January 29, 2020

The Motherland Calls... Reenactors


The Motherland Calls... Reenactors
Historically accurate. VKontakte, Sergei Stepanov. Posted to @vproriv.

A quiet St. Petersburg suburb was recently transformed into a war zone worthy of an action film. 20 automobiles, 15 tanks, and 600 reenactors celebrated the 76th anniversary of the end of the Siege of Leningrad with a "war-historical festival" (the Siege was broken on January 27, 1944).

The event, dubbed "The Breakthrough Strip," pays homage to the over one million Soviet citizens who perished during the over-two-year blockade of the city by Nazi forces 1941-1944. Another half-million Red Army troops died attempting to relieve the city.

Even now, nearly 75 years after the war ended, World War II has not lost its power as important historical touchpoint in Russia. In fact, the government has been encouraging national unity around the "Great Patriotic War" through the invocation of war glory since Putin took power in 2000 (expect this May's 75th anniversary celebrations to get significant coverage). And, as any traveler can tell you, Russians love their monuments.

We think it looks pretty cool, if we're being honest. Check out their promotional video.

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Some of our Books

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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. 

Life Stories
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Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

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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.

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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.

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