Pushkin: A Biography

Rating:
Summary: Good, not great
Review: A good introduction to Pushkin's life, loves, and even his writing. Ms. Feinstein presents the man, his works, and the spirit of the time well, and with finesse.

Three minor complaints:

First, Ms. Feinstein makes multiple references to other biographies of Pushkin. Sometimes this is done properly in the context of new material that has been discovered since those other biographies have been discovered. However this has the effect of making her seem egotistical, as in "they're wrong, and look how much more I know than they do". More importantly, it's annoying to someone unfamiliar with those other biographies. I understand the impossibility of presenting the full and honest truth given the ambiguity and differences in interpretations from the original materials and lack thereof left over from Pushkin's life. But the way she compares and contrasts the information comes across badly.

Second, the pace of the book is uneven. In Ms. Feinstein's defense this may simply be a conflict between what she finds interesting (and therefore worth going into detail) and what I find interesting. The section on Pushkin's childhood reads quickly, while the section on his marriage drags painfully.

Finally, Ms. Feinstein seems luridly fascinated by Pushkin's love life. The information on his loves and lovers should have presented with a little more historical objectivity and a little less romance novel swooning.

Rating:
Summary: D'Anthés was bisexual?
Review: Dostoevsky once said that Alexsandr Pushkin was the quintessential Russian man because of his compassion and empathy for mankind, despite all of the humiliation and misery that he suffered from his friends, family, and the rest of high society during the later years of his life. Although this description of Pushkin may be colored by Dostoevsky's own Russian nationalistic orientation, Pushkin's impact on Russian literature and culture remains undisputed.

The first part of Feinstein's biography was a bit slow due to the monotonous presentation of Pushkin's love interests, one after another. However, a number of erotic poems and epigrams were included that Pushkin wrote during his earlier years which I found particularly amusing for their juvenile and frivolous nature. Considering the aura of sanctity that was built up around Pushkin's reputation as the figurehead of Russian literature after his death, these lyrics help to paint a picture of who the real man actually was. The plot finally picks up towards the end of the book with the introduction of Georges d'Anthés (the man who fatally shot Pushkin in a duel) and the description of d'Anthés' public flirtation with Natalya (Pushkin's wife), only to be followed by his sudden and suspicious marriage to Ekaterina (Natalya's sister). All of these events made Pushkin the focus of public scrutiny and humiliation, which inevitably led to his fatal encounter with d'Anthés. Feinstein presents a lot of evidence in an attempt to shed light on d'Anthés' complicated personality and why things happened as they did. Although most of this evidence is speculatory, it still makes for interesting reading.

I encountered a number of editorial mistakes in this book which were a bit annoying, although they did not overly detract from the continuity of the plot. Some have already been mentioned by previous customer reviewers, such as the listing of Anna Petrovna Kern (one of Pushkin's premarital lovers) and Anna Petrovna as two separate people in the index when they are actually one in the same person. Additionally, Ibrahim Gannibal, Pushkin's legendary Negro great-grandfather who was a general under Peter the Great, was mistakenly identified as his grandfather at various points in the book. Most aggravating for me, however, was the author's habit of going back and forth in time, such that it became difficult to understand the sequence in which events took place.

Overall, I found this book interesting and worth my time reading. Feinstein presents Pushkin's life story in an engaging and readable style that is well-suited for general readers who have little prior knowledge of the man or his works. Nevertheless, the book is detailed enough such that we are able to gain a good understanding of Pushkin's personality and the circumstances that motivated him to write each of his major works.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, passionate and thorough
Review: Loved the book. Apart from minor inconsistencies, the facts are all straight.
Given my native language is Russian, I found the book much more passionate, logical, journalistically straightforward, and impartial than most of the fatherland's writers.
This is a good book about the strange life of one of the greatest poets of all times.
And it brought me closer to understanding his personality, his affections, his art.