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Памяти детства
For years Lydia Chukovskaya's support for persecuted writers cut her off from her own audience. Even her name was banned in the USSR, and she was expelled from the Union of Writers in 1974. Though unable to publish at home and cut off from contacts with readers and editors, Chukovskaya continued to write. To the Memory of Childhood, her loving chronicle of growing up beside the Gulf of Finland with her father, the writer Kornei Chukovsky, reveals the sources of her strength and her belief in the power of the written word.
Her father is a household name in Russia because of his tales in verse for children. But his literary accomplishments ranged far beyond bedtime stories. As a critic he wrote controversial articles and lively profiles of cultural figures; as a translator he introduced Whitman, Twain, Kipling, and Wilde to Russian readers. When his children's literature was attacked in the 1920s and 1930s, he turned to editing, scholarship, and articles on translation. A man of boundless energy, he played a vital role in his country's cultural life until his death in 1969. "I am not writing Kornei Ivanovich's biography," Chukovskaya says, "but he was the author of my childhood."
Her father is a household name in Russia because of his tales in verse for children. But his literary accomplishments ranged far beyond bedtime stories. As a critic he wrote controversial articles and lively profiles of cultural figures; as a translator he introduced Whitman, Twain, Kipling, and Wilde to Russian readers. When his children's literature was attacked in the 1920s and 1930s, he turned to editing, scholarship, and articles on translation. A man of boundless energy, he played a vital role in his country's cultural life until his death in 1969. "I am not writing Kornei Ivanovich's biography," Chukovskaya says, "but he was the author of my childhood."
246 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1988
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About the author
Lydia Chukovskaya
28 books44 followersLydia Chukovskaya wrote 'Sofia Petrovna', a harrowing story about life during the Great Purges. But it was a while before this story would achieve widespread recognition. Out of favour with the authorities, yet principled and uncompromising, Chukovskaya was unable to hold down any kind of steady employment. But gradually, she started to get published again: an introduction to the works of Taras Shevchenko, another one for the diaries of Miklouho-Maclay.
By the time of Stalin's death in 1953, Chukovskaya had become a respected figure within the literary establishment, as one of the editors of the cultural monthly 'Literaturnaya Moskva'. During the late 1950s, 'Sofia Petrovna' finally made its way through Russia's literary circles, in manuscript form through samizdat. Khrushchev's Thaw set in, and the book was about to be published in 1963, but was stopped at the last moment for containing "ideological distortions". Indomitable as ever, Chukovskaya sued the publisher for full royalties and won. The book was eventually published in Paris in 1965, but without the author's permission and under the somewhat inaccurate title 'The Deserted House'. There were also some unauthorized alterations to the text. The following year, a New York publisher published it again, this time with the original title and text fully restored.
By the time of Stalin's death in 1953, Chukovskaya had become a respected figure within the literary establishment, as one of the editors of the cultural monthly 'Literaturnaya Moskva'. During the late 1950s, 'Sofia Petrovna' finally made its way through Russia's literary circles, in manuscript form through samizdat. Khrushchev's Thaw set in, and the book was about to be published in 1963, but was stopped at the last moment for containing "ideological distortions". Indomitable as ever, Chukovskaya sued the publisher for full royalties and won. The book was eventually published in Paris in 1965, but without the author's permission and under the somewhat inaccurate title 'The Deserted House'. There were also some unauthorized alterations to the text. The following year, a New York publisher published it again, this time with the original title and text fully restored.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 14, 2020
This is a wonderful, emotional, lyrical, and significant book about being the daughter of Kornei Chukovsky, probably the premier children's author in Russian. He grew up the son of an unmarried woman in Odessa and made his way as a literary critic, poet, and philosopher before writing what he's best known for, his children's books. He did a great deal, suffered during the purges of the 30s, had personal tragedies when one of his children was killed during World War II and the other died of tuberculosis, and still he found joy in children, in life, literature, and nature.
This book, as the author notes, doesn't cover his biography. It is a recalling of what it was like to have Kornei Chukovsky as a dad when the family lived in Kuokkala, Finland (now Russia) in the 1910s. A beautiful, important read that left me thinking about more questions than answers.
This book, as the author notes, doesn't cover his biography. It is a recalling of what it was like to have Kornei Chukovsky as a dad when the family lived in Kuokkala, Finland (now Russia) in the 1910s. A beautiful, important read that left me thinking about more questions than answers.
