| Welcome to the Foreign Bride 101 Weekly Blog! |
| RUSSIAN CULTURE LESSON NUMBER TWO! |
| Alexandyr Pushkin Russian Beloved Poet |
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?) Mention thie book or film and your foreign girl
will be amazed. This movie has an amazing soundtrack btw… you can find many links to the movie
and book on YouTube - well worth your time.
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.
Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Akmatova, Lermontov, Bunin and even lesser known's like Eugene Zamaitin
and Yevgeny Yevtushenko - there are so many legendary figures to immerse oneself in. 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.
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?) Mention thie book or film and your foreign girl
will be amazed. This movie has an amazing soundtrack btw… you can find many links to the movie
and book on YouTube - well worth your time.
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.
Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Akmatova, Lermontov, Bunin and even lesser known's like Eugene Zamaitin
and Yevgeny Yevtushenko - there are so many legendary figures to immerse oneself in. 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.
| Copyright 2007-10 Foreign Bride 101 All rights reserved. |