Tag: reading

David Gay “The Tenth Circle: Life, Struggle, and the Destruction of the Minsk Ghetto”

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Right now, when the whole world has turned viciously on Israel, when denying the Holocaust is fashionable and being an antisemite has suddenly become not shameful again, even politically correct, it is a hundred times more important to remind ourselves what real genocide is. At least to oneself, because those unwilling to hear won’t hear anyway.

Books about the Nazis’ “Final Solution to the Jewish Question” have always held a special place on my list. Because, as I’ve said many times, for me this is not an empty phrase and not a “Zionist fabrication.” And then, unexpectedly for me, the BAbook publishing house began selling a book I had never heard of before, even though it was first printed back in the USSR. Now, its author, David Guy, has decided to reissue it, in part in response to the October 7 massacre in Israel.

And I’m grateful the book caught my eye, because people know very little about the history of the Minsk Ghetto. The one that’s usually on everyone’s lips is the Warsaw Ghetto, vast, on whose ruins—among other places—the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 fought, only to be crushed by the Nazis when Soviet troops were already not far off. The ghetto itself has been shown more than once in cinema, and Roman Polanski’s Oscar-winning The Pianist is almost entirely devoted to the story of one Jew in that ghetto.

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Asya Kazantseva “Where Do Children Come From?”

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Asya Kazantseva is one of the most well-known popularizers of science. Her first published book Who Would Have Thought! literally blew up the market — it was so unconventional, since Asya spoke about complicated things in fairly simple language, with plenty of good humor. I myself was wildly enthusiastic, and so I gladly went on to read her next two books. After that, Asya disappeared from the public sphere as a writer for a while, though she continued to give many live lectures. And in 2023 her fourth book was released, titled Where Do Children Come From?

Here Asya stepped away from her favorite topics, deciding to talk about the myths and realities of pregnancy and childbirth. All the more so since she had tested it not only in theory but also in practice, having given birth to a daughter. She approached the topic as thoroughly as always, having studied a large amount of material long before her pregnancy.

And although, as usual, I made many notes while reading, for a very long time I couldn’t bring myself to start writing a review of this book. Because Asya’s second and third books were already somewhat weaker than the first, but this fourth one seemed to me the dullest. And the first one that I have absolutely no desire to recommend.

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Book: Lyudmila Zotova “How to Raise a Bilingual Child and Stay Sane”

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In 2014 the topic of bilingualism suddenly became relevant for me. That was the year my family moved to another country, and the children suddenly had to immerse themselves in a school environment not only with a completely different language but also with a different culture. And while one can still argue about the bilingualism of the children who moved with us (although for all of them English has already become more widely used than their original native Russian), with the younger ones, born in Cyprus, there is no question at all.

That is why, observing the development of all the children, I increasingly asked myself how we could help them in mastering several languages, what peculiarities there are, and whether we as parents are doing everything right. And then, at Sandermoen Publishing, a book by Lyudmila Zotova was released under the title How to Raise a Bilingual Child and Stay Sane. I was curious to look at another person’s experience and opinion and perhaps find answers to the questions that troubled me.

Lyudmila’s case is considerably more complicated than mine. She is married to an Italian, lives in France, but in a region near the German border, where the population also speaks German. In relation to her daughter one can already speak not of bilingualism but of tri- or even tetralingualism. However, while her daughter will easily learn the surrounding languages simply through immersion, with the mother’s native language there were peculiarities. And Lyudmila asked herself how to ensure that her daughter would know Russian.

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Book: Elena Khudenko – “Translation and Localization: An Introduction to the Profession”

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I’m absolutely in love with the field of localization in development. Once, in my youthful overconfidence, I dove headfirst into translation and became the translator of the first novelization set in the Starcraft universe in Russian (these days, I would never agree to such a thing—so youth definitely has its advantages). Later, I helped build and for many years led the localization department at Wargaming (though I’ve mentioned that many times already, I think). That’s why almost no book on this topic escapes my attention. And that’s exactly the case with Translation and Localization by Elena Khudenko.

