151–160 of 218 posts
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I'd always had an impression of classical Russian writing as being impenetrable, but this was delightful. Thank you!
Check out Daniil Kharms too - http://www.sevaj.dk/kharms/stories/noteb10.htm
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> if you want to lose weight but keep eating fast food despite that---what is the healthy need manifesting through that, and how do you address it in some other, good way? That really depends on the individual; if you'd like to sit on my couch for a couple years ... (I'd have no idea what to do). But as examples, if your body doesn't need something nutritionally (e.g., more energy), perhaps the junk food is a source…
>I would think that physical (i.e., chemical) addictions are different; your body requires that chemical. Alcoholism is a disease, AFAIK. I'd argue that this is not completely true, as in, there's a significant psychological component as well. I can give a personal example. I'm trying to quit smoking by gradually lowering my nicotine intake, or "cut down to quit". Currently, I've reduced the amount I smoke by several…
Personally, I figured out that I was going to engage in some kind of habitual 'escape' periodically (I would guess that is true of everyone). It didn't matter what it was; if I stopped one, then I'd start another. As a result, I try to purposely choose things that are as healthy as possible, or at least harmless, and maybe even a little productive. Hobbies can be good for that, though they aren't exactly the same thing.
EDIT: Some clarifying edits
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Chekhov was very popular in Russian schools up until early 90s because of his writing style. You're absolutely spot on that he writes in very plain Russian. Dostoevsky has some mindfuck-inducing way or getting across to the reader. His writing is difficult even for a lot of native Russian speakers. L.N. Tolstoy also has some easy reading ( Детство. Отрочество. Юность / Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth is my favorite)
What happened after the early 90s?
Chekhov is still tout in Russian school : https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%D1%8...
I notice this theme again and again in every "change yourself" book, show, class, lecture. Be it weight loss, improving mental health, curing addiction, becoming a better writer/photographer/programmer, the theme all comes down to a battle against yourself. Fighting the desire to snack, fighting the desire to lay on the couch instead of going to the gym, fighting the desire to veg and watch netflix instead of watchin…
The more I think about it and learn about the functioning of the brain, the less I believe in the unitary 'self'. I once read the suggestion that what we think of as the 'self' is really just the brain's public relations department.
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Presumably, in this context meaning that there was much more literature available for reading?
Probably that people had a much harder time surviving to read as much...
Only in the later stages of decline, when economy was tanking and people spent half their time queuing for things, they probably had less time to read...
I'm struck by how much this echoes Confucius and the Analects and how they define the so-called gentleman or noble man (not to be confused with nobleman, and translation is hard). Given how unlikely it is that Chekhov had exposure to either, it's incredible to observe the universality of these qualities considered admirable. If people haven't, do recommend checking out The Analects! Caveat: there are quite a few exce…
Can you give some examples of those "statements on women that interpreted naïvely clearly contradict other statements on mothers?" I've read bits and pieces of Analects, thought it was ok, but felt that is was very much reflective of the perspectives of the time. Most of it felt like stuff that was obvious and other stuff felt not applicable to the world today. IIRC there was some stuff about traveling abroad / being…
"The Master said: 'Girls and inferior men are hard to get along with. If you get familiar with them, they lose their humility; if you are distant, they resent it.'" (Chapter 17)
This sounds pretty bad. My reading of it is that he meant that relationships between men and women are particularly tricky (bearing in mind heteronormative standards at the time, etc. etc.), so one has to be careful not to misrepresent them or else everyone suffers. This can be generously reinterpreted to general use ("don't toy around with people and treat them straightforwardly"). Realistically... I'm happy to take it as a mistake on his part and just extract something worthwhile from it even if it's not what he meant.
With regard to enlightened perspective or lack thereof, there's an interesting question. I'm no expert on Confucius himself and how he regarded women, but his filial piety towards his mother is widely lauded (as was Mencius').
Hope that helps!
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Standard Ebooks looks to be a very interesting project. Is there a story behind the project that details how you got started and who are the main contributors? A 'Show HN' [0] or a write-up on indiehackers.com [1] would be awesome and could you more contributors. I subscribed to your RSS feed [2] that announces your new publications but it lacks a URL for me to download the Ebook right away. Also, is there a way for…
Thanks for the suggestions! The project is very small, not for profit so indiehackers.com would probably not be interested. It's all volunteer-based so if you're interested in contributing work somehow then drop me a line. The OPDS feed is mainly for reading systems and libraries, not for human consumption. However it does actually include direct links to epub files, but you typically have to view the feed source--i.…
Understood. I was using a standard RSS reader to parse the feed.
I added the OPDS feed to my FBReader app on Android [0] via its Network Catalog feature [1]. Et voila, I have your entire catalog at my fingertips. Thanks. :-)
> It's all volunteer-based so if you're interested in contributing work somehow then drop me a line.
I can definitely see myself volunteering. Thanks for the invite. :-)
[0] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.geometerpl...
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Was just a guess on a uniform prior :) If you have specific evidence of Chekhov referencing Confucius (the similarities are so striking that either he came up with them independently, which was my original point, or he was inspired by Confucius, which should then leave traces) please do tell! That would be really cool.
I'm not savvy enough to know whether or where to find a list of works the Chekhov studied in his lifetime. I'll leave that search to others. Just floating idea that him coming across a translated work and it influencing his writing without him actually referencing it directly anywhere seems at least comparably likely as independent invention. Especially given that such translations at least existed in his time. I've…
Which Russian missionaries translated which Chinese classics, since that you've already searched? I'm turning up Russian -> Chinese, not the other way around.
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I think "exellent" is an excellent choice of the word (beautiful ≈ красиво).
"excellent" makes it sound like Bill & Ted doing the translation, though. 'first-rate' is a common choice for that quote which is also unsatisfying - without the unwanted English connotations but also without any of the desirable Russian ones.