July 18, 2019

The Illegal and the Unbelievable


The Illegal and the Unbelievable
This girl isn’t sitting at home playing (para)Chutes and Ladders. Personal archive of Chernikh family | Komsomolskaya Pravda

Still-developing child brains, dead brains, missing brains.

1. Dead Souls has come to life. The plot of this classic novel by Nikolai Gogol, published in 1842, in which the dead are used to inflate the value of a landowner’s estate, became an actual news story on July 15. Four candidates in the Moscow City Duma elections allegedly included the signatures of dead people in their petitions for inclusion on the ballot. The candidates involved think this is all a grave mistake and will dispute the decision to exclude them from the election. 

2. Here’s a story that will blow your mind. Sixty years ago, a man was born without half his brain. Oblivious to this fact, he grew up, had kids, worked as an engineer, and retired. Only after going to a hospital in the Moscow region, because of a transient ischemic attack in the left side of his brain, did doctors realize that… there was no left side of his brain. He refused to participate in additional studies, saying that he didn’t want the “glory.” Doctors eager to study this unique phenomenon surely would like to give him a piece of their mind. (Except he actually doesn’t need any more pieces of mind; the right side is doing just fine on its own.) 

Brain scan with half of brain missing
It is almost unthinkable that a man could think with this. / Marina Anikina, Federal Center of Extrapyramidal Illnesses and Psychiatric Health FMBTs | Gazeta.ru

3. Russian children from Yekaterinburg are going places, by trolleybus and parachute. A seven-year-old boy who thinks hard work is the ticket to success has decided to spend his holidays selling tickets on trolleybuses. The regional children’s rights spokesman is conflicted, because he says such underage labor is illegal, yet he also wants to support the kid’s initiative. Meanwhile, a 10-year-old girl became the youngest parachutist in Russia. The young sportswoman has also already won awards in tennis, running, and weightlifting competitions. Next up is climbing Mount Elbrus

Kid conductor counting change in Russia
Earning pocket change by counting change. / Anton Derbenyov | Facebook

 

In odder news

  • Modern Robin Hoods from Tyumen stole 140 bars of chocolate and distributed at least some of them to random people on the street. 
  • A woman from Moscow made a fake call to the police about a bomb in a train station, because she wanted to be arrested and go back “home” to jail. 
  • Guess which of these phenomena is natural: a bright blue lake in Siberia, or an orange sea in the Far East? 
Bright blue chemical lake Siberia
The news that this lake has turned poisonous from chemicals doesn’t seem to be making these visitors as blue as it should. / @Maldives_nsk | Instagram
Orange water in Vladivostok
No, it’s not spilled orange juice, it’s algae. / @vdk_news24 | Instagram 

 

Quote of the week

“I want to talk to mom so bad… Mom looks at me and listens, but doesn’t say anything.” 

– A 10-year-old boy who will have his first ever conversation with his mother, who was completely paralyzed in a fire ten years ago and will now get to communicate thanks to the neurochat system.


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

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...
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. 
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 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.
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 Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

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.
Fearful Majesty

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.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 

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