Excerpt
But to hear the younger ones, “the kids” as she thought of them, make these kinds of connections was satisfying. Most of the group had gathered around by now and many voices chipped in with how and why they had first studied Russian. The exhibition ground was forgotten. A stony-faced Natasha sat on a nearby bench alone.
“What about you, Ingrid?” asked David. “You’re studying literature, aren’t you?” His engaging smile willed the shy woman into speech.
“Well, I love Russian literature,” Ingrid replied, “but I don’t read it for the happy endings.” Everyone chuckled. “Dostoevsky gives me so much insight into religion and psychology. His Brothers Karamazov changed my life.”
“Really,” said Paul, intrigued. “In what way?”
“It was Alyosha struggling to do what was right,” she replied, “yet allowing himself to be drawn into killing his father. And then there’s that story within the book about Jesus brought before the Spanish Inquisition. You’ve all read it, right?”
A few nodded. After all, it was on the required reading list. Linda lit up. “Oh yes, I know what you mean. The Grand Inquisitor episode in Brothers Karamazov exposes religion—it questions fundamental belief. It’s very powerful.”
“Yeah, trust Dostoevsky,” David agreed. “If he were alive today, he’d be writing scripts for Alfred Hitchcock, don’t you think? Or writing a cop show like Dragnet. Wonder what Gogol would be doing?”
Ted replied. “Oh, he’d be writing some absurd skit for Laugh-In with Rowan and Martin and probably acting in it, too.” There was general laughter.
“But Chekhov will always be contemporary,” Paul interjected. “We’ll be watching his plays into the next century, I bet you.”
“You’re a Chekhov fan?” said Ingrid. “Don’t you think that Tolstoy is timeless, too?”
Paul nodded and Jennifer caught the shy smiles between the two.
Lona, frowning, suddenly moved in closer. “But you didn’t answer the question, Ingrid. Why did it change your life? Do you mean you wanted to kill your father?”
Ingrid reddened. “Oh no…,” she began.
“For chrissake…” Paul turned on Lona. “If you’d read any Russian literature you’d understand its effect on a sensitive person.”
“Don’t lose your cool!” she snapped.
