August 11, 2020

A Win for the Lada


A Win for the Lada
Ah, a true Soviet icon. Charles01, Wikimedia Commons

A recent report from Russia's AutoStat analytical agency has revealed that Russians are going back to old favorites.

Over the last six months, Russia's domestically-produced Lada has been the most popular new car in the country, with 126,600 units sold. This was followed by KIA (88,900) and Hyundai (66,800).

In the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc, the Lada was ubiquitous and regarded as an inexpensive, if cheaply manufactured, vehicle. However, its simplicity meant that the Lada was easy to repair and maintain. One model, the Lada Riva, was the third-best-selling automobile of all time, following the VW Beetle and Ford Model T.

Fortunately, the carmaker has seen some updates since its Soviet counterpart. The jokes, however, have remained. Our favorite:

A man walks into a Lada dealership and says, "I'd like a hubcap for my Lada." The dealer shrugs and says, "Sounds like a fair trade."

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Some of Our Books

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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.
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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.
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.
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From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
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Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
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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.
Survival Russian

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Turgenev Bilingual

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