Tag Archives: Russia

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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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To Talk of Many Things… (Vol. #14 – Ukraine)

Posted on March 27, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Some people have asked what my opinions are about Ukraine. Despair, outrage, impotence. Probably the same as you. I was in Kyiv once, though only the airport. I was planning to go back to visit friends, during a summer which … Continue reading →

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The Prose of Osip Mandelstam

Posted on March 23, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Osip Mandelstam led a tragic life. He was a poet, a writer of tremendous talent cursed to have lived in the days of Stalin’s totalitarianism. He wrote a poem about Stalin, reading it to perhaps six friends at a dinner. … Continue reading →

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War in Europe

Posted on March 20, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Yesterday I watched “Sound of Music” with my little boy. We are going systematically through the classics of American civilization, books and movies and ideas that made us who we are and more importantly keep us who we are. Some … Continue reading →

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Soviet Short Stories

Posted on September 7, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

There are few like the great Russian masters. Perhaps its the harsh winters that encourage contemplation; maybe its the beauty of the Russian language itself, with its depth of tenses and tremendous descriptive power that encourages people to put ideas, … Continue reading →

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“And Quiet Flows the Don” – Book Review

Posted on July 14, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

There is something majestic, timeless and grand about Russian literature. Whether its Tolstoy (Leo, sure but I prefer Alexei), Goncharov, Turgenev – the stories resonate with purpose and the full nature of the human experience. This is perhaps especially true … Continue reading →

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