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✖ Via

The New York Times: Harvey Pekar with a copy of “American Splendor” in 1986, photo by Mark Duncan for the Associated Press

Harvey Pekar, whose autobiographical comic book “American Splendor” attracted a cult following for its unvarnished stories of a depressed, aggrieved Everyman negotiating daily life in Cleveland and became the basis for a critically acclaimed 2003 film, died on Monday at his home in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. He was 70. […] Mr. Pekar (pronounced PEE-kar), who toiled for nearly 40 years as a file clerk in a Veterans Administration hospital, applied the brutally frank autobiographical style of Henry Miller to the comic-book format, creating a distinctive series of dispatches from an all-too-ordinary life. His alter ego, introduced in 1976, trudged on from episode to episode, quarreling with co-workers, dealing with car problems, addressing family crises and fretting over money matters and health problems.(“Harvey Pekar, ‘American Splendor’ Creator, Dies at 70” by William Grimes, July 12th, 2010)

• Jul 13, 2010 link notes tagged: art obituary comic film movie life death loner loser lost representation biography autobiography order anxiety paranoïa

Then the men of the Empire, who had been through so much, who had lived in such carnage, kissed their emaciated wives and spoke of their first love; they looked into the fountains of their natal prairies and found themselves so old, so mutilated, that they bethought themselves of their sons, in order that they might close their eyes in peace. They asked where they were; the children came from the schools, and seeing neither sabers, nor cuirasses, neither infantry nor cavalry, they asked in turn where were their fathers. They were told that the war was ended, that Cesar was dead, and that the portraits of Wellington and of Blucher were suspended in the antechambers of the consulates and the embassies, with these two words beneath: Salvatoribus mundi. Then there seated itself on a world in ruins an anxious youth.

✖ Via The Confession of a Child of the Century by Alfred du Musset, 1836

Here’s the original French version:

“Alors ces hommes de l’Empire, qui avaient tant couru et tant égorgé, embrassèrent leurs femmes amaigries et parlèrent de leurs premières amours ; ils se regardèrent dans les fontaines de leurs prairies natales, et ils s’y virent si vieux, si mutilés, qu’ils se souvinrent de leurs fils, afin qu’on leur fermât les yeux. Ils demandèrent où ils étaient ; les enfants sortirent des collèges, et ne voyant plus ni sabres, ni cuirasses, ni fantassins, ni cavaliers, ils demandèrent à leur tour où étaient leurs pères. Mais on leur répondit que la guerre était finie, que César était mort, et que les portraits de Wellington et de Blücher étaient suspendus dans les antichambres des consultats et des ambassades, avec ces deux mots au bas : Salvatoribus mundi.

Alors s’assit sur un monde en ruines une jeunesse soucieuse.” (WikiSource)

• Jun 06, 2010 link notes tagged: art author novel autobiography confession century war anxiety anguish youth generration history confusion desctruction chaos