Una premessa che è stata variamente messa in discussione e che gli ha persino attirato la definizione di libro “kitsch”. Before moving to Birkbeck he was a University Lecturer in History and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. but I think it is important to note that Figes is not Russian, and is in fact British by both birth and choice. Serfliğin kaldırılması ve halka inilmesi gerekliliğinin öğrenciler tarafından benimsendiği bir dönemi anlatıyor bu bölüm. Dediğim gibi salt bilgi içerikli olmasından dolayı kitap hakkındaki düşüncelerimi bölümler halinde spoiler korkusu olmadan vermek istiyorum, bütününe yorum yapmak zor çünkü bölümden bölüme yazarın tutumunun değiştiğini fark ettim.

Every decision concerning how to portray an event or an historical figure is a political choice; every decision as to whom or what to include (or exclude) is equally political. Russian tradition, food, music, entertainment, literature and the elusive Russian Soul all follow the church calendar, its many feasts and fasts. But I've been a fan of Russian literature--especially the great novels of the 19th century, and of Russian music and particularly of the Russian ballet and its offshoots in the West. Their willingness to reconstruct the cultural forms of the day appealed to western readers and spectators. The roots of this can be seen in the ancient Golden Ring towns where the most beautiful churches and monasteries with amazing frescos and iconography date back to 10th and 11th century.Petro soylularına nerede yaşayacaklarını, evlerini nasıl inşa edeceklerini, şehir içinde nasıl dolaşacaklarını,kilisede nerede duracaklarını, ne kadar hizmetçilerinin olacağını, balolarda nasıl yemek yiyeceklerini, nasıl giyinip saçlarını nasıl kestireceklerini, sarayda kendilerini nasıl taşıyacaklarını ve kibar bir toplumda nasıl sohbet edeceklerini söyledi. For me this isn’t a problem, as they are not as famous of as great as some of the titans from the century before. Despite Russia's immense size and diversity it is this unique temperament that has held together a people scattered from Europe to Asia and enabled them to survive in the face of their own fearful history.

I'm tempted to say that this is a great book because like Russian art it has a soul, but that sounds presumptuous since I've not an expert on any Russian art and I've never been to Russia. tuhaf tarafı bu bölümde anlatılanların izlerini bir süredir tanıdığınız Rusların zihinlerinde de görebilirsiniz. Here Orlando Figes explores the meaning of Natasha's dance: the often contradictory impulses and shared sensibilities that have given rise to one of the world's most dazzling cultures. Expectedly, with each read I come out with a greater familiarity with the very complex formation of the Russian cultural body. He is the author of Peasant Russia, Civil War, A People's Tragedy, Natasha's Dance, The Whisperers and Just Send Me Word.I remember that scene from US television coverage: Stravinsky arriving at the airport and also at a performance of The Rite of Spring at the Marisky Theatre in what was then Leningrad. Governmental censorship made it difficult for critics to function: not only novels and poems but even opera librettos had to be cautiously phrased. The title of this masterly history comes from War and Peace, when the aristocratic heroine, Natasha Rostova, finds herself intuitively picking up the rhythm of a peasant dance . I found this a great, wide net for Russian culture--I read it before a trip to Russia, and despite Figes continuing to be controversial figure in Russian scholarship, no one ever questioned his thoroughness.

Authors or composers are not just presented in the manner birth-life-death, but interwoven in a specific time frame. Tsar Peter the Great opened the window to the West flooding Russia with European ideas, architecture, music, art and European languages. The book tells us about the complex interaction between these two cultures and the influence this interaction has had on the national consciousness and the arts.

I was a subscriber to the local opera company for a 20 year period during which they staged at least one Russian work per year.

If you want an introduction to what is unarguably one of the most contradictory, confusing, yet fascinating cultures the world over then Natasha’s Dance by Orlando Figes is a wonderful place to start. His excavations are more energetic when he deals with the lasting impact of Muscovy's conquest by the Mongols in the mid-13th century. Yazar burada karakterin farklı öğretilerle büyütülmüş olmasına rağmen içindeki Rus ruhunu her daim korumasından etkilenerek bu tarih kitabına bu ismi vermiş.The dramatist Chekhov, the composer Stravinsky and the poet Blok earned global fame, and it appeared that every generation of Russian intellectuals would set an agenda for cultural creativity in Europe and elsewhere.