Noodler's Tsvetayeva

[yazeh]

A rich red, homage to the great Russian poetess, Marina Tsvetayeva. Note Nathan Tardiff uses an alternative spelling for Tsvetaeva.

Information gleaned from her biography is from wikipedia and poetry foundation.

Note: The selected poems are from a translation by Andrey Kneller on Kindle.  I've chosen certain lines and not entire poems. 

 

Marina Tsvetayeva was born in Moscow 8 October 1892. Her father was a professor of fine arts, her mother a concert pianist, who wanted her to become a musician and not a poet, as she found her poems insipid. She spend most of her life out of use. 

Don’t mistake these soulful eyes for meekness. 

Tsvetayeva’s poetry, reads like punctuated bullet shots: an explosion of emotions, imagery, and sounds. She once famously said, “Next time I will be born not on a planet, but on a comet!”

A prophetic poem on Midori/ Ahab

Note how the saturated feed lightens 

 

 

 

Some of her poetry is especially apt in the current situation of war. To love a country that does not love you, to be a stranger in exile and in exile in your own country. That was the lot of Marina Tsvetayeva. 

Tomoe River

 

She and her family paid for it dearly. Her life was mired with poverty, exile, and tragedy. 

Tsvetayeva married an army cadet, Sergei Efron, who fought in the World War I and during the Russian revolution joined the white army, and after their defeat in 1920, emigrated to Paris. Stuck in Moscow during the great famine, she left her daughters in the care of orphanage, believing they would be fed better. One of them died from starvation. She emigrated in 1922 to Paris and reunited with her husband. 

 

 

In Paris, she was shunned, by the Russian intelligentsia, especially after she wrote to a Soviet poet. From then on she lived from hand to mouth.

TR 68gr

Her daughter, Ariadna, espoused communist ideals and left for the Soviet Union in 1937, followed by her husband, Efron,  who unbeknownst to Tsvetayeva had become a NKVD spy and was involved in a couple of assassinations of Russian dissidents.

HP 32

 

 

Ironically both Efron and Ariadna were imprisoned in charges of espionage in 1941. Efron was murdered, and Ariadna spend 16 years in the gulag. 

This is on Hammermill Printer Paper, Premium Multipurpose Paper 20 lb, 92 brightness....

Tsvetayeva moved back to the Soviet Union in 1939. From then on, she lived in abject poverty and hanged herself in 1941. She was 48. 

To finish the train wreck of her life, her beloved son, volunteered and was killed in 1944. 

 

Now for the ink: 
I thought I had found my dream bulletproof red. But for some reason this ink, like other Noodler’s red, has difficult to dry and depending on the pen/paper/nib can smudge. For example, with a Jinhao 450, it lays a lot of ink that smudges on Midori 30 minutes later. Ironically with Ahab it behaved in a much different fashion. But still, I won’t recommend it to lefties, or those who write copiously on Japanese papers with wet pens and wide nibs. Ironically on absorbent paper it dries instantly. 

 

This is an unrelated text. It is a photo to show off the shading with a fude nib.... Though dry times is atrocious... Paper is Apica

 

Comparison

Cleaning is a bit like other red/ pink inks, a pain. Though I have had worse, Skrip Red/ Sailor Grenade and Herbin rose cyclamen. But you definitely need a pen liquid wash. 

This is one beautiful red, and if it didn’t have the smudge problem, I would been buying a bottle. I suspect that a drop of water might alleviate the smudge problem much like Red-Black. 

Note Russian series inks are more expensive than standard bulletproof inks. 
Ink is bulletproof, fluorescent. 

Note the left side was held under water. I didn't wait 24 hour for the ink to dry completely. The excess ink washed away. 

•  Pens used: Ahab/ Jinhao 450 fude
•  Shading: delightful with wider nib.
•  Ghosting: a bit on absorbent paper…
•  Bleed through: No. 
•  Flow Rate: medium..
•  Lubrication: average
•  Nib Dry-out: No.
•  Start-up: No
•  Saturation:  Deep rich red 
•  Shading Potential: Yes
•  Sheen: None
•  Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not noticed
•  Nib Creep / “Crud”: it depends.
•  Staining (pen): you need to rinse it in a pen wash. But surprisingly it was easier to clean that Rose Cyclamen/ Skrip red. 
•  Clogging: None
•  Water resistance: Excellent
•  Availability: 90 ml bottles – More expensive than traditional Noodler’s inks. 

