Understanding Russia: The Holy Fool In Russian Culture

by Ewa M. Thompson

Zrozumiec Rosje. Swiete szalenstwo w kulturze rosyjskiej

Genres: Nonfiction

229 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Polish-American Slavist at Rice University. She is the editor of The Sarmatian Review.

Reviews

[Rosalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subject matter is absolutely fascinating, but the analysis is marred by the author's obvious disapproval of holy fools and her distaste for Russia as a whole, its entire history, its literature, its culture, the Russian national character, etc. She doesn't even like its dissidents, as her discussion of Solzhenitsyn makes clear. I'm curious to find out whether any more recent (and less judgmental) scholar has covered the topic.

Update Feb. 20: And the answer is yes, there IS a more recent book on the topic--Holy Foolishness in Russia (thanks, Library of Congress subject headings). Wish it weren't so expensive.