Tag: #Russia

  • Short Story Review: “Red Pyramid” by Vladimir Sorokin

    (The short story “Red Pyramid” by Vladimir Sorkin, was featured in the October 4th, 2021 issue of The New Yorker.)

    I don’t read work by Russian writes much anymore. I over did it in college as a theatre major. I read a ton of Chekhov, and studied Stanislavski’s writing, and just to be safe I read some Dostoevsky as well. And after I graduated, I never went back to it. I just stopped reading Russian writers. Nothing personal.

    And I know nothing about Vladimir Sorkin, other than he is Russian and he is a writer. Up until five minutes ago, I couldn’t tell you if he was still alive or not. (Thanks Wikipedia.) So, I knew nothing about what to expect from his story “Red Pyramid” which was in the October 4th issue of The New Yorker.

    I shall try to summarize this story: in 1960’s Soviet Union, guy gets on the wrong train while trying to get to a party, and has to get off that train and take another train. While waiting at a station in the middle of nowhere, with no one around, an old man appears. The guy and the old man talk. The old man is strange, and mentions a red pyramid in Red Square, but the guy knows there is no pyramid in Red Square. Train arrives, guy gets on, never sees the old man again, nor makes it to the party. Then the story shifts to the life the guy leads after that experience, and I’m not going to give it away.

    I’m leaving out a couple of bits, because when I got to the ending: My Goodness! I didn’t see it coming, but it wasn’t shocking either. It totally fit, and I cannot explain to you how it fits with the story… it just does. I have been thinking about this story for two days now. I don’t know what the red pyramid is, I know what literally is happen at the end of the story, but I don’t know how they fit together – They just do.

    It’s that big paragraph at the end. It’s a feat of wordsmithing, and its translated! This type of writing I am very envious of, to craft words that almost seem nonsensical, but are capturing a moment or feeling correctly to the authenticity of the story. Sorkin was making me say words that at first, I didn’t understand their relevance, but I knew I was being guided to a satisfying conclusion.

    Well done, sir, though I still don’t get what it means. And that’s the fun.

  • Cyber Attacks are the New Privateers

    I am sure that you have seen in the news, if not been personally affected by the recent cyber-attacks on the Colonial Pipeline and the JBS Meat plants. Biden is in Europe getting our allies’ support in confronting Putin over this, as most of the hackers are based in Russia, if not Russian. Cyber-attacks, or ransomware, has been going on for a while. I think Gray’s Anatomy did an episode on it, and the company my brother used to work for got hacked, and ransomed. I don’t think its hyperbole when the Director of the FBI and CIA say that these hacks are a national threat to our security and economy.

    But when people, especially politicians, say that the world has never seen attacks on nations like this before; I disagree.

    What I think of is the Age of Privateers, or as it is also known, The Age of Pirates, which roughly was about 1600 to the 1856, when the Declaration of Paris outlawed the practice of privateering. In case you don’t know, a privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war (Thank you, Wikipedia). In practice, it was legalized piracy, provided that the pirates didn’t attack the government that legalized them. Privateering was meant to disrupt trade routes and economically hurt a nation. If you hurt your enemy in the wallet, and make the delivery of good difficult, then you have a leg up on them in war.

    That’s what I see nations, like Russia, doing today, allowing pirates to have safe havens in their borders to wreak havoc, as long as those pirates go after Russia’s enemies. The hackers are taking money from local governments and business, and also showing the weaknesses in America’s cyber infrastructure.

    What I am waiting to see is if; one, world nations sign a new Declaration of Paris that outlaws giving safe harbor to cyber criminals, or two, cyber criminals turn on their host nations, just like the privateers did. There is a reason why privateers become pirates – if you are willing to steal from one country, you can steal from all of them.

  • Trotsky on Netflix: Update

    I am now four episodes in on “Trotsky,” and I am having some thoughts.

    When last I wrote about the show, I was asking if the miniseries was indicative of how Russians view Trotsky now, after Stalin had him purged from the history of the revolution, and moreover, how the Russia people view themselves?

    First of all, dramatically, then series is set up so that Trotsky comes across as an anti-hero. The Don Draper or Walter White of the Russian Revolution. He gets laid a lot while trying to change Russia and the world. I find it fascinating that “anti-hero” is the new way of presenting complicated male characters. Trotsky makes the tough decisions, but is all broken up inside though he can’t admit it, and women can’t say no to him. Yes, I am making a joke, but is this now the way male characters will be presented? For that reason, the show has given me pause as I move forward.

    The next thought is that I am unsure how the series feels about the anti-Semitism in Russia at the time of the revolution. I know the awful history of how difficult and freighting it was to be a Jew in Russia at that time and before, and that Trotsky was able to rise to power in the face of so much hate is impressive. Where I feel the show is lacking is that Trotsky doesn’t seem to fight the anti-Semitism he and others face, but rather just puts up with it. I do know that one of the reasons the Soviets wanted an atheistic society was to combat religious hatred and bigotry that they saw as endemic and destructive to society. Trotsky is being presented as an atheist, but for personal reasons, and not also as a requirement for the new Russia he is envisioning. This does leave me feeling uncomfortable with how the series is dealing with this serious issue, but I know I need to finish all episodes to find out what their conclusion is.

    I am still moving forward with the show. Like I said, I finished episode four, and I have four more to go. This is the crux of the show, if it follows the classic dramatic structure, so everything might change.

    I am still fascinated by watching how Russians view their history. It does make the 1917 Revolution look like a chaotic event that was scary to live through. I am curious what the payoff will be when it comes to the founding of the USSR, and how they treat Trotsky’s exiles.

  • Trotsky on Netflix

    I stumbled onto a new show that Netflix seems to be very desperate for me to watch. It’s called, “Trotsky,” and it’s about Leon Trotsky. Not the most original title for a show about Trotsky. Complete disclosure; I’m only two episodes in, so I can’t give a review of the show. Maybe at a later point. What I want to discuss is why Netflix thinks I need to see this show, and being that this show was produced in Russia, what does it say about how Russians view their own history.

    First, Netflix. So, if I watch “Civilizations” and “Empire Games,” they must think that I will love a miniseries on a Soviet revolutionary. I guess this is how it works. I mean, they aren’t wrong, I just would like to know if that was all it took. Is this the action of a Russian troll who is trying to get me to be more sympathetic to Russia?

    Second, is this how Russians view themselves, and what the Soviet Revolutions was? I don’t know that much about Trotsky. I know he was one of the big Soviet three, Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky. I know he ran the military in the Revolution. I know he killed lots of people, and after Lenin died, lost the fight to take over leadership to Stalin. And then Stalin had him killed while he lived in exile in Mexico City. I also know that Stalin tried to have Trotsky completely removed from the history of the revolution and the foundation of the USSR. I even hear that Stalin is still regarded as a hero in Russia to this day.

    So… Does this mean that Trotsky is now considered a hero in Russia? Is this a romanization of that period in Russian history? Is this miniseries indicative of anything culturally over there?

    I’ll finish the show, and then see if there are any insights.