: try repeating bungalow bungalow as a mantra, very effective! Tezalord.com
Yes, turn it into a writers' colony!!
Was it the bungalows that all looked the same—or the girls? :)
But yeah that guy who said you can't go home again also had "an image of man's whole life upon the earth. It seemed to him that all man's life was like a tiny spurt of flame that blazed out briefly in an illimitable and terrifying darkness, and that all man's grandeur, tragic dignity, his heroic glory, came from the brevity and smallness of this flame. He knew his life was little and would be extinguished, and that only darkness was immense and everlasting. And he knew that he would die with defiance on his lips, and that the shout of his denial would ring with the last pulsing of his heart into the maw of all-engulfing night." so there's that
Yaddo in the Borscht Belt, yes.
My mom, who is 80 and from Belarus, says she used to spend summers at a similar Russian camp called Lost Lake in Wisconsin back in the early 1970s. She said is was lots of fun. :-) Also, Rova Farms in New Jersey.
https://www.journalstandard.com/story/news/2008/08/01/world-war-ii-displaced-russians/45151557007/
I agree - a writer’s colony!!
Somehow, I could the humidity in these pictures. It's why shorts were invented.
My father spent summers in a bungalow colony when he was a boy in the 1930s & 1940s. Looks like it hasn't changed much.
If you buy the place to make a writers' or artists' colony, I'd be happy to make pickles, kraut & cheese for you. In exchange for a good borscht recipe.
It was nice to see the place you wrote about in Our Country Friends! I hope you make it into a colony someday.
“You can’t go home again,” right?
Thank you for the tour. The tone of your writer’s voice captures the absurd feeling we get seeing shit we loved and that cradled us go to the weeds and entropy.
I grew up in the middle of nowhere beautiful Pennsylvania, on a small almost-farm with chickens. The only time I went back it was in a similar state of decay, with a pool dedicated to growing algae and habitat for dragonflies, and the house shedding its vinyl skin. I swear there was a phantom woman rocking in a chair inside, but I did not have the courage to knock. Did you conjure any ghosts?
Your photos look just like the ones from my parents colony in Monticello.
Insane, yes, but would it be wrong?
As soon as I saw these bungalows I thought of your book “ Our Country Friends.” I wondered if it was a real place. I hope I am not as transparent in my book but I have always believed a writer puts him/herself in one of the characters. Of course the names are changed to protect the true identity. Thank you for showing your memories of places that inspired your writing!
With that being said it would be fitting that you create a writers retreat/colony!
Writer's colony for sure. But only if I can come!
You should watch Four Seasons Lodge. It's a documentary about a bungalow colony owned my Holocaust survivors. Very sweet and sad.
I think it’s make a great writers’ colony, Gary. I used to have bungalows in Woodbridge, close to Ellenville. We were attached to a spiritual/meditation center in that Hasidic-bungalow swarming area. Hint: try repeating bungalow bungalow as a mantra, very effective! Tezalord.com