Pushkin: A Biography

by T.J. Binyon

In the course of his short, dramatic life, Aleksandr Pushkin gave Russia not only its greatest poetry–including the novel-in-verse Eugene Onegin –but a new literary language. He also gave it a figure of enduring romantic allure–fiery, restless, extravagant, a prodigal gambler and inveterate seducer of women. Having forged a dazzling, controversial career that cost him the enmity of one tsar and won him the patronage of another, he died at the age of thirty-eight, following a duel with a French officer who was paying unscrupulous attention to his wife.
In his magnificent, prizewinning Pushkin , T. J. Binyon lifts the veil of the iconic poet’s myth to reveal the complexity and pathos of his life while brilliantly evoking Russia in all its nineteenth-century splendor. Combining exemplary scholarship with the pace and detail of a great novel, Pushkin elevates biography to a work of art.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Russia, Russian Literature, Classics, Biography Memoir

784 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Timothy John Binyon was an English scholar and crime writer. He was a distant relative of the poet, Laurence Binyon.

T.J. Binyon was born in Leeds, where his father was a university lecturer. When, aged 18, he was doing National Service, he was assigned to the Joint Services School for Linguists in Bodmin, Cornwall, to learn Russian. There, in 1954, the young soldiers, among them Alan Bennett, Michael Frayn and Dennis Potter, were trained to serve as translators and interpreters in the Cold War. It was there that Binyon's interest in Russian language and literature was kindled.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best biography I have ever read, totally absorbing. Pushkin was always falling in and out of love.

His most famous lyric:

I loved you: love still, perhaps,
Is not quite extinguished in my soul;
But let it no longer alarm you;
I do not want to distress you in any way.
I loved you silently, hopelessly,
Tortured now by shyness, now by jealousy;
I loved you so sincerely, so tenderly,
May God grant you be so loved by another.

Another of my favourites is quoted in the book:

What good is my name to you?
It will die, like the melancholy sound
Of a wave breaking on a distant shore,
Like night’s noises in the dense forest.
On the album page
It will leave a dead trace, like
The pattern of an epitaph on a tombstone
In an unknown language.
What good is it? Long forgotten
In new, stormy emotions,
It will not evoke in your soul
Peaceful, tender memories.
But... on a day of grief, in the silence
Pronounce it, pining;
Say: someone remembers me,
There is in the world a heart, in which I live...

There are plenty of drawers and albums in this world stuffed with old photos and memories, but I don’t think many people are preserved in living hearts and still completely adored as they once were, and as fresh and alive with all their dreams and innocence completely intact.

It’s easy to love someone in the present, in the current social circle, though it is usually doomed to disappointment as time passes and emotions change, but to remain true for decades and without hope is either lunacy or a great expression of commitment, and something to be very deeply cherished. Pushkin knew all about this sort of thing, and I would recommend this work to anyone at all interested in staying vitally alive.

It is usually counted a tragedy that Pushkin died in a stupid duel before he was forty, but I think it neatly rounds off his life. Why hang around for decades like Goethe until you become a positive bar to progress and there’s a general sigh of relief when you finally pop your cork?

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

How can you not love Pushkin? He's funny, impish, incredibly ugly but still a lady's man. Had kick-ass Wolverine sideburns that you can practically feel if you rub your hand over this book's cover portrait. And this isn't even considering the fact that he singlehandedly founded Russian literature and shaped its direction for the next 150+ years. Like Calvino's old writer, he seems to literally grow masterpieces, the way a vine grows melons.

Binyon's biography is focused, sometimes annoyingly, but it tells a very large story without losing any of the many strands. The last 50 or so pages, once D'Anthes arrives on the scene, is particularly well done. A good companion to one of the many other poetic studies of Pushkin, say Abram Tertz's "Strolling with Pushkin," John Baley's book-length study, or Osip Mandelstam's essay on Pushkin and Scriabin.

[Adina Pelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dostoevsky or Pushkin ? Who's Russia's literary messiah ?

[Geoff]

when looking at used copies of this book online, one of the descriptions of the condition was "may be shiny". what the hell?

[Marcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good book, but not for the casual reader with just a passing interest. It was well researched with lots information about people just barely connected to Pushkin.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a Life and Works or a critical biography, so not a good choice if you want to know details about Pushkin's work and its relation to the world in any detailed way, but an absorbing portrait of early nineteenth-century literary Russia as it circled around Pushkin. Pushkin himself was impulsive, extravagant, reckless, often self-destructive; he had a knack for saying and doing exactly the things that would make his life more difficult, and he was utterly unable to handle money (while at the same time expecting to live in a suitably aristocratic, luxurious way and feeling quite aggrieved at anything or anyone who interfered with that). Why anyone lent him money in his later years I can't imagine; the man was a hopeless money pit. The extended story of the conflict that led to his death in a duel is fascinating--all these sophisticated people acting in extravagant ways based on values that make no sense to anyone outside that circle of honour-obsessed insiders. That series of events would make a great movie.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very detailed biography of Russia's greatest poet. A good read for anyone interested in the colorful life of A.S. Pushkin.

