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The Wives: The Women Behind Russia's Literary Giants
by
Alexandra Popoff (Goodreads Author)
Muses and editors, saviors and publishers: Meet the women behind the greatest works of Russian literature
“Behind every good man is a good woman” is a common saying, but when it comes to literature, the relationship between spouses is even that much more complex. F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, and D. H. Lawrence used their marriages for literary inspiration and material,...more
“Behind every good man is a good woman” is a common saying, but when it comes to literature, the relationship between spouses is even that much more complex. F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, and D. H. Lawrence used their marriages for literary inspiration and material,...more
ebook, 400 pages
Published
August 7th 2012
by Pegasus Books
(first published August 1st 2012)
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Feb 09, 2013
Cheryl
added it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
lovers of literature, lovers of Russian literature
Shelves:
russian-writers-and-women
This collection of short biographies of the wives of some of Russia's greatest writers and how they dedicated themselves to their husband's work is fascinating, not least because this sacrifice of themselves to their husbands genius is not something I can identify with.
All of the writers, with the possible exception of Bulgakov, come off as terribly narcisstic and selfish, taking the utter devotion of their wives as no more than their due. In each case, the writers owed a great debt to their wiv...more
All of the writers, with the possible exception of Bulgakov, come off as terribly narcisstic and selfish, taking the utter devotion of their wives as no more than their due. In each case, the writers owed a great debt to their wiv...more
"Understanding that writing was worth the shared sacrifice was typically Russian" (p. 181).
This is author Alexandra Popoff's comment on Vera Nabokov's father's understanding of her choice of a husband, a man with poor financial prospects. Popoff, through the biographies of 6 wives of Russia's great writers shows how the sentiment played out. Each of of these wives was essential to her husband's work. Each took dictation, copied or typed, edited, translated and Sofia Tolstoy and Anna Dostoyevsk...more
This is author Alexandra Popoff's comment on Vera Nabokov's father's understanding of her choice of a husband, a man with poor financial prospects. Popoff, through the biographies of 6 wives of Russia's great writers shows how the sentiment played out. Each of of these wives was essential to her husband's work. Each took dictation, copied or typed, edited, translated and Sofia Tolstoy and Anna Dostoyevsk...more
About 30 years about I read Sonya which struck me quite forcefully at the time. Before reading this biography of Leo Tolstoy's wife, I had no idea of the work that went into creating a novel. I had never thought about the people besides the listed author who bring a story to life.
The Wives is all about that. Each chapter features the wife of a prominent Russian author focusing on her contribution to his work. I bogged down a bit during the chapter on Sonya Tolstoy as it seemed superficial. Well...more
The Wives is all about that. Each chapter features the wife of a prominent Russian author focusing on her contribution to his work. I bogged down a bit during the chapter on Sonya Tolstoy as it seemed superficial. Well...more
A collection of brief biographys of six Russian women who made great contributions to literature through supporting their husbands writing careers. Some are well-known authors such as Tolstoy and Dostevsky while others are lesser known authors and poets. Sophia Tolstoy, Vera Nabokov, Elena Bulgakov, Nadezdha Mandelstam, Anna Dostevsky, and Natalya Solzhenitsyn all assisted in a variety of ways including being stenographers, typists, editors, researchers, translators and even publishers. These br...more
A theoretically interesting read - about the women behind the scenes of Russian literature, it is however, damaged by the writing style of the author. Uneven and in places reading more like a college term paper than a biography. These women are certainly interesting and in some cases, equally as gifted as their husbands. These are not complete biographies of these amazing women - that would be a feat to compete in one volume, rather they are biographical sketches. Some of the subjects seem to gr...more
I found this book fascinating for a few reasons. The solidarity between stories was pretty amazing even though the women suffered through different fates. They each were so similarly loyal and dedicated to their husbands works. I found it fascinating that in this day and age, most women I know, myself included, would not have made it through day one with these men. The backdrop to all of their lives was one of uncertainty whether it be through political regimes or financial strains or religious...more
As seen in Publishers Weekly.
I could not put this book down. The extent to which the authors, and even more their wives, lived the books that were created is extraordinary. Well written, gripping and fascinating.
I only read the first two sections--Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.
This was a book that had the potential to be great but ended up just being okay. The subject matter--the spouses behind Russia's great writers--is fascinating, but the author managed to take an interesting subject and make it a bit too academic and try to keep my interest. I read a ton of non-fiction, and there's interesting non-fiction and dry non-fiction. This, unfortunately, fell closer to the latter camp.
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ALEXANDRA POPOFF is the author of 2010 award-winning SOPHIA TOLSTOY: A BIOGRAPHY.
She wrote for Russian national newspapers and magazines in Moscow and, as an Alfred Friendly Press Fellow, published articles in The Philadelphia Inquirer and its Sunday magazine. She also contributed to Huffington Post, The Boston Globe, and Publishers Weekly. Popoff lives in Canada where she obtained post-graduate d...more
More about Alexandra Popoff...
She wrote for Russian national newspapers and magazines in Moscow and, as an Alfred Friendly Press Fellow, published articles in The Philadelphia Inquirer and its Sunday magazine. She also contributed to Huffington Post, The Boston Globe, and Publishers Weekly. Popoff lives in Canada where she obtained post-graduate d...more
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