July 27, 2017

Parties with Putin and the Ruins of Literature


Parties with Putin and the Ruins of Literature
Presidential Visits and Ancient Authors

1. Soviet-era dissident and human rights activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva celebrated her 90th birthday last week, and an unexpected guest celebrated with her. President Putin doesn’t make a habit of visiting elderly activists, but he congratulated her on living “for the sake of the people." Some critics argue that the president was “trolling” Alexeyeva, only feigning respect for an activist whose anti-Kremlin posture makes her an unlikely recipient of many happy returns from the man at the top. But she trolled back, securing a pardon for an imprisoned senator and voicing her certainty that the president always stays true to his promises.

2. From senior citizens to the very young, the president had a busy week of visits. After partying with Alexeyeva, Putin paid a visit to the Sirius Educational Center in Sochi, where he reviewed some of the students’ projects and candidly answered youngster’s questions. Topics ranged from social media practices and agriculture to favorite foods, composers, and martial arts moves. They even covered Putin’s nickname at intelligence school.

3. Gogol has lost his nose. And the rest of his body—literally, since a bas-relief of the famed 19th-century writer fell from the Moscow building known as the “House of Writers.” Literature-loving locals gathered his limbs for safekeeping, hoping that they’ll be restored. That hope is faint, however, as several of the house’s stucco authors have come unstuck in recent years. Archnadzor, a volunteer organization that urges protection for historical monuments, said that authorities have ignored requests to restore the landmark.

In Odder News
  • Maybe Ivan the Terrible isn’t so terrible anymore. Russia's first monument to the Tsar popped up less than a year ago, and now there are two.
  • watch owned by Putin snatched over a million euros at a Monaco auction. The Kremlin denied the connection, so the new owner may be out of luck. But at least they can tell the time.
  • Russia’s got some record-breaking bridges. Ten, to be precise. Cross on over to learn about them.

Quote of the Week

“I said they were OK, but I was really thinking to myself that they tasted strange. The chefs replied to me: ‘Thank God you enjoyed your meal, we killed so many chickens to make it!’ They thought I had ordered chickens’ crests instead of scallops!”
—President Putin on a fishy (or actually, not-so-fishy) food order. The Russian word for scallops is the same as the word for the combs on chickens’ heads. He told this entertaining story to the children he met with at the Sirius Educational Center.

Want more where this comes from? Give your inbox the gift of TWERF, our Thursday newsletter on the quirkiest, obscurest, and Russianest of Russian happenings of the week.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Little Golden Calf

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

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.
Russia Rules

Russia Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
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.  
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.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
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.
The Moscow Eccentric

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.
White Magic

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.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955