A theme of imprisonment is very popular in Russian literature.
It probably started with Pushkin, Lermontov and other poets of Russian Golden Age who often criticised Tzar, the autocratic Russian State and the lack of freedoms for serfs and other poor people. … Read the rest
How many modern Russian books have you read or contemporary Russian authors you heard of? Outside Russia its literature is primarily associated with Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Bulgakov, Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn. Their books are often in top 100 must-read lists. Yet, it’s strange that the riches of Post-Soviet literature don’t spread much to the West as if being stopped by an invisible barrier.… Read the rest
A short story can tell a lot about the writer's calibre
I never quite understood why short stories and novellas sell less than novels.
Just think about it.
You are about to read something written by an unfamiliar author. Are you prepared to invest several days of your time into his or her novel?… Read the rest
Gagarin (image by SAS Scandinavian Airlines (http://images.flysas.com) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)
INTRO: Russia is a monarchy. Politologists may call it cleptocracy, the opposition – a totalitarian state, and Putin’s ideologists – a sovereign democracy. In reality, the monarchy was restored in Russia in 1999. It was done by Yeltsin, who gave Vladimir Putin keys to the Kremlin.… Read the rest
Still of Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar – Photo by Keith Bernstein – © 2011 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
*********J Edgar ( 2011, dir. Clint Eastwood)
I’ll start with Hoover. It’s a fantastic film and I disagree with critics’ opinion that the film doesn’t really reveal Hoover’s character or that it doesn’t explore enough Hoover’s motives and personal demons.… Read the rest