Pushkin & Pugacheva

For the past 25 years I have been under a rock. I had heard the name Pushkin but by no means understood his greatness and contribution to Russian literature and poetry. Tblisi, Georgia has a street named after him as does Yerevan. Born in 1799 he died at 37 in a duel. Besides reading Brother Karamazov by Dostoyevsky, my Russian literature knowledge is dismal.

On my seven hour trip back to Yerevan from NKR I sat up front in the marshutka. I was between the an old male driver and a woman about my age. She was reading a book in Russian. So in horrific Armenia I asked "Inche e girke?"... "what is the book?" She responded Pushkin. We went on to speak mostly in English about the importance of Pushkin's works. She was shocked that I had not read Pushkin and was not impressed that I had read Brothers K. She went so far to tell the driver that I had not read Pushkin. He laughed at me exposing his shiny golden teeth.

Her back story was that she was a literature major but was now working in a factory in Artsakh. She was content with her job and once a month made a trip to Yerevan for concerts. She was on her way to see Alla Pugacheva who was stopping in Yerevan on her way to Baku and then onwards in her 1 year farewell tour before exiting the stage. Here's an old clip if you want to get a sense of the music that folks like here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIFmhye6fqw

Pugacheva used to be quiet famous during Soviet times. A somewhat catchy song, but not my taste. I must get to reading some Pushkin.