Noodler's Lermontov

[Yazeh]

Mikhail Lermontov (1814 -1841) Russian poet, novelist.

Photo: Courtesy of Wikipedia.
He came to prominence after Pushkin’s death, writing a poem in his memory, which landed him in hot water with the authorities and exiled him to the Caucuses. He wrote the first Russian psychological novel, A Hero of Our time. He himself, died in duel, at age 26.
He was also a painter.

Photo: Courtesy of Wikipedia.

His mother, from Russian nobility, died young and he was raised by his rich, doting grandmother, mostly in the Caucuses due to his fragile health. His grandmother made sure that he would have least contact with his father.

It is no surprise with such an upbringing, and childhood traumas, the main character of his novel, is a narcissistic male, seduced women like Don Juan, but unlike the him was aware of his emptiness.

I truly appreciated discovering this very astute and self-aware writer, and his many flaws. And the beauty of his poetry. Here is Sail, translated by Vladimir Nabakov.

HP 32 - Paper - With modern flex nib
HP-32 -sail.jpg




Apparently, the word blue does not exist in Russian (If I'm wrong, hopefully Russian-speakers will correct me). They have words for dark/navy blue or light blue. The latter is used with much emphasis in the novel. Hence, why I assume, Mr. Tardiff, used this ice blue.
It's a truly agreeable ink, very well behaved, that I used with much ease even on Hammermill 20 lb paper, with no apparent ghosting or bleed through.

Chroma:
chroma.jpeg

Writing samples:
TR68gr - Lermontov.jpgRhodia - Lermontov.jpgMidori 1.jpg
Photo:
C2D121AF-CB88-4616-8FEA-6CC98E924D65.jpg

Water resistance is quite good. In Noodler's vocabulary bulletproof means that if someone attempts forgery it'll be obvious as you can see on the left side of the image.
Watertest.jpeg

Comparison:
Compariasion.jpg

I was inspired by the last line of his poem Sail, to do this sketch:
But you, wild rover, pray for tempests,
As if in tempests there was peace!
For the background I used Diamine Shimmering Seas (top), Kakimori Torori (orange yellow). The sky and sea are done with Lermontov, in diluted form.
And the little sail boat, I used a dab of J Herbin's Larmes de cassis.

Note how eerie it looks in under the UV light It's fluorescent ink)



· Pens used: Pilot Elite (Ef/Stub) Lamy Safari (Ef/F/M/B), Kanwrite Ultraflex,
· What I liked: It’s a pleasure to write with. It shines with Broad nib.
· What I did not like,: it’s not an ink for all seasons. You wouldn’t want to use it in the dead of winter or on cold gloomy fall days.
· What some might not like: The colour moves/changes when water touches it.
· Shading: None. Unless you write on a modern shiny postal card.
· Ghosting: Very well behaved. Even on copy paper.
· Bleed through: None.
· Flow Rate: Wet
· Lubrication: Good. It’s slightly dry.
· Nib Dry-out: None.
· Start-up: None
· Saturation: Medium.
· Shading Potential: None.
· Sheen: None.
· Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: None
· Nib Creep / “Crud”: Nope.
· Staining (pen): No.
· Clogging: No.
· Cleaning: Easy.
· Water resistance: Very good. The excess ink came off, but the rest was stable.
· Availability: 3 oz/90 ml bottles, Russian Series is more expensive than the traditional line of Noodler’s.

Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier

[Vicarious]

Thanks for the review!

I thought I had tested of all Noodler's Russian inks, but I somehow missed this one. I am a fan of Russian literature so this series was really fun for me. Some of them are quite unique colors too. Pasternak was my favorite, but I seem to have miss placed my bottle. If I am remembering correctly, most of the ones I tested had some major feathering on the papers and I tried them on. Even my Col-o-Ring cards. I think Esenin was particularly feathery. I am glad Lermontov seems not to have that issue.

You are right about the blues in Russian. Navy and light blue are two different colors, and Russians often won't understand you if you call the sky navy-colored or something like that. As a native English speaker, I am still learning where one color ends and where the other begins. However, I would assume there is a nexus point, like the one between red and orange, Where some reds and oranges are so close in color that they are hard to distinguish. Someone might call an example orange and another person call it red. You could have a philosophical debate over whether there is an objective answer to that question or not, but I will leave that unanswered for now, unless someone wants to explore it in later comments.

The Russians also have word for the color turquoise, but not for the color teal.

Thanks again for the review!

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

I remember reading синий вечерб which referred to evening.

In high school Russian we read part of Герой нашего времени, A Hero of Our Time. That was in the 70's, so I'll read through my copy to see if Lermontov used синий or a different word.

