![]() ![]() ![]() I was startled by the vehement hatred of Muslims, Catholics, and, especially, Jews. Instead of a historical novel, however, I encountered an epic in prose glorifying the proto-Russian. Hemingway claimed it was one of the "ten greatest books of all time." I read it now, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, thinking to understand more about the region. It is a classic war epic eulogizing the wildness of unfettered hatred for the Other.Īs a piece of literature, it is exceptional writing, unlike anything else that Gogol wrote. In it, Gogol attributes their violent emotions and selfless comradeship as the wellspring for the Russian soul. Written by Nikolai Gogol in the 1830s, Taras Bulba is the quintessential romance about the mythologized Ukrainian Cossacks. Leaving behind their weeping mother, they head for the Zaporozhian stronghold, where they join in a revolt against the Catholic Poles, who are trying to subjugate the Ukraine. ![]() His two sons have just returned from a seminary in Kiev, where a rudimentary education was beaten into them, and he is eager to initiate them into the violent comradeship that is the life of the Dnieper Cossacks. Taras Bulba is the epitome of a Cossack: brave, reckless, and passionate about upholding the dignity of the Russian Orthodox faith. ![]()
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