I admire clear succinct prose, like Hemingway’s. And I also like beautiful style of Oscar Wilde, where every word matters even though the language is poetic and can be quite elaborate at times. Both writers couldn’t be more different but one thing they have in common is clarity.… Read the rest
Fatsia covered in snow, Hammersmith, London, December 2010
Johann Goethe is one of my role models, he was a multitalented person, most known for his literary work and especially his masterpiece, Faust.
Goethe was also a botanist, a specialist in plant morphology.… Read the rest
Friends and new acquaintances often ask me questions like – why do I write, how does one write a novel, where to start, how does one publish a book… Instead of rambling for hours in attempt to answer these I normally re-direct them to specific best books in the business covering these questions (I’ll mention them below). … Read the rest
While the London Book Fair 2013 is still fresh in my memory, I’ll talk about the Read Russia Showcase, which I attended at the LBF. Read Russia is an initiative aiming to raise awareness about Russian literature outside Russia and connect fans of Russian books to modern Russian authors.… Read the rest
Now, there can’t be two more different books than Oblomov and Jonathan Livingston Seagull save for two things. The first one is that both became instant classics after their publication and still enjoy wide readership. Another one is a common theme of self-perfection making them timeless texts and an ideal pair for comparative analysis.… Read the rest
Today’s post is all about famous Russian love stories. Some of them are straighforward romance, others are psychological or political thrillers. But in the end, all of them are about love.
To download the book in epub or mobi format, just click on the thumbnail.… Read the rest
To me, books are not worth reading just for entertainment purposes. I want to learn something about the world and about myself, I want to be provoked into thinking about important issues.
Reading is a way to reflect, a mean for personal growth. … Read the rest