Wish I'd kept a "real" journal during my trip to Russia, as I ate at St. Petersburg's Literary Café. Pushkin ate there before the duel. I don't know if Lermontov ate there. I'll look for my old Day-Timers - in which I wrote with my MB Classique - and see if I made any notes about the café.

The words народная библиотека on the book cover mean "people's library."

всего хорошеьо (all the best) ...

Hero of Our Time.jpg

[Yazeh]

Thanks for the review!

I thought I had tested of all Noodler's Russian inks, but I somehow missed this one. I am a fan of Russian literature so this series was really fun for me. Some of them are quite unique colors too. Pasternak was my favorite, but I seem to have miss placed my bottle. If I am remembering correctly, most of the ones I tested had some major feathering on the papers and I tried them on. Even my Col-o-Ring cards. I think Esenin was particularly feathery. I am glad Lermontov seems not to have that issue.

You are right about the blues in Russian. Navy and light blue are two different colors, and Russians often won't understand you if you call the sky navy-colored or something like that. As a native English speaker, I am still learning where one color ends and where the other begins. However, I would assume there is a nexus point, like the one between red and orange, Where some reds and oranges are so close in color that they are hard to distinguish. Someone might call an example orange and another person call it red. You could have a philosophical debate over whether there is an objective answer to that question or not, but I will leave that unanswered for now, unless someone wants to explore it in later comments.

The Russians also have word for the color turquoise, but not for the color teal.

Thanks again for the review!

You're most welcome. I truly appreciated and enjoyed your explanation the Russian language and colours As a teenager, I read a lot of Russian literature, and listened to a lot of Shostakovich Though I missed out on many, like Lermontov, Pushkin and the modern poets. Unlike you, my experience with the Russians series, was quite good (especially Akhmatova, Pasternak, Chekov). A couple had major flow issues, but I didn't have any feathering problems, but then again I mostly use Japanese paper. It might also be that in their early iteration the inks were not well behaved and over time, Mr. Tardiff, changed/ bettered the formula. Surprisingly, Esenin was one of the better reds, and on the plus side it was easy to clean, unlike most reds. It was too bright to my taste, though. I believe Pushkin was one of the worst inks, I used, I couldn't make it flow.

As I use mostly, if not always, permanent inks, I've learned my way through most of them and forgive a lot of their bad behaviours, by using appropriate pen/ paper combos.
As for colours, and naming them, I often get muddled, as I mix up French and English words as they have the same root and mean different colours. For example Pourpre and Purple have the same root but they are not the same colour And when you talk with artists they talk about so many nuances and shades that drives one crazy. It reminds me of this scene from Mr. Blanindings builds his dream house:

But then again, we live in a specialized world. Everything has become too complicated

[Yazeh]

I remember reading синий вечерб which referred to evening.

In high school Russian we read part of Герой нашего времени, A Hero of Our Time. That was in the 70's, so I'll read through my copy to see if Lermontov used синий or a different word.

Wish I'd kept a "real" journal during my trip to Russia, as I ate at St. Petersburg's Literary Café. Pushkin ate there before the duel. I don't know if Lermontov ate there. I'll look for my old Day-Timers - in which I wrote with my MB Classique - and see if I made any notes about the café.

The words народная библиотека on the book cover mean "people's library."

всего хорошеьо (all the best) ...

I always enjoy reading about your experiences, photographies, expressed with such understated eloquence I found his line about finding peace in the middle of a storm, so telling of our times.
But back to Lermontov, I was surprised to discover that Nabokov, found his novel written in an inelegant Russian.
Let me know if you concur with the question of light blue in the novel, if you get around it

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

Спасибо / Thank you for your kind thoughts.

I put the book in my EDC Banana Republic Paratrooper's satchel so I get around to it sooner than later.

Yes, that's a slide rule in the satchel - a Keuffel & Esser Jet Log Jr.

[Vicarious]

Thanks for the reply!

i laughed quite hard at the video you shared. I kind of feel like that woman in the video right now actually. I am currently on the hunt for the perfect green. I bought a whole bunch of ink samples and am awaiting the shipment. I am especially excited to try Noodler's standard green and Noodler's army green.

My favorite Russian writers are Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Blok. In fact, I bought and then used an entire bottle of Noodler's Bad Green Gater because I love Dostoevsky's "The Crocodile" so much. I haven't gotten around to getting another bottle, but I probably will eventually. It will just depend on how the above journey goes.

The complicated and Experimental nature of fountain pens has definitely been a driving force of my fountain pen journey, and it is part of what makes it fun, though slightly frustrating for me sometimes.

