VIKTOR DONOVAN: OF WHALES AND MEN

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

OF WHALES AND MEN

Man has always been fascinated by whales (the novel Moby Dick is a prime example) and when a beached whale appeared unexpectedly in a bay outside Gothenburg in 1865, there was enormous excitement and frantic activity. (You can read about the events in this interesting article.)

Today, the whale is stuffed (the only stuffed whale in the world) and on display at The Gothenburg Natural History Museum. (The historical pictures below are from the museum)

Painting in primitive Swedish Folk Art ("Dala") by Leif Sodergren

The fisherman Olof Larsson first discovered the whale 40 meters off land. He fetched his brother-in-law Carl Hansson. They chose a large enough boat since they were afraid that the whale might otherwise swallow them. Read more.

Together they spent two days killing it and then sold it for a large sum to August Wilhelm Malm, who worked for the Gothenburg Museum. He later had the whale stuffed.

Several steamboats and coal barges towed the now smelly and putrid whale to a ship yard Lindholmen where the cumbersome process of cutting it up and stuffing it took place. People tried to snatch souvenirs. More...

The stuffed whale in Gothenburg.

INSIDE THE WHALE - THE JONAH THING

Painting of Jonah in the Whale by Leif Sodergren in the primitive Swedish Folk art style.

And then there is the whale in the Bible that swallowed Jonah. That story has fascinated people around the world including the Swedish peasant painters who often depicted Jonah and the whale very naively. One can see why Jonah has interested people -- Jonah is disobedient and argumentative with God and does not perform as requested. He runs away and is punished by being swallowed by a whale but is spat out after three days of serious repenting.

The repentant Jonah is spat upon land by the whale by order of God and continues on to Nineveh to warn the sinning population to repent or face punishment by God .

Jonah finally obeys God's original command, namely to go to the city of Nineveh to exhort the sinful people there to repent or face being destroyed by God. The people repent and everybody should be happy. But not Jonah.

Jonah believes that these sinners should suffer some punishment for having been so sinful. Jonah, up to his old tricks, has the audacity to argue with God about his decision to spare the people of of Nineveh. So again Jonah must be taught a lesson. The lesson is this:

God causes a very fanciful plant, (a Gourd -- the Swedish name for this plant is Kurbits and it is always present in the primitive "Dala" paintings) to grow up over Jonah -- he is shaded and sleeps nicely under this large, biblical plant. But God causes worms to eat the Kurbits so it can no longer shade Jonah. Jonah is disappointed and complains to God about not having the Kurbits plant to shade him. God tells Jonah that if he grieves for the loss of this one Kurbits -- how much more would God not grieve over the destruction of an entire city of people who, after all, had repented.

Hopefully all this has taught Jonah something about God being caring and merciful and not to question his motives. After all, God is God and should not be questioned by mere mortals.

Being inside a whale can be fascinating. Inside the stuffed whale in Gothenburg, there are benches and tables for people to sit as seen below.

Many religious people have shown an interest in visiting the inside of the the Gothenburg whale -- perhaps wanting to experience the Jonah thing. When the whale was caught in 1865, two women threw themselves forward, "driven by an uncontrollable desire to verify if the passage of Jonah through the throat of the whale was actually possible"

(From this article)

The whale's jaws are hinged so it can be entered.

Coffee inside a whale -- what fun! These days the inside of the whale is not open to the public.

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NEW BOOK!

Much of human activity is centered around food. We think of food whether we’re hungry or not. We spend a great deal of time buying it. We take hours preparing it (well, some do). We talk about it. We read about it in cook books. We watch television when chefs talk about it (sometimes to excess). When we socialize, it is often centered around the communal intake of it. We give it as gifts. Food, we can’t escape it! Some people become keenly interested in preparing food for themselves and others; many have become what we call “good cooks”. Usually a degree of creativity is involved together with a keen interest to entertain and a need to take care of others, to be a good host. It is such people that one remembers, and that is how I got started on Food & Folk, remembering, for example that excellent couple, Beatrice and Clayburn La Force on their ranch in Alpine California. After that I just kept going.

MY HOMETOWN GOTHENBURG

A series of closeups (224 photos) of Gothenburg, Sweden. Language: English and Swedish.----- This book consists of a series of closeups of Gothenburg. It is no history book but, hopefully, it will generate some curiosity about our city. When you walk in a city like London you are struck by Britain’s colonial past and its enormous wealth which manifests itself in buildings and institutions all over the city. When you walk in “Little London” as Gothenburg is often called, one is keenly aware of its importance as the best fortified city in Northern Europe. Two forts still watch over it. Remnants of the seventeenth century wall, and the meandering moat are a reminder of the city’s military past. Positioned on the West coast of Sweden, Gothenburg was once a world leader in ship building and shipping and evolved naturally into a merchant’s city. The English and Scottish heritage here is very important. There are clues and traces everywhere. One has only to look.

A GARDEN IN MY HOMETOWN

A book in English and Swedish about the Garden Society of Gothenburg--TRÄDGÅRDSFÖRENINGEN -----The Garden Society of Gothenburg is one of the best preserved early 19th century parks in Europe. It is situated directly downtown, offering lovely walks in the park or in the shaded woodland areas along the canal/moat, waterfront. The garden recently went through a major renovation under the auspices of Ulf Nordfjell, the internationally known landscape designer. The aim was to bring the garden back to its old nineteenth century glory. Carpet bedding returned and five new woodland areas were designed by five international garden designers. A superb new rose park was added, a successful blending of historical roses and perennials.

Love letters from my Swedish grandfather Folke to my American grandmother Olga 1909 - 1961

My American grandmother, Olga, met my Swedish grandfather, Folke Jonsson, in Brussels in 1909. Olga was 18 and Folke, 23. They settled in Gothenburg and Särö, Sweden. Olga, being American, had her family in Florida, and Folke soon came to realize that if you marry a woman from another continent, and this woman is charmingly independent, innovative and brave, and has her own means to boot, she is bound to want to visit her native country some time -- or several times -- or more than several times. To Folke, a sensitive soul, the long separations were quite painful and he suffered till his darling Olga returned. He “talked” to her in his frequent letters. Olga saved all his letters, in their original envelopes, in neat little bundles held together with different coloured ribbons. They were a treasured lifelong testament of his love. Olga and Folke corresponded in English as Olga was American and preferred writing in English. Had my grandfather Folke married a Swedish woman who had stayed at home, there would not be this stack of his letters today. He never intended the letters to be shown to others, but more than one hundred years have passed since Folke wrote them to his darling Olga. I have enjoyed getting to know my grandfather in this manner and I think others, not only relatives, should also share that privilege.

A pictorial Companion to the letters in the book above: 150 pictures of Olga & Folke 1909-1978

NEW BOOK BY DONOVAN O'MALLEY

REVIEW: "...O'Malley continues to prove that he is one of the more important writers around, a writer who with every book brings into our lives some very strange, often exceedingly humorous, and now, frequently very lonely people. His ability to create language for each of his characters is sharp, well studied and written, and without belittling anyone he, in language, shows the difference between class, and education, and exposure. Likely that comes from his experience in writing plays where characters are alive and moving, but with his considerable literary skills he makes his written page people morph into real life folks. He is in top form here ... " Grady Harp, June 12 (Hall of Fame reviewer)

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

OF WHALES AND MEN

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