September 01, 2014

For Better or Worse


For Better or Worse

Every time one thinks that things just can't get any worse on the US-Russian relations front, they do.

In the past decade and a half‘s slow downward spiral there has been the war in Chechnya, the US bombing of Serbia, spy scandals, the ABM Treaty, NATO expansion, the war in Georgia, the failed “reset” button, Edward Snowden, the annexation of Crimea, and now the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, from the outside looking in, Americans see the de-democratization of elections, crackdowns on press freedoms, politically motivated criminal prosecutions, the theft of state assets, and a worrying political homogenization of society.

And from the inside looking out, Russians see NATO encirclement, US and EU meddling in its sphere of influence, American military intervention in Islamic states situated on Russia‘s underbelly, and neighbors who are freeloading off cheap Russian energy.

It is hard not to look at these events and oppositional worldviews and conclude that the situation is hopeless.

Yet it bears remembering that for most of the twentieth century the US and the USSR found a way to coexist (while of course conducting many wars through proxy), despite the fact that each had an ideology that swore the other state would crumble.

It also is worth remembering that for most of the nineteenth century the US and Russia had the best of relations, despite the fact that they had oppositional views on the nature of society and political freedoms, and that their territorial empires were butting up against one another in the Pacific.

When the world is self-inflicting arson, mayhem and banality on itself (which, admittedly, it seems to be doing most of the time), it helps to step back and keep things in perspective.

When Russians and Ukrainians, tied together by centuries of history, are fighting over scraps of territory, when spies are violating one another‘s air and desktop space, when politicians are deciding what people have a right to read, watch and eat, it is good to take a breather. It is good to read about street photographers, to run off into the wilderness in search of wolves, to ruminate on soulful poetry, or to wonder at beautiful animals.

The world gave us the unimaginable tragedy of a downed airliner. We respond by embellishing the cover of our magazine with an unlikely, noble and beautiful giraffe.

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Some of Our Books

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.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
22 Russian Crosswords

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.
Moscow and Muscovites

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. 
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Fearful Majesty

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.
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93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Steppe / Степь

Steppe / Степь

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

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