If you have ever thumbed through a book by a Russian author, you must have, at some point, felt yourself in the grip of confusion. It’s so hard to keep track of which characters are which, because a single person, at different times, may be referred to as 1) Ivan Petrovitch, 2) Vanya, 3) Vanyusha, 4) Ivanushka, and 5)Vantuz.