Professor, I read your posts regularly because you often consider issues with an iconoclastic eye. I find I have to read your posts carefully rather than presumptively. Most things on the internet can be read presumptively. That alone is probably going to lead me to a paid subscription. Re this post, I don't know about "profound" but reading this passage reminds me that I believe Russia is and has always been trapped in its past. And there's not much there there. China too is so trapped. The trapped cultures like Russia and China that aspire to a world role only paint a patina of modernity on their present, but are permanently anchored in their past. America, the sole hegemon, on the other hand, is trying to abandon its past. Ironic.
I'm doubtful of the value of nearly all literature. But I also believe that Bryan is very thoughtful and wouldn't recommend a book that he didn't believe would benefit his readers. So what translation of War and Peace do you recommend?
Profundity is in the eye of the reader. This reader, for example. Russian ... I guess I like them, in general. Might be a taste. Don't speak it, never been there (but SAW it from Norway - looks like a forest).
Professor, I read your posts regularly because you often consider issues with an iconoclastic eye. I find I have to read your posts carefully rather than presumptively. Most things on the internet can be read presumptively. That alone is probably going to lead me to a paid subscription. Re this post, I don't know about "profound" but reading this passage reminds me that I believe Russia is and has always been trapped in its past. And there's not much there there. China too is so trapped. The trapped cultures like Russia and China that aspire to a world role only paint a patina of modernity on their present, but are permanently anchored in their past. America, the sole hegemon, on the other hand, is trying to abandon its past. Ironic.
I'm doubtful of the value of nearly all literature. But I also believe that Bryan is very thoughtful and wouldn't recommend a book that he didn't believe would benefit his readers. So what translation of War and Peace do you recommend?
One of my favorite books. It endlessly repays rereading.
First read in around 9th grade, because a teacher told me I couldn't.
Yes. And I'm not Russian.
Am I the only one who thinks this doesn't actually sound that profound? Russian authors have always rubbed me the wrong way.
Nyet.
Profundity is in the eye of the reader. This reader, for example. Russian ... I guess I like them, in general. Might be a taste. Don't speak it, never been there (but SAW it from Norway - looks like a forest).