Pills of Lithuanian Literature: Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas - or the drama of poetry experienced in the Spirit of Time
Can poetry bring to the point of making a man choose between a life dedicated to God and one dedicated te poetry? Can poetry get to the point where it becomes the drama of a man's own existence? Yes, it can. Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas devoted a long novel to this drama: Altorių šešėly (In the shadows of the altars). The novel was published in 1933. Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas (1893 - 1967) was a Lithuanian poet, writer and playwright. His most famous novel is "Altorių šešėly", a psychological novel. The novel is about the life, feelings, and inner conflicts of Ludos Vasaris, a young priest. The work deals with many psychological problems: the priesthood, the search for a life path, and the freedom of the artist's personality. The crucial theme of the novel is: can the same person be both, a priest and a poet? No, it cannot because that will lead to schizophrenia. The main character of the work is the intellectual Liudas Vasaris, who enters the priestly seminary and stud...