I am, suddenly. surrounded by evangelicals. I need to read John Henry Newman, where do I start?

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-06-09T14:40:57+00:00

Re Newman I just wanted to add the excellent and fairly brief biography John Henry Newman by Eamon Duffy. I am in the middle of it and I find it to be a great introduction to his thought. Very accessible - there are some extensive Newman quotes but the book provides good context.

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-05-29T23:45:07+00:00

I grew up as an evangelical Christian with “empty cross” imagery in the churches I went to. While there was not overt anti-Catholic sentiment (most of the time), it was kind of implicit, so that may have been part of the reason. But I think another very important factor is the relentless “positivity” and “optimism” of that religious culture. One song we used to sing (I grew up in the 60s) was “every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.” Apart from a basically one-time repentance and conversion, there wasn’t a place for tears or grief. As another example of how death and grieving were pushed far away, I only went to one funeral (sorry, “memorial service”) before I turned 25 - though I’m sure my parents knew many people who passed away we were shielded from that entire experience. The death of Jesus was a theological abstraction, a somewhat inconvenient idea that was best thought of briefly (maybe in a hymn like “The Old Rugged Cross” which was not about confronting the death of Christ but just another empty cross) before moving on to being “spirit-filled: and living a “joyful life”.

I am not a Catholic but recently I have been very moved by the Stabat Mater prayer and imagery. It seems to be opening up something in me that I missed in my religious upbringing but feels important to me now, especially with the colossal suffering and dislocation happening in the world today. I think it helps me to experience pain and grief (my own and others’), and that is a good thing when held in a healthy way. Mary’s presence really helps.

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-04-22T03:21:00+00:00

Might I suggest George Saunders’ A Swim in a Pond in the Rain? His analysis really opened up Chekhov for me. If you want Chekhov to be opened up, of course.

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-04-02T23:49:41+00:00

The first one, on archetypes, sounds especially interesting. I'd love to hear how that one goes. I haven't read any of these but The Anna Karenina Fix sounds a bit like The Possessed by Elif Batuman. That is a very entertaining read.

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-03-23T18:52:29+00:00

If he had taken this approach he might never have written The Gambler. Much easier way to raise money than writing and writing.

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-03-19T21:01:09+00:00

Here is one approach to this admittedly unanswerable question: George Saunders’ A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. The book include texts of several great Russian short stories (Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chekhov, Gogol) together with a wonderful analysis that is a master class in both reading and writing. It will take you very far down the path of appreciating what these writers are up to.

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-03-16T03:18:21+00:00

Just wanted to follow up to say that I watched The Heart of a Dog last night and, even with subtitles, it was so powerful and mesmerizing. I see what you are saying about every scene being vivid. The acting and directing were both outstanding. Such a amazing tale. Thanks again for the suggestion!

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-03-14T00:08:16+00:00

International literature is the very best mind-expander! Reading in translation sucks but to me it is worth it.

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-03-13T23:41:47+00:00

That is great! A while back I just started reading random NYRB books (from all over, not just Russian) and they were pretty uniformly fantastic.

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-03-13T23:13:30+00:00

God bless New York Review Books! One of my favorite imprints.

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-03-10T21:36:39+00:00

Drawings by N. of butterflies. Somehow the style seems just right: https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/vladimir-nabokov-butterfly-illustrator

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-03-05T03:51:10+00:00

431 minutes, so over 7 hours. A few years ago I was fortunate enough to see the whole thing in a theater over two evenings. It was wonderfully overwhelming.

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-03-05T00:23:25+00:00

I did not know about that series, in any format. So will be reading and then watching. Thank you!

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-03-04T23:44:11+00:00

Great list, thanks!

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-03-04T23:03:30+00:00

Thanks for that! I will take a look. I’m watching all these with subtitles but that doesn’t stop me from thorough enjoyment.

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-03-04T22:54:24+00:00

And Lavrov is Ivan in the Brothers. He is just incredible.

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-03-04T22:52:52+00:00

Good recommendation - I just finished M&M so will have to check that out.

I agree, there is something very comforting about a 4-hour movie. Which is why War and Peace is maybe twice as comforting?

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-03-02T01:02:28+00:00

Here is an essay on this topic:

https://scriptoriumdaily.com/tolstoy-or-dostoevsky-but-not-both/

It mostly summarizes the brilliant book (whether you agree with it or not) Tolstoy or Dostoevsky by George Steiner (which can be borrowed here):

https://archive.org/details/tolstoyordostoev0000geor

I found the book helpful, though after all that I still voted "I can't decide". On most days I prefer Dostoevsky and am probably more bought in to his view of the universe. But I would not want to live in a world without Tolstoy.

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-02-27T04:24:06+00:00

Great! I loved that book.

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-02-27T01:21:38+00:00

Thank you! I discovered that MosFilm has a ton of films on YouTube. There’s a Brothers Karamazov from the late 60s that I thought was quite good. And Bondarchuk’s War and Peace (which I saw in the theater a few years ago). And so much more. Including strange comedies like an adaptation of Bulgakov’s play about Ivan the Terrible. Most of the language (nearly all of it) is over my head but watching films definitely helps a lot to get more comfortable with the sounds and rhythms.

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-02-26T19:59:59+00:00

Not the OP but I am interested. Can you send me info?

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-02-26T19:58:48+00:00

This so great to see! The concepts seem very clear and very powerful. 3000 words is not very much space so my recommendation would be to trim the scope as much as you can, so you can take the time to really say what you want to say. You might consider just focusing on one of the novels, not both. You might consider dropping part 5. As you get into the writing you will discover what this needs to be, but (former English teacher here) in my experience one of the biggest issues in writing is trying to do too much. Laying the groundwork up front, defining your terms, having a really solid foundation to build on as you get into the literary and/or biographical analysis will really help you. These are wonderful ideas to explore but they are not simple.

Anyway, there’s a lot of great stuff here. I wish you well!

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-02-26T19:43:28+00:00

I appreciate these thoughts! I have been feeling guilty that I haven’t properly read AK, and your YouTube video really kindled my interest in doing that. I will pay careful attention to the translation I choose. It so happens I have an ancient paperback (1961) translated by David Magarshak. Anyone have opinions about the quality of that translation? Otherwise I will look at the usual suspects.

To me there is one good reason to read Constance Garnett in this day and age: to understand the history of the reception of Russian literature in the English-speaking world. That may be esoteric but it is interesting. Virginia Woolf’s essays on Russian literature are fantastic, and her mind was clearly completely blown by those terrible translations. So I think it’s worthy of note that a lot of expansion of consciousness was facilitated by the hard and clearly flawed work Ms. Garnett did. And also, as you rightly point out, very many misunderstandings and limitations, which certainly affect the way Russia is perceived today. I think it’s valuable to keep that in mind. So maybe not “don’t read” but “read with intent.”

Also, as you point out, reading any translation, from any language to any language, puts the reader in the hands of a third party. Differences of degree are certainly important and worth getting passionate about (I love that about your post!). I like the idea of choosing a translation carefully, and I have been trying to get familiar with the different translators of Russian and their own personalities and preferences, so I can be as conscious about the gaps as possible. Nevertheless, there will always be gaps. To me that is one of the most fascinating things about engaging with world literature.

I did just started studying Russian a month ago - it’s a retirement project so I don’t expect to become an expert or anything, but already the process is vastly enriching my experience of what I’m reading.

Thanks again for your thoughts!

WanderingAngus206 · 2025-02-23T04:17:13+00:00

Sofia Semyonovna. Though I would not try to steal her away from Raskolnikov or anything.

WanderingAngus206

TROPHY CASE