Men·Art·War [Paperback]

Mikulas Kolya (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 8, 2006

Through clouded eyes we glimpse the cliffs that loom over yon distant shores.
The waves they break with giant’s strength and boom like oaken castle doors.
Lightning threatens from above while frenzied sharks await below.
Danger it is all about. In every element lurks a foe.
Creation. Destruction. Birth and Death. The same. The same. The same.
Fire melts the eternal ice, which transformed, douses the flame.
Onward we sail, toward those cliffs, determined to reach the beckoning shore.
And on landing make what our fathers made—glorious art and glorious war.

Thus read the final lines of The Lay of Hadding, the anonymously penned late 19th century poem that later stirred a generation of young writers (including W.B. Yeats and Wyndham Lewis), and the inspiration for the stories presented in Men·Art·War. From the Egyptian deserts to the green fields of Gaul to the small towns of North Carolina; from 332 B.C.E. to eleven years after tomorrow; here are ten rousing tales of art and war, and the men who wage both.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mikulas Kolya writes out of Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Paperback: 164 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (February 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595382169
• ISBN-13: 978-0595382163
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,381,807 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Workings of a Revolution, March 22, 2007

By 

C. Campbell (boston college) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Men·Art·War (Paperback)

Men-Art-War by Mikulas Kolya is a book of philosophical short stories about topics pertaining to modern civilization. In his book, Kolya makes an attempt to open the reader's mind to the hypocrisy inherent in our society. The book is short (a little over 150 pages) with ten short stories that fly by quickly. It is ideal for the short attention span--ironically the same trait that Kolya mocks in his stories about art. Men-Art-War is a quick and interesting read, with no signs of tolerance for the nonsense that permeates our society.

This book was published by iUniverse, which is a small self-publishing company. Wordiness, awkward sentences and mechanical errors can be found without difficulty. Also, readers will find a lack of connection with the characters in the book, as the author neglects character development. Instead, the author focuses primarily on the philosophy of book, and yet luckily for him, the ideas are interesting enough to raise some eyebrows. The characters are used as two-dimensional tools to help facilitate communication with the reader. For instance, in the story "The Movie Star", the main character is a famous actor from Hollywood (he's a vegan, a coke addict and very promiscuous) who finds himself lost in a backwoods town after speeding and crashing his Ferrari. He walks into an old tavern looking for help and encounters three working-class men who hate the word "red-neck". As the scenario would suggest, awkwardness rises, they begin drinking and stupid things are said. Eventually the awkwardness turns into aggression. The story is black and white, but serves as a good example of how Kolya uses scenarios to depict his philosophies.

The book covers grounds that could deem it highly controversial; possibly a reason no mainstream publisher has accepted it. Kolya stops at nothing to expose what he believes are wrong with contemporary generations. Religion, art, and even the leaders of our country fall victim to his indignation. In "The Confession", Kolya bashes Christianity via a priest who believes that celibacy is leading our society to ruins. The belief is that bloodlines are important to leadership, intelligence and morals; and yet the people who should be reproducing are single and working to improve themselves, while the people having all the children are the people too stupid to control it.

The most important aspect of the book is its portrayal of the masses. Ignorance, weakness and subservience are all characteristics of the average person these days. In "The Historian", an old man writes a letter before his execution to his grandson confessing that he had changed historical accounts of Genghis Khan. In the letter, he warns the boy of powerful people when he writes that it is "violence--only ever violence--that lies behind the success of mighty men." The leaders of countries tell of their allegiance to God and their opposition to violence, and yet simultaneously use force to keep the masses in line; they use war for their own interests.

The book is very inspiring and is likely to make you feel uncomfortable at times. It challenges convention and therefore is likely to anger many readers. But the ideas are unique because they will ring in your mind long after you finish reading. The entire book suggests we as a civilization are failing more and more each day to meet the expectations and dreams of the past. Instead, standards are lowering rapidly as ignorance becomes ramped.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Facilis descensus Averni, January 1, 2008

By 

Shayne R. Smith - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Men·Art·War (Paperback)

On Earth, the competition of life is never ending. Individuals by themselves are vulnerable; thus nature shapes life, and from this force groups necessarily emerge. Each group develops distinct ways of survival which are constantly tested, growing stronger with endurance or weakening with decay and eventually going extinct. Among the hominids, the Cro-Magnon man has developed many traits for survival but the quintessential ability--the distinctly unique limb of their survival--is imagination, which, when structuralized with symbolism and enacted through idealism, is responsible for the whole of human domination and supremacy.

In Men-Art-War, Kolya, with ten succinct and easily digestible short stores, deals with the faculty of imagination extensively, demonstrating its expression throughout history as well as its corruption in the modern West. We are shown how the acceptance of force--the striving for the feeling of power--as an extension of our inherent nature leads to a more fulfilling, meaningful life not just in a socio-historical sense but to the individual psychology as well; and how the cogs of modernity strive to conquer, subvert and burry this impulse.

Contextually, the themes of this book present modernity, with its assurance of progress through technology, reverence for the illusion of safety and passivity and pity as the impetus of moral action, as a direct affront to the very nature of mankind, instead positing that life should be about transcending difficulties and overcoming adversities, no matter how daunting the task or how easy the alternative, through glorious art and glorious war: "Facilis descensus Averni." Nietzsche's Will to Power and Kaczynski's Power Process are strongly implicated.

Rarely dose a work of contemporary fiction conflate with my personal beliefs as Men-Art-War has, which made reading it a rich, refreshing and fulfilling experience. For those of a dissimilar weltanschauung, much of this book might be difficult, challenging or even offensive, but such reactions to a different point of view are the impetus of intellectual growth and should be sought out rather than avoided if one is honest about such a pursuit. Kolya's characters also provide many artistic, literary and historical references for one to explore if the wish.

Highly recommended.

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Kitsch, with a K, pusillanimous postmodern bilge, June 17, 2008

By 

Alaric - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Men·Art·War (Paperback)

Alternate Title: Of Lastmen, Farce, and Boors [A personal exegesis by MK]

Kitschean postmodern vomit. Reading a few excerpts was enough to engender immediate disgust with the book. Kolya, which must be a pseudonym, is at best a 3rd rate paraphrast and a full blown philosophaster from Los Angeles. Quoted in brief for your displeasure:

"Alfred was deep in thought, staring at the table, staring past it, through it somehow. His mind was elsewhere, he waved his hand and absently mumbled, "Nietzsche wasn't a philosopher, he was a prophet," before returning to silence. Brian realized, somewhat regretfully, that he should have given the man time to formulate a response to his questions and not immediately heap new ones on top. He excused himself and went to the bathroom." pg. 76

"The Random" is a kitschy set of pastisches centered on the refrain "-You know me" [the damning narrator/conscience of the observed] which follows after every banal description of every day events in various people.

"The Atelier" is a dialogue between the author and "Grandfather" Friedrich [Nietzsche]. In the latter's sense of the word, the author is "German" par excellence. Books like these were anticipated by N. and are the reasons for which he wrote Ecce Homo. Richard Wagner would be made ticklish by this text, the aforementioned philosopher, humorously enraged.

Do-Not-Buy or Read-This-Sad Farce of a Book
If you can prevent someone from reading this pseudo-philosophical jabberwocky trash then do it. I am personally setting fire to my copy in the near future, just after I write a dedication to Al Gore (e.g. MANBEARPIG) in it.