Fragments of a blog
Fragments of a blog
I can understand Washington’s resolve to keep out people from disorderly (ex-)polities such as Libya, Somalia, Yemen and Sudan, as well as from the ISIS-infected Syria and Iraq, but Iran is an entirely different matter. To begin with, it’s a…
At last, a piece on the “alt-right” that doesn’t mention Dugin! Plus, it hinges on this worthwhile observation: The alt-right’s love of Europeanism blends racial politics with a quasi-religious faith in a pan-European identity. Says Devin Burghart, vice president of the Institute for…
An intelligence professional able to reliably report the content of highly confidential conversations between the president of a major power and his trusted lieutenant (both former intelligence professionals) would be a unique asset of inordinate value and would be extremely…
Reviewing T. J. Binyon‘s biography of Pushkin, James Wood remarked in 2003: It is in some ways unfortunate that Tchaikovsky set Eugene Onegin to music, not Rossini, the composer of deep shallows. Pushkin, according to T.J. Binyon’s remarkable biography, became…
Seeing that comments were off for some older posts, I couldn’t figure out what went wrong until I noticed that comments to posts older than 28 days were automatically disabled via Settings > Discussion > Other comment settings. I have…
Until this year, I did not realize how many Russian translations of Thomas Moore’s poetry had been produced in the 19th century, especially its first half. For details, I recommend two investigations into the subject (in Russian): Mikhail Alexeyev’s 1982…
My fondest musical memory of the year 2016 will probably be the April, 16, performance of Schumann’s oratorio Das Paradies und die Peri by the Russian National Orchestra and the Popov Academy choir directed by Mikhail Pletnev. I expected something…
Ivan Krylov published The Mouse and the Rat in 1816. My rough translation follows, without the last quatrain, or the “moral” of the fable. “Dear neighbor, have your heard the good rumors?” Said Mouse to Rat, running in. “They say the cat has…
Via Arts and Letters Daily, here’s Timothy Snyder’s little pamphlet in Slate, a brief synopsis of Hitler’s progress hinting at Trump’s possible trajectory. A parallel here, an analogy there, et voilà, here’s a case for Bush Trump as Hitler. Yes, I’m…
The first time I appreciated Leonard Cohen’s Bird on a Wire was when I heard it sung by Johnny Cash. Everything fell in place at once. If you only trust Cohen’s own interpretations, I’d recommend his late versions of the song. About that second line,…
A few days ago, I stumbled on this 2004 takedown of Dan Brown by the renowned linguist Geoffrey Pullum. It was much linked, liked and recommended when it appeared. I have two objections to Prof. Pullum’s criticism. First, he does…
Allerseelen by Richard Strauss performed by Camille Renaud (trombone) and Iva Návratová (piano). Lots and lots of thanks to the performers! There are, of course, excellent recordings on YouTube of this song in its original version, with lyrics by Hermann von…