Recensori in anteprimaMax Bollinger

Set on the shores of the Baltic Sea, on rooftops lit with mesmerizing orange sunset and in the darkest corners of urban night. We find real characters there with depth and ideas. A coming-of-age story, contemporary kunstlerroman and semi-autobiographical narrative, depicting the formation and development of a street artist and his conflict with bourgeois society values. From up on the roof, you can see everything. You can see life scurrying below you, and see it with a calm objectivity. No prejudices, no assumptions. That's what Max, the compelling narrator does: even when he is not sitting on a rooftop, he looks at life with intelligent curiosity, amiable openness and good-humoured equanimity. Max is not only a great companion for the reader — a calm presence at the centre of events — but the perfect lens through which to see a hidden world. Through Max we meet a succession of intriguing characters-artists and dreamers with their own unique perspectives on life and formulas for happiness: Viktor, the photographer who finds beauty in the mundane; inscrutable Tanya, whose mystery attracts Max as much as her smile; Pyos, an artist who lost ability to see people around him and lives in a disappearing tower; Oksana, forever entangled in spontaneous and dangerous affairs; Gray, connoisseur of street-art and magic. And, at the centre of it all, the enigmatic Lady F, who appears out of nowhere to give Max little bits of comfort and advice. Her clairvoyant yet cryptic intimations lead Max, and us, through a procession of coincidences, adventures, and miraculous escapes. Who is she? Guardian angel, Lady Luck, hallucination? Whoever she is, her wry and wise interchanges with Max are one of the novel's real pleasures. Whispers of magic get louder and louder, but, thanks to Kostin's clear and sober prose, with its amused detachment and adroit lyrical touches, we never stray into the world of fantasy or stock-in-trade magic realism. Pavel's latest novel is more than just a product of his own imagination. According to his introduction, the book is written on the walls of his home city, Kaliningrad, by the city itself and by the street-artists living there. His new heroes are extraordinary young romantics, using their art to express ideas, not unlike our home grown talent in London including Banksy, Ben Eine, Cityzen Kane, C215, Roa. These characters are secretive. They live in their own world with their own philosophy and outlook on life. But how does one become such urban romantic? We see a freedom seeking artist in Pavel's new novel, we see his journey, his adventures, his dilemmas and his choices. What would you choose? The comfort of daily routine or the free spirit of art? For Pavel's characters this becomes a question of life and death.

Set on the shores of the Baltic Sea, on rooftops lit with mesmerizing orange sunset and in the darkest corners of urban night. We find real characters there with depth and ideas searching for direction in their fragile lives and learning to express their ideas through art. *** Please note, this is a Russian Language edition. Please ensure you are able to read in Russian.*** Захватывающая история жизни, смерти, и искусства, которая по словам автора написана не человеком, а самим городом, в котором разворачиваются действия. Новый роман о судьбе молодого свободолюбивого художника, в которой отражается хрупкая жизнь молодого поколения сегодняшнего времени. From up on the roof, you can see everything. You can see life scurrying below you, and see it with a calm objectivity. No prejudices, no assumptions. That's what Max, the compelling narrator does: even when he is not sitting on a rooftop, he looks at life with intelligent curiosity, amiable openness and good-humoured equanimity. Max is not only a great companion for the reader — a calm presence at the centre of events — but the perfect lens through which to see a hidden world. Through Max we meet a succession of intriguing characters-artists and dreamers with their own unique perspectives on life and formulas for happiness: Viktor, the photographer who finds beauty in the mundane; inscrutable Tanya, whose mystery attracts Max as much as her smile; Pyos, an artist who lost ability to see people around him and lives in a disappearing tower; Oksana, forever entangled in spontaneous and dangerous affairs; Gray, connoisseur of street-art and magic. And, at the centre of it all, the enigmatic Lady F, who appears out of nowhere to give Max little bits of comfort and advice. Her clairvoyant yet cryptic intimations lead Max, and us, through a procession of coincidences, adventures, and miraculous escapes. Who is she? Guardian angel, Lady Luck, hallucination? Whoever she is, her wry and wise interchanges with Max are one of the novel's real pleasures. Whispers of magic get louder and louder, but, thanks to Kostin's clear and sober prose, with its amused detachment and adroit lyrical touches, we never stray into the world of fantasy or stock-in-trade magic realism. Pavel's latest novel offers the best of what Russian literature has always offered: the universal in the local, the humanity in the metaphysical, the humour in the deathly serious. Kostin hymns the urban landscape and the young people that refuse to just exist in it, but live in it, by it, and travel through it. We see them, and their lives, and their art (which accompanies the text) and we see the way their art elevates their lives. From up on the rooftop, we can see everything, and it is beautiful.

