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Ray

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Стихотворения. Поэмы. "Евгений Онегин". Драматические произведения. Проза

by Alexander Pushkin

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Ray said: " I don't have this particular edition, but I adore Pushkin. Eugene Onegin is, of course, a masterpiece. But the other pieces in this collection are sometimes overlooked. A few words on some the pieces that I have read:

The Bronze Horseman is considered I don't have this particular edition, but I adore Pushkin. Eugene Onegin is, of course, a masterpiece. But the other pieces in this collection are sometimes overlooked. A few words on some the pieces that I have read:

The Bronze Horseman is considered the pinnacle of Pushkin's career in narrative poetry. And rightfully so. The scope of the Bronze Horseman bounces between national epic and a very personal exploration of the individual's struggle within society. As in Les Miserables, the struggle is told by focusing on a man from the bottom of society, Eugene, who finds himself in conflict with the city itself. His story is interwoven with the national story of Peter the Great attempting to forge a Western Capital for Russia by struggling with the elements. Add to the mix Pushkin's strong narrative voice, and we have very powerful poetry with three powerful perspectives. The descriptions of the River Neva, I might add, are some of the strongest imagery in all of Pushkin's poetry. I found myself wishing that this masterfully succinct poem was much longer.

Pushkin attempted to compose Boris Godunov as the Russian Macbeth. Whether he succeeded or not is arguable, but it is still a remarkable, ambiguous work. In my opinion, Pushkin is ultiamtely much more talented as a poet than as a dramatist, but somehow he managed to use that to his advantage in Boris Godunov. The Russian Blank Verse powerfully evokes the 16th Century Setting, and the characters have many memorable lines. Of particular interest to me is the False Dmitri. Pushkin portrays the pretender to the throne, not as a scheming villain, but as a chameleon who manages to blend into every situation. I read the False Dmitri as a brilliant meta-dramatic actor, playing each role with equal grace, possibly a metaphor for Pushkin the poet playing the part of the dramatist, but also a fascinating reconsideration of what it means to lead a historical movement.

The Little Tragedies (The Miserly Knight, Mozart and Salieri, The Stone Guest, and Feast in Time of a Plague) are, in their own right, each masterpieces. They are like bite sized Shakespeare tragedies, with soaring poetry and fascinating characters. My personal favorite is Mozart and Salieri. Both characters believe that art (especially music) is an absolute principle, both characterize themselves as priests of the beautiful. But while Mozart is content to serve music through his gift of composition- a natural and easy gift for Mozart- Salieri struggles to make himself one with art, devoting himself to it entirely and ignoring the needs of the body to qualify for inspiration. While Mozart speaks in flashes of wit, Salieri's monologues are painstakingly structured, every word carries weight. Because of Salieri's deliberation in speech, we enjoy not only the insight that Salieri is trying to make himself into a work of art (rather than just produce autonomous art) but we also have some of the most sublime poetry Pushkin ever produced. ...more "

Mar 12, 2013 09:56PM · see review

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“Belief isn't simply a thing for fair times and bright days...What is belief - what is faith - if you don't continue in it after failure?...Anyone can believe in someone, or something that always succeeds...But failure...ah, now, that is hard to believe in, certainly and truly. Difficult enough to have value. Sometimes we just have to wait long enough...then we find out why exactly it was that we kept believing...There's always another secret.”
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