Francis stated that the writer must have a history in architecture because of his many references to inside details of architects that only somebody who studied the field would know.
A few of us commented on the sexist attitude of the book (the large breasts of the one woman in the main character's students with her suggestive t-shirt sayings).
Francis talked about how a large number of old buildings in Yerevan were torn down to provide for the new construction. The style of the new construction was referred to as "brutalistic architecture". The new buildings that he was referring to included the "Cascade".
I questioned the quality of the cement in the new building. During my one visit to Armenia I had observed that the quality of the sand that was used to make cement was horrendous. It would result in cement which would not dependable at all. Francis replied that during his time there he noted that their construction guidelines had improved tremendously and he felt that the new buildings were trustworthy.
Francis noted that the budget for the extensions to the Cascade was $20 million. All of it was covered by Cafesjian.
At this point I stated that my objections to the book were that first, the artwork was terrible. Second, there was almost no color. Third, the story was very disjoint. Lastly, the characters in the story and the author had a very sexist attitude.
Continuing in a rotation through all of the attendees, next was Margaret. She compared the style of the book to Mad Magazine. She talked about how one of the oldest churches in Yerevan could have been torn down but it was moved instead. She referred to the fact that when the Cascades were rebuilt, escalators were added. Not only that, the escalators had an auto-detect build in so that they only ran when someone stepped onto them.
Peter liked Margaret's reference to Mad Magazine and agreed with it. He like the artwork in the book.
Tashina liked the book. She agreed that the artwork was childish and not normally her style, but liked the fact that the tone of the book was sarcastic. She couldn't understand some of the references, but thought that the author seemed to be mocking - (?)
Francis noted that some of the first drawings in the book were of the Cascade when the top three steps were torn out for new construction, but they were childlike drawings.
Andrea remembered visiting the Cascade. She remembered wonderful glass work that was on display. She noted that people used the escalators to gain access to transportation hubs. There were also elevators, but they were closely monitored by security. Apparently the elevators were put in after the escalators.
Andrea mentioned that she had seen references to a Romani section of Yerevan which was being torn down for new construction.
Peter picked up on that reference and said that the Kond neighborhood, west of Northern Avenue was the Romani section.
Francis and others mentioned that for many years there were large cranes sitting at the top of the Cascade, but active construction had stopped. Azad said that when he was in Yerevan in 2018 the crane was finally gone, but the hole at the top of the Cascade was still there.
Francis pointed out that young lovers find that the Cascade has many isolated spots where they can meet which have a good view of the city.
Azad mentioned that when his family was there in 2018 the ladies room at the Cascade was horrible. He had written a letter to the city asking them to remove the crane and fix the ladies room. The crane was removed but the ladies room was still horrible.
When the updates to the Cascade were first planned, Francis was requested by Cafesjian to submit plans. He did so, but none of his plans were ultimately used.
Andrea asked how well the construction of the Cascade is with respect to earthquakes. In Francis' opinion, it's 100% earthquake proof. It is very well designed.
Azad mentioned that he has a postcard with a picture of the Cascade sent to him by his father in the mid 1970s.
Now, we moved on to discussion of future books. Andrea asked for a book which discussed the various Armenian political parties.
We talked about the book which we have scheduled for next month - "Feast of Ashes - The Life and Art of David Ohannessian" by Sato Moughalian. This book covers the life of David Ohannessian, who worked with ceramics. His work can be seen in many major buildings from Egypt to Jerusalem to Istanbul. The problem with this book is that local libraries don't seem to have it, and it isn't available cheaply through online book sellers. I have a personal copy, Jim and Margaret seem to have a copy, Kass got a copy through an out-of-state library. Hopefully, we can swap our copies around enough so that enough club members can read it.
Another book that was mentioned is "The Office of Mercy" by Ariel Djanikian. It's a science fiction book by an Armenian author. I'm currently reading it and I told the group that I would send them a review to see if they wanted to read it in the future.
Another book that I mentioned was "Ararat" by Christopher Golden. I recently finished reading it and assumed at the start that it would have some connection to Armenia. Nope! It's actually a horror story with no connection to Armenia whatsoever.
At this point the meeting ended. The plan is to have "Feast of Ashes" as next month's book. I'll let you know if it changes.
Happy reading!
I'll leave you with a poem - "Covid Days".
Acoustics blast Covid Days!
Every Friday guitars howl!
Incurably joyful keyboardists loose musical numbers of pure quality.
Radical saxophones! Trombones! Untuned violins! Wild xylophones!
Yay!!!!!
Zappa!