May 16, 2019

It's an Animal World After All


It's an Animal World After All
That’s one bold thief right there. Alexander Vorobyov

Throwback Thursday

Maximilian Voloshin
Maximilian Voloshin. / Wikimedia Commons

On May 16, 1877, the poet Maximilian Voloshin was born. He lived through three very different eras: the Russian Silver Age, the 1917 revolutions, and the Russian Civil War. Read some of his poems in translation right here on Russian Life.

Planet of the Free Bees and Bears

1. If you can’t find a honey, then make some honey! Humans and bees don’t have a lot in common, but one thing’s for sure: we all get lonely when we’re single. Luckily, if you’re a bee, the Moscow Zoo has the solution for you. On May 13, the Zoo opened a brand-new “hotel for single bees and wasps.” It’s designed mainly to give single bees a resting place while they pollinate flowers, but if the bees so desire, they can raise bee families there. No wonder these hives are getting so much buzz!

Hotel for single bees and wasps
The swanky new bee hotel. / Photo: Moscow Zoo

2. Freeing the animals, one circus at a time. It’s not just the Moscow Zoo that empathizes with our animal relatives: the mayor of Magas has officially banned the use of wild animals in circuses. “Animals are not entertainment or soulless toys; they are living beings. Cruelty towards them is unacceptable,” he announced in a press release. Before we celebrate, though, we should note that right now, activists are being detained in inhumane conditions for protesting the new border with Chechnya. Ironic, because wasn’t it a wild animal who said, “We are all connected in this great circle of life”?

Horse
Free as a horse. / Photo: Администрация города Магас

3. When a bear (b)ruins your hunting plans. A couple of hunters were driving on Kamchatka peninsula when a bear came over and started raiding their truck. The bear picked up their ration box and absconded in what has to be the heist of the century. Incidentally, the previous day, another driver on the same highway noticed a bear searching for food; some speculate it was the same bear. We usually tell people not to feed the bears, but we can’t always help it if they take matters into their own paws.

Blog Spotlight

Are you a fan of Kidnapping, Caucasus-Style (Кавказская пленница)? Are you just curious about Caucasus culture? Either way, don’t miss Katrina Keegan’s article fact-checking the Caucasus.

In Odder News

Bentley tank
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a Bentley tank! / Photo: Carbuzz
  • A mighty military mashina: Watch this Russian car enthusiast turn a Bentley into a tank.
  • Belgorod, best known for its Star Wars-loving mayor, is getting a major redesign. Check out the details here.
  • During a wrestling match, one fearless babushka intervened to defend her grandson.
Babushka defending grandson in wrestling match
The world needs more heroes like this. / Photo: Soviet Visuals

Quote of the Week

“The dead are burying the dead.”

— One Tweeter commenting on a scandal where Zvezda channel falsely claimed that a deceased opera singer commented on journalist Sergei Dorenko’s death

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.

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Some of Our Books

Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
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.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
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.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
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.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
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.  
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
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
December 01, 2016

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
July 01, 2014

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.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

Driving Down Russia's Spine
June 01, 2016

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. 

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

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.

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

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.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

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.

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