Daily Life in Russia Under the Last Tsar by Henri Troyat (30-Jun-1962) Paperback

Daily Life

by Henri Troyat

This book is a vivid account of the life in Moscow, 'the most Russian of Russian cities, ' in the year 1903, a year before Russia's disastrous war with Japan and two years before the momentous Revolution of 1905.

Genres: History, Russia, Nonfiction, Russian History, 20th Century, 19th Century, Russian Literature

Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Troyat was a French author, biographer, historian and novelist.

Troyat was born Levon Aslan Torossian in Moscow to parents of Armenian descent. His family fled Russia in anticipation of the revolution. After a long exodus taking them to the Caucasus on to Crimea and later by sea to Constantinople and then Venice, the family finally settled in Paris in 1920, where young Troyat was schooled and later earned a law degree. The stirring and tragic events of this flight across half of Europe are vividly recounted by Troyat in 'Tant que la terre durera'.

Troyat received his first literary award, Le prix du roman populaire, at the age of twenty-four, and by twenty-seven, he was awarded the Prix Goncourt.

Troyat published more than 100 books, novels and biographies, among them those of Anton Chekhov, Catherine the Great, Rasputin, Ivan the Terrible and Leo Tolstoy.

Troyat's best-known work is La neige en deuil, which was adapted as an English-language film in 1956 under the title The Mountain.

He was elected as a member of the Académie française in 1959. At the time of his death, Troyat was the longest serving member of the Academy.

From Wikipedia

Reviews

[Noora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kirjassa kerrotaan mm. ortodoksisesta kirkosta, tsaarin hovista, ylhäisön ja työväen arkielämästä sekä muutenkin venäläisestä yhteiskunnasta ja kulttuurista viimeisen tsaarin valtakautena. Aihe on mielenkiintoinen, mutta kirja osoittautui odotettua pitkäveteisemmäksi. Päähenkilö on lähinnä tekosyy kirjalle, kerronta poukkoileee ja kirjailijaa kiinnostaa kummallisen paljon, mitä mikäkin asia maksoi Nikolai II aikaan.

[Phoebe · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The Kremlin wall, it’s battlements notched in the shape of swallows’ tails, enclosed a prodigious variety of scaly bulbs, gilded domes, pinnacles and turrets with collars of bright stonework…”

“…was it a church…or an avalanche of toys that had fallen upon the earth from the sky and lay there in disorder, brilliant with all the colours of childhood?”

Such DELICIOUS descriptions. Divinely sumptuous. Some passages were so yummy I wanted to chew them up and swallow them.

[Rono · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seikkaperäinen tietokirja, jota oli hätäisesti yritetty kietoa kaunokirjalliseen valeasuun. Päähenkilö jäi kuitenkin sivuhahmoksi byrokratian kiemuroiden ja moninaisten hintavertailujen rinnalla. Venäläisten arkea sivuttiin jonkin verran.

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent find in a second hand bookstore! Troyat presents daily life in Russia in 1903 through the lens of a fictitious English textile merchant's son visiting one of the father's business contacts in Moscow and getting to know the family and their society. Troyat covers all social backgrounds, describing the overcrowded living conditions of the working class and the opulence of visits to the opera and restaurants by the wealthy merchant class. There are vivid descriptions of festivals and folk traditions, especially Easter celebrations. An excellent resource for historians and perhaps especially for historical novelists interested in dramatizing the atmosphere of the times.

[Alex Rogers · Rating 1 out of 5]

Troyat spends a paragraph bringing the world to life with opulent descriptions, but then can’t resist just listing things off the top of his head for the rest of the page.
You can’t escape the fact he’s born in 1911 but writing about 1903 like he’s a native. He’s not. Totally fictional, absolutely random.

[Mary Fons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never been one of those chicks who gets nutty about Victorian England or Southern Reconstruction era or anything. Like, I don't have a "pet era" that makes my panties wet. Seems lame.

However, I do so love Russia under Tsar Nikolas. I love the samovars, the Chekhov, the finery of the wealthy elite. Sure, people were starving in the street. Who cares, when there's stuffed pig and opera!

The military chapters get dry, but this book is wonderful. The whole history is told through the eyes of a British visitor, so the scenes are presented with full wonder. I recommend this book to anyone with a soft spot for the Romanovs and all they represented.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly readable history of pre-revolutionary Russia. Probably not going to fit the bill if you need something a bit denser, but Troyat does a good job of blending history and fiction to form a work that seems semi-autobiographical. Although Troyat uses dialogue and characters to give it less of a strict history vibe, he doesn't skimp on the intrecacies of pre-revolutionary Russian society and manages to give an excellent overview.

[Brent Surkol · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very dry read in therms of story but good information wise. (I read the Dutch version. )

[Paloma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just read the parts I was interested in.