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Author Wheeler, Sara, author

Title Mud and stars : travels in Russia with Pushkin, Tolstoy, and other geniuses of the Golden Age / Sara Wheeler

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LOCATION CALL NO. STATUS
 Bangor Pub. Lib. Stacks  891.7.W567m    AVAILABLE  
Edition First American edition
Phys Descr xv, 287 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
Note BPL: Norman Minsky Fund.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 265-278) and index
Contents The people stay silent -- A heart's journey -- The heart within the tomb -- I am yours in heart -- We all come out from under Gogol's overcoat -- We shall rest -- The lady Macbeth of Mtsensk -- The poetry of procrastination -- Deep-sea fish -- Envoi
Summary With the writers of the Golden Age as her guides--Pushkin, Tolstoy, Gogol, and Turgenev, among others--Sara Wheeler searches for a Russia not in the news, traveling from rinsed northwestern beet fields and the Far Eastern Arctic tundra to the cauldron of nationUalities, religions, and languages in the Caucasus. Bypassing major cities as much as possible, she goes instead to the places associated with the country's literary masters. With her, we see the fabled Trigorskoye ("three hills") estate that Pushkin frequented during his exile, now preserved in his honor. We look for Dostoevsky along the waters of Lake Ilmen, site of the only house the restless writer ever owned. We pay tribute to the single stone that remains of TolUstoy's birthplace. Wheeler weaves these writers' lives and works around their historical homes, giving us rich portraits of the many diverse Russias from which these writers spoke. As she travels, Wheeler follows local guides, boards with families in modest homestays, eats roe and pelmeni and cabbage soup, invokes recipes from Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking, learns the language, and observes the pattern of outcry and silence that characterizes life under Vladimir Putin. Illustrated with both historical images and contemporary snapshots of the peoUple and places that shaped her journey, Mud and Stars gives us timely, witty, and deeply personal insights into Russia, then and now. -- Provided by publisher
Subject Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich, 1799-1837 -- Homes and haunts
Gogol, Nikola Vasilevich, 1809-1852 -- Homes and haunts
Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910 -- Homes and haunts
Turgenev, Ivan Sergeevich, 1818-1883 -- Homes and haunts
Literary landmarks -- Russia (Federation)
Authors, Russian -- 19th century -- Biography
Russian literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism
Russia (Federation) -- Description and travel
OCLC # 1085593995
ISBN # 9781524748012
1524748013