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Russian Winter Myth Exposed Posted by on Jan 13, 2011

Do you like «зима» [winter]? I don’t! When my American friends hear me complain about yet another cold snap, they inevitably ask “But aren’t you from Russia, the country infamous for its long and harsh winters?” I blame Russian literature for this question (although Russian artists added to the myth with beautiful paintings such as…

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Reading “Мастер и Маргарита”: Chapter 17 Posted by on Nov 5, 2010

Did you enjoy reading Chapter 17 of Bulgakov’s “Master and Margarita”? «Лично» [personally], I love all of it, from the sniffing dog «Тузбубен» whose «кличка» [name] literally means Ace of Diamonds to the empty suit, «ведущий дела» [conducting business] to the hapless and unwilling «хор» [choir]. But what I love even more is the…

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Reading “Мастер и Маргарита”: Chapter 16 Posted by on Oct 25, 2010

Through the first 15 chapters of Master and Margarita I hoped that it’d be Josefina’s turn once we get to «Казнь» [Execution]. But now that she’s «отошла от дел» [withdraw from business], it falls to me to write about Chapter 16 of the Bulgakov’s novel… Personally, I find it hard to write about the chapters…

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«Прощайте, дорогие друзья!» [Farewell, dear friends!] Posted by on Oct 10, 2010

I would advice you all to continue doing what I always do – and sort of have instructed you to also take pleasure in – look for signs of Russian literature EVERYWHERE! I found this bumper sticker on a car in downtown San Francisco today: “What would Taras Bulba do?” [«Что бы делал Тарас Бульба?»]…

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Reading «Мастер и Маргарита»: Chapter 13 Posted by on Sep 6, 2010

This is mimosa, one of the first flowers that appear at Russian markets in late winter and early spring. There’s much discussion whether the flowers Margarita carried the day she met Master were indeed «мимозы» [mimosa flowers]. After all, Bulgakov never named them, not in Chapter 13 anyway. He only described them as «отвратительные, тревожные…

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Reading «Мастер и Маргарита»: Chapter 12 Posted by on Aug 24, 2010

Chapter 12 – «Явление героя» [“The Appearance of the Hero”, or an even better English translation might be: ”The Hero Appears”] – is where we, the readers of “Master & Margarita”, finally come to understand what the novel’s title means. In this chapter an enigmatic «гость» [mas. guest] comes into the room of «Иван Бездомный»…

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Reading «Мастер и Маргарита»: Chapter 10 + 11 Posted by on Aug 12, 2010

And this week «мы читаем Булгакова у бассейна» [we’re reading Bulgakov by the pool]. «Да, да, знаю, знаю» [yes, yes, I know, I know] – it has been almost two months since we all started reading «Мастер и Маргарита» [“Master & Margarita”] together and we haven’t made it further than chapter ten. «Честно говоря» [honestly…

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