Mothers Day is upon us. My children are my greatest treasures and so a day devoted to marking their entry in my life is a massive high, but, not having a mom on which to bestow my love and gratitude on "the big day" is still painful for me. It's hard to believe Mom passed away 20 years ago and as cliche as it sounds, a day doesn't go by when I don't miss her.
I can't begin to count the memories I have of my mom burrowed in books, students' papers, and newspapers. Her bedroom and study were filled with stuff to read and our house was littered with textbooks, novels, magazines and journals. I was destined to love books as much as she did and when I pick up a book...even today, I think of my mother, which makes me happy. So today, to combat the blues, I dedicate this post to my Mom and focus on a title she gave me back when I was in 8th grade. It had a big impact on my young life.
She was teaching history at the time and had her high school students read Nicolas and Alexandra, by Robert Massie, the story of imperial Russia's last tsar and tsarina. I was mesmerized by the palace intrigue,the tumult of the Russian Revolution and the mystery behind the Romanov assassinations. From that point forward, I felt a deep connection to Russia beyond my heritage and dedicated much of my college life to learning more about the country's language, history, art, literature, and politics. I spent a summer at Middlebury College to immerse myself in Russian language, then traveled to the Soviet Union (what it was called back then in the 80's), and I scored an internship at the State Department where I could apply my Russian beyond the classroom, though I found the monotony of that junior post too much to bear.
Graduating from college with a degree in Russian in the height of the Cold War didn't lead to many job opportunities. I wasn't adventurous enough to sign up for a foreign affairs post. I didn't want to teach at the university level, or put in the graduate work required to do so. So, I did what many liberal arts students did back then...I faked it. Through my study of Russian and mastering its very complex grammar, I learned how to write -- in English. After my first agency job, I discovered that that this was a very marketable skill -- and I have been relying on it ever since. Спасибо Россию (Thank you Russian)!
Even though I never actually used my Russian in my professional life, I have indulged in reading many, many Russian titles over the years. Thought I'd pull a list together and share some treasures. There are some spectacular reads here -- so if you're up for exploring the Motherland, enjoy! (These are in no particular order, just some of my faves.)
1. Nicolas & Alexandra, Robert Massie. This got me started.
2. Crime & Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky (I did my senior thesis on Dostoevsky, so I'm a fan of this dark writer.)
3. Brother's Karmazov, F. Dostoevsky
4. White Nights, F. Dostoevsky (The first novel I ever read in Russian.)
5. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (One of my favorite stories of all time.)
6.. War & Peace, Tolstoy
7. A Hero of our Time: Michail Lermontov
8. A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: Alexander Solzhenitsyn
9. The Overcoat: Nikolai Gogal
10. Fathers & Sons: Ivan Turgenev
11. The Kitchen Boy: A novel of the Last Tsar: Robert Alexander (Thanks Ellen! Loved this.)
12. Red Surgeon: George Borodin (Leningrad/Nazi Battle)
13. A Day in the LIfe of the Soviet Union: Rick Smolan
14. Absurdistan: Gary Shteyngart
15. Everything is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer
16. City of Thieves, David Benioff (More modern take on Leningrad/Nazi Battle. A light, but deep read.)
17. Dr. Zhivago: Boris Pasternak (I like the movie better!)
18. The Rasputin File: Eduard Radzinsky (I was a bit obsessed with this dude for a period.)
19. Gorky Park: Martin Cruz Smith. Cheesy mystery based in Moscow. I liked it though.
20. The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
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Susan, This blog is wonderful and your writing is professional. Having said that I realize how trite it is. After all you been earning a good living your entire life doing it. I would say it really is professional! There is no doubt about it. But I wanted to remind you of an incident that occurred during your retun those many years ago. I'm sure you'll remnember that you had purchase a Samovar while there in exchange for a pair a jeans. The customs people wouldn't let you take the ancient Samovar out of the country. So you arrive home with a bottle of Vodka instead. Telling Mom and me tghat "Oh well it was only a pair of jeans"
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