Quarantine Diary

- Alex Savelyev: It doesn't matter if the Soviet Union was an example of "real communism." Communist dictatorships are not an accident, rather they’re the natural outcome of Marxism put into practice.

Viktorina Savelyeva: Communism is a THE ТЕORETICAL conception and not necessary connected with dictatorship. It is similar to Christian ideology: if God gave you more (skills, health, etc) you have to use this and do your best in making others happy. Yes, any ideology you have to follow is a freedom as conscious necessity. Yes, and it is actually God's power you AGREE to follow. We used to speak with Denis about Kant. His categorical imperative: "Act as if the maxims of your action were to become through your will an universal law of nature." This is the reason. And more from Kant: “Nothing is divine but what is agreeable to reason.” This is a theory, but how to make everybody to understand and follow it by free will? About "the Soviet Union was an example of "real communism." We were the second generation after revolution, and our conscious life was after Stalin. We and at least one third of 150 millions population accepted communistic ideas. Sasha, I know all your arguments against this, and generally speaking, you are right, it was not totally a free will. And how to make humanity to act according to universal law of nature? Conspiracy theories are telling that COVID-19 might help.

sorry, but it's hard for me to choose the right book, which I consider worthy of your attention and distinguishing for Russian literature. I am excited about Nabokov, but he is not actually a typical Russian writer. My own opinion: a typical feature of Russian writers is their desire to share own ideas, making them understandable even if the reader does not agree with them. Barbara doesn't want Nabokov, and I want to offer one more choice, my beloved author Alexander Green, his most famous romantic story "Scarlet Sails".

Critiques are not considering him a typical Russian writer, but surely - distinctive:

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1663714.Scarlet_Sails?rating=3#other_reviews

Ottawa library doesn't have this book, but we can read it online (126 pages): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scarlet-sails-alexander-grin/1104151132

I am very happy receiving a message about our book club and hope we will renew our readings and our discussions. Feeling responsibility for awakening a taste for Russian culture in Canadians, I am very satisfied by your positive responses about Chekhov.

Elise, thanks a lot for discovering for me Maria Reva. It looks like that most Ukrainians are not aware of a such level writer has appeared.

Emotions overwhelm me, and I would like us to read and discuss the book "Good Citizens Need Not Fear" by Maria Reva. I did not read all the stories yet, but I will definitely find them and do it. I wanted also to write a comment to to the site publishing one of the stories in order to replenish Maria's baggage of absurd stories we all had participated after the collapse of the Soviet Union. I discovered that it were already more than 2000 comments. So people are just bursting with that time absurd stories, and the most amazing thing is that stories are real, but people are just laughing. I am not ingenious to explain this, but I feel it.

It is hard to explain to outsiders that people can make jokes out of terrible things, they could live inside it. They are reading best, but forbidden books, watching best but forbidden movies. They are listening ALL news because they are able to understand that the truth ALWAYS has many faces. They have a great desire and pay huge for them money for books, for modern music (Bone Music, one of Maria's stories). They have no choice, but to be very inventive, have own opinion and responsibility for their lives. Russian literature are full of such stories by great authors. Their great love "to Mother Russia" does not prevent them from laughing at themselves, but God forbid, you will laugh at them.

- Chekhov "Intruder".One peasant unscrewed the nuts on the railroad tracks, completely not considering himself guilty, says the absolute truth. He needed nuts for fishing, so he decided to borrow them on rail.

- Bulgakov: "Master and Margarita", "Fatal eggs", "Heart of a dog", "Notes of the Young Doctor"

I want also to share with you one story which happened to me here, in Ottawa. It was "The Man from the Capital", inaugural show in the new Great Canadian Theatre Company, on October 11, 2007. After 5 minutes of watching I became nervous: it was GOGOL! I looked at the program. Yes, "adopted from Gogol Revizor (auditor)" Тhe play ends like this: the main character goes to the ramp and throws into the hall: "Who are you laughing at? At yourself you are laughing at!". It seamed to me, this was not affected Canadians.

But, I remember myself watching this performance at St. Petersburg, Georgy Aleksandrovich Tovstonogov's theatre with leading at that time actor Kiril Lavrov in the title role. After the final scene, the audience was silent for several seconds, then a storm of applause erupted. People stood and applauded for a long time, filling the artists with flowers.

P.S. I was not able to find in Internet some site to read the book online. Right now I have just put on Google "Good Citizens Need Not Fear" by Maria Reva. Then I added text in Russian: "читать онлайн" (read online) Russian Internet right away gave me the English text of this book because translation to Russian (or Ukrainian) doesn't exist yet. So, you can also read it, just do not pay attention on the Russian words

which gave you a possibility to read the whole book. It is great! Elise, thank you again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ9VLGWK8Zk&list=PL2VoouK3WyqOJWhza2qjNUhzoPXgj63e_

Love, Vita

Dear ladies,

sorry, but it's hard for me to choose the right book, which I consider worthy of your attention and distinguishing for Russian literature. Why Russian? From the beginning I said that Canadians familiarity with Russian literature - it is for me a kind of mission in this book club. I am excited about Nabokov, but he is not actually a typical Russian writer. Barbara doesn't want Nabokov, and I want to offer one more choice, my beloved author Alexander Green, his most famous novel "Scarlet Sails". Critiques are not considering Green a typical Russian writer, but surely - distinctive:

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1663714.Scarlet_Sails?rating=3#other_reviews

Ottawa library doesn't have this book, but we can read it online (126 pages): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scarlet-sails-alexander-grin/1104151132

If your decision is Nabokov, then my proposition is his book Ada (600 pages): b

https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S26C18985

If you do not accept my both choices I would be happy to read any Canadian book of your choice.

