March 25, 2016

From the EIA today:

Total U.S. petroleum product exports continued to increase in 2015, up 467,000 barrels per day (b/d) from 2014 to 4.3 million b/d, driven by increased exports of distillate fuel, motor gasoline, and propane. Mexico and countries in Central and South America continue to be major recipients of U.S. petroleum product exports. --- EIA

Pretty remarkable: over four million bbls of petroleum products exported every day from the US.

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A Note to the Granddaughters

Hurrah! I've finished Doctor Zhivago. The book and the movie are quite different: the book was written for Russian readers; the screenplay was written with Americans viewers in mind. Apparently the end of the book left many Americans confused; Shmoop delves into that. In just a few paragraphs Shmoop explains something important about Russian novels.

These were my immediate thoughts upon completing the novel:

• Is the ending unsatisfactory? See Shmoop with regard to endings of Russian novels?
• Is there a real climax to the novel? Are there more than one climaxes? I think I could argue three different but equal climaxes.
• The section on Marina makes no sense at all; does it add anything to the novel?
• I will have to recheck? When does Lara’s daughter Tonia first get mentioned? How do Misha Gordon and Dudorov know about Tonia? Does Tonia really exist? If so, is she the laundress?
• Is Komarov despicable? Or did he save Lara's life? 

This is the first "Russian novel" I have read. I doubt I will read others, but I will re-read this one again.