Four Reviews

REQUIEM FOR A LOST EMPIRE

By Andrei Makine

Arcade Publishing * 2001 * $24.95 (hardcover)

Since the publication of his first novel, Dreams of My Russian Summers, Andrei Makine has produced works of fiction that are distinguished by their depth of perception and richness of description for the Russian lives of his and previous generations. His novels have poignantly explored growing up in remote Siberia, the uniquely isolated lives expatriates, love and the power of memory and the difficult history of his native land.

In this newest novel, Makine takes on the entire sweep of 20th century Russian history, through the eyes of a single family. But this is not a rambling, episodic, Michener-esque tale. At just 252 pages, it is a tightly crafted novel rich with original images and ideas about violence, power, love and honor. For Makine, the Russian 20th century is a sorrowful, repetitive tale of reasonable people trying to live quiet lives, while under attack from unreasonable people with unmitigated power.

SANIN: A NOVEL

By Mikhail Artsybashev

Translated by Michael R. Katz

Cornell University Press * 2001 * $17.95 (softcover)

There are an amazing number of late-19th and early-20th century Russian writers whose works are known only to well-educated academics and other examiners of obscure footnoted references. Mikhail Artsybashev (1878-1927) is among such writers. This, his second novel, translated masterfully into English by Katz, is a look into the darker side of Russian post-revolutionary (1905, that is) disaffection.

For Sanin, the protagonist, who returns to his home village, the goal of life is to stripping away the “subtelties” and inventions of society, to remove al that is artificial in life and embrace a simple pursuit of one’s desires … almost to the extent of nihilistic hedonism. To say that the book’s ideas about free love and its graphic passages evoked outrage after its release in 1907 would be an understatement. But such outrage also helped it become a best-seller (and, subsequently, a “disappeared” work in the Soviet era). It also provided a lifestyle manual for many disaffected youth and thus makes this book vital reading for anyone attempting to understand the complex fabric of Russian life in the pre-revolutionary (1917, that is) era.

OUT OF THE PRESENT

A film by Andrei Ujica

Facets * $???? (DVD)

Most everyone knows what it feels like to be mistakenly left behind at, say, the mall. But imagine being left behind thousands of miles above the earth. That is what happened to veteran cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev (see Russian Life, July/August 2001 for a profile), when he waited up on the Mir Space Station while the Soviet Union collapsed below him and Russia took some time to get itself sorted out before sending up a relief ship.

The film (just released on DVD only) starts out straightforwardly enough: there are the quiet moments with family, the reflections of the importance of the mission, etc. Krikalev took off for Mir in May 1991. The Soviet Union collapses in December. When the cosmonaut does return home, it is a strikingly different place (for one, his hometown of Leningrad is now St. Petersburg).

Humorous and instructive, this film is a fascinating snapshot of the end of the Soviet empire, particularly poignant with last spring’s fiery descent of Mir.

The DVD is in Russian, with subtitle options in English, French, German, Spanish and Dutch.

GIFTS TO THE TSARS, 1500-1700: TREASURES  FROM THE KREMLIN

Harry R. Abrams * September 2001 * $65 (hardcover)

If you can’t make it to the new exhibition of Kremlin riches in Indianapolis this fall and winter, you’ll want to get your hands on a copy of this book. At once a catalog of the exhibit and a history of 16th and 17th century Russia, Gifts to the Tsars is a beautiful photographic exhibition in its own right.

The period from 1500 to 1700 was the time of Russia’s entry onto the world stage, of the consolidation and expansion of its empire and the rise of tsardom. From Ivan the Terrible to Peter the Great, it was a time of growing wealth and power, and the gifts which the tsars received from the European powers were a measure of this growing prestige.

The collection of articles on court life, on the art forms represented and the envoys that brought them makes for fascinating reading. A great gift idea, but, if the past is any measure, you will want to pick up a copy of this book early; similar books by Abrams, noted for its fine art books, have sold out quickly in the past.

-- The Editors