Mar 2 2021

About A Gentleman in Moscow. Thank you, Marilyn, for asking my personal opinion.

Surprising and unbelievable! So original, so inquiring! I am very, very impressed. Just the fact that the author, a completely successful American writer, and before that a businessman, suddenly for some reason wanted to understand a distant and mysterious country, with a crazy history, complex language and a bad reputation in North America.

28.03.2021

The book A Gentleman in Moscow is very complicated to be discussed. Writing for me is much easier than speaking, and I decided that for you also will be better to read my review of the book.

Answering Marilyn about my personal opinion on a book A Gentleman from Moscow, I wrote: "Surprising and unbelievable! So original, so inquiring! I am very, very impressed. Just the fact that the author, a completely successful American writer, and before that a businessman, suddenly for some reason wanted to understand a distant and mysterious country, with a crazy history, complex language and a bad reputation in North America"

Аfter reading more carefully, I may add:

- American writer very conditionally imagines Russian society in all periods of its existence. It seems that it is about Russia, but some very strange one. There are a lot of mistakes in history facts and in a different kind of information; in custom descriptions, in terminology, etc.

However, there is something mesmerizing about this text. I must admit that those mistakes did not prevent the author from understanding the main things in Russian history and in the character of the Russian people. Actually, the author wants to tell the reader the main idea: "Real gentlemen will never be a former gentlemen". Count Rostov must remain a gentleman, adapting and surviving in the new, sometimes terrible conditions of reality. Hotel Metropole, Russian characters and events of this period of Russian history are just kind of background and motive for different discussions about values and problems of all people.

What I liked the most is that through the lips of his heroes Amor Towles says that every nation has its own dark and light periods. It is impossible to focus the attention of the world community for some countries only on their bright periods, and for others - only on their dark periods.

Also: it is intriguing that described characters are visible in spite of the fact I understand that they are not real. Like in Alice in Wonderland.

One more: the notes section is very interesting. This is actually another character, with his knowledge of the realities and horrors of the new Soviet world.

The book is very popular in North America now. At the library it is a huge line to get it. I would be happy if people won't be disappointed reading those 462 pages. According to comments of the North American readers they are very impressed by a book. I also liked it very much, but I am not quite understand why the same readers often are bored reading philosophical discussions in the novels of Russian authors like Dostoyevsky. Maybe, because Amor Towles shows discussions on today's problems? But, if a being a gentleman at any circumstances is more today's problem that crime and following punishment? It would be interesting to hear your opinion. See you tomorrow at our ZOOM discussion.

29.03.2021 Book club.

The story of count Rostov is an attractive fiction. Those aristocrats which did not emigrate and were not killed lived in much worse life conditions and, of course,
they did not have material values left, and the stories about 5000 golden coins, which count managed to save, and his ability to speak with anybody unsupervised are just funny.
Amor Towles understood this, but it was not his goal to show the horrors that would happen to a man who proudly declared that he had never worked. By the way real aristocrats - gentlemen would never do it. But, any way, I and many Russians very greateful the author for finding a way of attracting attention of North-Americans to Russia and Russians in а good way.

Thank you, Elise, for asking about my ancestors (including parents).
Reach people who did not give away their material values voluntirely were to be killed. My mother was from the family of reach merchant.
Timofey Zubkov, my maternal grandfather, moved with family to Crimea, wanting to emigrate abroad. He and his son were killed.
Anna and Lidia, my aunts, got married to spesialists, accepted by bolshevics, and then lived a decent life working for the country the
same way as others did (with poverty, civil and WW2 wars, repressions, etc.) Actually, they did not have a choice, but they were ladies and gentlemen.
Maybe you know, a writers' group was organised at Parkdale.
Here are stories about my ancestors and my childhood, related to Elise's question:

https://www.familysavelev.com/viktorina/vitaleo/Lit.pages/Viktorina/English/ancestors.htm

https://www.familysavelev.com/viktorina/vitaleo/Lit.pages/Viktorina/English/childhood.htm

Until yesterday, I had postulates worked out by my brain. These were not axioms, and I knew that it might be necessary to revise them.

So, God wants us "not to kill" There were many wars, including those described in the Bible. Now: Russia's bombing Ukraine. In 1999 NATO's bombing during the Kosovo war.

Now for my close friends and relatives from both parts the time of not discussing, but really doing something. Let's start from Russian side. They love their relatives and friends from Ukraine, they do not want them to be killed, but some of them are obligated to serve the army. It is their duty according to the law in contrast to those who were allowed by law to break the contract and not participate in "humanitarian missions" in Kosovo, Syria. Libya, etc.