Russian Ghosts

At the end of last year I read and saw The Namesake. The hero of this book was named after his father's favorite author, Nicoli Gogol. The boy was Gogol Gangoli. At one point in the book, you learn that his father was reading The Overcoat on a train when the train was involved in an accident. Because I enjoyed The Namesake, I wanted to read something by Gogol. Luckily, The Overcoat was on sale at Audible, so I bought it.

I have a feeling that this is a book that is often read in college literature classes. Gogol was at the forefront of the Russian realism movement and this was the short story that started it for him. It is beautifully written. The translation that I read was well-written, in any event. The protagonist has an overcoat, buys an overcoat, loses an overcoat, then dies in despair due to an overcoat. Sort of. And then he becomes a ghost and haunts people who have wronged him. The detail about this man and how he saved to get his overcoat is amazing for such a short story. I can understand Gogol's father being caught up in this author's writing.

My brother loves mysteries and thrillers. Me too. I needed a paper book for the "library." Eric has quite a library of his own, so he was happy let me read one of his. I've liked Martin Cruz Smith since Gorky Park. His protagonist, Renko, is a lovely bumbly detective whose father knew Stalin. In fact, he acted a bit like Stalin when Renko was young. In Stalin's Ghost, a ghost is seen at a subway station and then a lot of stuff happens. Through it all you learn more about Renko's relationship with his father. You also learn a lot about what it's like to live in Moscow these days. And Cruz Smith seems to love snow and Moscow. There are as many layers in this book as there are in the snow drifts around the lake. I didn't want to miss a page.

I'm about half way through Nixon and Mao. I'll write more about that when I'm done. I was listening to a bit that was about China Watchers. When I was at Whittier College I had a great professor named Irene Eber. She left after my sophomore year to do some China Watching. I remember that she had written her doctoral thesis in Chinese. I also remember that I loved the class with her, probably called something like Eastern Civilization since we were required to take Western Civilization. We learned about India, China and Japan - history, people, religion, issues. I was so hooked. Then she left. I'd forgotten about her. There was nobody else like her at the college so when a friend said she was transferring to Cal State LA, I went with her. She wanted to be close to her boyfriend. I wanted to be someplace where I could learn more about Eastern Civilization. I changed my major from Government to Foreign Affairs with a Far East Asian Specialty. I started to learn Japanese and took classes about Africa and Asia. But none of those professors held a candle to Dr. Eber. And my friends were going off to fight the Viet Cong. And the world was quickly changing. But I have to thank Dr. Eber for introducing me to the East. She gave me a great foundation for understanding a world outside of Fontana, CA.