[InesF]

Thank you @yazeh for providing such a comprehensive insight together with the ink review. It's a pleasure to read your stylishly ornamental handwriting!

While Noodlers inks are next to not available here, the red is of nice hue and saturation.

The first poem (on Midori paper) seems to have a gradient from dark to bright. Can it be the effect of a oversaturated feed or is it a scanning artefact? But as I see some railroading towards the end, I guess the cause may be a saturation and or flow issue.

 

Good work, I enjoy a lot!👍

[lapis]

Great review as always. You really capture the spirits of this whole ink line and your most meritorious historic documentation is unsurpassed . I, too, love the colour itself but the rest of the ink's properties unfortunately underline the shortcoming of this brand.

[yazeh]

10 minutes ago, InesF said:

Thank you @yazeh for providing such a comprehensive insight together with the ink review. It's a pleasure to read your stylishly ornamental handwriting!

Thank you

 

10 minutes ago, InesF said:

While Noodlers inks are next to not available here, the red is of nice hue and saturation.

The first poem (on Midori paper) seems to have a gradient from dark to bright. Can it be the effect of a oversaturated feed or is it a scanning artefact? But as I see some railroading towards the end, I guess the cause may be a saturation and or flow issue.

Yes it is. The feed was oversaturated. 

10 minutes ago, InesF said:

 

Good work, I enjoy a lot!👍

 

6 minutes ago, lapis said:

Great review as always. You really capture the spirits of this whole ink line and your most meritorious historic documentation is unsurpassed . I, too, love the colour itself but the rest of the ink's properties unfortunately underline the shortcoming of this brand.

You're too kind Lapis. 🙏

[PithyProlix]

As reds go, this is a really great version, I think. 😉 Too bad about the dry/smudge problem but it would be nice to see with a little water added, if that would do the trick and take care of those issues.

 

I am now curious to read Tsvetayeva but I suspect she is a great poet that I would have too much difficulty trying to get past an over-abundance of self-centeredness. 😉

 

Always a treat to read your reviews and see your unique and expressive handwriting!

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, PithyProlix said:

As reds go, this is a really great version, I think. 😉 Too bad about the dry/smudge problem but it would be nice to see with a little water added, if that would do the trick and take care of those issues.

Ironically the smudge problem was less apparent when I changed my pen. I might put a drop of water in the convertor and see if it's better behaved. 

1 hour ago, PithyProlix said:

 

I am now curious to read Tsvetayeva but I suspect she is a great poet that I would have too much difficulty trying to get past an over-abundance of self-centeredness. 😉

Ha ha! There are few translated poems on the Poetry foundation, which are quite good actually. I found the translators note more revealing... Check these notes. 

Some say, in order to be a good writer, there must be certain amount of ego/self-centeredness....

1 hour ago, PithyProlix said:

 

Always a treat to read your reviews and see your unique and expressive handwriting!

You're so generous 🙏

[LizEF]

3 hours ago, yazeh said:

Note Nathan Tardiff uses an alternative spelling for Tsvetaeva.

That got me curious.  Wikipedia says her name is Марина Ивановна Цветаева.  I would transliterate that as Marina Ivanovna Tsvetayeva (or even Tsvyetayeva - the Russian "e" is a "ye" sound).  For those who don't know, her middle name is derived from her father's given name, meaning her father's name was Ivan.  Daughters get "ovna" added to the end of their father's name, sons get "ovich".  (I imagine genealogists absolutely love this Russian tradition.)  And Цвет (Tsvyet) means "color".   Variations of it mean "in bloom" or "in flower" (literally, "in color").

 

Darkness, what a life!

 

The ink looks quite interesting - bummer about the eternal dry time.  It looks pretty good on that Hammermill paper, though, so I guess if it does well on absorbent paper, one could always use it there (if a bit of water didn't tame it enough).

 

Great & interesting review, as always!  Thanks!

