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1. At the end of a rather long letter, two Moscow conference organizers who teach Russian to foreign students wrote:
Overall, you thought up a gigantic project which we have found absolutely delightful. Please accept the gratitude of all Russian Russianists. We do not doubt that your efforts will be well rewarded.
2. Eloise wrote me (unaware that I might use it):
I just wanted to let you know that three times in the past week I have gone to The Russian Context and found the answer to a question. Akhmatova's poem in which she puts the left-handed glove on her right hand; KVN -- the TV show; and the Russian equivalent of “Every cloud has a silver lining.”
It's a good thing, this book.
3. In answer to a question about children's literature especially for Russian children growing up in the US, Charles Mills of Knox College said:
With regard to children's literature:
Eloise Boyle and Genevra Gerhart (eds.)'s brand new The Russian Context (Slavica Press, 2002) has a chapter by Robert Rothstein and Halina Weiss on just this sort of thing: the kind of literature every Russian can be assumed to know from childhood on up, including foreign authors. I imagine this is only the first of many e-mails to make reference to this book as the answer to all our ills in the future, and highly recommend it to everyone. It does for "high" culture what The Russian's World did for "low", and comes with a CD (readings, music, songs, paintings, photographs, sound bites, etc.) to boot. Get yours while they're still piping hot! (This is not a paid endorsement, although I wish it were--hint hint.)
Sincerely,
Charles Mills
Knox College
4. (Dated May 1, 2003) In a recent letter, Olga Yokoyama wrote to me:
I admire the conception of both your books. I think that the idea is revolutionary in its goal to capture the culture of a given language, and that before long it will be copied by people dealing with other cultures and languages.
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