Blog

I wanted to reserve a part of this website to ramble about several things I'm learning or thinking thorugh, mostly as a way to organize my own thoughts, but maybe you'll find something useful too.

Why I Love Turgenev (and Why Russian Realism Is So Crushing)

Back in 2020, I picked up Fathers and Sons expecting some edgy nihilistic quotes to live by, but I ended up falling down a Turgenev rabbit hole that was way more intense than I expected. It wasn't just the ideology; it was the psychology of his characters and that specific, soul-crushing irony that defines his stories. In this post, I want to dissect what exactly fascinated me about him and why the "tragedy of attrition" in Russian realism hits so much harder than a typical dramatic ending.

My Trip to Kusatsu, Gunma

In December 2024, I went on a trip to Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma with some friends. In this blog, I’d like to share a summary of my experience and the reflections I took away from it.