[yazeh]

3 minutes ago, LizEF said:

That got me curious.  Wikipedia says her name is Марина Ивановна Цветаева.  I would transliterate that as Marina Ivanovna Tsvetayeva (or even Tsvyetayeva - the Russian "e" is a "ye" sound).  For those who don't know, her middle name is derived from her father's given name, meaning her father's name was Ivan.  Daughters get "ovna" added to the end of their father's name, sons get "ovich".  (I imagine genealogists absolutely love this Russian tradition.)  And Цвет (Tsvyet) means "color".   Variations of it mean "in bloom" or "in flower" (literally, "in color").

Thanks Liz. Much appreciated for the transliteration. Brings light to the darkness

 

3 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Darkness, what a life!

Not one that envies. Though I could have tried to see her biography with the glass half full, it might have been different

 

3 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

The ink looks quite interesting - bummer about the eternal dry time.  It looks pretty good on that Hammermill paper, though, so I guess if it does well on absorbent paper, one could always use it there (if a bit of water didn't tame it enough).

On Field notes it dries immediately. But then Filed notes are not FP friendly

3 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Great & interesting review, as always!  Thanks!

Your too kind 🙏

[PithyProlix]

13 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Ironically the smudge problem was less apparent when I changed my pen. I might put a drop of water in the convertor and see if it's better behaved. 

 

Please show us your results, if you have a chance.

 

14 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Ha ha! There are few translated poems on the Poetry foundation, which are quite good actually. I found the translators note more revealing... Check these notes. 

Some say, in order to be a good writer, there must be certain amount of ego/self-centeredness....

 

Yeah, I see - translating from Russian is problematic and could overly highlight ego, when really it is more culturally-driven linguistic incompatibilities. But still, as much as I am attracted to Russian lit (but really much more prose than poetry) I will never learn Russian, so ... 

I hear you about the importance of self-centeredness in writing. It's mainly the 'woe is me' type stuff that turns me off, more and more.

[LizEF]

5 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

translating from Russian

Russian is one of those languages ideally suited for poetry.  Because of the way words change slightly for their role in the sentence (case) (subject, direct object, indirect object, etc.), one has a lot of flexibility with word order without confusing the meaning, either to facilitate rhyme or to "play" or emphasize a word that might otherwise not get the emphasis, or even to play with meter / stress.  Throw in gender-based endings (and they have 3 genders, not 2), and one has lots to play with.

 

That means translating from Russian to a language like English, which is lacking much of that flexibility, would create quite a challenge, IMO.

[yazeh]

23 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

 

Please show us your results, if you have a chance.

I will.

23 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

 

 

Yeah, I see - translating from Russian is problematic and could overly highlight ego, when really it is more culturally-driven linguistic incompatibilities. But still, as much as I am attracted to Russian lit (but really much more prose than poetry) I will never learn Russian, so 

Yep, I read a lot of Russian lit in my youth and listen to a lot Russian classical music (Shostakovich). I tired learning it, but gave up. But I get it...

23 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

 

 

I hear you about the importance of self-centeredness in writing. It's mainly the 'woe is me' type stuff that turns me off, more and more.

Woe is me is the worst. But it can be also looked as a petulant child, looking for attention

 

[yazeh]

1 minute ago, LizEF said:

Russian is one of those languages ideally suited for poetry.  Because of the way words change slightly for their role in the sentence (case) (subject, direct object, indirect object, etc.), one has a lot of flexibility with word order without confusing the meaning, either to facilitate rhyme or to "play" or emphasize a word that might otherwise not get the emphasis, or even to play with meter / stress.  Throw in gender-based endings (and they have 3 genders, not 2), and one has lots to play with.

 

That means translating from Russian to a language like English, which is lacking much of that flexibility, would create quite a challenge, IMO.

I remember reading Russian novels was already difficult with all the name variations. I knew of a reader, who jotted down all the names and their variation to figure out who is who.

 

[LizEF]

3 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I remember reading Russian novels was already difficult with all the name variations. I knew of a reader, who jotted down all the names and their variation to figure out who is who.

