Have you ever enjoyed French wine or German Rhine wine? You have one person to thank. This same person is the only Roman pontiff, except St. Peter, that Jesus referred to by name. His name also forms the root of the Russian “tsar” and the German “kaiser” and, if you’re […]

Here’s a microquote from the entry on George F. Kennan’s Sad Appreciations: “The truth is sometimes a poor competitor in the market place of ideas — complicated, unsatisfying, full of dilemmas, always vulnerable to misinterpretation and abuse. “The counsels of impatience and hatred can always be supported by the crudest […]

Another short, interesting work by a Russian author is “The Death of Ivan Ilych” by Leo Tolstoy. Although it’s about a guy dying, some of it is actually pretty funny. And it’s a very powerful story that illuminates some profound truths about life and death. The story begins with Ivan […]

Here’s an excerpt from Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol. The photo shows Yul Brynner as Taras. “Taras Bulba was terribly stubborn. The cruel fifteenth century gave birth to such characters in that seminomadic corner of Europe. Russia, abandoned by her princes, had been devastated, burned to the ground by the […]

I think a lot of people feel they should read the Russians. After all, William Faulkner took a year off from the post office to read the Russians, and look what it did for him. He became yet another author people feel they should read. The trouble is, people don’t […]

There is a remarkable little book that has been kicking around for many years called American Diplomacy 1900-1950 by George F. Kennan. I see it all the time at tag sales and flea markets, so it’s probably taught in a lot of history classes. I finally decided to pick it […]

I hope I can be excused for violating the number one rule of this blog: “It’s not about me. It’s about the books.” My tour of the West of Ireland was so exhilarating and informative that I would like to share a little of what I learned from the scholars […]

The singers and musicians at Bunratty Castle played and sang so sweetly it brought tears to my eyes. I took some shit from the callous sophisticates in our group, but it was well worth it.

To all my friends in the blogosphere: Sorry I have not posted for a week. I’ve been on a bicycle tour of the West of Ireland. I thought I would be able to blog from there, but we averaged just under 30 miles a day (not bad for a bunch […]

Reading “A Doctor in Homespun” by Mary Phylinda Dole gives the reader a glimpse of a world that has disappeared almost completely — the world of 19th century New England where people made nearly everything for themselves and went to market primarily to sell things. At the Williams Farm in […]