Issue 61 | December 2019
Chekhov’s Silence
I picked up Checkhov’s story “The Kiss” as an undergraduate who had never read a Russian author. The story has a fairly simple plot: along with his artillery brigade, Staff-Captain…
Anthems for Bored Youth: On Lars Iyer’s Nietzsche and the Burbs
In an 1886 addendum to The Birth of Tragedy, his first book, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, “today I find it an impossible book—badly written, clumsy, and embarrassing.” The book,…
The Jokes Always Saved Us: Humor in the Time of Stalin
Jokes never mean only one thing, and the hidden story of political humour under Stalin is far more nuanced than a simple struggle between repression and resistance.
Travels with My Daughter: the Himalayas
In October ’72 my ten-year-old daughter, Veronica, and I attempted to fly from Kathmandu to Lukla for the Khumbu trek to Thangyboche monastery, which lies at over 12,600 ft., across…
Conversations: Niloufar Talebi and Zack Rogow
The Critical Flame is thrilled to feature this conversation between author, award-winning translator, multidisciplinary artist, and producer Niloufar Talebi and author, editor, translator Zack Rogow. Special thanks are due to…