[Джордан · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will attempt to offer an amateurish book review for the first time since secondary school. I rather enjoyed reading it from start to finish. I read it whilst visiting Chisinau, Kiev and Odessa. I'm happy to concede that the late T. J. Binyon's biography is almost a scholarly masterpiece that is worthy of critical acclaim. It's well written, well-researched and makes use of a wonderful range of resources. However, I would have liked for him to have focused more on the psychological aspects of Pushkin's character, which the author does to some extent as opposed to the tediousness of the state of his finances. I'm not a mathematician or a businessman and there were times that it felt as though I was reading a copy of the Wall Street Journal. Still, a wonderful achievement. T.J. Binyon will be sadly missed.

[Jane Fudger · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately I abandoned this book.I managed to read just over100 pages but then I lost interest. This was more a history of Russia rather then a biography of their most famous poet.
I have read many literary biographies of Russian writers/poets and although there is some historical background but in a more concise form. Binyon had included events and characters which had no or little relevance to his life and poetry. In fact so many nameswere included I lost track of who these people were
It was so frustrating that in the end I lost interest and so abandoned futher reading. The book is over 600 pages long for a man who died at the age of 38. It may have been a good biography if he had cut the book by 50%

[Riet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een heel interessante biografie van de dichter Pushkin. Het is een dikke pil met enorm veel informatie, soms wat teveel. Pushkin was net als zoveel tijdgenoten niet goed in het de tering naar de nering zetten. Een groot deel van het boek gaat dan ook over schulden en hoe ze ooit te kunnen betalen. (nooit dus). Ik had wel liever gehad dat de schrijver wat meer aandacht gegeven had aan het werk van Pushkin, dat komt er nu wat bekaaid vanaf. Daarentegen krijg je wel een heel goed beeld van het leven in Rusland in die tijd, vooral in Sint Petersburg en aan het hof. Een godswonder, dat de revolutie in Rusland niet eerder dan 1917 is uitgebroken! De analyse van de aanleiding tot en het duel zelf is heel minutieus en had voor mij toch wel wat verrassingen.

[Rocio Anahi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entre lectura y lectura de mi lista anual me he dejado llevar por la curiosidad respecto a su vida ante la forma en la que este autor maneja la poesía. Debo decir que las biografías no son un género que en particular aprecie mucho sin embargo la prosa de este libro es hermosa, te transporta a la época y te deja descubrir a un Pushkin creador, apasionado y de alguna forma rebelde .

[Κάλι Γαβριά · Rating 5 out of 5]

Μια ιδιαίτερη βιογραφία με πολύ ενδιαφέρον!

[Debbie Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

At least half of the material here should have been left out, with zero loss in the sense of who Pushkin was.

[Alex Stephenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A potentially fantastic biography that is somewhat crippled by pacing issues - chapter divisions that get progressively less frequent (the last chapter is about 100 pages alone) and a lack of focus on the actual literature in favor of analyzing the man's social capital.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detailed account of Pushkin's life and work by a distinguished Oxford academic.
A fascinating insight into Russia's celebrated poet and novelist, whose own life was as dramatic and eventful as that of the hero Eugene Onegin, a brooding young Romantic suffering from the common malaise of his generation, feeling restless, aloof and stifled by social constraints. Yet, as a product of the very society he despises, he is never truly free from its influence. After an argument between Onegin and his friend Lensky, tempers flare and wounded pride triumphs over common sense, resulting in the needless loss of a young life.
This aspect of the story is particularly poignant, foreshadowing the circumstances of Pushkin’s own death in 1837. When French officer Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d’Anthes tried to seduce the poet’s wife Natalia, Pushkin challenged him to a duel and was fatally wounded, his early death cutting short the brilliant career of one of Russia’s foremost literary talents.

[Eric Byrd]

Got as far as the Decemberist revolt. It may be that right now I'm simply not in the mood for the investigative hair splitting of literary biography - this week I started Savigneau's life of Yourcenar and chucked it after two chapters - but I also suspect that Binyon lacks a style. For another time.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched and interestingly written. Lots of details of Pushkin's life, sometimes a little too much. The author chose to focus on the poet's life only, so there is little evaluation of this literary giant as a creative artist.

[Bird · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pushkin: Not a Good Biography.

[Laurie]

terrific

[Gallagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pushkin was a fun guy until he got married. Noted. Five stars!