cont.
although Bulgakov would go to no. 1
Respect.
(Merited)
Gracias.
giving Bill the Bard a mention
More OT: I was obsessed with Shakespeare for years until I discovered Tolstoy. I don't think Shakespeare understood the poor.
Shakespeare understood the great human eternal drives, love, jealousy, the trials of power.....
Tolstoy could weave a tale in plain speaking which saw a whole country in time of war from the lone soldier in the fog of war right up to the aristocracy playing for estates and bonded serfs with cards.
A lot of the great Russians are worth a read, Turganev, Pushkin, (some) Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Solzhenitsyn....
But hey - I suspect we are in a very small minority here...
Best get back on topic.... I do hope the doom is lifting a little in Rosewater's world with the current upturn. Do say hello to BMB for me?