The Russians and me

This holiday is starting to take a pretty distinctive turn. I have no doubt this will always be remembered as the Russian holiday. 

It might sound strange and absurd to you since you all know that we are spending our lazy summer days in Cyprus. What you might not know is that I had recently started to fill one of the major gaps in my education by reading War and Peace by Lev Tolstoj (the whole 1764 pages of it).

Due to Oliver's sleeping habits I can concentrate to this task no less than three hours each afternoon. To my own satisfaction I have to confess! 

I cannot be described as a connesseaur of Russian literature but more like an aficionado so this gap was quite disturbing to me.

As it often happens when I am reading a literature masterpiece the world around me starts to be viewed and interpreted through the themes in the book.

Nothing would be easier in this case since the Russian presence in Cyprus is quite evident.

This presence gives me the occasion to project what I am reading to current times and it gives my husband the occasion to feast the eye on current Russian beauties.

I cannot avoid thinking though that there have been several revolutions around the world between Tolstoj's time and now which if failed to change human nature (that's why great Russian classics are still so current) certainly succeeded in changing the structure of society. In short I strongly doubt that the Russians spending their summer here would have featured in Tolstoj's books, maybe only to add a comic element as peasant serfs. 

As I have said these books are still quite current so the equivalent of Tolstoy's princes and countesses do exist today, only they do not spend their holidays  in Pafhos Cyprus.

Enough material for the keen observer of society as well as of human nature, I can assure you!