Review: Pushkin
Avis de journaliste - Kirkus ReviewsRussia's answer to Shakespeare and Goethe is transformed from iconic to all-too-human status in this deliberately paced biography. Descended from faded gentry—a maternal ancestor was a black slave imported from the Turkish court who rose to become a general in the Russian army—Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837) was early regarded as equally talented and troubled. Cosmopolitan, witty, and affectionate, he was also improvident, rakish, and hypersensitive, as likely to start an erotic letter or a self-destructive quarrel as a stanza of beautiful verses. As versatile as he was mercurial, Pushkin created masterpieces in many genres: lyric poetry, short fiction, historical tragedy (Boris Godunov), even the novel in verse (Eugene Onegin). In politics, he began as an early champion of liberty who was exiled to southern Russia by Tsar Alexander I, only later to become an ambivalent "junior gentleman of the chamber" for Nicholas I, a spectrum that resulted in his posthumous adoption by successive tsarist, communist, and post-communist regimes. Binyon (Russian Literature/Oxford) whirls us through this restless soul's visits to country houses, salons, theaters, court balls, gentlemen's clubs, and brothels. At times, the level of detail is numbing; readers come close to knowing the name of all Pushkin's lovers and the value of every misbegotten transaction. Conversely, anyone wishing to understand the extent of his contribution to Russian literature is advised to look elsewhere, since Binyon stints on critical analysis. Nevertheless, he slowly amasses such a wealth of evidence, particularly from the extensive correspondence of Pushkin and contemporaries, to bolster his suggestion that his subject may have suffered from manic depression. Binyon also painstakingly reveals the tangled financial and emotional circumstances that compelled the poet into a fatal duel with a French ÉmigrÉ officer who was obsessed with Pushkin's beautiful younger wife. The meteoric arc of a literary titan's life, narrated with a Greek tragedian's attention to his fatal flaws. (16 pp. of photos and 76 illustrations in text)
Review: Pushkin: A Biography
Avis d'utilisateur - Anne Nikoline - GoodreadsAutobiographies are always hard to rate because that means you will also have to rate the life of the person which the book is about, however, to read about Pushkin, who is my all time favourite ... Consulter l'avis complet
Review: Pushkin: A Biography
Avis d'utilisateur - Leslie - GoodreadsNot a Life and Works or a critical biography, so not a good choice if you want to know details about Pushkin's work and its relation to the world in any detailed way, but an absorbing portrait of ... Consulter l'avis complet
Review: Pushkin: A Biography
Avis d'utilisateur - David - GoodreadsThe best biography I have ever read, totally absorbing. Pushkin was always falling in and out of love. His most famous lyric: I loved you: love still, perhaps, Is not quite extinguished in my soul ... Consulter l'avis complet
Review: Pushkin: A Biography
Avis d'utilisateur - Geoff - Goodreadswhen looking at used copies of this book online, one of the descriptions of the condition was "may be shiny". what the hell? Consulter l'avis complet
Review: Pushkin: A Biography
Avis d'utilisateur - Josh - GoodreadsHow can you not love Pushkin? He's funny, impish, incredibly ugly but still a lady's man. Had kick-ass Wolverine sideburns that you can practically feel if you rub your hand over this book's cover ... Consulter l'avis complet
Review: Pushkin: A Biography
Avis d'utilisateur - Bruce - GoodreadsAn excellent biography of the Shakespeare of Russian literature. There is more detail here than you need if you have only a passing interest, but if you really enjoy Russian literature a comprehensive understanding of who Pushkin really was will enhance your enjoyment immeasurably. Consulter l'avis complet
Review: Pushkin: A Biography
Avis d'utilisateur - Gallagher - GoodreadsPushkin was a fun guy until he got married. Noted. Five stars! Consulter l'avis complet
Review: Pushkin: A Biography
Avis d'utilisateur - Bird - GoodreadsPushkin: Not a Good Biography. Consulter l'avis complet
Review: Pushkin
Avis d'utilisateur - Reed Business Information.This work won the Samuel Johnson nonfiction prize in Britain, and it's easy to see why: it's a fascinating treatment of an equally fascinating subject. By chronicling Pushkin's literary successes and ... Consulter l'avis complet
