November 16, 2017

Lions and Lawyers and Baba Yaga, Oh My!


Lions and Lawyers and Baba Yaga, Oh My!
Extinct Creatures and Fairytale Creatures

1. Quit lion around! Easier said than done for a cave lion cub that has been lying encased in permafrost since the Ice Age. The cub, whose remains were discovered in the permanently frozen ground of Yakutia in Russia’s far northeast, belongs to a species of cave lions now extinct. The remains are in relatively good condition, so there’s talk of trying to clone the cub – though of course, debates about resurrecting extinct animals is a matter of hot debate. This particular cave cat may have been lyin’ in ice for 10,000 years or more.

2. How well do you know your Slavic folk heroes? Well enough to get by if you were magically transported to a fairytale alternate universe? That’s the task before the 21st-century hero of the new film The Last Bogatyr. The movie is a team effort by Disney and the Russian company Yellow, Black, and White, and it’s one of Russia’s top box office hits of the year. Consider yourself warned: if you’re dying for a selfie with Baba Yaga or Koshchei the Deathless, make sure you watch your back. (And brush up on who they are here).

3. In a rough day for non-Russian journalism, Russian lawmakers have voted unanimously to make foreign media outlets report on their activities and submit to financial inspections. The move is a response to the United States’ application of the label of “foreign agent” to the Kremlin-backed news source RT. The U.S. calls it safeguarding against propaganda; the Russian government calls it an attack on Russian media abroad, and this latest law is a retaliation against the United States that will make it harder for foreign media like Radio Liberty and CNN to operate in Russia. Where's a folk hero to save the day when you need one?

In Odder News
  • Want to hone your Russian art knowledge? How about the whole 20th century in 25 minutes? Arzamas can help you with that.
  • Dachas are a distinctly Russian phenomenon. Find out why weekend trips to dig up veggies in the countryside are more than meet the eye.
  • Whoopsy-daisy: the Russian Defense Ministry accidentally showed video game footage and said it was the U.S. helping terrorists. It could happen to anyone, right?
Quote of the Week

“I wouldn’t exaggerate the significance of this error...Mistakes happen and it’s no big deal if they’re corrected in a timely manner.”
—Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on the accidental use of video game footage as proof of U.S. forces supporting terrorists in the Middle East.

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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.
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.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
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 Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
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 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.
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.
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.  

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