Marina and I wait for a bus, and when it comes, we squeeze our way into it, blending in with a crowd that pushes and carries us like a wave into the sea. I say “squeeze”. This is literally what it feels like – something very familiar to me and, at the same time, almost … Read more
I owe my life to a bullet that pierced my father’s skull. The time was July 1942, the place, Staraya Russa. But Staraya Russa is not the way to begin this story; it belongs in the second part of the middle, closer to the end. The beginning was in Moscow, a few years before the … Read more
ABOUT A GIRL AND HER DATE OF BIRTH Once upon a time, there lived a girl who was so used to being accompanied by her date of birth, that she couldn’t imagine herself separated from it. For seven years following her first birthday, the girl and her date of birth were always seen holding hands, … Read more
Did I mention that I remember seeing Queen Elizabeth II not as a very old or medium-old or middle-aged woman, the way everyone alive now remembers her, but as a youngish-looking woman in her forties? Okay, my seeing her didn’t take place in real life, but still… for a child living in the Soviet Union, … Read more
