daily delight - february 28

here we are, the last day of february and the last day of my daily delights. maybe i'll even continue because it's become a habit now. today, there were several and i didn't photograph very many of them. warm, homemade, browned butter blondies, some time at the sewing machine, a coffee and a brownie with a good friend, where we got to laugh and complain a little bit and talk through a recent stumbling block we both encountered. it put it all in perspective to talk it out and laugh a bit. i also listened to a bunch of podcasts and made some really delicious mushroom soup. it wasn't as warm today as yesterday, so i didn't spend that much time outside, but the sun came out for awhile and that was good. i spent ages looking for my chekhov books in various boxes (i have a lot of boxes of books) so that i can dig into my new book in earnest. i read the intro to it this morning and while i wanted to do nothing else but read it today, i also kind of didn't, because i already know that i will feel bereft when i'm done with it. you know that kind of book? bittersweet delight. and that's surely the right note to end this month of delights.

 

daily delight - february 22

i just listened to a marvelous podcast episode. it was the latest episode of ezra klein's podcast and he interviewed writer george saunders and it was a deep, erudite conversation, but not at all inaccessible. george has a new book, where he explores ideas through 6 russian writers - it's called a swim in a pond in the rain and i intend to order it as birthday present to myself. it's a wide-ranging conversation and it was exactly what i needed at the end of a long and hectic day, as a big project at work ramps up towards actual activation. i got into a pessimistic place at the end of the day had a hard time seeing my way out of it. so, i put on the podcast, took a long, hot shower (my speaker is waterproof), used my new function of beauty shampoo (it smells of lavender and is heavenly), and listened to george explain how he understands the world through russian literature. that's something i used to do myself and i was pleasantly reminded of that. and it was just what i needed to put aside my concerns, which i had managed to whip into a place of importance that they didn't warrant. and i used my brain on bigger thoughts for a little while. and it felt absolutely delightful. i suspect we could all use a bit more of that. go and listen to the episode, it's a great start. definitely a moment of deep delight in an otherwise rather stressful monday. oh, and how about that morning sunshine we had this morning? (see photo above) that was pretty delightful too.

reading russian literature

occasionally i get an email, asking me what russian literature i would recommend. i love those moments because not only does my almost-Ph.D. come in handy, they sort of wake up a sleeping, dormant part of my soul. and it always makes me wonder why i stopped feeding my soul with that particular kind of marvelous writing. but mostly, it takes me back in a very good way - back to the time when i was so consumed by devouring the russian masters - especially dostoevsky - that i once read 120 pages of the brothers karamazov (from the very book on top) while driving on I-80 west of Des Moines. and yes, i was the driver.

and tho' i want to immediately tell everyone that their life will not be complete until they've read the brothers karamazov, i do realize that that thick tome of religion, rationalism, nihilism, madness and patricide may not be for everyone. i tend to recommend starting with dostoevsky's notes from underground to see if his manic style appeals to you, before embarking on the biggies like brothers k or crime & punishment.

the one book i recommend every time is bulgakov's master & margarita - its brand of russian magical realism is well, magical. it's a book i return to again and again and always find something new - colorful characters, a good story, simply an energy that carries you along. i also tend to recommend nabokov - humbert humbert may be a real creep, but the writing is virtuoso and everyone should experience that.

i'm not a big fan of tolstoy, as he's a bit righteous and preachy for me, but i do love his short work - the sebastopol sketches. i also like gogol's short works - the nose and the overcoat. i tend to recommend that people read some of those first, before tackling a baggy monster like war & peace or anna karenina (and do read anna k if you're only going to read one tolstoy) or dead souls.

it always makes me a bit sad that i don't find myself recommending any women writers. the only one that really springs to mind is anna akhmatova and she was a poet. there are more contemporary women writers - tatiana tolstaya and ludmilla petrushevskaya, but honestly, their works are nowhere near the top of my list.

i feel that literature, like nothing else, has the capacity to illuminate a culture and its history. russian literature especially opens some window, not only into the russian soul, but the very soul of humanity. so if you haven't read any, do get started. and start with master & margarita.