In choosing the manner of his death, M was counting on one remarkable feature of our leaders: their boundless, almost superstitious regard for poetry. “Why do you complain?” M used to say. “Poetry is respected only in this country – people are killed for it. There is no place where more people are killed for it.”

As Nadezhda Mandelstam put it to me, "It is difficult to bury poetry alive, and even a formidable propaganda machine such as ours cannot prevent it from living on." In the seventies, Anna Akhmatova told me, "I am easy in my mind." "'We have seen how durable poetry is,'" he said. In Mikhail Bulgakov's work The Master and Margarita, the most famous passage expresses a similar sentiment. "Manuscripts don't burn," the devil tells the Master after he resurrects the charred manuscript.

When Russian literature first began to be read in the West in the early 20th century, writers, readers, and critics were astounded. Virginia Woolf encapsulated the current consensus in the most succinct manner. "Conclusions vanish into thin air... and are superficial" in Western fiction, she wrote, as compared to Russian books. In contrast to the West, where storytellers strive for aesthetic perfection, Russians strive instead for "unmatched honesty." She went on to say, "The soul is the primary character in Russian fiction." We are all vessels for the "cloudy, yeasty, priceless stuff, the soul" that Dostoevsky writes about in his writings, and he reminds us that "whatever you are, you are the vessel of that troubled liquid."

My students' literary experiences have never been the same after reading Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. The Russians don't waste time with symbolism, creative thinking, or pompous political judgment; instead, they focus on the questions that actually matter. Anna Karenina delves deeply into the moral and psychological underpinnings of love, and who among us isn't preoccupied with the subject? Students' economics lessons promote the impression that people do and always should pursue their own pleasure and that life is about worldly success they continually hear from others. And so Tolstoy surprises them. While reading The Death of Ivan Ilych, students will come face to face with a character who, despite his apparent success and happiness in life, now understands that he has never really lived. In the past, he has always changed his beliefs to fit in with the accepted norms of society. And now that he's perfected every social and professional role, he realizes with horror that these roles will continue, but he won't. It dawns on my students that this is not how they should live!

Another thing they've told me is that no other course they've taken has addressed the kinds of questions that college students should be asking. If they don't ask now, when will they? When one of the protagonists of War and Peace thinks he's found life's meaning, the other has just been disillusioned. Throughout the novel, the two friends have numerous discussions about the most fundamental questions of life, in which they alternate between fervent faith and despairing skepticism. For readers, Pierre's nave enthusiasm about learning about Freemasonry in the famous ferryboat conversation is a source of amusement and inspiration. The narrator admits, "You say that you can't see a reign of truth and goodness on Earth?" Because if we take our time on Earth as the end of all things, neither could I nor could anyone else see it. There is no such thing as good or truth on this planet (Pierre pointed to the fields). But there is a kingdom of truth in the entire universe, and we who are now children of the earth are, in the eternal sense, children of the universe. "

Anguish for Andrei stems from his earlier indifference toward his wife, whose death has rendered it impossible for him to make amends. Agonies of guilt have begun to suggest something beyond this material world, despite his razor-sharp rationality: "All I say is that it is not arguments that persuade one of the necessity of a future life, but this: when you go hand-in-hand with someone, and suddenly that person vanishes there, into nowhere," he says. To be clear, our deepest convictions aren't based on logical reasoning; rather, they're rooted on life events that shake up "this puzzled liquid, this hazy, yeasty, precious stuff," as Plato described the human spirit. Students now understand what they had only suspected in the back of their minds: social science and philosophy discussions can never bring them to a deeper understanding of life's meaning. The best books reveal to readers how life-changing ideas come to be accepted as reality.

"We must live, we must love, and we must believe not only that we are alive today on this patch of earth, but that we have lived and will live forever, there in the Whole," Pierre says to Andrei, pointing to the sky, in response to Andrei's longing for belief. Prince Andrei responds, "Yes, if only it were so." Awakening of "something that had long been slumbering in him," "something that was best in him," occurred. He does not yet believe in a meaningful world. Even though he appeared to be living the same life on the outside, within he had a fresh outlook on life. A person's innermost thoughts, feelings, and experiences are the focus of many of the great Russian novels.

Pierre, a utopian who can't stand anything less than absolute assurance, finally loses patience with the Freemasons' infighting. A fiery speech delivered at one of their gatherings causes him to be troubled not by those who oppose him but by others who agree with him because they do so "with stipulations and adjustments" that are not acceptable to him. As a result, utopia is unachievable if moral truth cannot be as unequivocal and clear as the premises of geometry and if individuals cannot exactly agree. Because no two people's thoughts are exactly same, "Pierre was struck for the first time by the boundless variety of men's minds" at this meeting.

