“Suddenly” is a word used often by the Russians. I remember being told once in a writing workshop never to use the word “suddenly.” Only Dostoevsky can use that word, the teacher said. Writing instructors often say that nothing in fiction happens … [Read more...]
Like a Russian River
Russian history, it seems to me, is much like a Russian river. It lays unhappily frozen, obedient within its constraining banks for a period longer than it can stand. Then suddenly, some foreign ray of change permeates the ice and the river … [Read more...]