September 21, 2017

Guns, Gents, and Stalin


Guns, Gents, and Stalin
Heroes Great and Small

1. The Russian landscape has statues to literary figures, past rulers, and now, the inventor of one of history’s most murderous weapons. The seven-meter, $538,000 monument to Mikhail Kalashnikov, the inventor of the AK-47 assault rifle, went up in Moscow on Tuesday. Here’s what ordinary Russians attending had to say about the unveiling, with opinions ranging from praise of the hero who brought Russia many victories, to lamenting that people weren’t asked their thoughts in advance, to a lone protester who was detained for his anti-militarist views.

2. There are the heroes who win wars, and then there are the ones who prevent wars. The latter usually get less attention, as was the case with Stanislav Petrov. While an officer at a nuclear early-warning center in 1983, Petrov received data suggesting a U.S. missile launch and correctly interpreted it as a false alarm. His decision possibly averted nuclear disaster, but was kept secret for a decade. In a second instance of belated recognition, which his family attributes to his gentlemanly modesty, Petrov died in May but is only now being memorialized for an act that saved millions of lives.

3. More movie mayhem (missed last week’s horrors? Dive back in time): a new comedy-drama about the death of Joseph Stalin might be purged. The Russian Culture Ministry has requested an advance copy of the film for review, saying they’ll ban the satirical film if it seems likely to offend some Russians’ feelings. Russian Orthodox extremists have threatened movie theaters based on the movie Mathilde, which they decry for its portrayal of Nikolai II, and officials fear a similar response by Russian communists to the film about Stalin. Plus, it could be a Western attempt to “blacken Russian history,” one official worries.

In Odder News
  • Russia’s got a new big cheese: Russian cheese. After sanctions ceased Western cheese imports, a Moscow man turned cheesemaker. Bite in and learn more.
  • new wine label, memorializing the Romanovs and spearheaded by the brother of the King of Sweden, is set to launch in Crimea. With that genealogy, it’s bound to have a rich bouquet.
  • What does contemporary Russian art look like? Kinda like this.

Quote of the Week

"I felt like I was sitting on a hot frying pan….Twenty-three minutes later I realised that nothing had happened. If there had been a real strike, then I would already know about it. It was such a relief."
—Stanislov Petrov on his crisis-averting decision not to report what looked like a US missile launch in 1983. It was later concluded that reflecting sunlight had been identified as the engines of the missiles.

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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.
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 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.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

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.
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.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
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.

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