tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post6265083629782386316..comments2024-03-17T22:38:03.242+01:00Comments on zmkc: The Power of the Wordzmkchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-62450519872535937532014-03-03T22:18:42.446+01:002014-03-03T22:18:42.446+01:00One of my university lecturers, a brilliant but te...One of my university lecturers, a brilliant but terribly scornful man, worshipped Turgenev (since retiring from scholarly life, he's even written a book about him, I see: <br /><br />http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/jan/30/biography.features1<br /><br />and made one feel like a dolt if one didn't respond with equal fervour (actually, his teaching method largely consisted of making us feel like dolts, presumably so we would try harder next time in order not to feel like dolts, or possibly because he simply felt superior to the entire world, particularly his students [he was very funny too, it should be said, but I often felt uncomfortable about being in the position of being invited to laugh dismissively at the inadequacy of others]. Anyway, it has crossed my mind sometimes to wonder whether, had I been introduced to Turgenev under less stressful circumstances, I might have enjoyed him. zmkchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4905080602885676490.post-33638198141287576692014-03-03T14:02:09.529+01:002014-03-03T14:02:09.529+01:00The status of English as a world language, not to ...The status of English as a world language, not to say the fact that there are prominent novelists writing in English and with names such as Kureishi and Ishiguro, has at least something to do with the United Kingdom's sometime military power, and the United States' succession to that power. In any case, given the lack of enthusiasm for conscription, it seems to me unlikely that Russian sentiment in general is as nationalist as Putin's.<br /><br />As for Turgenev, and American friend long resident in Russia said that she didn't care for him: she found him too French. It occurred to me that that may be why Ford Maddox Ford so admired him.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14819154529261482038noreply@blogger.com