Author: knari

Lynn Visson “What Mean?: Where Russians Go Wrong in English”

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what_mean

As unfortunate as it is to admit, foreign language education in the USSR was of very poor quality. Of course, there were specialized schools, but overall, most of us were taught in a rather sloppy and ineffective manner. I am a typical product of this education system: after seven years in school and then several more years at university, I could barely say anything in English (except for memorized phrases like “London is the capital of Great Britain”). However, I needed the language for work, so I turned to self-study. And I know many people who went through a similar path. Unfortunately, with this approach, people often carry a lot of accumulated problems that either stay with them forever or require careful correction, sometimes with the help of a good teacher.

Year after year, I’ve been actively working on improving my English, but it’s still far from perfect. Moreover, it’s impossible to fully master a foreign language once and for all. It’s a never-ending process—you will always be learning something new. That’s why I am very interested in how to improve language skills, what typical mistakes we might make, and why.

Then, unexpectedly at the end of 2019, a colleague recommended the book What Mean?, subtitled Where Russians Go Wrong in English. The author, Lynn Visson (née Elena Vladimirovna), grew up in the U.S. in a family of Russian-speaking emigrants. Her husband is also an emigrant from Soviet Leningrad. She holds a PhD in Slavic studies and worked for many years as a simultaneous interpreter at the UN from Russian to English. So she has an excellent grasp of the Russian-English language pair.

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Dmitry Brushko “Zmena. Sergei Brushko”

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ZMN_cr

I really love good photo albums, especially with photos of Minsk or Belarus. So, when someone I know shared a link in the spring of 2019 to a crowdfunding campaign for a book of photographs by Sergei Brushko, I had almost no doubts and immediately contributed. No, I didn’t know about photojournalist Sergei Brushko at the time, but I really liked several of the shared photographs and the theme of the book. And finally, my copy reached me, and I was able to look through it calmly and even read it (as it’s not just a photo album).

Sergei Brushko passed away in 2000, but during his career, he worked as a photojournalist for several Belarusian publications, and as a documentary photographer, he participated in several international exhibitions. His son, Dmitry Brushko, followed in his father’s footsteps, and it was Dmitry who initiated the release of this book and served as its compiler.

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Andrey Podshibyakin “Time of Games!”

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It seems that the book Blood, Sweat, and Pixels was quite successful in demonstrating that the public is very interested in stories about games and their creators. Suddenly, previously published books started being reprinted, and new ones began to appear quickly. One of these is a book by Andrey Podshibyakin, who started his career in the gaming industry as a journalist for the “GAME.EXE” magazine. Unlike Jason Schreier’s aforementioned book, Andrey focused only on Russian games and companies, including our very own “World of Tanks.”

Like Schreier, Andrey Podshibyakin selected a few games around which he built his book, giving it the subtitle “The Russian Gaming Industry in Faces and Dreams: from Parkan to World of Tanks.” The list includes:

  • “Parkan,” 1997
  • “Vangers,” 1998
  • “Hard Truck,” 1998 (and sequels from 2001 and 2009)
  • “Rage of Mages: The Seal of Mystery,” 1998
  • “Sea Dogs: The Curse of the Distant Seas” (actually, it’s called “The Curse of Far Seas”), 2001 (and the sequel from 2003)
  • “IL-2 Sturmovik,” 2001
  • “Silent Storm,” 2003
  • “Perimeter,” 2004
  • “S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl,” 2007, and “S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky,” 2008
  • “Cut the Rope,” 2010
  • “World of Tanks,” 2010
  • There are also several unreleased titles, such as “Vseslav the Sorcerer” and “The Adventures of Captain Blood,” among others.

Even this list shows that just text may not be enough for such a book. While Schreier covered globally recognized games, here are titles that many modern readers may not know, and those who do may not remember the details. Hence, illustrations would be very helpful. Memory is unreliable: you may recall that something was fantastic, but you still want to look back and compare those breakthrough graphics with today’s standards.

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Andrey Valentinov “The Grey Kite”

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350702_original_cr

It’s no secret that H.L. Oldie wrote their Achaean cycle in parallel with Andrey Valentinov’s Mycenaean cycle, which is why some characters migrate from one book to another. Of course, all of them come from real mythology, but in the books, they appear specifically in the interpretations of Oldie/Valentinov. Diomedes, Son of Tydeus is considered the second novel of the cycle, and it generally tells of events parallel to the book Odysseus, Son of Laertes by H.L. Oldie, sometimes offering an alternative perspective on the same events. However, the novel The Grey Kite stands apart, telling the story of Mycenae long before the events of the Trojan War.

And while I read the second novel about Diomedes many years ago, I somehow avoided The Grey Kite. Now, having plunged once again into the history of Ancient Greece, I decided to complete the marathon in full.

This is the story of a mercenary from Babylon who, by a twist of fate, becomes the ruler of Mycenae. The locals aren’t particularly fond of having an outsider on the throne, but things are not that simple. Even the protagonist himself starts to wonder — is he really an impostor?

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Winter in Cyprus

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Типичный конец ноября на Кипре
A Typical Late November in Cyprus

It’s been a while since we talked about Cyprus—it’s all been about books lately. Since the warm summer is coming to an end, let me tell you about winter in Cyprus.

Many people who don’t live in warm countries often think that it’s always warm here, though not necessarily hot. In part, they’re right: for instance, today is November 6th, and during the day, the temperature outside is +29°C (84°F), while at night, it drops to +16°C (61°F). That’s pretty decent August weather for places like Minsk.

Moreover, even in the winter months, the weather is much warmer than what residents of Minsk, Moscow, or Saint Petersburg are used to. Based on my observations, the average daytime temperature during winter months is between 13-20°C (55-68°F), while at night, it’s around 5-7°C (41-45°F). Sometimes it drops to 0°C (32°F) or even below, but this is quite rare.

