Notes on An Amateur Peasant Girl

(Originally Written September 15, 2011 in The Journal)

An Amateur Peasant Girl - Alexander Pushkin

Ivan Petrovitch Berestaff was likable but proud and thrifty man.

Gregory Ivanovitch Mouromsky was an old stamp noble who had squandred his wealth on opulence.

Ivan mocked Gregory. Gregory looked down on Ivan as a peasant.

On differentiating country women who grow peculiar but charming and the city women who are better off Pushkin states that the ladies of the city, "women receive perhaps better instruction, but intercourse with the world soon levels the character and makes their souls as uniform as their head-dresses". This is an interesting take on what culture does to individuals.

Alexie, the son of Ivan has returned to the country from the city as a disenchanted and mysterious youth and has attracted the countrywomen to him.

Liza, the daughter of Gregory has the most interest in Alexei. Liza was spoiled rotten and raised to match the English ways her father so readily copied.

"But is not the fear which accompanies our youthful escapades that which constitutes their greatest charm?"

What an odd story. It's like a happy ending version of Romeo and Juliet. It was like a farce-spoof of Shakespeare.

Mais etes-vous fou? Are you mad?

Notes on The Queen of Spades

(Originally Written September 15, 2011 in The Journal)

The Queen of Spades - Alexander Pushkin

I play mirandole (not increasing the stakes)

Lizaveta Ivanova, is she the inspiration or is she the pawn for Hermann's advance for riches?

Hermann wishes not 'to risk the necessary in the hope of winning the superflous'

"Hermann wrote them under the inspiration of passion, and spoke in his own language and they bore full of the testimony to the inflexibility of his desire and the disordered condition of his uncontrollable imagination"

The irony of the paragraph of chapter five about the countess waiting for the midnight bridegroom is grim imagery in light of her death.

I like the tone of this sentence about people cheating by bending the cards: [He] "put straight the corners of cards that some player's hand had chanced to bend".

Russian stories seem to end so abruptly. I enjoy that though.

Lizaveta was the pawn by the way, though I am not sure Hermann always thought so.

A quick thought on Tolstoy

(Originally written September 15, 2011 in The Journal)

I just finished up my notes on Tolstoy and as I was reading it and typing it a thought occurred to me on the similarity between Tolstoy and Marx. How close are Tolstoy's ideals of art to the Marxist idea of proletariat struggle? Did Marx have an overt influence on Tolstoy?

Learned me some Latin

(Originally written September 14, 2011 in the Journal)

I found three Latin phrases today that I'm rather fond of.

Crescentes in illo per omnia - Growing in Him through all things.
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam - For the greater glory of God.
Urbs antiqua fuit studiisque asperrima belli - There was an ancient city very fierce in the skills of war.

Notes on Peter

(Originally Written September 13, 2011 in the Journal)

St. Peter learned discipline through suffering.

God is opposed to the proud. When you put someone else down you are opposing God, not the other person.

God gives grace to the humble. Humble yourself and God gets on your side.

I need to work on this Lord. Forgive me of my pride.

Hebrews 12 - A word of encouragement: do not despair in the face of God's discipline for God disciplines those He loves.