A review by mollye1836
Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia by Orlando Figes
5.0
Russia, my joy.
I am going to try to keep this as un-sentimental as possible—something the author manages to do most of the time, which is very admirable and restrained, especially with such rich material. He only sometimes falls into clichés, and then those are usually borrowed from Russians themselves.
It should be noted that this is a cultural history of MODERN Russia, not an entire history (just as well I suppose, it wouldn’t fit into one book). But really, you could write an entire book on the 18th, 19th, or 20th Century alone, and he combines all three pretty well.
He has an excellent knowledge of all the classic Russian writers of the nineteenth century as well as a thorough understanding of music and art. It is enough to make a person fall in love with Russia all over again. Even if he hadn’t touched on those other Russian giants—Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Andrei Rublev, Ilya Repin—the writers really carry this book. Appropriate for a nation where people were frequently killed for their books. He frequently falls back on previous commentary on these writers, to show their influence in later years on other artists. It helps tie the book together neatly and it drives home how fundamental literature is to Russian identity and culture.
Each chapter has a theme, which I enjoyed, instead of being purely chronological, and my only real critique is that only one chapter was devoted to Soviet Russia. I would have liked to read more about Bulgakov and the writers that came after Khrushchev’s thaw, but he ends the story in the postwar years. I’d like to note that this isn’t a failing on the author’s part, he chose a tremendously expansive topic and he inevitably had to focus on some things more than others. My favorite chapter was probably the one about the Russian soul, or the one about Russia’s relationship to Asia (and to Europe). The one on the soul is a must for anyone who loves Russia and the second is especially interesting for those with an interest in history, namely colonialism and orientalism.
I’m so excited about this book that I can’t form cohesive trains of thoughts. Art! Literature! Music! Opening this book makes me feel the way I do when Mussorgsky’s ‘Great Gate at Kiev’ plays. My heart soars and I am transfixed by the need to learn more about this complex, contradictory, beautiful nation. Thank you for this gift, thank you for an English language book that explores the marvels of this culture.
I am going to try to keep this as un-sentimental as possible—something the author manages to do most of the time, which is very admirable and restrained, especially with such rich material. He only sometimes falls into clichés, and then those are usually borrowed from Russians themselves.
It should be noted that this is a cultural history of MODERN Russia, not an entire history (just as well I suppose, it wouldn’t fit into one book). But really, you could write an entire book on the 18th, 19th, or 20th Century alone, and he combines all three pretty well.
He has an excellent knowledge of all the classic Russian writers of the nineteenth century as well as a thorough understanding of music and art. It is enough to make a person fall in love with Russia all over again. Even if he hadn’t touched on those other Russian giants—Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Andrei Rublev, Ilya Repin—the writers really carry this book. Appropriate for a nation where people were frequently killed for their books. He frequently falls back on previous commentary on these writers, to show their influence in later years on other artists. It helps tie the book together neatly and it drives home how fundamental literature is to Russian identity and culture.
Each chapter has a theme, which I enjoyed, instead of being purely chronological, and my only real critique is that only one chapter was devoted to Soviet Russia. I would have liked to read more about Bulgakov and the writers that came after Khrushchev’s thaw, but he ends the story in the postwar years. I’d like to note that this isn’t a failing on the author’s part, he chose a tremendously expansive topic and he inevitably had to focus on some things more than others. My favorite chapter was probably the one about the Russian soul, or the one about Russia’s relationship to Asia (and to Europe). The one on the soul is a must for anyone who loves Russia and the second is especially interesting for those with an interest in history, namely colonialism and orientalism.
I’m so excited about this book that I can’t form cohesive trains of thoughts. Art! Literature! Music! Opening this book makes me feel the way I do when Mussorgsky’s ‘Great Gate at Kiev’ plays. My heart soars and I am transfixed by the need to learn more about this complex, contradictory, beautiful nation. Thank you for this gift, thank you for an English language book that explores the marvels of this culture.