Russian guy kills over poetry vs. prose argument

Posted on: Wed, 01/29/2014 - 11:27 By: Tom Swiss

I have argued that there is no hard line between poetry and prose, but I've never made that argument with a knife.

As the author notes, "All we can really say for sure is...the real truth of genres is that comedy and tragedy coexist easily". I'd almost welcome seeing news of a murder in Bmore inspired by a literary dispute rather than the drug trade or a pair of shoes or somebody looking at somebody funny.

Poetry-vs.-Prose Argument Leads to Stabbing Death in Russia (Gawker)

At risk of being somewhat reductionist, here is a bit of advice: Russians love poetry. Fuck with that at your own risk. If, for example, you tell a learned Russian that "the only real literature is prose," don't be surprised when he shivs you in the face.

According the the Russian news service RIA-Novosti:

A former teacher was detained in Russia's Urals after being accused of stabbing an acquaintance to death in a dispute about literary genres, investigators said Wednesday.

The 67-year-old victim insisted that "the only real literature is prose," the Sverdlovsk Region's branch of the Investigative Committee said.