Tag Archives: Russia

To Talk of Many Things… (Vol. #16 – Russia)

Posted on September 22, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

I read a lot of Russian literature and history. It is after all the great unknown; a land that lies behind a snowy curtain long after the Iron Curtain fell. A place of philosophy as deep as the cold dark … Continue reading →

Posted in International Affairs | Tagged | Leave a comment

A Letter from Stalin

Posted on August 7, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Some people do only one thing, and that if they are lucky. Given the cacophony of life and the myriad people vying for meaning and significance against each other – 8,000,000,000 souls – how to stand out and be counted … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review | Tagged | 2 Comments

The Great Gorky

Posted on July 17, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Do Russians love to suffer, or do they simply find ways to cope with the difficulties that tribe and geography have subjected them to? One cannot but entertain the idea that Russians, perhaps unwillingly but certainly sometimes enthusiastically, tend to … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Dr. Zhivago

Posted on May 15, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

The fulcrum around which Dr. Zhivago turns occurs about 3/4 of the way through the novel. Yurii Zhivago is holed up in Varykino, a rural Ural estate where his family has onetime lived. He is on the run from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review | Tagged | 1 Comment

Putin’s Master Plan

Posted on April 27, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

“Neo-Eurasianism utilizes the methodology of Vilfredo Pareto’s school, moves within the logic of the rehabilitation of the notion of organic hierarchy, picks up some Nietzschean motives, and develops the doctrine of the ontology of power, or of the Christian Orthodox … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, International Affairs, philosophy | Tagged | 8 Comments

Life and Fate

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

This is the novel that Vasily Grossman saw “arrested”. After he submitted it to the censors, and they realized the parallels in the novel between Nazi Germany and the USSR, they seized the copy. Having learned their mistake from Pasternak, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review | Tagged | 2 Comments

To Talk of Many Things… (Vol. #15 – Russian Literature)

Posted on April 16, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

‘I weep for you,’ the Walrus said:I deeply sympathize.’With sobs and tears he sorted outThose of the largest size I read a lot of Russian literature, I have for many years. Writers who care naturally gravitate to Pushkin and Grossman … Continue reading →

Posted in International Affairs | Tagged | 1 Comment

Dueling Nihilisms

Posted on April 6, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Nihilism took center stage in a debate between Aleksandr Dugin and Bernard-Henri Levy. “For me, the embodiment of nihilism today is you (Dugin), and your friends, and the Eurasian current and this morbid atmosphere which fills your books and the … Continue reading →

Posted in International Affairs | Tagged | Leave a comment

What Putin Really Wants

Posted on April 5, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Aleksandr Dugin has been called Putin’s Rasputin. He is a philosopher who cut his teeth in the underground Iuzhinskii Circles in Moscow during the days of the USSR. His ideas were not mainstream Soviet ideas; full of nationalism and metaphysics … Continue reading →

Posted in International Affairs | Tagged | Leave a comment

An Armenian Sketchbook

Posted on April 2, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Vasily Grossman understood Armenia. And thusly, Armenia saved his live; as it did for Osip Mandelstam. As it did for me. Armenia saved his life, though he was to die only two years after visiting Armenia. Despite that “An Armenian … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review | Tagged , | 2 Comments