Low Down

The notion comes from Greek μάθημα máthēma , “knowledge, study, learning”. I am not strictly mathematical girl, however, the origins of this complex and difficult science always intrigued me. Mathematics is nothing but language, language of characters in shape of triangles, circles, lines, vectors, figures … The first person I recall when the notion ‘mathematics’ is said is Pythagoras, he is the founder of  “basic mathematical principles” ; he founded the patterns in triangular numbers and the five regular solids. As a theoretician he believed that numbers, indeed, have an intrinsic meanings. For some, it would appear  strange or peculiar, namely, Pythagorean Theorem was not his invention, he ‘borrowed’ it from Babylonians. Truly, nothing bad happened, this copying cat can be forgiven due to his other extremely important invention or discovery. He was the first person who not only claimed but also proved that mathematics is a language. There are patters which reflect the...

Alike other stories, this one, respectively presents another important symbol of Japan; in “Snow Country” Kawabata prized geisha and her profound role in Japanese society, in the novel “Thousand of Cranes” Kawabata prized the tea making culture, “The Old Capital” novel focuses on the meticulous and secret business of kimono making, another distinguishable part of Japan. The plot concentrates on the young girl Chieko, a daughter of a kimono-maker. This lovely girl has to face with a secret. Kawabata introduces here not only on the traditional spirit of Japan which stands for kimono but also describes the sad truth of being orphaned, abandoned by parents and the closest relatives. The truth that may open different possibilities and helps to accept the inner being, the fact that one is who they are, and nothing more, is sometimes so difficult to deal with. Not accidentally Kawabata chooses Kyoto, that former capital of Japan stands for everything which is quintessential for this coun...

Weep, Weep no more … [1] The Black Dahlia Mystery Murder.   The murder of Elizabeth Short shocked the nation, the police, the system of justice. The circumstances of the murder and the motives are till nowadays unknown. Elizabeth Short grew up in Medford, Boston, Massachusetts. Her father, Cleo Short, lost all his money in 1926, during the great depression he was believed he committed suicide (rumors appeared to be fake, he was found in California). Elizabeth Short’s relationship with her father whom she found in California was rough, filled with rows and argumentation. She escaped to Santa Barbara couple of times, in her early youth she moderately drank alcohol, not to excess, though. She changed works like one changes gloves, she has never had a steady job. It is still a great mystery how she earned for a living, what was checked and acknowledged, she has never been a prostitute.  She was found dead in one of the boroughs of LA, the body was found by the passer-by Be...

His mysterious death was supposed to be silent and left behind, in contrary, it caused mayhem and upheavals shortly after it occurred. His noble background opened him the gate to British Parliament, He was very-well educated, he attended to Westminster School, graduated Christ Church, Oxford. In September 1666 he received a knighthood. Despite of being Protestant he had a significant number of his Catholic counterparts, including the Duke of York, the future king James II. Unfortunately not every alley he made was a good one, he was pronounced a member of so-called ‘Peyton Gang’ which was closely associated with Green Ribbon Club. The Club’s members wanted to force the king Charles II to turn to Catholicism and abandon Protestantism. Efforts were futile. The plot was simple, meant to shake off the kingdom and set up the republic, what could be simpler?  - Failure, perhaps. Richard Cromwell unsuccessfully prepared the details. He was crushed by the government. In 1678 there w...

The novel is chilling and wonderful, soft tranquilizing. Not surprisingly it is regarded as the finest work of Kawabata’s. The plot may appear to be quite trivial…but it’s not. The author turns to mythological and mythical phenomena of the particles of human existence; the youth, the ageing process, simply life and death. The book describes the feelings, the desire, the lust that will never be consumed. It leads to reflection, the old man reflects on his life, the way it was, the way it could have been. He recalls the beauty he experienced, as he does now, looking at the sleeping young woman he sees  more than a beauty … he sees life, joy, future. Something he will not experience any more, he feels his time has come, before it happens he wants to feel he lives again. The overwhelming feeling of melancholy and sadness doesn’t allow him to feel “true vibrant life”. He feels being closed in a shell. It is not all about life, but about to feel sensation, to start fantasying, Kaw...

