Last week, Booknik tried to match the unmatchable, took a mongoose as a pet, milked a cow, escaped from captivity, sang in a female voice with "The Klezmatics,” and took appropriate measures against suspicious foreigners. He also learned who invented a seamless condom; meanwhile, Booknik Jr. bought a ring buoy, and set on for a river cruise.
Zoo City, by Lauren Beukes
In the late 20th century, the world suffered from a mysterious zoo plague. From that time on, animals became symbolic with the absolute sin that endows a sinner with certain magical properties. No magic can withdraw this cursed gift from the one who had once transgressed. We now wonder what animals live in the house of the Booknik literary critic Yevgenia Ritz.
Fighting the Internal Enemy
Nationalizing the Russian Empire: the Campaign against Enemy Aliens during World War I, by Eric Lohr
The consequences of the nationalist policies of the war years were most destructive for the Russian Empire. Many Russian companies were bankrupted that had been economically close with the Germans. The mass resettlement of Germans from Livland and Estland served to strengthen local Latvians and Estonians’ positions, ultimately facilitation those provinces’ secession. Finally, dozens of thousands migrants became a much valued cadre reserve for various revolutionary parties. Trying to fortify the empire with drastic measures against suspicious foreigners, the Russian authorities in fact speeded up their own decline and fall, and the Booknik reviewer Yevgeny Levin who is a suspicious foreigner himself, agrees with the author on this.
…and many other usual suspects in the Books & Reviews section.
Booknik’s music critic Maxim Eydis talked to the Yiddish Fest guests, “The Klezmatics,” a quite legendary band. “Many people think there are only two variants, either to be religious, or to be leftist. What we try to say is, no, you could combine the two, being one and the other at the same time. We can be gays who sing synagogal melodies, and we can talk about the coming of the Messiah, connecting it with the trade union movement.”
…and many other incomparable comparisons in the Articles & Interviews section.
Five Stories about Mutual Understanding from Linor Goralik.
“Do you know how we realized our sadistic inclinations when we were kids? We made an airplane out of putty, very carefully, according to specifications we found in books, with all the details, and so on. And then, with all our might, we threw it against the wall. Whammo!” “You were quite high-brow even then,” the wife said with a lot interest. “You could shave cats like other people did.”
In our Private Histories section, we now publish the memoir of the medical doctor Aron Borukhovsky, born in 1921. “As soon as we live on the verge of starvation, it is necessary to have a cow. My wife and I are doctors, city people, and we had never seen a living and breathing cow in our lives. We do not know how to select one. We look around for a long time, and then I decide that if a cow is bigger in size, it could probably have more milk. Finally, I say, ‘I’ll have this one probably.’ The dairy women split their sides with laughter, saying, ‘What did we teach you? This is a bull!’”
…and many other mistaken identities in the Columns & Columns section.
Drawings from Memory, or The Memoirs of the Inmate, by Semyon Gluzman
In April, the Burago publishing house is publishing the book by the well-known soviet dissenter Semyon Gluzman. In it, he tells how he started opposing the punitive psychiatry, shares his prison and camp experience, and remembers his friends, Victor Nekrasov, Vladimir Bukovsky, and Ivan Svetlichny. He also writes about his native Ukraine.
…and many other memorable memoirs in the Stories & Essays section.
The Captivity, Shameful Captivity
In the late March, the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who had spent almost five years in the Hamas captivity, is demobilized from the Israeli Defense Force. We have wanted to put together the quiz on prisoners of war for a long time, yet it seemed inappropriate while he remained captive. Finally, we are able to do it.
…and many other curious quizzes in the Contests & Quizzes section.
Perpetuum Schmobile 30: Julius Fromm and Seamless Condoms
The “Product #2,” in the soviet-speak, found its present form only in 1912. Before that, starting from the time of the Pharaohs, condoms were made from different materials but they usually had one or two seams. It seemed not a big deal, though, but seams were the weakest part of the contraceptive. They frequently tore at the seams, thus becoming quite useless. The Polish-Russian Jew Julius Fromm solved the problem elegantly, and Europe and America were flooded with his invention. The entire world could become the next step in this economic conquest but Hermann Goering’s godmother intervened.
The Yiddish Fest 2012: Work With What You Got
Josh Dolgin AKA DJ Socalled and the Yiddish Fest Integrated Capella perform Work With What You Got, written by Dolgin, Shante, Grabovachki, and Francisco. This is an optimistic song about the life getting much merrier if you actually do something, like sing, play guitar, walk through a park or wink with your one remaining eye. In short, you’d better use all talent God had given you, without getting despondent or listening to critics.
…and many other tally-ho talents in the Video Blog section.
A Weird Journey
Zig-Zag Kid, by David Grossman
The Text Publishers have a new book out, by the Israeli author David Grossman. It tells of a 13-years-old boy who receives a not quite usual birthday present, a journey. Where he has to travel and with whom, you will know when you read the book, but now, Booknik Jr. is happy to share a small excerpt with you.
Just to think of it, in Israel they call USB flash drives “disks-on-key.” This term, together with the object itself, was invented in the late 1980s in the Israeli company M-Systems, and it became literally a household name for an entire technology, the symbol of an idea. Only in Israel, it is still called this, while in the world-at-large they use the Americanized version, based on the word flash. They say, in the beginning only secret services of different countries used this advance device, for the spies valued its size and the possibility to copy and destroy information instantly.
To the Cruise
Here, we are going to speak about river vacationing. You will learn where they organize river cruises, if children are interested in them, and what you should bear in mind when preparing for a cruise like this. You do not need to buy a fortnight tour but might want to try a brief trip, taking up to five days, and stick to familiar places.
…and many other reversible rivers at Booknik Jr., also known as Family Booknik, our own web site for kids and their parents.
Girls, stop tonguing the foyer! Booknik and Family Booknik are supported by the AVI CHAI Foundation.
