April 06, 2017

The bad, the sad, and the ice laser


The bad, the sad, and the ice laser

It's a rough week for news. And ice.

1. Russia is still reeling after Monday’s tragic explosion on the St. Petersburg metro. To honor the victims of the attack, St. Petersburg officials have declared three days of mourning, during which entertainment events have been canceled and many have placed flowers at the Technological Institute metro station. Officials are also organizing mass anti-terror demonstrations. 

2. A report claims that over 100 men suspected of being gay have been detained in Chechnya in recent weeks, and at least three are now dead. Chechen officials have not condemned these likely “honor killings” of gay people, who are not tolerated in the conservative region; Kheda Saratova, a member of Chechnya’s Human Rights Council, expressed sympathy for families who would commit such an act, though she later said that her statements had been taken out of context. What will happen to the detained men is not yet known.

3. A laser that can cut through ice will help ships navigate Arctic waters all year long. It may sound like sci-fi, but the laser is able to focus on stress cracks in large ice floes and break them down with a focused ray of heat. When mounted on a ship, the device will enable travel through waters that are normally inaccessible, creating opportunities for trade and navigation. Testing is slated to take place in the Arkhangelsk region late in 2017.

In Odder News

  • Like Russian literature? Like kitties, horsies, and puppy dogs? Now’s your chance to learn about Russian authors and their favorite pets.
rbth.com
  • A quarter of Russians believe the sun circles the Earth, a sociological study reveals. On the bright side – or is it the dark side? – astronomy classes are to return to Russian classrooms.
  • How about a near-death experience with that chewing gum? Packs of gum with “truth or dare” stunts written on the wrappers are surrounded by a bubble of controversy.

RosKultObit 
Russian Cultural Obituary

Yevgeny Yevtushenko, versatile poet of Soviet dissident fame, died last weekend at age 83. Yevtushenko – also a novelist, dramatist, actor, and screenwriter – was particularly known for his poems about humanity and justice in the 1960s and ‘70s. One of his most famous is “Babi Yar,” which laments both the Nazis’ brutal massacre of Jews and history’s failure to remember the tragedy. With over 150 poetry collections and a Nobel Prize nomination under his belt, he will be remembered as one of the Soviet Union’s finest poets.

Quote of the Week

    “You can't detain and harass someone who doesn't exist in [this] republic. If there were such people in the Chechen republic, law enforcement wouldn't have a problem with them because their relatives would send them to a place of no return.”
    —Alvi Karimov, spokesman for the Chechen government, denying the allegations of honor killings of gay men in Chechnya based on the assertion that there are no gay men in Chechnya.

    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.

    Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

    Some of Our Books

    Chekhov Bilingual

    Chekhov Bilingual

    Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
    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.
    Marooned in Moscow

    Marooned in Moscow

    This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
    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.
    Murder and the Muse

    Murder and the Muse

    KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
    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.
    93 Untranslatable Russian Words

    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.
    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. 
    Russian Rules

    Russian Rules

    From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
    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.
    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.

    About Us

    Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

    Latest Posts

    Our Contacts

    Russian Life
    73 Main Street, Suite 402
    Montpelier VT 05602

    802-223-4955