From the blurb, it seemed that Elena would dive into the specifics of the field—why it’s important and interesting. Especially since she herself has extensive experience in this area. She has translated books, brought Russian text to many TV shows (Killing Eve, Silicon Valley, and others), worked as a localizer for the Duolingo app, and translated many video games into Russian (The Whispered World, Batman: Arkham Asylum, etc.). In other words, she truly knows what she’s talking about.

And in this book, she tries to cover different types of translation, essentially following the arc of her own professional experience.

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Book: Ivan Belov, the ‘Zastupa’ series

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I love fantasy, especially the kind rooted in Slavic folklore, filled with all sorts of dark creatures. But I only discovered Ivan Belov’s Zastupa series thanks to a review by a friend. I got curious and almost immediately decided to read it — and I have no regrets.

This isn’t just another gothic novel about vampires, even though the main character throughout the series is undead — a vurdalak (actually a vampire) named Rukh Buchila. He serves as the zastupa in a village near Novgorod — that is, the protector of its people from other dark forces, literally the one who “stands up for” them (in Russian — ‘zastupaetsya’).

Although it’s the 17th century and the village is located in Novgorod lands, this isn’t the world we know. In the world of the zastupa, mysterious portals once opened on Earth, unleashing hordes of demons and other monsters. And while humans had long shared the land with other races like the navki and the white-eyed chud’, these new invaders permanently redrew the map.

Ancient Kyiv was besieged and destroyed, some peoples swore allegiance to dark powers and even founded their own empire near the Balkans. The Novgorod Republic managed to defend its lands and independence, though it still occasionally fights with both the Muscovite Tsardom and the Swedes.

People have learned, with great difficulty, to coexist not only with familiar beings like leshies and domovoi, but also with those who came through the portals — not all of whom turned out to be purely bloodthirsty. Even chorts (imps) have found a place in society, and in Novgorod they’re even honored, since it was the chorts who once saved the city. You can’t really trust them, of course — but with the right oversight, even chorts can be useful.

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Book: Alexander Grigoriev “Word on the Slide”

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Many years ago, I absolutely did not know how to make presentations. I won’t say that I’m great at it now either, but at some point, I realized that the fate of your project, team, and even just an idea depends on how you present it. And although my public speaking is still far from ideal, my presentations in the form of files and face-to-face, based on them, have clearly become much better. First, thanks to experienced colleagues who taught me to do it better and always expressed constructive feedback. Second, because work required me to do it more often, both using standard templates and more creative ones to sell a great idea. And third, because I became increasingly interested in what those who do this constantly recommend.

Surprisingly, when talking specifically about presentations as a set of slides, much can be learned from related fields. For example, the ability to structure your speech more competently and simply is also a key to success. And here many tips from the book “Write, Shorten” would be quite suitable (although I have many other issues with it). Guy Kawasaki in his book “Art of the Start 2.0” dedicates a separate section specifically to preparing presentations. Alexander Bogachev in “Charts That Persuade Everyone” shows how to better convey your thoughts through graphical representation. And Kirill Egerev’s book “This Button Needs Text,” although not related to presentations, touches on important aspects of creating short, concise, and clear texts for UI, and these rules are universal, so they work in presentations as well.

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Book: Henry Lion Oldie “The Door into Winter

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I read this book by Henry Lion Oldie exactly one year ago, just a couple of months after their wartime diary, Invasion. This book is a collection of science fiction stories, but all of them revolve around one central theme — the war in Ukraine.

And today, it is impossible to separate them from real events, no matter how much you try to convince yourself that it’s “just fiction.” Because this “fantasy” feels far too real, and all the speculative elements are simply a backdrop for what’s going on in the minds of the authors — and in the minds of many people right now.

Normally, I try to write thoughtful and fairly in-depth reviews of books, but with this one, I couldn’t bring myself to write anything substantial for an entire year. It always felt like whatever clever ideas or interpretations I might come up with, any metaphors or hidden meanings I could find, would all crash into the wall of reality — a reality more fantastical and terrifying than fiction itself.

Even in their stories, the authors include fragments of autobiography. In The Small Circle, there are brief excerpts from their real diary.

And in the story Those Who Follow Me, they describe a magical wall that shuts the world away from the horrors of Mordor. A few years ago, I would have read that as quirky sci-fi. But now I realize — this is a dream many people share. They truly want an impenetrable wall to keep Mordor out. For many, many years to come.

