I love the nineteenth-century Russian literary giants, Pushkin, Gogol, Goncharov, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, and Chekhov, who wrote exquisite, brilliant fiction and poetry despite censorship and threats of exile. I wish I could equally admire the Soviet writers, but the repressive Soviet regime clamped down too hard. If they wrote at all, they were not published, or … Continue reading “Olga Slavnikova’s “The Man Who Couldn’t Die””
I savored every minute in June, but July is rushing by. I need to sit tranquilly in the garden like Elizabeth in Elizabeth and Her German Garden… except I didn’t plant a garden this year. Well, at least I’ve been reading a lot. Here’s what I’ve been reading. Jacob’s Ladder by Ludmila Ulitskaya, translated from … Continue reading “Eclectic Reading & the Need for a Good Costume Drama”
I wondered, Am I still bookish? Every year, the “Best Books of the Year” lists become less reliable. Yes, they make good Christmas shopping lists—what to give Aunt Betty in What Cheer, Iowa, is a problem—but publishing the lists before Black Friday is just giving in. The daily critics used to be so classy that … Continue reading “Am I Still Bookish? A Glut of Lists & Carol Shields’s “The Box Garden””
I was awestruck by Anne Enright’s lyrical new novel Actress, which, by the way, is longlisted for the Women’s Prize. I seldom read new books, so this is an exciting experience. And then I made a list of 10 NOVELS ABOUT THEATER AND FILM. I hope you enjoy the list, and let me know your … Continue reading “10 Novels about Theater and Film”
