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May/June 2013 Current Moscow Time: 20:28:59
21 May 2013

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Featured Articles

March 1, 2013
Masha Tattered Rags
Masha Tattered Rags

One hundred and fifty years ago, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin offered a humorous critique of the state of Russian literature in the 1860s. He also wrote some parody "dreadful stories," one of which is translated and reproduced here.

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Tags: literature, humor
Rating: Zero stars
November 19, 2012
Anna Karenina: The Puppet Version
Anna Karenina: The Puppet Version

The movie is almost too silly to discuss, as if Saturday Night Live decided to do a parody, but nobody but the costume-director and scene-making crew were ready. A puppet resembling Keira Knightley plays Anna; although thin, even scrawny, the animators make her look almost human.

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Tags: reviews, movies, anna karenina, tolstoy, keira knightley
Rating: 5.0 stars
November 17, 2012
Plagiarism, Perevody and Propaganda
Plagiarism, Perevody and Propaganda

Two stories out of Russia this weekend reinforced the stereotype that Russian entities (a) don't respect copyrights, yet (b) do value propaganda.

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Tags: copyright, ketchum, kremlin
Rating: 5.0 stars
November 9, 2012
Anna Karenina The First Time
Anna Karenina The First Time

In this, the second of two posts on Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, the author recounts his discovery of the greatest novel of all time: "I had never lived a book as I lived Anna Karenina."

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Tags: anna karenina, tolstoy, literature
Rating: 5.0 stars
November 8, 2012
Anna Karenina Every Day
Anna Karenina Every Day

Lev Tolstoy's Anna Karenina has been called the greatest novel of all time. But can one really appreciate it as much in English translation versus the Russian original?

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Tags: literature, tolstoy, anna karenina
Rating: 5.0 stars
September 4, 2012
Aristocrats, Churches and Noir
Aristocrats, Churches and Noir

Reviews of five interesting new books for Russophiles: Former People, Nevsky, St. Petersburg Noir, Wooden Churches and Russian Film Posters.

 
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Tags: books, reviews, churches, fiction
Rating: Zero stars
May 27, 2012
Publishing... Flipped!
Publishing... Flipped!

It is conventional wisdom that old-fashioned, ink and pulp publishing is in its death throes. But what if there were a way to "flip" the publishing model in a manner that preserves what is good, adopts what is new and useful, and filters out what is harmful and useless? I think we have found a way...

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Tags: publishing, Russia, Central Asia, Kickstarter
Rating: 4.5 stars