Suffolk , England , 31 st of May 1902. Rose Harsent was murdered. She was a servant girl. Her murder happened at midnight during the stormy and violent night, it was painful and long-lasting demise, Rosie has been stabbed to death. Surprisingly to everyone, she was six-month pregnant. The suicide was presumed at first, however, shortly after the idea was dismissed. It was believed that the affair with local Methodist Preacher William Gardinger and the relationship inconsistencies led to the murder.  The motive must have been – pregnancy, obviously. The Preacher had already had wife and six children, the family lived just across the street by the house Rosie has been murdered. His trial was restarted twice, eventually, the allegations were sustained, and the court cases acquitted.  Gardinger was let free without chargers, he died in 1941, his closest friends believed it was not him, but, his jealous wife who murdered Rose.

The mysterious murders were always on an agenda, I will go a couple centuries back and recall everyone the character of Mary Rogers. She was born in 1820, she was found dead in 1841. Her disappearance and death was a shock to a nation. For a local community it was a hit. Shortly after she became a quite an inspirational figure, the most of all for Edgar Allan Poe who wrote a detective story entitled “The Mystery of Marie Roget”. Mary was born in Connecticut, she was regarded as a very beautiful lady (with no exception) everyone shared that notion. Her life was a very happy life till the death of her father, his tragic death on the steamboat brought Mary lots of pain and tears. She went to New York where she was hired in a tobacco shop. She was so pretty, that the owner of the shop gave her a rise of the salary just because “the clientele sat all day long exchanging teasing glances” with this beauty. She was admired by well-known celebrities at that time, namely, Washington Irving, fo...

Nothing shocks as much as murder, unsolved cases pile up everyday, unknown murderer, unknown motive, dead end investigation, the case becomes unknown. This one hopefully will not be the same. Grief and sorrow are behind the tears. The reasons of a murder are various, the one submitted here are not to be publicized, the body of a young nurse was sent as a parcel, the victim’s name and the credit cards were used to ship her body 400km away from Osaka to Shanghai. No one would probably ever found her missing if it had not been for the smell of the demise’s body locked in the storage locker at the airport and tracing of the credit cards all along the way. The reasons why this young woman got killed are proceeding into the investigation, the traces of people closely connected with her are thoroughly checked. What is know is the message she left on her FB page, explaining she is going to travel to Osaka to visit her friend she has not seen for 10 years. The body was severely wounded with...

The novel represents the elegiac set of narrator’s memories, his fantastic youth. The first person narration is dynamic filled with joy and happiness, the innocence of a young man and his fellows. The naming has got double meaning, the express trains between Izu and Tokyo are called “ Dancer Trains”. The author tries to find out his identity, his personality, he describes himself, yet, what he reads later on, doesn’t reflect his inner soul, for that reason he continues the pursuit for so-called self-discovery. The novel stands for liberation, to be more precise, the author is not chained by any obligations of studying, of listening to others orders, of being obedient. Instead, he manifests exuberance. The Izu Pennisula is vibrant with life, large, the landscape is breathtaking, all is new and fresh. Simply different. There is also love, the love is beautifully described in the diary, the girl is a master of a young man, she does anything the young man asks for, she represents jo...

  Thousand of Cranes [ 千羽鶴, Senbazuru] by Yasunari Kawabata ( 川端 康成 ) is a great story of images and symbolism. The book concentrates on three the most powerful images in Japanese culture, the culture of tea making, the cranes and origami. The culture of tea making dates back to 9 th century, it is the most evocative symbol of Japan. It was the warrior culture to seat together and indulge the cup of tea before or after the battle, it was the nobility who introduced this custom, this significant pastime. The tea making is a deeply rooted cultural habit, a ceremony which involves a preparation of ‘matcha’ – a green tea. The way it is prepared is comparable to art, to craftsmanship. The characteristic notion of tea making are so-called ‘chaji’ – tea gatherings. The first tea meeting was undertaken by the Buddhist monk, he prepared ‘sencha’ to Emperor Saga. This custom was originally implemented for medical purposes, tea was supposed to get rid of the diseases, put ones mind at e...