March 31, 2016

Chess, Traffic and Briefcases


Chess, Traffic and Briefcases

Once upawn a time

1. The movement “StopKham” (“Stop Rude Folks,” more or less) has been liquidated by the Moscow City Court. The movement acted up against drivers who broke road laws – for example, putting a snarky sticker on the car of Olympic gymnast Alexei Nemov for a bad parking job in February. Group organizers say they’ll fight the ruling for their right to pester parkers and drivers who bend the rules.
  
2. Forget little green men: knights and bishops will wage the real battle over Crimea. Chess grandmaster Sergei Karjakin is on the rookout for the world chess champion title, which he’ll face off for against Norway’s Magnus Carlsen. Pawnder this: Karjakin was born in Crimea, but now plays for Russia, and in case you wanted to check (mate), he supports the annexation of Crimea and thinks Putin is king. Or rather queen, to keep up the metaphor.
 
3. US Secretary of State John Kerry visits President Putin, and everyone is disappointed. That briefcase looked like it at least had some matryoshki in it (like he bought on his last trip), or money for diplomatic bargaining (is that a joke or a request, Mr. P?). As much as everyone wants better US-Russia relations, boring old peace documents were a bit of a letdown.

 


Quote of the Week

"Today, when I saw you coming down from the plane and carrying your effects, I got a little upset. On the one hand, it is very democratic; on the other, I think: things are really bad in the U.S., there is no one even to help the secretary of state carry his briefcase.”
—President Vladimir Putin quipping about
the contents of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s mysterious briefcase.

 


In Odder News

  • This TV host has fashion fixes for every need. This week: how to dress for a plane crash. But will it pass muster in Milan?

  • What if Russia’s national symbol weren’t a bear, but a shaggy rhino? New Siberian rhino research evokes images of a bear crossed with a unicorn.
  • Ukraine bans all Russian films made after 2013 because they “threaten national security.” Good thing Star Wars isn’t Russian.
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Steppe / Степь

Steppe / Степь

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar

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.
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.
The Little Humpbacked Horse

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.
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.
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.
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.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
A Taste of Chekhov

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.

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