From the book “Venice. History of water and land" Nobel Prize winner for literature William Golding denigrated human nature in his novel Lord of the Flies, argues Rutger Bregman, author of Humanity: A Hopeful Story. To prove his words, Bregman cites the real story of a group of boys who managed to live in friendship and harmony for more than a year on a desert island in the Pacific Ocean. A fragment of the corresponding chapter from his book is published by The Guardian.

Fragment of the book of William Todd "Sociology of literature" A new collection of articles of the famous Slavist, professor of Harvard University, is dedicated to Russian culture and, in particular, the Russian novel of the 19th century. Trying to understand how literature functioned in that era, the author draws close attention to the concept of “ideology”, “institutions” and “narrative”. We offer to get acquainted with a fragment showing what meant to be a novice writer in the 1840s.

Maximilian Voloshin - about cruelty, gramophones and the liberation of rebellious spirits In what caches of the human heart do cruelty arise, what do you need to learn from Moscow miserable and why do gramophones dull the soul? The most cognitive quotes from the vast creative heritage of the poet, translator, literary critic and artist Maximilian Voloshin - about art, enemies, sorcerers, inventions, costumes and much more were collected for our regular section on survival.