Alexander Kabakov read for us Marina Ranna’s book «Love and Death: The Path to Separation».
Only a person who absolutely does not believe in anything is capable of considering death as separation. After death, souls are not separated unless they were separated during life, and therefore, in relation to this worldly existence, we have as much — if not more — grounds for talking about separation. Imprisoned in physical bodies, we are simply doomed to loneliness, and in this sense, death is a kind of way out of it.
Marina Ranna’s book is written very sincerely and … very ineptly. However, this is not scary: literary craftsmanship generally extinguishes sincerity — it is no coincidence that the word «artificial» comes from the word «art». And «sincerity» is the key word when talking about the topic stated in the title of the book.
“Put the bed of the dying so that more sun falls on it”, “Do not leave the terminally ill alone” — there are not many of these simple tips in the book, much less than we would like, but each of them is worth a dozen pages of abstract reasoning. We rarely think about such things until the thunder strikes, and when faced with the need to help a loved one survive the agony of death, we find ourselves completely helpless. We don’t know what and how to say so as not to injure him in these last terrible days, we don’t know how to properly adjust the pillow or set the ship so as not to offend an adult, until recently a completely independent person, we don’t know how to change his clothes … It is these questions, in my opinion, that should be emphasized in the first place in such a book.
However, Marina Ranna chose a different path and focused her attention on mental preparation for what she calls «separation.» This approach is not close to me: only a person who absolutely does not believe in anything is capable of considering death as separation. After death, souls are not separated unless they were separated during life, and therefore, in relation to this worldly existence, we have as much — if not more — grounds for talking about separation.
Imprisoned in physical bodies, we are simply doomed to loneliness, and in this sense, death is a kind of way out of it. That is why the books, say, of the Church Fathers, who thought a lot about the essence of parting in this and the other world, can provide the reader with much more tangible moral help than Love and Death. At the same time, Marina Ranna’s book has two indisputable advantages — accessibility and uniqueness. It is still not customary for us to talk about high and important things in ordinary, simple language, and therefore her attempt — albeit rude in a journalistic way, but honest and brave in its own way — deserves respect and attention.