Multiheaded comments on September 2012 Media Thread - Less Wrong Discussion
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I have never been into classical music (my impression having been that it all sounds same-y, with the exception of Wagner, who is totally BOSS). But today I stumbled upon Shostakovich's 8th Symphony (1943) and a commentary to it by a French scholar of music. So sublime and stirring! Look at some videos or pictures of the Battle of Stalingrad while listening.
Recommended related reading: Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor, and A Writer at War by Vasily Grossman, with Beevor's excellent translation. I've read both - damn good, with an uncommon understanding of Russia and what the War meant and still means for us. As a Russian patriot (well... of a sort), I must say that Beevor deserves a medal from our government, not its slander.
Ah, thanks to your recommendation I picked up Beevor's Stalingrad, and I really liked the book. The writer tries hard to be balanced and correct (with a lot of sources from different sides); yet the story never ceases to captivate the reader, and never loses the overall view of the horrors of the battle.