Blog @ Work

On Russians, coins and literature

Talk Tuesday! We're at the halfway point of November! What have you learned from any of your fellow bloggers in the group this month?(30-Day BC)

From SB Musing and Acme who dealt with individual Russians: their cultural differences are very clear.

The Western media is biased as well, but I read only confirmation that some Russians are odd in their expressing beliefs to others. Propaganda is always the case in both Western and Russian media, and the portraits of the average Russian is not favorable. But according to research: 83 % approves of Putin as president, especially after the annexation of Crimea and the intervention of Ukraine. 60% of the Russians are thinking their country is moving in the right direction. 65% of Russians are satisfied with their freedom to choose what to do with their lives. All in all, they have a very different outlook on life as we do in the West. Tolerance toward differences for one.

Write a story about the last coin you found on the ground and how it got there. (BcoFs)

I found a coin in front of the supermarket. It was right at the spot where homeless people sell their homeless newspaper to the public. I think it must have fallen out of the coat pocket of a homeless guy unnoticed. Sometimes I buy a newspaper from one of them, and paying something extra for it in order to support the homeless. Every year at Xmas time I give the guy or girl an extra bonus. One time I gave him 50 euro. I never saw him again after that. Lately, that spot in front of the supermarket is empty and I don’t see the girl with the newspapers anymore. Perhaps they found another, better spot to sell their newspaper, or perhaps she found a home and no longer needs to be there. I always feel sorry for the homeless. For some, it is a choice, but for most of them it is just sheer misfortune. It can happen to anybody. Lately, I read that also families with children have been put out on the streets because they couldn’t afford to pay their rent and lost their jobs. I think it’s awful that we as a society don’t take better care of our people. And with the autumn being cold and rainy I feel for those who have to roam the streets all day without any money. In my city, it is against the law to beg, but I try to give some money to those who ask for it because I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes.

Prompt: Jodi Picoult says about Shakespeare: “Here’s what I love about Shakespeare: In his day, he wrote unadulterated popular fiction. And yet—who do we still read, centuries later? What a brilliant reminder that highbrow literature wasn’t always an obscure title—in fact, it used to be the books and plays that we now call commercial fiction.” Taking a hint from Jodi Picoult, do you believe today’s popular fiction could be tomorrow’s highbrow literature?(BC)

First of all I don’t think literature is highbrow. There is only a different set of people reading and critiquing. The masses have a different look towards what reading should be. It should be entertaining and fun first. Delving into the different themes and contemplating about what the author meant is not their priority. Because life and therefore literature is prone to populism and superficiality, with reading being internet surfing for a lot of people, with people reading less books I think yes, indeed, commercial fiction is taking over. You already see the trend of blurring literature and popular fiction today. This trend will only progress.