Tag: Boris Pasternak

  • February 2025 Books and Reading Notes

    At long last, over two months since I cracked it open, I finally finished Doctor Zhivago. It was a long read – mostly beautiful, occasionally frustrating, and above all definitely worth the effort.

    Now I am reading short fiction, to help reset my brain. Currently I am working my way through The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966, which, in addition to being full of superb short prose and poetry, is an interesting time-capsule of the state of literature almost seventy years ago.

    Acquisitions

    The Blaft Book of Anti-Caste Speculative Science Fiction

    1. R.T. Samuel, Rakesh K., Rashmi R.D. (editors), The Blaft Book of Anti-Caste SF (Blaft Publications)

    Reading List

    Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak

    Books

    1. Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago [2025.02.14]

    Short Prose

    1. Jim C. Hines, “Kitemaster” (Patreon post) [2025.02.11]
    2. Samuel Beckett, “Dante and the Lobster”, The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966 [2025.02.14]
    3. Jack Kerouac, “October in the Railroad Earth”, The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966 [2025.02.14]
    4. Patsy Southgate, “A Very Important Lady”, The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966 [2025.02.16] – [Note: I could find almost no information at all on Patsy Southgate online. Anything I found was as a side note to other writers and creative types. The two obituaries I could find, from 1998, were behind paywalls. Perhaps I will gather some sources and put together a Wikipedia page.]
    5. Kameron Hurley, “At the Crossroads of Many Futures” (Patreon post) [2025.02.16]
    6. Tobias S. Buckell, “The Last Cathedral of Earth, In Flight” (Patreon post) [2025.02.17]
    7. Alexander Trocchi, “From Cain’s Book“, The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966 [2025.02.18]
    8. John Rechy, “From City of Night“, The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966 [2025.02.18]
    9. William Eastlake, “Portrait of an Artist with Twenty-Six Horses”, The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966 [2025.02.18]
    10. Carlos Fuentes (Lysander Kemp, translator), “The Life Line”, The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966 [2025.02.21]
    11. Juan Rulfo (Lysander Kemp, translator), “From Pedro Páramo“, The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966 [2025.02.22]
    12. Octavio Paz, “Todos Santos, Día de Muertos”, The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966 [2025.02.24]
    13. Henry Miller, “Defense of the Freedom to Read”, The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966 [2025.02.24]
    14. William Eastlake, “Three Heroes and a Clown”, The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966 [2025.02.25]
    15. Terry Southern, “Red-Dirt Marihuana”, The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966 [2025.02.25]
    16. William S. Burroughs, “Deposition: Testimony Concerning a Sickness”, The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966 [2025.02.26]
    17. Eugène Ionesco, “Foursome”, The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966 [2025.02.26]
    18. Martin Williams, “Charlie Parker: The Burden of Innovation”, The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957 – 1966 [2025.02.28]
  • Weekly Round-up, February 15, 2025

    A trail of cat footprints in a light covering of snow.

    [A trail of cat footprints in a light covering of snow.]

    This past week was hectic, but not overwhelming. We are already making plans for ConFusion 2026, and I am excited to be part of that process. ConFusion 2025 was a tremendous experience and I am grateful that we are able to keep that momentum up as we plan for next year.

    Reading

    I finally finished Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago. In any other year I would have completed it sometime around the holidays, but surviving in a cyberpunk dystopia takes a lot of mental energy, and is quite psychologically draining. And classic Russian literature requires a lot of focus and attention to detail.

    Immediately upon closing the Pasternak, I opened The Evergreen Review Reader, 1957-1966. I believe I picked this book up as a remainder when I worked at Schuler Books & Music back in the mid-1990s. So this book has been in my possession for between 25 and 30 years. And now I am finally reading it. The first two short stories therein are by Samuel Beckett and Jack Kerouac.

    Writing

    While at Monumental ConFusion a couple of weeks ago, my partner bought me an unlined journal with paper thick enough to allow me to use a fountain pen without bleed-through or blotching. I have written a couple of poems in it, one a sort of “welcome to the journal” piece, and the other a response to finishing Doctor Zhivago here in the mid-21st century. Feels good to have my head in that space again.

    Weekly Writing Prompt

    Subject: Environment, Precursors
    Setting: Frontier
    Genre: Technothriller

    Listening

    Careless Whisper” by Wham!

    While looking for a song to include in this post, I found a list of the top 40 songs of this date 40 years ago. “Careless Whisper” was at the top of an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING collection of music. 1985 was a hell of a year to be a teenager listening to the radio.

    Interesting Links

     

  • Weekly Round-up, December 7, 2024

    The vacant lot on the corner of 36th Street and Buchanan Avenue.

    [The vacant lot on the corner of 36th Street and Buchanan Avenue. ]

    This was a quiet week. Some low-level work frustrations kept me distracted from the general state of the world, which was nice. But it also meant I didn’t have a lot of mental space for myself.

    Reading

    My long read for Dostoevsky December is Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. I read a couple of chapters back during my Russian Studies days at Grand Valley State University, somewhere around…1991. And I watched the movie a year or so ago. So now I am finally reading the book.

    Writing

    Nothing, as usual.

    Weekly Writing Prompt

    Subject: Precursors, Mutants
    Setting: Library
    Genre: Slipstream

    Listening

    “Lara’s Theme” from Doctor Zhivago.

    Interesting Links