Publishers are constantly sending us interesting books, CDs, language learning tools and other items of interest to Russophiles. But our limited review space means we can only highlight a couple of items in each issue, which is regrettable.
Therefore, for this issue we decided to toss aside our normal review format and offer a quick rundown of 12 titles from our teetering review pile that we feel readers should know about. They are presented in no particular order.
Composed while the writer was living in internal exile, these poems are powerful and delicate, personal and yet freighted with much broader meaning, particularly about the role of the artist in a closed society.
A 96-page color book born from a third-grader’s question about how a decorated officer like Solzhenitsyn could be imprisoned for making a comment about Stalin. A fine, well-illustrated children’s biography of the great writer, published from the town where he made his home in exile.
A luminous new recording of this classic piece, released just in time for Easter season, but a soothing track to put on as background music any time of year. Featuring members of the St. Romanos Cappella, The Patriarch Tikhon Choir, and the Washington Master Chorale.
An engaging biography of Elie Metchnikoff, the “father of natural immunity,” and how he struggled against societal and professional ridicule to have his ideas accepted, before eventually winning the Nobel Prize. A timely book given current scientific debates, renewed interest in probiotics, and worry over the declining effectiveness of antibiotics.
A broad, moving novel of a family’s creation, migration, dispersal and reconnection through war and its aftermath. Cramer offers a realistic portrait of a horrific era, counterpointed by the hope and determination required to get out to the other side.
Prompted by Russsia’s annexation of Crimea, this is one journalist’s view on how the new East-West break came about, and what we can do to fix it. Co-author of The King’s Speech, Conradi also spent seven years as a foreign correspondent in Moscow.
An important Soviet-era novel about a juvenile inmate at a mental institution coming to grips with the death of his mentor and with an unrequited love for a teacher. Stylistically challenging as it bends time, space and the very notion of an unreliable narrator. Nabokov called it “enchanting, tragic, and touching.”
A fascinating unpacking of the first year of Khrushchev’s Thaw, when the horrors of Stalin’s era were made manifest, when Soviets took the promises of liberalization at face value and began testing the limits, until the Hungarian uprising showed what happened when those limits were breached.
One of the first translations in the new Columbia University Press’ Russian Library collection. These vital plays are richly Russian and subversively anti-Stalin. Absurb, horror-laden and even grim, they offer an incomparably vivid porthole into that dark era of Russian history.
An enthralling narrative of 1917 and its aftermath through the eyes and accounts of foreigners who were in Russia at the time and who witnessed the unfolding of the revolution firsthand. Ideal reading in this centennial year.
On the one hand, Soviet scientists made huge contributions to most all realms of science. On the other hand, the Soviet scientific world was rife with charlatans and those who had not compunction about taking advantage of the Terror for personal gain. Ings recounts the full interplay of Soviet politics and science, where highly educated professionals balanced precipitously between fame and imprisonment.
A detailed account of the resurgence of Orthodoxy in post-Soviet Russia, as seen from the grassroots level. A book vital to understanding the most significant non-governmental institution in modern Russia.
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