I have always struggled a bit with the balance of line-width, paper, and ink. I began my FP journey with a fine nib and a light colored in on mead notebook paper. No feathering, but the readback was pretty dreadful. I moved to bigger nibs(Western Medium/Eastern Broad), which helped the readback, but then I got feathering. My solution to that was some tomoe river paper. No feathering, but that dry time made it hard to use for the college notetaking I was using my pens for at the time. I moved to leuchsturm for a bit, but I got more feathering. I still use Fine nibs with black or dark blue/blue-black inks, but not much else. I eventually settled on Clarefountaine and Rhodia. That line-width and paper combo seems to work well for all of my go-to inks, and indeed most inks that I have tried. However, not all of them. I will also note that sometimes my hand will grease the page and cause some feathering.

I should also note that Noodler's Zhivago is one of those Go-tos. I am a little confused as to whether that one is in the Russian writer series or not, I have heard it both ways.

I do still have some of those ink samples left and some Tomoe River, so when I get the chance I will try those Russian inks out again and report back.

Cheers,
Vic

[Yazeh]

Спасибо / Thank you for your kind thoughts.

I put the book in my EDC Banana Republic Paratrooper's satchel so I get around to it sooner than later.

Yes, that's a in the satchel - a Keuffel & Esser Jet Log Jr.

Love that satchel. And the date, in French, I assume when you were measuring the diameter of the Asteroid B-612 @ the Deux Magots

[Yazeh]

Thanks for the reply!

i laughed quite hard at the video you shared. I kind of feel like that woman in the video right now actually. I am currently on the hunt for the perfect green. I bought a whole bunch of ink samples and am awaiting the shipment. I am especially excited to try Noodler's standard green and Noodler's army green.

Glad you enjoyed the clip It's the same with me for my perfect green. I bought a bottle of Polar Green, on a whim. Which I bright, no nonsense green, and can be quite misbehaving, always in a Green Kaweco. Then I really got tempted y the murkiness of Akhmatova. But then fell in love with the bottle of Kakimori Kurun, and the elegance of El Lawrence. Too many inks.

My favorite Russian writers are Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Blok. In fact, I bought and then used an entire bottle of Noodler's Bad Green Gater because I love Dostoevsky's "The Crocodile" so much. I haven't gotten around to getting another bottle, but I probably will eventually. It will just depend on how the above journey goes.

I loved Dostoyevsky in my twenties. I'm not sure if I can read his work anymore. I couldn't bring myself to order a sample of Rachmaninov, which I love the concertos, but couldn't stand the colour, yet I still have Tolstoy, which I appreciate the colour but have been unable to appreciate his work. Ironically, I endured Prokofiev's War and Peace

The complicated and Experimental nature of fountain pens has definitely been a driving force of my fountain pen journey, and it is part of what makes it fun, though slightly frustrating for me sometimes.

I have always struggled a bit with the balance of line-width, paper, and ink. I began my FP journey with a fine nib and a light colored in on mead notebook paper. No feathering, but the readback was pretty dreadful. I moved to bigger nibs(Western Medium/Eastern Broad), which helped the readback, but then I got feathering. My solution to that was some tomoe river paper. No feathering, but that dry time made it hard to use for the college notetaking I was using my pens for at the time. I moved to leuchsturm for a bit, but I got more feathering. I still use Fine nibs with black or dark blue/blue-black inks, but not much else. I eventually settled on Clarefountaine and Rhodia. That line-width and paper combo seems to work well for all of my go-to inks, and indeed most inks that I have tried. However, not all of them. I will also note that sometimes my hand will grease the page and cause some feathering.

So true. For now I waver between Midori and 68 gr Tomoe River paper. Though I quite like Maruman and Mnemosyne.

I should also note that Noodler's Zhivago is one of those Go-tos. I am a little confused as to whether that one is in the Russian writer series or not, I have heard it both ways.

I do still have some of those ink samples left and some Tomoe River, so when I get the chance I will try those Russian inks out again and report back.

Cheers,
Vic

Looking forward to your report

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

Спасибо / Thank you for your kind thoughts.

I put the book in my EDC Banana Republic Paratrooper's satchel so I get around to it sooner than later.

Yes, that's a in the satchel - a Keuffel & Esser Jet Log Jr.

Love that satchel. And the date, in French, I assume when you were measuring the diameter of the Asteroid B-612 @ the Deux Magots

The date - jeudi (Thursday, French words for days of the week and months are not capitalized) 30 juin (June) 2022 - is that of notes I made while reading the dual language version of Le Petit Prince.

bonne journée,

[Yazeh]

Спасибо / Thank you for your kind thoughts.

I put the book in my EDC Banana Republic Paratrooper's satchel so I get around to it sooner than later.

Yes, that's a in the satchel - a Keuffel & Esser Jet Log Jr.

