Rachel Polonsky

EUROPEAN HISTORY: FROM C 1900 -. When Rachel Polonsky went to live in Moscow, she found an apartment block in Romanov Street. One of the past neighbours was Stalin's henchman Vyacheslav Molotov. In Molotov's former apartment, Rachel Polonsky discovered his library and an old magic lantern. Molotov's library and his magic lantern became the prisms through which Rachel Polonsky renewed her vision of Russia. She visited cities and landscapes associated with the books in the library - Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Akhmatova and many less well-known figures. Some were sent to the Gulag by the man who collected their books. She writes exceptionally well about the spirit of great artists and the terrible past of a country ravaged by war, famine, and totalitarianism.

A Journey in Russian History

Molotov's Magic Lantern

Uma homenagem singular à história e à cultura russas, o livro evoca o espírito dos grandes artistas e o passado assombrado de um país devastado pela guerra, pela fome e pelo totalitarismo. Quando se mudou para Moscou, nos anos 1990, a jornalista britânica Rachel Polonsky passou a viver em um edifício que, durante a época dos tsares e, depois, dos soviéticos, era reservado aos servidores mais eminentes do Estado. Muito antes dela, Viatcheslav Mólotov, cruel homem de confança de Stálin, também vivera entre essas mesmas paredes. Aventurando-se no antigo apartamento do apparatchik, Rachel Polonsky descobre sua biblioteca privada, e Mólotov então se revela um fervoroso biblióflo: lera praticamente todos os clássicos e possuía muitas edições originais, algumas inclusive autografadas por escritores que depois enviaria ao Gúlag. Cada livro encontrado por Polonsky se torna um convite para uma viagem pela Rússia e sua história. A jornalista vai em busca de lugares relacionados não só aos escritores que encontra na biblioteca, mas também aos membros da elite que viviam no edifício de Mólotov. Do norte ao sul do país, entre Chalámov e Dostoiévski, a autora apresenta nestas páginas o passado de um país assolado, mas eventualmente resgatado por seus escritores. Convite para uma viagem e celebração da literatura, A lanterna mágica de Mólotov traz a poesia dos grandes livros, dos quais nunca saímos completamente.

Uma viagem pela história da Rússia

A lanterna mágica de Mólotov

When the British journalist Rachel Polonsky moves to Moscow, she discovers an apartment on Romanov Street that was once home to the Soviet elite. One of the most infamous neighbors was the ruthless apparatchik Vyacheslav Molotov, a henchman for Stalin who was a participant in the collectivizations and the Great Purge—and also an ardent bibliophile. In what was formerly Molotov’s apartment, Polonsky uncovers an extensive library and an old magic lantern—two things that lead her on an extraordinary journey throughout Russia and ultimately renew her vision of the country and its people. In Molotov’s Magic Lantern, Polonsky visits the haunted cities and vivid landscapes of the books from Molotov’s library: works by Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Akhmatova, and others, some of whom were sent to the Gulag by the very man who collected their books. With exceptional insight and beautiful prose, Polonsky writes about the longings and aspirations of these Russian writers and others in the course of her travels from the Arctic to Siberia and from the forests around Moscow to the vast steppes. A singular homage to Russian history and culture, Molotov’s Magic Lantern evokes the spirit of the great artists and the haunted past of a country ravaged by war, famine, and totalitarianism.

Travels in Russian History

The turn of the nineteenth century, a time of exceptional creativity in Russia, was also a time of great receptivity to foreign cultural influences. Among the most important of these were English poetry and aesthetic thought, which gave new impetus to the Russian imagination. This is the first study of the Russian reception of English literature from Romanticism to aestheticism, focusing particularly on the reception by Russian poets of Shelley, Ruskin, Pater, Frazer and Wilde. Framing this account is a pioneering exploration of the intellectual background to these influences in comparative scholarship, illuminating a common interest in myth, folklore, anthropology, and the origins of language. This book discusses the relationship between Russian conceptions of national identity, literary influence and the origins of comparative literary history.

Rachel Polonsky

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