Some time ago we talked of Russia. She said St. Petersburg. I said Petrograd.
She said Leningrad and I said The Bronze Horseman.
We both thought of the siege.
Over a million people died.
She flew back to the other side of our country and read Paullina Simons' book.
She wrote to say she agreed with me: Best historical novel ever.
She said she was going there. I said ohmeingottthatwouldbesweet. 
There might have been talk of watchingoutforcutesoldiers.
She's flying back here later this summer. I'll see if I can talk her into some photos.
She'll say Gospodi! Topor u moye golovye!
And I'll nod my head: Yes.
Who is this person? You have me all a-twitter.
ReplyDeleteI just realized I commented while being signed in to one of my other blogs, but it's still me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a fun post! It's made me curious, exploring your links. An axe in the head? This sounds like a great friendship. I assume 872 refers to the number of days since you will have seen her, but who knows? Thanks for sharing your friendship.
ReplyDeletehi kass-
ReplyDeletewell she is a montanagirl who has been living *back east* for some years. she's my sister's best friend. i hope she will stop by here and introduce herself and i hope she comes back to montana!
hi annie- oh i am so glad you had fun with the links. i might have gotten carried away with the ax, but that was too much fun to NOT link, eh? the 872 days refer to the number of days in the siege. horror of war horrors, there are so many horrors, but this siege killed a million civilians. the book mentioned in this post puts you right there. oy.
in regards to my friend, she's the sort whose friendship graces everyone she encounters.
A sprawling, difficult, but amazing book book that is set, in part, during the siege of Leningrad:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe_Central
http://www.amazon.com/Europe-Central-William-Vollmann/dp/B000HT2OZ8
"misti"
mike-
ReplyDeleteyou amaze me with the way you can dangle the most tantalizing titles just inches away from my curiousity. i ordered the $2.78 copy. it sounds amazing. one of these days i'll have a photo to share of my bottomed-out book jar. i no sooner vow to not bring home another book and you point out a title that cannot be left unturned.
years ago i became fascinated by the siege of berlin. russia was so sure there was no way the city could be fed, but our country had pilots who were willing to fly cargo planes stripped of almost too many nuts and bolts and with the training to get one more mile out of their fuel in order to fly in with supplies. the training of these pilots happened to be at an air base across the river from where i grew up. but that siege was nothing compared to the siege of leningrad.
i digressed.
misplaned
Let me know what you think of it, Sherry. It's a difficult read, as the narrative is fragmented, and at times obsessive, and the scope vast, but persistence will pay off, and finally I found it to be one of the most remarkable books I've read.
ReplyDelete"unget"
mike-
ReplyDeletenow that i am wrapping up my latest writing project, i am turning back to low life and ....yeah! the tugboat book.
fragmented read probably would work well for me. how in the world did you get the word unget when all i got was getless?
The fuddling thrill of ungetting.
ReplyDelete"thypula"
dang mike, that makes such sense to me. today i feel -- not *understood*, not *overstood*, but stood. nicely stood.
ReplyDelete