Moral truth is supposed to be clear, simple, and well-known, and any dissent identifies one as an adversary of social justice in the eyes of my students. As a result, they are moved by Tolstoy's conviction that individuality is an important reality of life, a belief shared by all great realist authors, even if they do not overtly declare it. Each person's life is unique and no one's life is precisely the same as another person's. "I" begins where "us" ends; what may be generalized about me is not the genuine me. As the story comes to a close, Pierre has gained a new perspective on the world. In "his knowledge of the futility of influencing a man's beliefs by words and his recognition of the likelihood that every man thinks, feels and sees things in his own manner,' Previously, Pierre was bothered or disturbed by the legitimate individuality of every man's opinions, but this formed the foundation of his empathy for and interest in other people."

As a result, journalists and academics are too quick to make categorical judgements on moral issues. We can learn from Russian history that such a mindset can be dangerous. Amidst the atrocities of Russian politics and categorical thinking in general, Russia's literary reaction is to demonstrate the complexity of human morality. While it teaches us a lot about the soul, it also shows us how to examine it with the utmost seriousness and care.

Accommodation establishments in Xuyen Moc and Con Dao districts will run self-contained services, including Ho Tram Strip, Melia Ho Tram, Binh Chau Hot Springs, and Six Senses Con Dao resort, which have all been designated to pilot receiving visitors and operating at 50% capacity.

According to a Six Senses Con Dao resort representative, the resort has fully cooperated with airlines in its efforts to launch charter flights for a seven-night tour package.

Customers have already confirmed their bookings, despite the fact that the accommodation fees and round-trip airfare are as high as VND15 million per night for two guests and VND8.5 million per person, respectively.

Tourists will be able to visit organic vegetable growing areas, practice yoga and meditation, explore local beaches, and release turtles into the sea, according to the seven-day itinerary.

Every three or six days, travelers will be subjected to rapid COVID-19 testing at the resort. According to a representative of the Six Senses Con Dao resort, visitors must have a negative PCR test result for SARS-CoV-2 three days before boarding the plane to Con Dao.

At the moment, Six Senses Con Dao will only accept guests who have received two full doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

During the trip, visitors are not permitted to leave the premises of the accommodation facilities, while adhering to pandemic prevention regulations established by the hotel and the province.

Along with the pilot scheme, the province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau is promoting virtual tourism promotion activities. This year, thousands of businesses and localities from across the province will be drawn to e-commerce tourism platforms and online tourism fairs to introduce their tourism products and services.

All its rooms are fully booked for this weekend, the resort said.

The resort’s guests are mainly from Hanoi who usually stay for three days and two nights. Some families have booked longer stays of up to a week though rooms cost VND5 to 20 million ($216.71-866.84) a night.

Nestled deep in the lush forests of Panh Hamlet in Mai Chau Town amidst Hmong, Thai and Dao ethnic communities, the resort’s isolation makes it ideal for those wishing to avoid large crowds amid the pandemic.

Similarly, a representative of Mai Chau Hideaway Resort said its room occupancy rate in the first week of reopening (September 25-30) reached a ‘moderate’ level, but a week ago all rooms were fully booked.

The representative said its occupancy rate on weekends in the coming weeks is forecast to reach over 80 percent.

Eighty percent of tourists to the resort come from Hanoi and they mainly stay from one to two nights and return to the capital as their negative Covid certificate remains effective only for 72 hours.

Located on an isolated peninsula, the resort has 31 stilt-houses that sport a simple and rustic feel with balconies offering beautiful views of the Hoa Binh Lake. Room prices range from VND1.9 to 2.2 million.

The Mai Chau Ecolodge and the Serena Resort Kim Boi, which reopened September 25, have received a large number of bookings as well.

Hoa Binh Province requires people coming or returning from areas under lockdown or social distancing to show Covid negative certificates of RT-PCR tests done within 72 hours before arrival. Those coming from safe Covid areas only need to furnish a negative certificate of rapid antigen test done within the previous 72 hours.

Nguyen Thu Huong of Hanoi stayed with her family at the Serena Resort Kim Boi in the eponymous district on October 4. Before arriving at the resort, Huong and husband had rapid Covid tests done VND150,000 per person while her two children under six were exempt from Covid testing.

"After a long time of strict social distancing measures, my family had a great relaxing time inside the resort," Huong said.

Her family only stayed one night and returned to Hanoi with their testing certificate.

"If the country switches to living with the pandemic, pandemic prevention regulations including testing are unavoidable; so I didn’t feel inconvenienced. We enjoyed our trip. It was comfortable," Huong said.

In another photo, he is sitting alone on the bus, enjoying a moment's respite.

(Picture: 사진=유선 SNS)

" Seon Seon said "Daehak-ro every day these days. Instead of getting tired from driving long distances, I abandoned my ambitious plan to read the script while riding public transportation.

When I finally got off the bus after 5 minutes, I nodded and awoke. What is its location? I also compensate for my lack of sleep."