Pushkin: A Biography

by T.J. Binyon

Book Overview

In the course of his short, dramatic life, Aleksandr Pushkin gave Russia not only its greatest poetry-including the novel-in-verse Eugene Onegin -but a new literary language. He also gave it a figure... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400041104
• ISBN13: 9781400041107
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 727 Pages
• Weight: 2.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Has potential to be exciting but I didn't have the patience

Now this is a thick book and very well-researched, too. I somewhat understand the author's desire to use his own translations, since this book has probably consumed a significant chunk of Mr.Binyon's time and effort. However, being able to read Russian certainly helps, since the translations are a bit uninspired (hey, I'm not saying I can do better though!). Nevertheless, I admire the amount of detail and research that has gone into this. There are maps and explanatory notes that are quite helpful, as well as quotations from a huge variety of sources. In addition, the narration is pleasant enough and not too stuffy. Then after about 70 pages I couldn't go on, even with the best intentions of reading it all...it simply got too overwhelming and repetitive. So, Pushkin went there, wrote this, saw this woman and lusted after her. Then in the next chapter, it repeats again, with mountains of detail. Maybe it's the genre, I don't know, but it gets a little dull after awhile. Mr. Binyon presents Pushkin as someone quite unlikeable - except for his poetry. That put me off too - can't blame the biographer much here though! In all, it's a very solid biography with OK translations that takes certain patience to get through. Hope I can finish this - might take me until retirement or so but it's on the shelf!