“An old, proven method”
Do I hate him? Do I hate the dictator in the Kremlin (or in a bunker)? Of course I do. But it’s both an over- and understatement. The dictator is a pathetic little man, old and infirm; a small-minded man…
Winterings in Trans-Scythia
The Dilettante abides
Winterings in Trans-Scythia
The Dilettante abides
Tag Nabokov
“A few things which I think are true and which I don’t think you can refute”
Forty years ago, Leon Edel – an expert on Henry James – sneered at Nabokov’s claim that the communist revolution in Russia completely destroyed the rule of law and took away all the limited but tangible liberties that Russians enjoyed…
Love and laughter
Two extracts from 20th-century Russian classics in lieu of commentary to Thursday’s State of the Federation address. “What the hell are you trying to get out of me?” “The same thing that my childhood friend, Kolya Osten-Baken, wanted to get…
The gifts of liberty?
Alexander Pushkin wrote this poem in November 1823, shortly after news of Rafael del Riego’s execution reached Odessa. It was first published in Russia in 1866, almost 30 years after Puskin’s death. The translation below is by Nabokov: I copied…