Althouse: "The book’s first sentence now feels brutally prescient: 'Dying really didn’t hurt,' Navalny wrote."

October 21, 2024

"The book’s first sentence now feels brutally prescient: 'Dying really didn’t hurt,' Navalny wrote."

He later described his decision to return to Moscow, knowing that he could be arrested and killed. 'There are 1,001 simple ways you can be killed in prison,' he wrote. When Navalny flew back to Moscow from Berlin in January 2021, he was arrested at the airport, and later faced a series of trials on charges of extremism and other offenses that his supporters say were manufactured by the state. He wrote the rest of the memoir in prison.... 'I had to devise a whole clandestine operation to bamboozle the guards, involving the substitution of identical notebooks bought specifically for the purpose.'..."

From "How Aleksei Navalny’s Prison Diaries Got Published/In his posthumous memoir, compiled with help from his widow, Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny faced the fact that Vladimir Putin might succeed in silencing him. The book will keep 'his legacy alive,' Navalnaya said" (NYT)(free-access link).

36 comments:

Quaestor said...: "I had to devise a whole clandestine operation to bamboozle the guards, involving the substitution of identical notebooks bought specifically for the purpose."

I'd like to know what Russian word Navalny used and why the translator choose to use bamboozle.; 10/21/24, 10:11 AM
Deep State Reformer said...: Any insights Navalny might have had would probably be a good thing to know if things go the way I think they are after November 6th "election". Just saying. If Trump actually wins NYS is going to put him in jail, and I doubt jail authorities are going to allow him to do podcasts from his cell.; 10/21/24, 10:11 AM
Leland said...: "trials on charges of extremism"

Sounds like what the left would like to do here in America.; 10/21/24, 10:11 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: They're doing it already, and to Trump, twice on trumped up charges. The last 10 years have demonstrated conclusively there's no depths to which they will not go.; 10/21/24, 10:20 AM
Leland said...: They are not using those terms in the sentencing, just in the external rhetoric, but if they win, I'm sure they'll pass the new laws.; 10/21/24, 10:38 AM
n.n said...: Cancel culture? Capitol punishment? Abort.; 10/21/24, 11:01 AM
Jaq said...: LOL, you guys should google up some of his rallies, complete with the famous stiff armed salute a certain guy made popular in the '30s in Europe. We were funding him, in other words, we were interfering in Russia's elections. If Trump had taken $20 million from Russia to run for POTUS, and he got caught, and died in prison, we wouldn't be bothered about it. I certainly wouldn't. Well, that's what happened with Zelensky.

It was part of a pincer plan to destroy the Russian Federation. You have right wing guys like Navalny preaching that Muslims should be "killed like flies" (that's a real quote) and our operatives in ISIS doing terror attacks in Moscow in order to whip up the hatred further, and drive an ethnic wedge into the Federation.

We backed the "not sees" in Ukraine ever since the end of WWII, first as a thorn in the side of the Soviets, and then as a way to turn Ukraine against the Russians, by nursing ethnic resentments and promulgating lies. This is what we pay the CIA to do.

One thing you have to hand to the neocons, they never give up. It's "World domination or bust!" Still, just because they feed us propaganda, it doesn't mean that we have to believe it.; 10/21/24, 11:08 AM
Jaq said...: Sorry, not Zelensky, he is another US puppet, well, an IMF puppet. I meant Navalny.; 10/21/24, 11:10 AM
Jaq said...: It seemed to me like every time some guy on Twitter was accusing the Russians of being "not sees," they would show pictures and videos of Navalny's rallies.; 10/21/24, 11:12 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: there is no evidence this guy was killed in prison. People die in prison all the time, of natural causes, both in the USA and Russia. this is just more BS Hate-Russia, hate-putin, propaganda. All designed to get us into a mood for war with Russia.

If you want to talk about "Freedom" in the UK/USA v. russia, I suggest you compare the "fair and free" USA elections in Calf, NYC, detroit or Baltimore with those in Moscow. Or the 2020 election with those that elected Putin.

A woman in the UK just got sentenced to 31 months in prison for a tweet. She was upset over the killing of 3 girls and raged about Illegals. She then deleted it the same day after she called down. She pled guilty and cooperated. She was still sent to prison for over 2.5 years.

Or you can talk to the over 1000 J6'ers who are either in jail or on probation for "parading in the Capital". Then talk to me Russia.; 10/21/24, 11:17 AM
John henry said...: Does the article mention Bill Browder? Now Sir William Browder KCMG. A pretty shady character and closely linked with Navalny. His Hermitage Fund is the largest private investor in Russia. He gave up his American citizenship to become a British subject. He was involved back in 2016 in some subterfuges to try to prevent Donald Trump's election.

If the name Browder sounds vaguely familiar he is the grandson of Earl Browder. Earl was BFF with Stalin and, as head of Communist Party USA, Stalin's personal shit-stirrer in the US. Earl's son, Bill's father, was born in Moscow when Earl was living there.