I considered writing nothing about this book at all. But in the end, I decided to limit myself to a short note. Not all of the stories struck me as strong pieces of science fiction — and I did try to evaluate the book as a work of literature — so my overall rating is lower than for other story collections, whether by Oldie or other authors.

However, as a kind of mirror to our era and this war, the book deserves a much higher score. It is a must-read. At the very least, to get a glimpse of how this is being experienced, and how it finds expression in literature, by those who have now lived with this war for three years. Where people are dying who never wanted to fight — and every month brings news of children killed, children who should only have ever learned about war from history books.

P.S. I’m sorry I’m not able to write a proper review right now.

My mark: 3.5/5

Book: Ruchi Gupta with Kristin Loberg “Food Without Fear”

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There are a lot of people in the world with allergies, and research suggests that the number is only growing. Some even call allergies one of the defining illnesses of our generation. Back in my childhood, we would bring treats for the whole class on birthdays, but nowadays, before sending anything to school for a child’s birthday, you need to check a list of dozens of allergens. It’s often easier to just bring nothing at all to be safe.

I’ve had food intolerances since childhood. For example, cabbage always gave me an unpleasant sensation, which was commonly referred to as heartburn (though now I know that real heartburn feels quite different). Mayonnaise also made me feel unwell, so I never ate this supposedly great human invention. Then and now, I always substitute sour cream for mayonnaise in salads. Yes, I’m that person who eats Russian salad with sour cream. And yes, adding an apple to it can be quite nice.

However, by the time I turned 25, my reactions became significantly worse. A few times, my whole body broke out in an itchy red rash. And on a couple of occasions, I even experienced Quincke’s edema—when everything swells up inside, making it difficult to breathe. Let me tell you, it’s not a great experience. Especially when you’re gasping for air, and the emergency operator on the phone is still trying to determine if you really have swelling and if you’re actually wheezing into the phone because you can barely breathe.

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Book: Mikko Vill “Deadly Forest”

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It’s always interesting to read works by new, unfamiliar authors—especially when that author turns out to be the pseudonym of a former colleague. (He’s not actively advertising that “Mikko Vill” is his pen name, but he’s not exactly hiding it either). Creative people tend to be creative in multiple areas, so I wasn’t surprised to learn that this colleague dabbles in various forms of art. But the fact that he also writes books? That one somehow slipped past me.

And now, his novel “Deadly Forest” has been released in the mystical fantasy genre—apparently, the first book in the “Chronicles of Ivar” series. So, of course, I had to give it a try.

The premise is fairly classic: there’s a forest people shouldn’t enter because, well, sometimes they don’t come back. But there are always daredevils who refuse to believe “old folks’ tales” and set out to prove them wrong. And then, the same old folks have to find someone to go in and drag those “skeptics” back out. (That’s as vague as I can be without slipping into spoilers).

Since this book is intended as the first in a series (the author is currently editing the second one), we also get to meet the protagonist, Ivar. He’s the one unlucky enough to be tasked with solving this whole mess—not that he seems too upset about it. He’s a rather odd and reclusive character, the kind people like to call “not of this world.” But precisely because of that, he’s in high demand as a lone warrior who simply does his job—exceptionally well.

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Book: Boris Akunin “My Calendar”

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At one time, I really enjoyed Boris Akunin’s collections of short essays on various fascinating facts—“The Life of Remarkable People and Animals“ and “The Un-Chekhovian Intelligentsia.” Both were “compiled” from different short posts the author had originally published on his LiveJournal. In a similar fashion, he occasionally shared notes about specific days of the year—highlighting interesting events that had happened on that particular date.

Of course, almost any day you pick from the calendar has seen at least something noteworthy happen somewhere in the world throughout human history. So, in the end, it would be possible to gather an entire calendar of such notes. And that’s exactly what Boris Akunin did when he released his book “My Calendar.”

However, he set a rule for himself: for almost every day, he tries to choose just one event—the one he finds most interesting—and tells its story, whenever possible, backing it up with photos or illustrations. He then wraps up almost every “day” with an optimistic message. He does this so that the book can be used like a tear-off calendar—you wake up, read about the day in the morning, get some encouraging words, and ideally, the day should go well for you.

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