Life and Fate (Vasily Grossman)

I stumbled on this on recommendation of a friend - and having just finished it  - I have to say that it's a great novel and one that puts today's political antics (and so-called activism) in pathetic contrast with the harsh reality of life in Russia/Ukraine during (and before) WWII.  

Grossman's a good writer and I found him (as others have observed) somewhere between Tolstoy and maybe Pushkin in style and his ability to paint a picture of the Russian soul and spirit.

[from other reviews]

A book judged so dangerous in the Soviet Union that not only the manuscript but the ribbons on which it had been typed were confiscated by the state, Life and Fate is an epic tale of World War II and a profound reckoning with the dark forces that dominated the twentieth century.

On 23 July 1962, the Politburo ideology chief Mikhail Suslov told the author that, if published, his book could inflict even greater harm to the Soviet Union than Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago, speculating that it could begin a public discussion on the need for the Soviet Union. Suslov told Grossman that his novel could not be published for two hundred years.  Suslov's comment reveals both the presumption of the censor and recognition of the work's lasting significance. Grossman tried to appeal against this verdict to Khrushchev personally, unaware of Khrushchev personal antagonism towards Grossman, and misunderstanding the climate of the time.

"I ask you to return freedom for my book, I ask that my book be discussed with editors, not the agents of the KGB. What is the point of me being physically free when the book I dedicated my life to is arrested... I am not renouncing it... I am requesting freedom for my book."

In 1974, Lipkin got one of the surviving copies put onto microfilm and smuggled it out of the country with the help of satirical writer Vladimir Voinovich and nuclear scientist Andrei Sakharov. Grossman died in 1964, never having seen his book published, which did not happen in the West until 1980.

something concrete ...

 Gotta say - I love working with concrete. It's so permanent and solid - a miracle material.

We had a bit of a crater in the beach house garage where the blacktop had fallen apart. Over the years it just got bigger and bigger. Seemed like every week there was another chunk of asphalt to trip over when you walked into the garage. I had previously done a small concrete section as threshold as you first entered the space. So, with help of a circular saw and masonry blade - I scored out a big section that I wanted replaced with concrete and excavated the area. You want some rebar in the pour to strengthen the slab and reduce likelihood of cracks. I also added a 1x4 cedar separator - so that we had two sections rather than one large one.  All went well and ten bags later ($4.95/60 lb bag) and with friend Bill Caldwell's assistance at the mixer - we completed a nice patch job (later roughed-up with a broom). Maybe not 'pretty' but certainly improved. \mf

Book Recommendation: 'The Double Helix' (James D. Watson)

If you haven't read this yet - I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you should. It's not an overstatement to call it a classic and a unique narrative about how science is done. It's a simply wonderful account of the drama surrounding a key discovery. It checks all the boxes for me; scientific discovery, anglo-panache (if that's a thing), and a collection of aggressive personalities competing for a choice prize - the molecular structure of DNA.

Author/reseacher James Watson is a young (freshly-minted PhD), somewhat brash but always a humorous and entertaining storyteller.

I've read this now three times (the first - around 1977 I think). It's that good.  \mf

Subscribe To This Blog ...

Okay, I now have the 'subscribe widget' on this blog working as it should. If you find anything here of sufficient interest to induce you to want notifications when I've posted something new - there's now a way to do so.

For you technophiles - I'm using a feed service called Feedio - which is fairly simple and pretty easy to implement. As mentioned in an earlier post (that you probably didn't know was there) the default feed service that Blogger (owned by Google) uses is called Feedburner (also a Google product). Google hasn't really maintained or improved this for years and they took down the API in 2012. There's talk that they will discontinue it sometime soon. So I opted for an alternative service.

Unlike the older (though still valid) approach where a user has to set up a RSS (real simple syndication) tool to harvest all the content feeds that broadcast to/via RSS and that match their interest - an email subscription is considerably simpler for the user - in that you just receive an email notification when a blog you've subscribed to - posts something fresh. As I don't post anything close to daily - I don't think this will cause an undue load on your inbox - but that's your call of course - and you can always UNSUBSCRIBE. If inclined, check out this article on the subject of traditional RSS vs email subscription.

If the foregoing bores you to tears - don't worry, I will more frequently post things of a more pedestrian nature (meaning of life, literature, art, craftsmanship, faith, hope and charity, etc.). I will probably steer clear of abusing you with my overt political biases.

A couple notes (if you're inclined to subscribe - I can't believe I'm talking so long about this one tiny element of a blog. I'm sorry).

1. if you're reading this on a phone - know that you need to click the 'View Web Version' in order to see the subscribe option.

2. it wouldn't hurt at all to add the following to your email contacts list (in order for notifications not to end up in your spam folder): subscriptions@feedio.co (and that's .co not .com)

3. per normal there is an 'unsubscribe' option at the bottom of any email notification that you receive from feedio.

And I realize it's a 'big presumption' to think you have an interest here. If that's the case - well, my bad.

Email Subscribe WIDGET Appears Functional

There's some contrary press to the default (Blogger) FeedBurner service - essentially suggesting that owner Google hasn't updated it since 2012 and is likely considering dropping it. I sought alternatives and found that Feedio looked easy enough to implement

If all of this makes absolutely no sense to you or evokes zero interest - don't give it a moment's thought. It's a backend thing - and something I probably shouldn't abuse my loyal readers with. Apologies. Only included in case some of you are trying to figure out how to add an 'email subscribe widget' (which is a simpler way for users to receive updates when favorite blogs produce a fresh post - then the older method of using an RSS aggregator, etc, etc. zzzzzzzzzzz SNORE!)

Subscriber WIDGET In-Process

Folks - I'm in process of working out the bugs of a Feedburner or other feed service that handles the admin of subscriptions to this blog. When trying to subscribe you may see the following:

Thanks for your patience while I get this sorted.

\mf

Tech Takes - Epson Eco-Tank Successfully Transports Cover Stock

Ok, now - this is just too great not to share. Those of you who know me, know I'm kind of a (self-proclaimed) mashup of artist, philosopher, Ben Franklin-style scientist with hopefully a dash of 'bonhomie' thrown in. Well, today I attempted to pass a sheet of 'cover' stock (read: heavier than text-weight paper - sometimes incorrectly referred to as card stock) through my wonderful Epson EcoTank ET-3710 printer.

Guess what!!  It works.

Not all printers can accomplish this. So for me (who's constructing some small 'Make It Happen ' bound booklets (there may be a post later about this) -  this is huge. Another reason I fully recommend this brilliant (game changer) solution for printers.