T. S. Eliot was wrong when he said that " April is the cruelest month–" [ he was wrong about a lot of things , like, ya know, hi...

And the stone word fell On my still-living breast. Never mind, I was ready. I will manage somehow. Today I have so much to do: I must...

Time, it seems, has a funny way of imprinting itself on your memories. The grey land of Nerchinsk, with its worn roads, its forests, fences,...

Dmitri Pavlovich Petrovsky had been born with twines of music lodged tight about his heart.  Like a rusted barbed-wire, it clutched at him...

Larissa Volokhonsky & Richard Pevear "Dear Al, Do you suggest a specific translation of 'The Master and Margarita?...

On some days Shura was ordered to clear the courtyards, other times she was made to haul logs, draw water, or to hew wood for kindling and s...

Hitchcockskya Me: Hi, this is Alexandra Silber, I'm calling for Vladamir. Them: [ dead silence, then ] Da. Me: Well okay, [ nervous...

My professional life has been a constant record of disillusion, and many things that seem wonderful to most men are the every-day commonp...

Without a doubt, Doctor Zhivago ( До́ктор Жива́го ) is one of the great novels, and certainly on of the most important pieces of contempor...

kit baker the berkshires, massachusettes 2010

1. Shura  One of the many Russian diminutives given for the full name Alexandra, it was bestowed upon ...

"We shall find peace. We shall hear the angels, we shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds." --Anton Chekhov

  "I didn't choose Russia but Russia chose me. I had been fascinated from an early age by the culture, the language, the literat...

"Time will pass, and we shall go away for ever, and we shall be forgotten, our faces will be forgotten, our voices, and how many the...

We found the bakery. It was there all along. Like Brigadoon. We sat down and enjoyed some rather splendid baked goods and coffee. Then I g...

Soviet resolution to build The Metro We take the glorious Metro! The people's Palace of underground delights.  The Moscow Metro ( ...

"You're sixty years old. Medicine won't help." - Anton Chekhov * * * Later exhausted and drained from our "v...