More Memorable Passages From "The Man Without A Face"
Read the original on Astral Codex Ten →
Summary
A curated 'extra passages' companion to Scott's review of Masha Gessen's Putin biography The Man Without A Face -- vivid excerpts he couldn't fit in the main review: the glasnost 'Hyde Park' activists defeating a state-planted brass band by eating lemons (empathetic salivation stops the wind players); Putin's affectless non-reaction to his dog's death; the twice-recycled Stalinist national anthem; the campaign obstruction against opposition candidates; Kasparov as a one-man news substitute; and the postscript where Gessen finally meets Putin and finds him exactly as described -- 'shallow, self-involved, not terribly perceptive, and apparently very poorly informed.' Minimal authorial commentary.
Why this score
Quality 60 · Strong. Solid (upper)/low-Strong: vivid, well-selected, entertaining excerpts, but a curated-quotes companion with little original content, dependent on the main review.
Claude’s paradigm shift 35 · Slight. Slight: an excerpts post; no ideas of its own.
Real-world impact 1 · Negligible. Negligible: a companion excerpts post; no material footprint.