#alexandr pushkin

[ohsalome]

saw a tweet once that said "being poc fan of classical literature is having to battle with the fact that most of your favourite authors would probably have hated you for the mere fact of your existance". I thought back then that it would have been disrespectful to derail their thought, so here I go, making my own damn post:

Being a ukrainian fan of russian classical literature is knowing for sure that 99,9% of your favourite authors would have hated you for your existance as a ukrainian, because they deliberately went out of their way to let it be known; and most of them would've been happy to contribute to your annihilation personally

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Robert Doisneau

* * * *

‘The illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths.’ Anton Chekhov

Gooseberries, 1898 (citing Alexandr Pushkin)

[Ina de Bree]

[vakravia]

Pyotr sees Marya for the first time [the captain's daughter, alexandr pushkin] sketch

10/06/2023

Bruh this book is being surprisingly easy to read and it's not what I expected from a 19th century book.

Btw, I'm having such a baaaaad time drawing his eyes so that it looks like he's looking at her and not at the north pole 😭

[cantinalaboheme]

El profeta

Atormentado por una sed espiritual,

erraba yo por un tenebroso desierto,

y en la encrucijada de un sendero

se me apareció un serafín de seis alas.

Con sus dedos, ligeros como un sueño, tocó mis pupilas

que se abrieron como las de un aguilucho alarmado;

tocó mis orejas, y éstas se

colmaron de ruidos y rumores,

y comprendí la arquitectura de los cielos

y el vuelo de los ángeles sobre las montañas

y la senda de miles de animales submarinos bajo las olas,

y el trabajo subterráneo de la planta que germina.

Y el ángel, inclinándose sobre mi boca,

me arrancó mi lengua pecadora,

la habladora de frivolidades y de mentiras,

y entre mis labios helados su mano ensangrentada

puso el dardo de la serpiente sabia.

Con su espada hendió mi pecho

y me arrancó el corazón palpitante,

y en mi pecho entreabierto hincó un ascua ardiente.

Como un cadáver, yo yacía en el desierto,

y la voz de Dios me llamó:

—levántate, profeta, mira, escucha,

que mi voluntad te inunde,

y recorriendo los mares y las tierras,

incendia con la Palabra los corazones de los hombres —.

Alexandr Pushkin

[screamscenepodcast]

It's the film Martin Scorsese claims as "one of the few true classics of supernatural cinema;" it's 1949's THE QUEEN OF SPADES from director Thorold Dickinson and starring Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans, and Yvonne Mitchell.

Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 26:57; Discussion 37:02; Ranking 1:04:25

[seleccionpoetica]

Yo la amé,

y ese amor tal vez,

está en mi alma todavía, quema mi pecho.

Pero confundirla más, no quiero.

Que no le traiga pena este amor mío.

Yo la amé. Sin esperanza, con locura.

Sin voz, por los celos consumido;

la amé, sin engaño, con ternura,

tanto, que ojalá lo quiera Dios,

y que otro, amor le tenga como el mío.

Alexsandr Pushkin

[takaraphoenix]

Fairy Tale Recap: The Tale of Tsar Saltan

In the theme of girls turned into birds - really, that is a very oddly specific trope that keeps appearing in fairy tales and makes me wonder just how many dudes really wanted to fuck a bird.

As so often, we have a set of three siblings - sisters, this time. And as always, the youngest gets picked to marry Saltan, the tsar. The older two get to work at the palace, because who doesn’t want to be a lowly servant when their younger sister gets to be queen?

When the tsar is away for a while, the two older sisters stuff their younger sister and her baby boy Gvidon into a barrel to drown them in the sea.

The sea is having none of that nonsense and brings the two safely to the shore of an island, where Gvidon gets to grow up. He meets a talking swan, as young protagonists tend to do, and the swan of course knows magic.

When Gvidon expresses home-sickness... the logical conclusion is that the swan turns him into a tiny insect so he can fly home and sting his mean family. Obviously. Because returning home and telling dad what happened would be too easy, right?

First time, he turns into a mosquito and stings one of his aunts.

Second time, he turns into a fly and stings one of his aunts. What kind of flies does Russia have that they sting though...?

Third time, he turns into a bumblebee and stings... his... grandma? Who was never mentioned before and hasn’t actually cast him out or anything, but sure, be a petty little shit, Gvidon.

Now that he stung essentially his whole family, he doesn’t feel homesick anymore and instead really wants to get married. So the swan turns into a beautiful princess, they get married and return home to an overjoyed tsar.

Not like they could have, you know, just returned home right away, but sure.

[cantinalaboheme]

Apuro sediento tu tierno gemido, tu intimidad que me embriaga y ardiente, la lengua del dulce deseo, pasión cuyo vino no sacia. Pero corta con ese relato, oculta, calla tu sueño: su llama que quema yo temo, tengo miedo de saber tu secreto.

- Alexandr Pushkin