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Life Got You Down? Time to Read The Master and Margarita

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Re: Life Got You Down? Time to Read The Master and Margarita

#71

Post by FabHK »

dmortin wrote: post #62
aleyan wrote: post #6

Life got you down? Take a piece of advice from another of Bulgakov's (author of Master and Margarita) novels and stop reading the news. There is nothing actionable in the news; next to no utility. News is simply a time sink that depress your spirit. So take the good doctor's words from Heart of a Dog: "If you care about your digestion, my advice is [sic] never read soviet newspapers before dinner" and generalize it t…

> There is nothing actionable in the news; next to no utility For long term money planning, where to put your money, which areas of the world have problems, the news are important. You can skip your local gossip, but knowing what happens in the world is important for long term planning.

> the news are important

Not daily news.

Re: Life Got You Down? Time to Read The Master and Margarita

#72

Post by tw1010 »

Y_Y wrote: post #69
aleyan wrote: post #6

Life got you down? Take a piece of advice from another of Bulgakov's (author of Master and Margarita) novels and stop reading the news. There is nothing actionable in the news; next to no utility. News is simply a time sink that depress your spirit. So take the good doctor's words from Heart of a Dog: "If you care about your digestion, my advice is [sic] never read soviet newspapers before dinner" and generalize it t…

As an honest question, how well does this apply to Hackernews? I know that BBC News is bad for my health and does nothing for my career. Holistically I'm not sure about hn.

To be brutally honest, a lot of the negativity on HN probably isn't the best influence on your mental health. It's a trade-off between that and career benefits.

Re: Life Got You Down? Time to Read The Master and Margarita

#73

Post by felipeerias »

peatmoss wrote: post #2

The Master and Margarita is indeed a fantastic read, but there’s a dark subtext. For example, the supernatural happenings and bumps in the night from the neighboring apartment are likely Bulgakov making commentary on the purges. Bulgakov layered things. On the surface, lightheartedness. Underneath, a very bleak and tortured soul.

There is a point where most the inhabitants of a shared flat vanish one after the other as if by magic, leaving only one of them behind.

Luckily, the footnotes point out the tiny clues in the text that tell the whole story: that tenant had denounced all of his flatmates to the secret police so he could keep the whole place for himself.

Re: Life Got You Down? Time to Read The Master and Margarita

#74

Post by FabHK »

80801 wrote: post #70
Insanity wrote: post #60

Since I don't understand Russian, is there any English translation that you'd recommend over another? I've only ventured slightly into Russian litarature (English translations thereof) with "The death of Ivan Ilych" and "the dream of a rediculous man". I consider the former to be one of the best books I have read this year, and would like to give TMaM a try but always have trouble deciding on a translation.

Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky. Since they get so much praise, anything russian I have read was translated by them.

And they did the Penguin 50 yr anniversary edition [1]. It has some useful notes at the end, too.

I found the notes in the Annotated Lolita [2] very helpful, unfortunately I haven't really found an annotated version of M&M (beyond what's in [1]).

[1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143108271

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Annotated-Lolita-Revised-Updated/dp/0...

Re: Life Got You Down? Time to Read The Master and Margarita

#75

Post by pjc50 »

robk wrote: post #49
barrkel wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's nothing actionable, except for longer term investments like where to live and how to plan your spending vs saving. Brexit is horribly fascinating in this respect, as the outcome controls whether I'll need do leave. Definitely true for tribal politics though.

I doubt anyone will be made to leave. Suffer through paperwork sure.

Seeing what happened to the "Windrush generation", I wouldn't be so sure. This is a government with anti-immigration targets.

Re: Life Got You Down? Time to Read The Master and Margarita

#76

Post by JerryPavlic »

I attended a Russian poetry event by accident a couple of days ago. I didn't understand a thing but this made my whole experience of it even more beautiful. I could literally feel what the artists were talking about and the reactions of the crowd. I guess it had to do a little with the fact that they were expats and the Russian poetry probably reminded them at home, but the energy in the room was so intense. Later i spoke with one of the attendees and he explained that poetry (or literature in this case) is a way of connecting similair perspectives to life to people divided by the enormous distances in Russia. Thats why the people attending the event - even though they didnt know each other, had a great feeling of connection and were prone to expressing their patriotic emotions. To quote him: "I felt Russian for the first time in a long time tonight."And this is a great quote: "Literature can be a catalyst for change. But it can also be a safety valve for a release of tension and one that results in paralysis"

Re: Life Got You Down? Time to Read The Master and Margarita

#78

Post by pbhjpbhj »

ragequitta wrote: post #51
yosefk wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What could he learn from the news that would influence his actions or even opinions? If the answer is "nothing", what's the downside for this guy?

In my case I've been publicly shamed once or twice because I'm not up on what the latest generation finds offensive. Maybe that's just what getting old is though. Apparently we're not allowed to say 'that one chick from the alien films' or 'miss/ms' enternamehere without deeply offending some of the population to the point of being yelled at. There are many other examples of this I'm sure, but I don't get out much. I…

How do you keep up? The point is that you don't.

Re: Life Got You Down? Time to Read The Master and Margarita

#79

Post by EliRivers »

Y_Y wrote: post #69
aleyan wrote: post #6

Life got you down? Take a piece of advice from another of Bulgakov's (author of Master and Margarita) novels and stop reading the news. There is nothing actionable in the news; next to no utility. News is simply a time sink that depress your spirit. So take the good doctor's words from Heart of a Dog: "If you care about your digestion, my advice is [sic] never read soviet newspapers before dinner" and generalize it t…

As an honest question, how well does this apply to Hackernews? I know that BBC News is bad for my health and does nothing for my career. Holistically I'm not sure about hn.

On HN, generally avoid reading the comments. Some very interesting things occasionally come up in the comments, true, but its just not worth the time sink and the effect on your psyche to dig through the dross and find them. Let this be the last HN comment you ever read...
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