notes from the incubator + song of the week

So there was a post some time ago where Turgenev's On the Eve was quoted without context, nor comment for that matter. Some people asked what it means. Well, I think that dialogue sums up the entire book and perhaps it doesn't require explanation. But I'm considering maybe putting something together to explain what I find so moving, and even relevant, about Shubin's timeless question: "will there ever be men among us?"

And that's our last post for tonight. Here's the song of the week, a little thing from Tom Waits. G'night.

"Take a listen."

Do you know Leo Tolstoy?

"Have you seen any of my later writings?" Tolstoy inquired of a visitor who came to him as the admirer of "The Cossacks," of "War and Peace," of "Anna Karenina." The question referred to his religious writings. 


When he said no, Tolstoy could only exclaim, "Ah, then you do not know me at all. We must become acquainted." 


- from Ivan Panin's Lectures on Russian Literature.

Long distant, alas I return...

Such an enchanting little playlist that I'm running though; it begins with Sigur Ros, transitions to Explosions, and then The Album Leaf.

I'm 70 pages deep into Ivan Panin's "Lectures on Russian Literature," and he blows my mind. He's exhaustingly cerebral and thoroughly analytical, but its a fascinating piece.

This is a refreshing break from my typical readings - the literary escapade was prompted by an essay in the Times, "It's Not You, It's Your Books."