Good riddance to Bill Browder, England is welcome to him. And close to Navalny? Doesn't stir a lot of sympathy for Navalny in my soul.

John Henry; 10/21/24, 11:19 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "I'd like to know what Russian word Navalny used and why the translator choose to use bamboozle."

Me too. "Bamboozle" is one of the best words in the English language. Right up there with "flummox" (my personal favorite English word).

"Bamboozle" is a word "Of unknown origin," according to the OED:

"Appears about 1700; mentioned in the Tatler No. 230 (on ‘the continual Corruption of our English Tongue’) among other slang terms (banter, put, kidney, sham, mob, bubble, bully, etc.) recently invented or brought into vogue. Probably therefore of cant origin; the statement that it is a Gypsy word wants proof. Compare the similar bom-, bumbaze, in Scots writers since c1725, and bam in more recent use."

Apparently, it has no connection to "bamboo."; 10/21/24, 11:25 AM
Quaestor said...: Althouse writes, "Bamboozle" is one of the best words in the English language. Right up there with "flummox" (my personal favorite English word)."

I over-use parentheticals. Good to know I'm not alone.; 10/21/24, 11:41 AM
Quaestor said...: I used to enjoy flummoxing my professors, but my GPA got bamboozled.; 10/21/24, 11:43 AM
Jaq said...: Here is one of Navalny's rallies, if you doubt about the stiff armed salute. Notice too the same black sun symbol can be seen in the crown that was popular in Ukraine, and which was worn by the Buffalo mass shooter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQR4dcu4wI4

If an American politician had lead such a rally on the streets of DC, with these kinds of salutes and symbols, we would all breathe a sigh of relief when he died in prison. Remember, this isn't just some people who happened to show up, you can find video of Navalny making the salute himself, to the delight of the crowd.; 10/21/24, 11:45 AM
Quaestor said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/21/24, 11:56 AM
Quaestor said...: Wiktionary gives this etymology: Derivative of 17th-century vernacular bam (“to trick, to con”), which is a derivative of bam in noun use (fraudster, cheat), possibly from French embobiner, which means to wind or spool like fishing line on a reel, relating bamboozle with bobbin.

What that's worth is uncertain, but kudos to the editors for putting their heads on the chopping block, venturing where the OED angels fear to tread; 10/21/24, 11:58 AM
Keith said...: The NYT writes "How Aleksei Navalny’s Prison Diaries Got Published." Got published? Is this a 12 year old middle school student writing? How about ..."diaries were published," or something that sounds like an adult who understands English. And the NYT is considered the paper of record when they can't even use proper English? Oy.; 10/21/24, 12:01 PM
Jaq said...: "garnered publication."; 10/21/24, 12:07 PM
Tom T. said...: "Sounds like what the left would like to do here in America.”

Indeed, the extremism they charged him with centered around opposition to immigration.; 10/21/24, 12:11 PM
John henry said...: You are not. Terrible habit of mine too; 10/21/24, 12:30 PM
John henry said...: You mean like Phil LaFollette? Yeah, one of those Lafollettes and his "Circumcised Swastika" symbol of his National Progressive Party of the late 1930s. https://www.tommcmahon.net/2008/01/the-lafollette.html

Except he did not die in jail, he seems to have been celebrated.

John Henry; 10/21/24, 12:34 PM
doctrev said...: If Americans were in charge of the New York publishing houses, as opposed to the "Americans" who fled Russia, we'd have more books about the January 6th protestors in prison.

May Navalny and his kinsmen burn in the same flames.; 10/21/24, 1:07 PM
Quaestor said...: Althouse writes, "Apparently, it has no connection to 'bamboo.'"

I've often wonder about bamboo. One can hardly a more un-English word in international English. Turns out it's a Malay word introduced by the Dutch. The Netherlanders introduced many items of Far Eastern culture to the West, bamboo, the word and the material, among them. The first representation of a Japanese sword in Western culture is a 17th century Flemish still-life.; 10/21/24, 1:08 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: The neo-cons and establishment warmongers are constantly trying to make Putin into the next world conquering Dictator. "its hilter all over again". Remember Johnny McCain? "I looked into Putins eyes and saw KGB".

Except Putin isn't really a dicator. He has elections, a parliment, and opposition. A few political opponents get tossed in jail, but most don't. There are papers which oppose him being published in Russia.

He's more Huey long or Richard Daley than Hitler. And Russia is more free than the UK/USA. Nobody gets tossed in Jail for "mean tweets".

As for Russia trying to "conquer the world". Putin has been very leery about taking casualties or drafting too many people. He obviously will be satisfied with the 6 oblasts and Crimea. He doesn't want the rest of Ukraine. If he wanted it, he would have taken it.

We have no beef with Russia. The Ukraine and its border with Russia are none of our concerns. Our Power elite however, wants to destroy Putin and make Russia into a Liberal Democracy with USA values and Globalize it. Imperialism by another name.