The first major writing by Turgenev that gained him recognition. The stories in this collection were written based on Turgenev's own observations while hunting at his mother’s estate. This work exposed many injustices of serfdom and led to Turgenev’s house arrest and eventual abolishment of serfdom in Russia. A fine example of realist tradition in Russian literature. Read in English (unabridged) Turgenev was an enthusiastic hunter; and it was his experiences in the woods of his native province that supplied the material for The Hunting Sketches. They are written from the point of view of a young nobleman who is surprised to find the qualities of intelligence and morality among the peasants who live on his family's estates. Turgenev wrote many novels on this theme to stress his sentiments against serfdom. In his famous novel, Fathers and Sons, he showed the conflict between the older generation, who respect tradition, and the youth, who are Nihilists, relying heavily on materialism, faith in science, and lack of respect for tradition and authority. "A nihilist is a man who does not bow to any authorities, who does not take any principle on trust, no matter with what respect that principle is surrounded." Track List: My Neighbour Radilov 01 Nobleman's Nest 02 A Man of Mystery Proprietor Ovsyanikov 03 The Portrait 04 The Great Hunt 05 The New Nobility 06 My Own Nephew 07 A French Affair From The Hunting Sketches: "Often the most insignificant things produce more effect on people than the most important" "In people who are constantly and intensely preoccupied with one idea, or one emotion, there is something in common, a kind of external resemblance in manner, however different may be their qualities, their abilities, their position in society, and their education" "It is always like that; those who can only just keep themselves afloat are the ones to drag others under" "The lower your station, the more reserved must be your behaviour, or else you disgrace yourself directly"

Second volume in the popular Easy Russian series offering Russian language learning in easy to absorb audio format, designed specifically for English speakers. Second volume features phonetics, elements of Russian grammar, rich cultural content and native Russian speakers. It can be used as a stand-alone course or in combination with other training materials. Easy Russian 2 uncovers how Russians learn Russian language in Russia. It includes basic and advanced coverage of Russian phonetics, how Russian consonants and vowels behave in different situations. You will learn many useful action verbs such as TO BE, TO DO, TO GO, TO LISTEN, TO HEAR, TO SEE and an array of associated words and combinations. You will discover many similarities and differences between Russian and English which will make your learning much easier. After all, Russian is part of the same language family as English, so you might as well take advantage of this. You will be able to hear and more importantly understand live speech of Yuri Gagarin. You will listen to Chekhov story in the original and discover what Shakespeare sounds like in Russian. Each track represents self contained module with tuition, vocabulary, phraseology and Russian language content read by native speakers. Knowledge of other modules from Easy Russian 1 can be useful but is not a pre-requisite.

An audio book adaptation of Turgenev's story set on the outskirts of Moscow, in the house of an old widow. The story was written in 1854 by Ivan Turgenev, a great Russian novelists of the nineteenth century. Read in English (unabridged). Turgenev wrote Mumu with such vivid images and reflections of the state of the tsarist Russia that this piece together with his other stories was credited with having influenced public opinion in favour of the abolition of serfdom in 1861. Turgenev was the first of the great Russian novelists to win fame abroad. One of his great admirers was Henry James, who wrote that "Turgenev’s merit of form is of the first order"

The second audio book in the series of Chekhov's Short Stories featuring 5 new stories: Talent, Anyuta, The Helpmate, Ivan Matveyitch, Polinka. Read by Max Bollinger in English (unabridged). Several stories in this new 65-min CD are accompanied by occasional piano music based on original compositions by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, a distinguished Russian composer of Romantic era. Europe's Age of Enlightenment is presented here through both literary and musical treasures of 19th century. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (Антон Павлович Чехов) 1860 – 1904, one of Russia's most cherished storyteller, playwright and one of the greatest dramatists of all time. Chekhov himself described his plays as comic satire: "All I wanted was to say honestly to people: 'Have a look at yourselves and see how bad and dreary your lives are!' The important thing is that people should realize that, for when they do, they will most certainly create another and better life for themselves. I will not live to see it, but I know that it will be quite different, quite unlike our present life.”

Results focused audio training. Learn to meet, greet, do business in Russian. Make friends, dates and discover the mysterious Russian soul. This title offers audio CD with 17 lessons covering key every day situations. In addition to traditional learning of useful phrases and vocabulary, this audio book offers excellent practical approach with dialogues and conversations all read by natives with full English annotation. Essentials such as greetings, shopping, telling the time, asking for directions are covered as well as basic Russian business etiquette and such cultural concepts as Russian soul, and how to date someone in Russian. It presents insight into Russian literature with fragments of Alexander Pushkin works prepared in easy to learn format for those who wish to master Russian language fast! It is suitable for all levels from beginner to advanced. It can be used as a stand-alone course or in combination with other training materials. Audio Book is divided into 17 tracks which can be transferred to audio players for easy listening, just like music albums. No additional software or special equipment necessary to play this CD on PCs, lap-tops or conventional players.

Short Stories by Anton Chekhov, an audio book featuring six stories by the master of Russian drama: A Tragic Actor; In A Strange Land; Oh! The Public; The Looking Glass; Her Husband; and Overdoing It. Narrated in English, with audio effects. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (Антон Павлович Чехов) 1860 – 1904 a Russian short story writer, playwright and physician, considered to be one of the greatest short story writers in the history of world literature. His career as a dramatist produced all-time classics The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and Cherry Orchard. His short stories are held in high esteem by writers, critics and audiences of all generations.