I love these two. If I ever read a Russian book I insist on using one of their translations. I can speak and read Russian on a basic level. They're able to make texts sound like Russian, but it English. It's pretty amazing really.
I sometimes tried to read in Russian, it was an interesting exercise for the brain, quite difficult at the beginning as you need to deal not just with foreign words but also a foreign script.
However, after the war started, I lost all interest in reading anything Russian. I know it's irrational, but these lost their luster instantly. Not just literature, also culture in general. I hope when the war is over and we can start having sincere, open relationships again, my interest comes back.
>However, after the war started, I lost all interest in reading anything Russian. I know it's irrational, but these lost their luster instantly.
Many share the same sentiment, and some do that more strongly than others. Interestingly, it never had that effect on me, however, though I cannot speak Russian, except read, but my vocabulary is extremely limited. I think it's important to distinguish between current events and the culture, literature, and art that spans centuries.
I would be curious to see how one could seriously argue this. People making this kind of claims tend to grasp at straws to make connections and make implications much more deterministic than they actually are.
OK, I'll try - not as a rigorous argument, but not as a strawman, either.
Events shape cultures. You can find cultural remnants of past events that impacted a group decades later (especially traumatic events).
And, cultures shape events, because cultures shape the people that cause (at least some of) the events. And cultures shape peoples' response to the events.
So when you see a pattern that looks fairly similar across centuries, then you have at least some ground for suspecting that there is a stable system there - that events keep happening that shape the culture in a consistent way, and the culture keeps shaping events in ways that will give rise to the same kinds of events happening.
I wouldn't go as far as "deterministic". I don't think that much involving humans is ever truly deterministic. But there does seem to be a pattern of history, if not repeating itself, at least rhyming.
I had a similar experience learning Chinese. Given the current geopolitical tensions, I opted to learn Japanese instead as to not raise ill will/suspicions.
I hope so too. It's great literature and there is a lot to admire about their culture, although admittedly the golden age of Russian culture is now well in the past.
> However, after the war started, I lost all interest in reading anything Russian. I know it's irrational, but these lost their luster instantly.
Russian here, living in Russia. Not surprised about this at all. Actually, I predicted that this would happen. By starting the war, Putin has wiped out multiple perceived notions about Russia (the myth of the defender nation, the second-strongest army, and the "Tolstoyesvsky"-centered culture among them).
Paraphrasing Anton Chigurh: "If your culture brought you to this, of what use was the culture?"
As a Russian living in Germany, I perceive that many of the notions surrounding Russia were never truly embraced by the general public. A significant number of people hold preconceived negative opinions and some harbor personal grievances against Russians and Russian culture.
The soft power that Russia may have once wielded in the Western mind was fragile and easily dismantled. It became an easy target for Western propaganda. Just days before the invasion, I explained to a colleague that if it were to happen, the media would likely present a simplistic narrative of the conflict, creating a classic good-versus-bad dichotomy. This would undoubtedly lead to the resurrection of old clichés and propaganda that the British, French, Germans, and more recently, the Americans have historically crafted about Russia.
“Joe Biden acknowledged in 1997 that eastward NATO expansion into the Baltic states would cause “the greatest consternation,” which could “tip the balance” and result in a “vigorous and hostile reaction” by Russia.”
Unfortunately his dementia may have erased these thoughts.
"The United States stands firmly with the Ukrainian people in defense of the NATO alliance." -Kamala
When two powers think they are defending themselves, war typically breaks out.
It is quite easy to forget that there are lots of common people like you living their lives in Russia now who are similarly quite unhappy about the current situation, but mostly powerless to change anything.