Count me out.; 10/21/24, 1:38 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: Bamboo and Bamboozle seem like they'd be related, but its hard to see how you get from Bamboo to Bamboozle.; 10/21/24, 1:40 PM
Deep State Reformer said...: Yah. The Professor derailed a potentially interesting post into "who cares?" territory. Lefty Democratical-Wrecker's Party posters please note, this is how you do it. IOW go all grammar not-see and miss the forest but hit a tree.; 10/21/24, 3:48 PM
Dr Weevil said...: The fact that Navalny was a racist asshole and his wife is a grifter does not mean that it was OK that Putin had him murdered in prison. Is it really that hard to understand the principle here?

There are a couple of near-parallels in U.S. history: George Wallace and Larry Flynt were, in very different ways, two of the most disgusting people in America, but the people who shot them and put them in wheelchairs for the rest of their lives should have been hanged for it.; 10/21/24, 6:07 PM
Dr Weevil said...: None of this is even close to the truth. Russia has had a two-term limit for presidents since before Putin was elected the first time, but he just started his fifth term. He has elections the same way his buddy Assad has elections.

Are all the newspapers that reported 15,000 Russian arrested for protesting the invasion of Ukraine lying? Some were arrested for holding up a blank piece of paper: another lie? Is Putin "leery about taking casualties", or does he send troops into "meat assaults" every day of the week? What are the "6 oblasts" he "will be satisfied with" along with Crimea? Other than Crimea, there are only two (Luhansk and Donetsk) that have significant numbers of ethnic Russians, and all three voted to join Ukraine in 1991, Donbas by margins of 5-1 (83%). Yet he's annexed all three (so much for the "independence movements" he pretended to support), plus Kherson and Zaporizhzhia because they're the land route to Crimea, and now you say he wants two more? Which two? His own TV propagandists openly talk about utterly destroying Ukraine "as a nation and as a culture" and then invading Poland, the Baltics, Germany, nuking London, annexing Alaska, and lots more. Only a fool could believe that he "will be satisfied" with a quarter of Ukraine, and only a swine thinks he has any right to even that much.

And of course we do have a beef with Russia: we and the UK convinced Ukraine to hand over all its nuclear weapons in return for a guarantee of its 1991 borders. Breaking that promise is already having a very bad effect on the state of the world, making (e.g.) a Chinese invasion of Taiwan far more likely.; 10/21/24, 6:18 PM
Kakistocracy said...: Putin shows how nervous and weak he is by killing a man already in jail for crimes he did not commit.

This shows the brutality of the Russian regime, yet Navalny was a vocal supporter of the Russian invasion of Georgia , supported Russian claims over Crimea and shared the Russian Nationalist Imperialist attitudes towards their Central Asian neighbors and the world.

The sad truth is that Navalny was loved and admired more by the West as an anti-Putin symbol than by average Russians as a politician to represent them.; 10/21/24, 6:41 PM
Jaq said...: "The fact that Navalny was a racist asshole and his wife is a grifter does not mean that it was OK that Putin had him murdered in prison."

Even the head of military intelligence for Ukraine, Budanov, who has a lot of contacts within Russia, has said that Navalny died of natural causes. Your only proof that he was is that you hate Putin and Russia. That's not proof, that's an "attribution fallacy."; 10/22/24, 8:01 AM
Jaq said...: You show how weak your arguments are by making claims that have zero evidence, and that even the Putin hating Ukrainians don't believe, at least their spy chief, Budanov, doesn't, that Putin had Navalny killed. Navalny was zero threat to Putin. He had only a fringe following of neo-nazis in Russia, much as we tried to goose that following by using our pet terrorists, ISIS, to whip up hatred for Muslims in Moscow through terror attacks, Wikileaks showed us that Navalny was funded by the US, and ISIS is the terrorist outfit that only attacks enemies of the CIA.; 10/22/24, 8:06 AM
Jaq said...: At this point, Navalny was worth more to the US dead than alive. If we are going to convict people based on motive alone. Just saying.; 10/22/24, 8:09 AM
Jaq said...: It is probably impossible to be cynical enough to understand US foreign policy, especially with a sociopath like Joe Biden at the top.; 10/22/24, 8:11 AM
Dr Weevil said...: 'tim in vermont' can't believe that Putin could possibly have had Navalny killed in prison, though he certainly used Polonium and Novichok to murder dissidents and innocent bystanders in England. But the same 'tim in vermont' blames the U.S. for the Tadzhik terrorists who slaughtered civilians at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, as if disgruntled Muslims haven't been slaughtering people all over the world without any encouragement from us. 'tim' is a Putinite moron.; 10/22/24, 10:10 AM
One Fine Day said...: Well you've certainly demonstrated you don't understand US foreign policy, so for once you've said something true.; 10/23/24, 10:54 AM