December 4, 2011
Lydia Chukovskaya had the most enviable childhood--she was the daughter of the great literary critic Kornei Chukovsky, a central figure of the Silver Age circle of poets and writers in Russia--in pre- and post- revolutionary Russia. Kornei Chukovsky was probably the central "pin" of the literary scene at the time of the revolution. It was he who staged the great slam poetry evening of all time, between Mayakovsky and Akhmatova, during the revolutiona... friend to Blok and Mandelstam, Akhmatova, but also the Futurists... he was saved from sharing their fate by exactly the talents illustrated by his daughter in this book about her childhood.
Meaning--he loved children. Wildly engaged, fun, inventive, the parent we all wished we had--spontaneously making up verse for them, stories, games and entertainments, a vigorous, tall, deft active man who was also friends with the great artists of his age. Kornei Chukovsky became--in his second, Soviet, life--a famed writer of children's verse, almost the Dr. Seuss of his era. It saved his life, when you think of the tragedy that befell his generation of the Russian intelligentsia.
Lydia Chukovskaya is best known as the woman who would visit Anna Akhmatova in the years she was virtually under house arrest, and memorize her new poems, as nothing could be written down, it was too dangerous. Chukovskaya was the living book--a la Farenheit 451--that saved Akhmatova's poetry for the world. Her memory is prodigious, and serves memoir beautifully. Really enjoying this.
Meaning--he loved children. Wildly engaged, fun, inventive, the parent we all wished we had--spontaneously making up verse for them, stories, games and entertainments, a vigorous, tall, deft active man who was also friends with the great artists of his age. Kornei Chukovsky became--in his second, Soviet, life--a famed writer of children's verse, almost the Dr. Seuss of his era. It saved his life, when you think of the tragedy that befell his generation of the Russian intelligentsia.
Lydia Chukovskaya is best known as the woman who would visit Anna Akhmatova in the years she was virtually under house arrest, and memorize her new poems, as nothing could be written down, it was too dangerous. Chukovskaya was the living book--a la Farenheit 451--that saved Akhmatova's poetry for the world. Her memory is prodigious, and serves memoir beautifully. Really enjoying this.
November 5, 2021
Книга Лидии Чуковской о своём детстве и об отце. Пропитана любовью насквозь. Показывает Корнея как человека, любящего детей. Но и как большого невротика, помешанного на работе и доказательстве себеЯ, что он имеет право, через труд. И только труд мог повлиять на его отношению к ребенку. Также он фанатично старался помочь, если к нему обращались с просьбой.
Жили они в Куокколе под СПб, рядом была дача Репина. Собственно, сейчас станция и назыавется Репино. В доме часто были великие поэты и деятели искусства того времени. Маяковский, Гумилев, Репин и другие
И да, если вы не знали, то Чуковский - это не только автор Крокодила, а еще и серьезный литературный критик и переводчик.
У него было четверо детей и до смерти отца дожила только Лидия.
С удивлением для себя обнаружил (не из книги), что Лидия - это жена Бронштейна - автора книги Солнечное вещество
Расстреляли в 38м в возрасте около 33х лет. Корней писал обращения Сталину, но ответа так и не было…
Жили они в Куокколе под СПб, рядом была дача Репина. Собственно, сейчас станция и назыавется Репино. В доме часто были великие поэты и деятели искусства того времени. Маяковский, Гумилев, Репин и другие
И да, если вы не знали, то Чуковский - это не только автор Крокодила, а еще и серьезный литературный критик и переводчик.
У него было четверо детей и до смерти отца дожила только Лидия.
С удивлением для себя обнаружил (не из книги), что Лидия - это жена Бронштейна - автора книги Солнечное вещество
Расстреляли в 38м в возрасте около 33х лет. Корней писал обращения Сталину, но ответа так и не было…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2022
Ставлю 5 звёзд, потому что нельзя поставить 10. Так вовремя меня нашла эта книга, глоток свежего воздуха, ещё более тесное знакомство с такой Великой фигурой - Чуковским! И неповторимый, профессионально-глубокиц и нежный стиль Чуковской. Великолепное произведение.
January 7, 2023
cute and it seems 2 be significant but idk russian history like that
July 22, 2020
Очень нежные воспоминания об отце. О большом взрослом ребенке, которому были нужны дети, их гомон, игры, беготня. Об очень увлекающемся человеке, о великолепном чтеце, друге, поэте.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews