Russia and its World
Russia in all its aspects has always exerted a pull on me. Its history, art, music, food, landscapes, dress in all varied ethnic glory, and, above all, its literature have a special access to my attention. A major challenge is Russia’s colossal size and diversity of geography. Another continual surprise is the number of its distinctive peoples, each with unique folkways and histories. Russia has had some epic totalitarian regimes over its long history — but it also has been the home of some of the world’s greatest, most creative, and most influential anarchist philosophers. Russia is big enough and complex enough to handle all sorts of contradictions and paradoxes — and to claim them all proudly (and fatalistically, a classic Russian trait).
Over the years I have noticed that my store has become home to a great range of literature, fiction and nonfiction, of the Russian soul and mind and heart. I share it here and may update it as often as possible.
Davai! Russians and their Vodka
Davai! Russians and their Vodka
““It’s not out of poverty or grief that the Russian
people drink, but out of an age-old thirst for the
miraculous and the extraordinary; they drink,
if you will, mystically, striving to lift the soul out of
its earthly equilibrium and to return it to a
blissful, incorporeal state.””
- Abram Tertz
You cannot separate Russians from their vodkaor vodka from Russia. For over 600 years, this proud Slavic culture has – for good or ill – been inextricably bound up with their national drink. Vodka is an omnipresent and constant factor in Russian history, a drink for the great and the lowly, in times of happiness and in times of calamity. This has been expressed in literature, song, politics, history and every aspect of popular culture.
In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
In addition, most all of the hundreds of wonderful quotes from literature, theater and poetry are presented in both their Russian original and English translation, making this also a useful guide to improving one’s Russian through the lens of this ancient drink.
Reviews
"In roughly three hundred pages Trommelen attempts to capture not merely the cultural history of vodka as product but to reveal Russia’s often unhealthy relationship with the spirit and the degree to which it informs moments of individual and even national cultural significance. There can be little doubt that Trommelen succeeds in laying out the multi-faceted position that vodka enjoys in Russian life as he draws examples from literary, political, and anthropological sources....it is far broader in scope and vision than other monographs... The book is an excellent introduction not only to the specific cultural rites of drinking but also to a large number of Russian cultural situations and customs."
– John Ellison, Slavic and East European Journal