The Magical Chorus: A History of Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn
by Solomon Volkov
- Used
- Very Good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Very Good/Good
- ISBN 10
- 1400042720
- ISBN 13
- 9781400042722
- Seller
-
Newtown, New South Wales, Australia
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
From the reign of Tsar Nicholas II to the brutal cult of Stalin to the ebullient, uncertain days of perestroika, nowhere has the inextricable relationship between politics and culture been more starkly illustrated than in twentieth-century Russia. In the first book to fully examine the intricate and often deadly interconnection between Russian rulers and Russian artists, cultural historian Solomon Volkov (who experienced firsthand many of the events he describes) brings to life the human stories behind some of the greatest masterpieces of our time.Here is Tolstoy, who used his godlike place among the Russian people to rail against the autocracy, even as he eschewed violence; Gorky, the first native writer to openly welcome the revolution and who would go on to become Stalin's closest cultural advisor; Solzhenitsyn, who famously brought the horrors of the Soviet regime to light. Here. too, are Nabokov, Pasternak, Mayakovsky, Akhmatova. In each case, Volkov analyzes the alternate determination and despair, hope and terror borne by writers in a country where, in Solzhenitsyn's maxim, "a great writer is like a second government."This is also the story of the nation's leading lights in painting, music, dance, theater, and cinema--Kandinsky and Malevich, Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky, Diaghilev and Nijinsky, Stanislavsky and Meyerhold, and Eisenstein and Tarkovsky--and the ways in which their triumphs influenced, and were influenced by, the leadership of the time. With an insider's insight, Volkov describes what it was like to work under constant threat of arrest, exile, or execution. He reminds us of the many artists who were compelled to live as emigres, and explores not only their complicated relationships with their adopted countries but Russia's love-hate relationship with Western culture as a whole--a relationship that has grown increasingly charged in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse.Epic in scope and intimate in detail, The Magical Chorus is the definitive account of a remarkable era in Russia's complex cultural life.From the Hardcover edition.
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Goulds Book Arcade (AU)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 157304
- Title
- The Magical Chorus: A History of Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn
- Author
- Solomon Volkov
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Good
- ISBN 10
- 1400042720
- ISBN 13
- 9781400042722
- Publisher
- Alfred A. Knopf
- Place of Publication
- New York & Evanston
- Date Published
- 2008
- Keywords
- [739g Jpg Magical Chorus History Russian Culture Tolstoy Solzhenitsyn Russia Literature 20th Century Political Aspects Politics Soviet Union Arts Federation Civilization Soviet Union Antonina w Bouis
Terms of Sale
Goulds Book Arcade
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Goulds Book Arcade
About Goulds Book Arcade
Since 1989 Goulds Book Arcade was at the city end of King St, Newtown, but moved in late 2018.
The shop is now located at 536 King St.
That's directly opposite Alice St in south Newtown, near the New Theatre.
If you want to pick up ordered items from the shop please contact us first as the listed items are not stored at the shop.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...