Fandorin is just not a joiner. And specifically, if there’s one principle to which he’s committed above all others, it’s this notion of “personal human dignity” and the individual’s prerogative to sequester themselves in their own preferences. Fandorin doesn’t want to work for the Okhranka or for any other part of the Imperial government, which he sees becoming increasingly brutal and unreasonable. He doesn’t want to be with the progressives, either; he just wants to be on his own. And what’s interesting is that, for him, the only path to true independence is to be insanely wealthy. It’s one big libertarian dream.
Continue reading...The Devil Is No Match for Procedural Liberalism (Pelagia and the White Bulldog (Conclusion))
Eliot BorensteinPelagia Descending into the Underworld (Pelagia and the White Bulldog 9)
Eliot BorensteinHeads, Lost and Found (Pelagia and the White Bulldog 8)
Eliot BorensteinFor a “tasteful” novel about a nun, Pelagia and the White Bulldog has a surprising predilection for dismemberment
Continue reading...Plato’s Republic of Zavolshsk (Pelagia and the White Bulldog 6)
Eliot BorensteinWe’ve wandered onto territory somewhere between the Beiils Affair and the Pussy Riot trial
Continue reading...Provincial Purity vs. Capital Crimes (Pelgaia and the White Bulldog 7)
Eliot BorensteinAll Dogs Go to Heaven (Pelagia and the White Bulldog 5)
Eliot BorensteinPerhaps we’re all in some mirror universe episode of Scooby Doo, and Pelagia is Velma?
Continue reading...The More I See of Men, the More I Love My Dog (Pelagia and the White Bulldog 4)
Eliot BorensteinThe Dog Days Are Over (Pelagia and the White Bulldog 3)
Eliot BorensteinUnderneath a veneer of coziness lies the potential for violence and exploitation.
Continue reading...The Devil Went Down to Zavolzhsk (Pelagia and the White Bulldog 2)
Eliot BorensteinBubentsov is going to make this provincial town matter, whether the town wants it or not.
Continue reading...How Do You Solve a Problem Like Pelagia? (Pelagia and the White Bulldog 1)
Eliot BorensteinShips That Crash in the Night (Murder on the Leviathan, Conclusion)
Eliot BorensteinBabel and Black Bodies on the High Seas (Murder on the Leviathan Part II)
Eliot BorensteinAkunin scatters living and dead black bodies at the scenes of avarice-driven crimes and follies.
Continue reading...Locked Rooms (Murder of the Leviathan Part I)
Eliot BorensteinIf the Leviathan were the Titanic, all of the characters would easily find their way to a lifeboat, caring not a whit whether or not Kate Winslet’s heart will go on
Continue reading...Can’t Anyone Here Play This Game? (The Turkish Gambit, Conclusion)
Eliot BorensteinIstanbul, Not Constantinople (Turkish Gambit 12)
Eliot BorensteinThe Turkish Gambit was first published in 1998, the year before the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
Continue reading...Our Stupid Heroes (The Turkish Gambit 10-11)
Eliot BorensteinOne expects a mystery to have a red herring or two, but The Turkish Gambit has enough to field an entire army.
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