March 01, 2021 Lady Macbeth and a Tarantas By Robert Blaisdell and Paul E. Richardson A review of a new collection of Leskov's stories, and a new translation of Sollogub. Literature Reviews
September 01, 2020 Fear and Fandango By Robert Blaisdell We review Good Citizens Need Not Fear, by Maria Reva, and Fandango and Other Stories, by Alexander Grin. Literature Reviews
March 18, 2020 Dissecting Chekhov By Paul E. Richardson Translation is an art, not a science. And translating Chekhov is a particularly challenging art. Literature Reviews
November 24, 2019 Too Much Catherine, Not Enough Greatness By Tiffany Zhu and Katrina Keegan Two reviewers evaluate Catherine the Great through a gender and a storytelling lens. Film & TV History Reviews
August 03, 2019 "The Last Czars" is a Disgrace to Russian History By Tiffany Zhu “The Last Czars” is a wolf in sheep’s clothing: disingenuous, deceitful hagiography masquerading as history. Film & TV History Reviews
April 12, 2019 To the Kokosmos By Tiffany Zhu For Cosmonautics Day 2019, Anna Radchenko directs a surreal meditation on space. Watch the complete film on Russian Life. Culture Reviews Space
March 05, 2019 A Grim Tale of Redemption By Robert Blaisdell Redemption is grim, shocking, and rooted in the author's own tragic history. Yet, true to its name, it is a powerful story of redemption. History Reviews War
March 01, 2019 Stalin's Scribe By Robert Blaisdell I can’t imagine a cleverer or more perverse way of presenting “the first political biography” of Mikhail Sholokhov (1905-1975) than as if from the conscience-addled Sholokhov’s perspective. Biographies History Literature Reviews
September 04, 2012 Aristocrats, Churches and Noir By Paul E. Richardson Reviews of five interesting new books for Russophiles: Former People, Nevsky, St. Petersburg Noir, Wooden Churches and Russian Film Posters. History Literature Reviews
January 10, 2012 Interview with Author William Ryan By Paul E. Richardson William Ryan’s second book featuring MVD Detective Alexei Korolev, The Darkening Field, was released on January 3, 2012. Russian Life Publisher Paul E. Richardson interviewed Ryan about the genesis for his character and the challenges of situating a novel in Soviet Russia. History Literature Reviews
November 18, 2011 Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky and a Few Spies By Paul E. Richardson Reviews of some recent books on Tolstoy, Spying and the end of the USSR. And a new translation of an often overlooked work by Dostoyevsky. As published in the November/December 2011 issue of Russian Life. Int'l Relations Literature Reviews
September 08, 2011 Review: New Fiction for Russophiles By Paul E. Richardson It should come as no surprise,” writes Vyacheslav Pyetsukh at the beginning of The New Moscow Philosophy, “that where literature goes life follows, that Russians not only write what they live but in part live what they write…” Literature Reviews
October 01, 2021 to October 01, 2021 Virtual Lecture: Dr. Erika Wolf on Soviet Photography Zimmerli Art Museum | New Brunswick, NJ The Zimmerli welcomes Erika Wolf, presenting a lecture about Soviet photography in print, focusing on the work of women photographers and artists. This event is held in conjunction with the Zimmerli's exhibition "Communism Through the Lens: Everyday Life Captured by Women Photographers in the Dodge Collection." Please register. Lecture
October 15, 2021 to April 03, 2022 Icons for Our Time: Orthodox Art from Around the World Museum of Russian Icons | Clinton, MA Fifteen contemporary icons from fifteen countries explore iconography today. Presented in celebration of the museum's 15th Anniversary. Art Exhibit
September 01, 2021 to October 17, 2021 Communism Through the Lens: Everyday Life Captured by Women Photographers in the Dodge Collection Dodge Wing Lower Level | New Brunswick, NJ Spanning almost the entirety of the Soviet Union's history from the 1920s through the 1990s, this exhibition of rarely seen images explores themes of political art, documentary photography, and gender, offering a historical look at how women photographers interpreted life in the communist state. Art Exhibit
October 01, 2021 to October 09, 2021 Tchaikovsky's The Maid of Orleans Town Hall Theater | Middlebury, VT Opera Company of Middlebury (VT) will present an operatic rarity – Tchaikovsky's version of the Joan of Arc story, Orleanskaya deva or The Maid of Orleans. It will be sung in Russian with English subtitles. A sweeping tale in the style of French grand opera, it offers stunning orchestral passages, vibrant choruses, and a heroic role for the young mezzo-soprano playing Joan, sung here by Annie Rosen. Opera
November 01, 2021 to November 30, 2021 Yuri Gorbachev's 18th Annual Exhibition at the Byrne Gallery in Middleburg, Virginia The Byrne Gallery | Middleburg, VA Susan Byrne and Bill Byrne are celebrating their Gallery's 26th anniversary this year in Middleburg with a celebration and exhibition of the vivid oil and enamel paintings of internationally-acclaimed artist Yuri Gorbachev. Art Exhibit
The Little Humpbacked Horse A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Driving Down Russia's Spine The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia.
The Moscow Eccentric Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Fearful Majesty This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
White Magic The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
The Little Golden Calf Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
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.
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.
22 Russian Crosswords Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
Survival Russian Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
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.
Red Star Tales: A Century of Russian and Soviet Science Fiction For over 100 years, most of the science fiction produced by the world’s largest country has been beyond the reach of Western readers. This new collection changes that, bringing a large body of influential works into the English orbit.
September 07, 2021 Using Laughter to Cope By Kate Skorodinskaya These eight outstanding Soviet comedies show some of what has made Russians laugh over the past century. Most are still watched today. (First in our new series on learning about Russia through its films.) Culture Through Film
May 09, 2020 Russian/Soviet War Movies You Can Stream By Yuliya Ballou Some of the best Russian and Soviet films about World War II that you can stream online. Film & TV Reference War CVSG
Virgin Arctic By The Editors Russia is pushing ahead with a new drive to populate the country’s remote and unpopular fringes. Starting this year, Russians can claim a hectare (about 2.5 acres) of land in the Arctic zone – absolutely free. Agriculture Cities & Towns Government Regions Social Issues
September 01, 2013 Why Russians Don't Run By Paul E. Richardson A tale of two long distance road races – Russia’s oldest and its most prestigious – and what they tell us about the state of running and fitness in Russia. Sports
August 22, 2020 Sad Smiles and Kremlin Corruption By Paul E. Richardson Recounting a 2008 meeting with activist Alexei Navalny, before he rose to prominence. Government Politics
February 20, 2014 Russian Genealogy By Ginny Audet A comprehensive listing of resources, online and off, for researching your Russian roots, courtesy of Ginny Audet. History Reference
