Digenis.org

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?? ?? ????? ??????? ????????
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?????? ??? ??? ????? ?????.
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???????, ?????, ????? ??? ???.

1922

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One of the things that’s been on my wishlist for some time now is the three volume Russian Etymological Dictionary by Max Vasmer. Unfortunately, it’s out of print and I haven’t been able to track down any used copies on the internet.

Anybody know where I can find it? It seems to be the authoritative Russian etymology. Is there anything else out there that compares (in Russian or English) which might be easier to find?

Well, not really. . . But I almost fell out of my chair when, after browsing my referer logs, I found that Wikipedia.org links to my crappy translation of ?????????? in their entry for Chingiz Aitmatov.

I’ve been meaning to go back and completely revise that translation from about a year ago, and now I have extra motivation to do so. It’s quite clunky and I know I can do better. Maybe I’ll get around to that this week. As I said when I first posted it, any suggestions are appreciated.

In an interesting post describing connections between Akhmatova, Pasternak, Mandelstam, and Tsvetaeva, Alexei mentions that, according to the Gregorian calendar, last Monday would have been Akhmatova’s birthday.

Even though it’s nearly a week past, I’d like to post one of my favorite Akhmatova poems in honor of her birthday:

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?????? ???? ?? ?????
? ???? ???????? ? ????? ???,
???? ??????? ???????.
? ? ??? - ?? ???? ????,
?? ????? ? ?? ????,
? ? ?????? ? ? ???????,
??? ?????? ? ??????.
1940

If you want to read some more of her poetry, you can check out the following links:

“?? ??????? ????…” - The most comprehensive Akhmatova site I’ve found so far. It has practically all of her poetry and prose, her translations of other’s poetry (according to the site, she translated the works of over 150 poets from 78 languages), articles about her, links, and much more.

???? ????????? ???????? - This Russian site has four of her works available in PDF format, a few articles on Akhmatova by other writers (including Pasternak), and, best of all, many mp3’s of her poetry read by the Akhmatova herself.

Yevgeny Bonver’s English translations of Akhmatova’s poetry.

Also, while we’re on the topic of Akhmatova, I’ve come across an English translation of one of her poems but I can’t track down the original Russian version:

Seaside gusts of wind,
And a house in which we don’t live,
And the shadow of a cherished cedar
In front of a forbidden window…
Perhaps there is someone in this world
To whom I could send all these lines. Well then!
Let the lips smile bitterly
And a tremor touch the heart again.
1963

If anyone knows where to find it, please let me know.

The contagious p23s5 meme that’s been floating around the blog community in the last few weeks is not quite as fun or interesting as its history. Laughing Meme and Brownpau both take a good stab at tracking down where it began and how it spread.

Though I haven’t had much extra time for reading lately, Aksenov’s The Burn is still hiding under a stack of neglected papers on my desk. Just for fun, here is the fifth sentence of the twenty-third page:

One hears these words of wisdom all one’s life, so by the age of forty one should have absorbed them.

If you feel so inclined, post the 5th sentence of the 23rd page of the book you’re reading in the comments. I’m curious to see what you all are reading. . .

“I tried to nap, but now my head was alive, was a toddler in a room of new guests. It jumped and squealed and threw the books off the shelves. Yes I?m one of the slowest talkers you?ll ever meet but my head, when I have it and it?s not asleep or being borrowed, is not slow. My mind, I know, I can prove, hovers on hummingbird wings. It hovers and it churns. And when it?s operating at full thrust, the churning does not stop. The machines do not rest, the systems rarely cool. And while I can forget anything of any importance ? this is why people tell me secrets ? my mind has an uncanny knack for organization when it comes to pain. Nothing tormenting is lost, never even diminished in color or intensity or quality of sound. These were filed near the front.”

From You Shall Know Our Velocity, by Dave Eggers.

In need of a short break from Murakami (the last seven books I?ve read have been his), I stumbled upon and read this weekend Twelve Stories of Russia: A Novel, I Guess by A.J. Perry.

In it, Perry quite humorously tells of his life in Moscow during the tumultuous early 1990?s, and how his one year contract to teach English turned into a six and a half year journey to understand the Russian Soul and find ?the eleven words that are not just words?.

Andrew Wachtel is right on target when he says (in a quote on the book?s cover), ?This book captures spectacularly the weirdness that is Russia for a foreigner. . .? Even ten years after Perry?s adventures I find myself experiencing similar situations and frustrations with the way that Russia ?works?.

Here?s two excerpts that I especially enjoyed:

?Time passed. The seasons came and went. Like passengers in the metro they blended together. In the spring we looked for mushrooms; in the fall we found them. In the summer we took warm showers at each other?s apartments; and in the dead of winter we swam outdoors in what was then that used to be a cathedral, and which is now the cathedral that used to be a pool.

Happily, we bought bread in stores named ?Bread?.

We played cards without a full deck.

We tossed kopecks into canals and made naïve wishes for the future: the redhead for harmony between black and white Americans; I for democracy in Russia; and Tanya for a blue passport.?
Page 46

?Yeah, these twelve story buildings are all the same . . . they?re as common as a Russian comma.?
Page 270

Once you get used to his zany punctuation, the book flows right along and becomes a quick, enjoyable read. I?d recommend it to those of you have been to Russia.

I finished reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle while at the dacha on Sunday. I could hardly put the book down, plowing through its six hundred pages in a little less than a week. Murakami?s style proved to be just as addictive as was promised by a review on the book?s back cover; yesterday I had to make a trip to the bookstore to find more.

I ended up grabbing Sputnik Sweetheart (how could I resist a title like that while studying for a year in Russia?), Dance Dance Dance, and The Elephant Vanishes (which is actually a book of short stories). I?ve decided to spend more of my daily two hour metro transit reading, and less of it listening to music (at least until I run out of Murakami, Nabokov, or money. . . ), so I figured I might as well stock up while I have the opportunity.

The weather in Moscow has been pretty crummy the last few days, and it?s not supposed to change in the near future. The cold rain and strong wind make doing anything outdoors unenjoyable, so after classes I stayed inside and read Sputnik Sweetheart.

Altogether it was a great book, but I have to admit that I liked WBC a lot more. Sputnik Sweetheart is the story of a strange unrequited love triangle between an elementary school teacher (identified only as ?K?), the aspiring young novelist (Sumire) who he has secretly loved since college, and a mysterious woman named Miu with whom Sumire becomes infatuated. .

Even though I?ve only read three of his novels, I?d have to say that Haruki Murakami has become one of my top ten favorite authors. I?m not sure why he?s not as popular in the United States as he is in Russia, but I?d highly recommend picking up Wind-Up Bird Chronicle if you happen to find it. To me he?s kind of like Viktor Pelevin, but Newsday calls him ?a Japanese Philip K. Dick with a sense of humor?. Either way, it?s well worth the read.