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Fred Van Lente, Ryan Dunlavey “The Comic Book History of Comics”

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I can’t say I’m a huge fan of comics, but there are some superheroes I quite like (in their more modern interpretations), and I have read a few comics. I don’t consider it a lowbrow genre—many comics, in terms of emotional intensity, are just as good as highly respected books. Still, my familiarity with the genre is fairly superficial. That’s why it was all the more surprising that I became interested in a book about the history of comics. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the book itself is made in the form of a comic.

Both authors, Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey, are comic creators themselves (not just this book), so they know the industry from the inside. In their book The Comic Book History of Comics, they set out to show where the essence of modern comics comes from, how they developed, became international, faced persecution, and evolved according to local traditions.

Initially, the book seemed light and purely entertaining, but it quickly proved that the authors were taking the subject very seriously. They draw constant parallels between comics and the animation industry, as these two art forms were closely connected in the early stages. Disney’s Mickey Mouse first appeared in a cartoon but quickly transitioned to comic book pages. The style of Disney’s animated films had a huge influence not only on American comics but also on the development of their Japanese counterpart, manga.

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Asya Kazantseva “The Brain is Material”

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Asya Kazantseva made a rapid entrance into the world of popular science in 2013 with her first book, Who Would Have Thought! While she had been involved in science popularization earlier, it was the release of this book that catapulted her to megastar status as an author of popular science literature. The book instantly became a bestseller, receiving praise and recommendations from the scientific community. What set it apart was its accessibility — it was easy to read, and even those far removed from science could grasp the ideas and conclusions with ease. The language wasn’t the typical dry, academic tone but rather felt like a close friend explaining complex ideas, sprinkled with humor. In Who Would Have Thought!, Kazantseva explored the science behind our bad habits, seasonal mood changes, and the “chemistry of love.” The book quickly won the “Enlightener” award for its contribution to popular science, and I was absolutely thrilled by it, recommending it to all my friends.

A couple of years later, her second book, Someone on the Internet is Wrong, was published. This time, Asya focused on hot-button topics that spark fierce debates online: vaccines, GMOs, homeopathy, and the mortality of HIV. While this book also became a bestseller, I personally found it slightly weaker than the first. And then, in 2019, her third book, The Brain is Material, was released.

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Boris Akunin “The Fortunate Adventures and Reflections of Lucius Catin”

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dobrokluchenia

Boris Akunin is gradually approaching modern times in his works on the history of Russia. He has already covered the era of the empresses, followed by a novel about the most famous one—Catherine the Great. The reign of this remarkable woman has long attracted creative minds. In fact, the third season of a TV series about her is currently airing. And indeed, many fascinating events took place during those years as Russia underwent rapid changes. Naturally, this novel was expected to be filled with intrigue, adventure, and honorable duels—the typical swashbuckling flair.

However, even the title of the latest novel, The Fortunate Adventures and Reflections of Lucius Catin, seemed a bit disconcerting. It didn’t have the adventurous spirit one might expect. In his previous book about the era of Peter the Great, Akunin skillfully portrayed the times without delving too deeply into the specifics. Yet, while I devoured that book, this one was more of a gradual read, something I had to return to in bursts.

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Sasha Galitsky “Don’t Be Afraid!”

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I can’t say I was over the moon about Sasha Galitsky‘s first book, Mama, Don’t Worry!, but it offered a very interesting perspective on aging, with unconventional thoughts and advice. It was definitely worth reading, and I even added it to my recommended list.

Almost immediately after, I found out that Sasha had written a second book on the same theme—Don’t Be Afraid! But this time, instead of talking about how to get along with the elderly, he focuses on how not to fear aging yourself, as reflected in the subtitle: How to Grow Old Without Losing Your Mind.

The first book was based on the author’s blog posts, which was quite noticeable, but the second book really disappointed me. It feels like an attempt to recycle the same theme and material for a second time.

Once again, it’s filled with brief sketches and thoughts, presented in the form of micro-chapters. It even seems like the thoughts were written first, and only later was there an attempt to come up with clever titles for them.

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Henry Lion Oldie “Odysseus, Son of Laertes”

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odissey

Well, after reading The Grandson of Perseus and A Hero Must Be Alone, it was finally time to reread the third book in Henry Lion Oldie‘s Achaean cycle, Odysseus, Son of Laertes. This book chronologically concludes the story of the Heroes, descendants of the Olympian gods, although it was written second, long before The Grandson of Perseus. And in my opinion, it differs significantly from the other two books in how the authors approached the narrative.

As much as I enjoy A Hero Must Be Alone, this book, both the first time I read it many years ago and now, turned out to be challenging to get through. Especially in the beginning, I found myself frequently pausing and then forcing myself to continue. For me, there were too many metaphors, too much emphasis on beautifully crafted language and unspoken meanings, to the point where I started losing track of the main plot. And the plot itself is quite fragmented here, constantly interspersed with flashbacks and memories from other times.

To understand certain things, you need to have a solid knowledge of both mythology and the story of Odysseus (outside of this book). Only then can you compare and grasp some of the nuances in the narrative. Otherwise, you’re left with even more questions. Some parts are direct references to A Hero Must Be Alone, not just to the myths about Heracles but specifically to their interpretation in the previous book of the cycle. Of course, as the book says, “answers are the killers of questions.” But it feels unsettling when you have more questions than understanding. I know many people love Oldie for these hidden meanings, but for me, this was more of a drawback.

Odysseus is primarily known for his role in the Trojan War and the long story of his return home from that war (ten years is no joke). However, we see almost nothing of that famous journey here. Instead, we are shown how the war began in the first place, why everyone became so fixated on Helen of Troy, and why the gods needed the war in the first place.

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