October 26, 2017

Rocks, Raps, and Cats in Charge


Rocks, Raps, and Cats in Charge
Don't Take Business for Granite

1. Running out of tombstones is a grave problem. Some companies specializing in granite for gravestones reported shortages, apparently due to resources being diverted for Moscow’s urban renewal project. Allaying fears that the tombstone industry was in danger of an early demise, Siberian funeral homes stated that their granite supply was in no grave danger. At least that’s one less thing for mourners to mourn.

2. In more futuristic business news, blockchain is Russia’s new big kid on the block. Blockchain and cryptocurrency have been a hot topic in Moscow circles, and it’s about to get official. For one, cryptocurrency is on the road to legalization in Russia’s financial sector. As for blockchain, the government is launching a pilot project to transfer Moscow’s land and property registry to blockchain, and later expand the technology into other government services.

3. Nothing screams catchy rap hit like a song about mercenary warfare. But just such a video has been topping the charts of Russian YouTube. The trending rap song is dedicated to PCM Wagner, allegedly a military contractor supplying fighters to Syria (though officials have neither confirmed that Wagner fighters are in the Kremlin’s employ nor even that the company exists). The song borrows a catchy refrain from Viktor Tsoi’s song "Kukushka."

In Odder News
  • Ever had a bad experience with a store manager? How about one who hisses and yowls at you? Some Perm stores have hired feline assistants to help people make their purr-chases. That’s how you put the meow in merchandise.

  • Airports are bustling, hi-tech centers of futuristic design. Unless they’re repurposed barns in rural Russian outposts. See the photo shoot.

Quote of the Week 

“We get granite by the train-car load, there are no problems with supplies.”
—A representative of funeral homes in Omsk, refuting the claims that granite shortages were getting in the way of tombstone production in Siberia.

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Some of our Books

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
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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.

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
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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 Little Humpbacked Horse
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The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

A Taste of Chekhov
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A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

White Magic
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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.

The Moscow Eccentric
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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.

A Taste of Russia
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A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

Little Golden Calf
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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.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
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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.

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