April 12, 2018

Singed Sweets and Stolen Sea-Dwellers


Singed Sweets and Stolen Sea-Dwellers
Charred Chocolate, Freezing Fishermen, and Phantom Fish

1. Burn, baby, burn! Russian social media users are turning up the heat by demonstrating the flammability of various brands of Russian chocolates. Bloggers have enjoyed comparing how different chocolates – by brand and country of origin – fare when put to the fiery test. Following a public outcry, Russia’s consumer protection watchdog said it would subject domestic chocolates to lab testing. It all puts a slightly different spin on the idea of “a hot mess.”

2. Over thirty fishermen found themselves on thin ice this week (or at least, breakable ice). On the coast of Russia’s Far East, the ice floe that the fishermen were on broke off from land and floated into the ocean. The fishermen went out on the floe (about 500 meters from shore) despite warnings from emergency services. They were rescued, but two fishermen decided to stay behind, saying that the fish were biting. Hey man, whatever floe-ts your boat.

3. An unknown man made out with a reel haul this week: he stole 13 metric tons of fish. The man was disguised as a transport company representative and put the fish into his car and trailer. The fish, which cost over R6.4 million ($101,500), were stolen from Moscow but were originally destined for Nizhny Novgorod. Hopefully the police can reel him in.

In Odder News:

Photo: Иван Марков

  • The people of Kaliningrad found that the lamp posts on their new bridge were sneakily decorated with flower pots… oops-a-daisy!

  • Open the floodgates! Warm weather and piles of snow led to a deluge of floods across Russia

  • One friendly seal refuses to go back to the wild: it seems as though he’s seal-ed the deal on staying with his St. Petersburg human friends

Quote of the Week:

“From the very beginning, there was a sense that the files responsible for wildness were deleted in his brain. There was not even a hint that this program would ever be launched.”

— A fisherman describes Kroshik the seal

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Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
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Dostoyevsky Bilingual

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Woe From Wit (bilingual)

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Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 

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