Culture Lesson Number Two

Administrator — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:09:35 +0000

Guys,

It is very important that we not take for granted our obligation to at least learn something about the world of the women we hope to pursue in the foreign bride search – again, this pays great dividends later on when we meet someone we want to impress. Ugly Americans, who believe the world revolves around them and nothing else is of interest or importance – are not attractive. Gracious Americans who humbly appreciate the vast opportunities to hear international music, read international writings and observe international art, culture and people – are attractive. That’s us, right? Hopefully you enjoyed hearing the music and seeing the videos below – here is another dose of cool Russian/Ukrainian stuff you might find interesting. Familiarize yourself with these as much as possible – it will help you to make great conversation with a gorgeous foreign girl later on. This is some great stuff for the Rusophile in all of us:

Russian Writers:

Boris Pasternak: 1890 – 1960. Wrote Dr. Zhivago, which won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1958. Read more about his life and works here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Pasternak

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/364

Pasternak wrote hopeful, wistful poetry. Here’s a great sample…

Winter Night

It swept, it swept on all the earth,
At every turning,
A candle on the table flared,
A candle, burning.

Like swarms of midges to a flame
In summer weather,
Snowflakes flew up towards the pane
In flocks together.

Snow moulded arrows, rings and stars
The pane adorning.
A candle on the table shone
A candle, burning.

Entangled shadows spread across
The flickering ceiling,
Entangled arms, entangled legs,
And doom, and feeling.

And with a thud against the floor
Two shoes came falling,
And drops of molten candle wax
Like tears were rolling.

And all was lost in snowy mist,
Grey-white and blurring.
A candle on the table stood,
A candle, burning.

The flame was trembling in the draught;
Heat of temptation,
It lifted up two crossing wings
As of an angel.

All February the snow-storm swept,
Each time returning.
A candle on the table wept,
A candle, burning.

1946
Translated by Lydia Pasternak Slater

Alexander Pushkin: 1799 – 1837. Great poet (really he was THE Russian poet) whose works insipred Glinka’s “Ruslan and Lyudmilla,” Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” and Mussorgsky’s “Boris Gudanov”. (Operas.) Pushkin was Russia’s beloved, famous poet -and Russian children today still learn his works in grade school. He lived a rather extravagant life of women, gambling and bad habits and died from wounds suffered in a duel with a man believed at the time to be having an affair with his wife. Read more about Pushkin here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Pushkin

http://alexanderpushkin.com/

I Loved You Once

I loved you once, and still, perhaps, love’s yearning
Within my soul has not quite burned away.
But may it nevermore you be concerning;
I would not wish you sad in any way.
My love for you was wordless, hopeless cruelly,
Drowned now in shyness, now in jealousy,
And I loved you so tenderly, so truly,
As God grant by another you may be.
Anton Chekov: 1860 – 1904. Considered to be a one of world literature’s best short story writers, was also a playwright and physician. Chekov influenced many writers of his time. My two favorite Chekov pieces are the short story “Lady With a Lapdog” and the short play called “Swansong.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Chekov

Here is a great, short YouTube documentary about Chekov.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY6ltI1n5Lo

Mikhail Bulgakov: 1891 – 1940. Wrote the amazing “Master and Margarita,” a novel satirizing Communism and the paranoia, secrecy and censorship of Soviet Russia. This is a remarkable book which has been made into at least two movies filled with haunting, impressive imagery. Everyone in Russia has read this book. See the clip below – then watch the rest of the movie. It begins with a conversation between Margarita and Satan. (What?) This movie has an amazing soundtrack btw…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbHPBsU18CA

Anna Politkovskaya: 1958 – 2006. A journalist who chronicled Russian atrocities in the war against Chechnya. A fierce critic of Vladimir Putin and various Russian military leaders, Politkovskaya endured torture, death threats and substantial harassment for most of her professional career. She was murdered in her apartment building on Putin’s 48th birthday. Her death received an international outcry and more than 1000 colleagues and admirers attended her funeral on October 10, 2006 in Moscow. See…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Politkovskaya

I would highly recommend reading her book, “Putin’s Russia” in which she laments the treatment of innocents in the Chechnyan war, the forced labor of military conscripts (draftees) and the murder of a Chechnyan girl at the hands of a Russian Colonel named Budanov. It’s worth a note – both a Russian journalist and a young photographer were murdered this month in Moscow at a rally to prevent Colonel Budanov from early release from prison. Also, as you may have read – 3 men accused of having a part in Politkovskaya’s murder were acquitted by a jury this week.

Most Russian people feel very strong support for Putin, whose presidency resulted in a much higher standard of living for many Russians, and restored national pride to its highest level in decades. So I am not sure Politkovskaya’s life and death would make good dinner conversation – but a learned man in this process would nonetheless at least be familiar with her writings.

These are all but a drop in the bucket of great Russian literary figures – and that is even an understatement – but again, the goal here is to help you get basically familiar with a few past and present influences on Russian/Ukrainian culture. Hope this is interesting for you, boys. I promise that for you to commit some of these to memory will make an excellent impression on any ladies you’ll ultimately meet when you finally get on the plane and go.

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Culture Lesson Number Two