Edgar Snowden has left his transit zone at a Moscow airport.
In that zone which was for him a no-transit zone he had been, according to Anatoly
Kucherena, his lawyer, hunkering down with Russian classics. Kucherena had
given him "Crime And Punishment" because Snowden "should know
who Raskolnikov was"; selected volumes by Anton Chekhov “for dessert”; and
tomes by early nineteenth century historian Nikolay Karamzin, author of a
twelve-volume history of Russia, so that Snowden could get a grip on the
country to which he has now made some sort of transit.
Snowden has been granted a "passport-like
document", an intriguing, if not one-of-a-kind legal instrument, but his
whereabouts remain unknown, supposedly, according to Russian media outlets who
are having a field day — comparable only to the one they enjoyed when Gary
Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union right when President
Eisenhower and Nikita Khrushchev were about to talk business in
Paris — to keep Snowden safe.
Snowden should take comfort. He should not worry. Yes,
Bradley Manning was locked naked in solitary for months. But that was in
Quantico. Nothing of the kind could happen in Russia, not with Putin looking out.
***
What I ask is this: did Snowden take Dostoevsky,
Chekhov, and Karamzin with him?
The NSA documents on his computers are of limited literary
value.
I don't see Snowden staying up at night reading and
rereading them.
What should Snowden be reading now?
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