December 22, 2016

We Fish You A Merry Christmas (and Hanukkah)


We Fish You A Merry Christmas (and Hanukkah)

Deck the halls with freakish fishes

1. What’s biting you? Hopefully not any of the insane fish caught by a Russian fisherman from Murmansk. Not all of these are from Russia, but it took a Russian trawler to reel them all in and share the ocean’s alien depths via Twitter. With advanced fishing technology and social media combined, any fin is possible.

sputniknews.com

2. More than 60 residents of Irkutsk have died after being poisoned by drinking a bath tincture. “Boyaryshnik,” or hawthorn berry tincture, is often consumed for its high alcohol content, but the batch in question contained methanol rather than ethanol. President Vladimir Putin has called for tighter rules for the production and sale of liquids with alcohol content of over 25%, and the Irkutsk governor has declared a state of emergency in the region.

3. ‘Tis the season to be spendy: Russians’ average New Year meal this year will cost R5,500 ($90) per household, with a big shopping spike expected on December 30 and 31 for the ingredients for popular New Year dishes, champagne, and candy. Prices for holiday food and common gifts go up at this time of year, but most Russians grit their teeth and pay up in spite of tighter times and still-uncertain economic prospects for the country.

4. Bonus item: A survey released yesterday argued that the popularity of Russia among Americans is at a 30-year low. The only country in the survey that did worse than Russia among Americans? North Korea. Ouch.

washingtonpost.com

In Odder News

  • What did it look like when pioneer of theatrical movement Konstantin Stanislavsky staged a Christmas fairy tale in 1908? See for yourself.
rbth.com
  • Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev would have been 110 this week. If you're thirsting for fun facts or off-color jokes about the leader, we’ve got you as covered as his chest was by medals.
  • Christmas is December 25, right? Wrong: in Russia, it’s celebrated on January 7. Not for long, if populist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky gets his way.

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.

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Some of our Books

White Magic
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White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

The Samovar Murders
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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)
June 20, 2017

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.

Fish
February 01, 2010

Fish

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

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.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

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
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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.

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