Love that satchel. And the date, in French, I assume when you were measuring the diameter of the Asteroid B-612 @ the Deux Magots

The date - jeudi (Thursday, French words for days of the week and months are not capitalized) 30 juin (June) 2022 - is that of notes I made while reading the dual language version of Le Petit Prince.

bonne journée,

I guessed so. Hence my wink, at Asteroid B-612, where the Petit Prince came from

[Vicarious]

I did a little playing around with Noodler's Esesin and Tsvetaya. I will attach some mini-writing samples below. Samples are done on cream Tomoe River paper from before all the changes. The other was done on Rodia paper from a pad. I experienced the slightly bit of feathering with the Tsvetayeva, but that is me being picky. I have no idea why my experience was different the first go-round. Not sure if I like them enough to get a bottle of either, but I am really glad I gave them another try.

[Yazeh]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I rechecked my reviews of both inks:

Esenin was well behaved, and easy to clean. I didn't like the eye searing red.

Tsvetayeva was a gorgeous red, but had smudge problems, too eternity to dry and a pain to clean.

Was that your experience?

[Vicarious]

Pretty similar, it took a lot of effort to get Tsvetayeva out of my Lamy, and I did have some smudging. Esenin pretty decently behaved, but neither shade really spoke to me compared to what I already have in my collection.

[manoeuver]

I love this thread!

'Lermontov' is one of my go-to words when I'm doodling nonsense, trying out nibs and ink. Love the way it looks and sounds.

I too became infatuated reading Dostoyevsky in my early 20s. Bad enough that I ended up with a bachelor's in Russian. Whoops.

during my studies I came to adore Nabokov, Bulgakov and (I was surprised!) Akhmatova. Among others, many others.

I read Gulag before I went to college and have tried revisiting camp literature since and I can't do it. It's hard enough rereading Dostoyevsky (although I dip in and out of Demons and find it funny if not charming.)

If you haven't read Solzhenitsyn you must. If you already have you understand it's a preview to what's coming. I have the Shalamov but can't bear to read it.

To study Russia is to study pain. I can't imagine Americans surpassing the pain Russians have imposed on themselves and others, but I've been wrong a lot, a lot. God help us.

I do like the Zhivago, a near-black green. Most of the noodler's inks are too tough for me. I'm not really old yet but I'm getting to know how much I can take. The French inks are soft and well-behaved, the germans are dry and dependable. I'll stop there. thanks for reading.

[Yazeh]

@manoeuver, thank you so much for sharing your experience. I read Dostoyevsky's, The House of the Dead as a young adult. I remember it was harrowing. I stumbled through Sholokhov's, And Quiet Flows the Don, and couldn't connect with Gorky's work.
As of now, I cannot stomach this type of literature anymore. Reading Russian literature is intense, much like their music, which I prefer, but in small doses. It's a pity they're often ruled by mad men, though not surprising, with their history.
I'll be doing my penultimate Russian series ink review, Tolstoy, which I've been avoiding. It's not an author, which I particularly like.

I believe Shostakovich's 14th symphony reflects well Russian literature. Grave, hysteric, nervous, cynical......

[manoeuver]

It's funny, many of the Russians I've rubbed shoulders with preferred Tolstoy to Dostoevsky, also indicating it's a common preference.
When I replied saying Tolstoy is too overtly moralistic they've replied, that's why.

I've become too intellectually flabby and lazy to dig into any great novels of late, I'm afraid. I should put a bullet in my phone.

[Yazeh]

It's funny, many of the Russians I've rubbed shoulders with preferred Tolstoy to Dostoevsky, also indicating it's a common preference.
When I replied saying Tolstoy is too overtly moralistic they've replied, that's why.

That's why I don't like Tolstoy, because he's moralistic. And I'm weary of them.

I've become too intellectually flabby and lazy to dig into any great novels of late, I'm afraid.

I wonder if there's a time for novels. When I was young I read voraciously. But, now I prefer non fiction

[manoeuver]

I wonder if there's a time for novels. When I was young I read voraciously. But, now I prefer non fiction

I think there might be something to that. I also know a lot of folks my age and older who read mostly novels.

It's also plausible that new technologies have corroded my ability to pay attention to novels, or I've become too cynical to read fiction.
What is certain is I haven't been practicing.

Although I did pick up some short stuff by Melville and had a great time reading it. Got a copy of Moby Dick last year and haven't had the courage to start it.
Probably need to get back in fighting shape before I pick up that one.

[DrPenfection]

Yazeh, great review as always. I like the color. I picked up samples of Noodler's Russian inks. Their not bad, but still not my favorite.

I have always enjoyed Russian literature. It is predictable and emotional, if not bi-polar at times. While I don't get much time to read, I did re-read Anna Karenina a couple of years ago.

Recently, I took a three week "holiday", and during that time I had the chance to read several books - some were just rubbish, but some were quite good. I find that even if I don't care for the story, if the book is well written I will keep reading.