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Tag Archives: Stalin
Happy Birthday, Robert Conquest
“I think once you accept that you have the answer to everything, you can do anything to bring it about because your enemies are trying to stop you, are enemies of reason, of truth of everything – enemies of the … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged England, Kirov, politics, Robert Conquest, Russia, Stalin, The Great Terror, war
4 Comments
“And the role of the fatal chorus / I agree to take on” — Anna Akhmatova
“This I pray at your liturgy After so many tormented days, So that the stormcloud over darkened Russia Might become a cloud of glorious rays.” — Anna Akhmatova, “Prayer” Anna Akhmatova – born Anna Andreyevna Gorenko on this day – … Continue reading
It’s the birthday of composer György Ligeti
György Ligeti was a classical composer, born in Romania, who lived in Hungary as a young adult, before fleeing Stalinist oppression to Austria. Stanley Kubrick used his music in 2001, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut (one of the things … Continue reading
Posted in Movies, Music, On This Day
Tagged Hungary, Romania, Stalin, Stanley Kubrick
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“Manuscripts don’t burn.” — Mikhail Bulgakov
It’s Mikhail Bulgakov’s birthday. The author of The Master and Margarita, one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. (It’s not his only work. There are many others. But I’ll be focusing on that one today.) It’s a miracle … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov, Russia, Stalin
8 Comments
Hey, Moscow, let’s party tonight like it’s 1929!
I am currently re-reading Curzio Malaparte’s The Kremlin Ball. There is no other book like it. A gossipy telling of the “Soviet proletariat aristocracy” of the late 1920s, which Malaparte witnessed firsthand. (“Curzio Malaparte” was his pen name, chosen because … Continue reading
2021 Books Read
I lived at three addresses this year. I moved twice. In the middle of a pandemic. It’s been a year of upheaval, transition, as well as endurance. For most of this year, the majority of my stuff was in storage. … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Austria, Balkans, Billy Wilder, Biography, books read, Cary Grant, Czeslaw Milosz, David McCullough, Edvard Radzinsky, Elinor Lipman, England, essays, Eve Babitz, Evelyn Waugh, fiction, Germany, Hitler, Howard Hawks, Ireland, Italy, Kirov, Liz Phair, Memoirs, Nancy Lemann, Nick Tosches, nonfiction, Olivia Laing, Poland, politics, Robert Conquest, Robert Kaplan, Russia, Stalin, Sweden, Thomas Mann, Tom Wolfe, Vladimir Nabokov, war, WWII, Yugoslavia
1 Comment
Stuff I’ve Been Reading
Lots of re-reads because 1. I’m in turmoil. The familiar is a comfort. 2. The majority of my books have been in storage for almost a year. We all have been reunited but they’re still in boxes stacked against the … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Evelyn Waugh, fiction, Greta Garbo, history, Kirov, Memoirs, Nancy Lemann, Robert Conquest, Stalin, stuff I've been reading
1 Comment
Stuff I’ve Been Reading
It’s been a while. Been a very busy summer. Family vacation as we do every year. Reunions with family after the lockdown. Tears when hugging aunts and uncles. New job, new digs, lots of change. Lots of writing too! Less … Continue reading
Posted in Books, writers
Tagged Biography, Cary Grant, Czeslaw Milosz, Eve Babitz, fiction, Ireland, Memoirs, Poland, politics, Stalin, stuff I've been reading, war
2 Comments
May 2021 Viewing Diary
The Waterman (2021; d. David Oyelowo) I really loved this. Reviewed for Ebert. Des (2020; d. Lewis Arnold) Here’s what I jotted down on Instagram: David Tennant is eerily good in DES. He never does anything wrong, never makes an … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged action movies, animation, Charles Grodin, children's movies, comedy, crime movies, David Fincher, documentary, drama, England, Georgia, Meryl Streep, Miriam Hopkins, Pre-Code, short film, Sofia Coppola, Spain, Stalin, women directors
21 Comments
Stuff I’ve Been Reading
My lifestyle has changed. It now involves shuffling children around to dentist appointments and Little League games, joining the solidarity of the parents in the bleechers. I live in a small working-class town by the beach. I’m busy with writing … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Eve Babitz, Germany, history, Memoirs, Russia, Stalin, Stefan Zweig, stuff I've been reading, Thomas Mann, Yugoslavia
6 Comments