“The job of the fiction writer is to invoke verisimilitude. Real and factual research helps, of course, but the purpose should be emotional. The more abstract truth comes from the deeper meanings of stories, factual or not. The factuality of this truth is usually taken for granted, and the primary sources need not speak for themselves, even if they want to.” Little Histories
“Цепь” Юрия Олеши
“Lady-Maid” / Aleksandr Pushkin
“Das Manifest des Glücklichen Arbeitslosen”
“Der Verdächtige” / Jurek Becker
Fear, the state, and playing the part.
“Сны Чанга” Ивана Бунина
Bunin’s late dreams in Odessa.
The Adventures of Augie March / Saul Bellow
Poetics / Aristotle
I can’t imitate somebody who’s read it anymore.
It was exciting and warm to catch up with my old professor, Laura Thomas. Here’s our conversation and her new book, which came out today.
Yes, Emily Dickinson had no idea what uses her little poem would have. I’m not the first, and I probably won’t be the last…
The Adventures of Augie March / Saul Bellow
Он был философ. Выслушав благодарность Остапа, писатель потряс головой и пошел к себе дописывать рассказ. Будучи человеком пунктуальным, он твердо решил каждый день обьязательно писать по рассказу. Это решение он выполнял с прилежностью первого ученика. По-видимому, он вдохновлялся мыслью, что раз бумага существует, то должен же на ней кто-нибудь писать.
Золотой теленок Ильфа и Петрова
Золотой теленок Ильфа и Петрова
Вьюга шуток…
Feast of Love / Charles Baxter
What a wonderful book. But I feel behind having read it now. I love Baxter’s many voices. And, this is my homeland, this setting. I kind of feel like Harry is too self-consciously Jewish. I know there’s a lot of anxiety about portraying a Jewish person or any ethnicity the author’s not a part of. Harry’s also my favorite. I’m really vulnerable right now, so this is all sounding pat.
States of Motion / Laura Hulthen Thomas
My interview here.
The Adventures of Augie March / Saul Bellow
I love Bellow’s style, even though I can’t read it at the end of the day, when my brain’s used up.
Лавр Евгения Водолазкина
