Subject
VN Bibliography: Deep Background
Date
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EDITOR's NOTE.
Although many of us know a lot about Nabokov and his work, his Russian
cultural background is terra incognita to the Non-Slavists among us. I
have in hand two recent books that can fill in some of that background.
----------------------
Solomon Volkov ST. PETERSBURG. A CULTURAL HISTORY (NY: Free Press
Paperback (Simon & Shuster), 1997. This is for the "common reader" and
covers 250 years of literature, art, music and theater in St. Petersburg.
Chapter IV focuses on Balanchine, Stravinsky, and VN, but the whole is
good background.
John Glad, RUSSIA ABROAD. WRITERS, HISTORY, POLITICS (Tenafly, NJ &
Washington: Hermitage & Birchbark Press, 1999). Russia is unique in that
much of its literature has been written in exile. Glad has accomplished
the Herculean feat of synthesizing over a thousand years of Russian
expatriate cultural history in this volume. The historical survey essays,
the separate Chronology, and the detailed Index make this a treasure house
of information about Russian emigre culture. While the volume is most
useful for the speciasiss it providews much of interest about the
context of Nabokov's life in exile.
D. Barton Johnson<EDITOR
Although many of us know a lot about Nabokov and his work, his Russian
cultural background is terra incognita to the Non-Slavists among us. I
have in hand two recent books that can fill in some of that background.
----------------------
Solomon Volkov ST. PETERSBURG. A CULTURAL HISTORY (NY: Free Press
Paperback (Simon & Shuster), 1997. This is for the "common reader" and
covers 250 years of literature, art, music and theater in St. Petersburg.
Chapter IV focuses on Balanchine, Stravinsky, and VN, but the whole is
good background.
John Glad, RUSSIA ABROAD. WRITERS, HISTORY, POLITICS (Tenafly, NJ &
Washington: Hermitage & Birchbark Press, 1999). Russia is unique in that
much of its literature has been written in exile. Glad has accomplished
the Herculean feat of synthesizing over a thousand years of Russian
expatriate cultural history in this volume. The historical survey essays,
the separate Chronology, and the detailed Index make this a treasure house
of information about Russian emigre culture. While the volume is most
useful for the speciasiss it providews much of interest about the
context of Nabokov's life in exile.
D. Barton Johnson<EDITOR