 

And Russian nicknames may not appear to have anything to do with the name from which they're derived - "Sasha" is a man's nickname, a diminutive of "Alexander"!  (Drives me nuts that somehow "Sasha" is a woman's name here in the west.  While I can't say for certain Russians wouldn't use it for a woman, the only Sashas I knew in Russia were men.)

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

And Russian nicknames may not appear to have anything to do with the name from which they're derived - "Sasha" is a man's nickname, a diminutive of "Alexander"!  (Drives me nuts that somehow "Sasha" is a woman's name here in the west.  While I can't say for certain Russians wouldn't use it for a woman, the only Sashas I knew in Russia were men.)

Yep, I remember in one of the novels, there was a footnote with a list of nicknames for a given name  The only Sasha, I know is Sasha/ Alexander the Great  

I have to admit, I had some difficulties with some of English nicknames... William and Bill, while sharing to Ls seemed incongruous... but we learn

[PithyProlix]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Yep, I read a lot of Russian lit in my youth and listen to a lot Russian classical music (Shostakovich).

 

My father's side of the family are Russian Jews and my father is first-generation American. His parents lived fairly close by when I was growing up, we would visit them at least once a week, and they and my father and would often speak a mixture of Russian and Yiddish with each other. I heard it often but, regretfully, I didn't try to figure it out and it remained a strange and foreign language. Unfortunately I didn't read any Russian literature, other than what I had to read for school, until well after my college years. (I also love classical music, some Russian composers, especially Scriabin, but I particularly admire many Russian pianists and violinists.) 

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

 

My father's side of the family are Russian Jews and my father is first-generation American. His parents lived fairly close by when I was growing up, we would visit them at least once a week, and they and my father and would often speak a mixture of Russian and Yiddish with each other. I heard it often but, regretfully, I didn't try to figure it out and it remained a strange and foreign language. Unfortunately I didn't read any Russian literature, other than what I had to read for school, until well after my college years. (I also love classical music, some Russian composers, especially Scriabin, but I particularly admire many Russian pianists and violinists.) 

🙏

[inkstainedruth]

Not a color for me, but thanks for the comprehensive review.  And also for the information about the poet who was the impetus for the ink.

I learn the coolest stuff on FPN!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mercian]

5 hours ago, yazeh said:

I have to admit, I had some difficulties with some of English nicknames... William and Bill….

I am English, and I understand/speak only English, and when I was a child that puzzled me too (one of my grandfathers was a ‘William’ who was known as ‘Bill’)…

 

…until I heard how a German-speaker would pronounce the ‘w’ in e.g. the name of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

English is of course a Germanic language, and I realised that ‘Bill’ is not-so-unreasonable when one thinks of it as a contraction of ‘Vilhelm’ or ‘Villiam’.

 

Just to be awkward (a speciality of the English), we have historically shortened ‘Henry’ to ‘Harry’ and then ‘Hal’.
Which is because ‘Henry’ - one of our traditional regnal names - is really the French name ‘Henri’. The sound of an English person saying ‘Harry’ is probably as close as the average Anglo-Saxon serf could get to the way in which his feudal Norman overlords would say ‘Henri’.

 

The contractions that I have never understood are both female names; ‘Flick’ as a contraction of ‘Rebecca’, and ‘Bunty’ as a contraction of ‘Sarah’.
In those cases I suspect the involvement of arcane traditions created long ago in the dormitories of the fee-charging ‘public schools’ to which our ‘upper classes’ send their children.

[yazeh]

@inkstainedruththanks!

@Mercianwell explained. While I speak both English and French, I never made the connection. Ironically, William in French is Guillaume. Though  I've met Frenchmen, who were named the anglicized William  though I doubt their friends will call them Bill

 

[inkstainedruth]

48 minutes ago, Mercian said:

The contractions that I have never understood are both female names; ‘Flick’ as a contraction of ‘Rebecca’, and ‘Bunty’ as a contraction of ‘Sarah’.
In those cases I suspect the involvement of arcane traditions created long ago in the dormitories of the fee-charging ‘public schools’ to which our ‘upper classes’ send their children.

Those two cases actually sound more like nicknames, rather than contractions of the original given name.  Friends of mine named their first kid "Elizabeth" but for her entire life her nickname has been "Bunny"....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth