American-Rusian Relations: More Complex Than You Think, Mr. President
August 14, 2019
Anton Chekhov, Boris Yeltsin, Brothers Karamazov, Catherine the Great, Dostoevsky, Joseph Stalin, Michael Kimmage, Mikhail Gorbachev, Notes from the Undergroud, The People's Authoritarian, Vladimir Putin0 Comment
I love Russian literature. Much of it is pessimistic, of course. If a bright future lies ahead, it will come in another lifetime. Certainly, that’s the view of Anton Chekhov. (Click) At the very least, I find this point of view eccentric. A Russian countess in Dostoevsky’s
Continue Reading →Literature: That Which Has No Utility
April 19, 2016
Anton Chekhov, David Denby, Lit Up, Mathew Arnold, Saved by the Bell., William Giraldi
Literature makes a great contribution to our culture, but should it be taught in high school? That question is the genesis for a new book, Lit Up by David Denby. (“Saved by the Bell,” by William Giraldi, New Republic, March 2016, pgs. 66-68.) As a former high school English te
Continue Reading →