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تبعیدیان سودایی
در دهه ی1840،در روسیه،که سالهای میانی حکومت خفتان آور نیکالای اول را از سر می گذراند،نسلی پرورش یافت که از آرمان های پرشور و رمانتیک ها برای انقلاب و اصلاح الهام می گرفت.در این سالهافاروپای غربی،برخلاف روسیه،مرکز شورش ها و انقلاب ها بود و این نسل از جوانان روسی به اروپای غربی به چشم کعبه ی آمالشان نگاه می کردند.پس هم برای گریز از خفتان روسیه،هم برای زیارت آن کعبه،وهم برای پراکندن اندیشه های انقلابی خود از محیطی مساعد رو به سوی این کعبه می کردند.همین گروه است که ئی.ایچ.کار آنان را تبعیدیان سودایی لقب داده است ودراین کتاب به شرح ماجراهای زندگی خصوصی و اجتماعی آنان پرداخته است.الکساندر هرتسن در این کتاب مرکز صحنه را اشغال کرده است،اما در جوار او به چهره های مهم دیگری هم چون باکونین،آکاریوف و نچایف پرداخته می شود.زندگی همه ی این افراد پرتب و تاب بوده است،و چنان پرتب و تاب،که اگرچه کتاب صرفا با اتکا به اسناد و به صورت مستند و زندگینامه ای نوشته شده است،دست کمی از هیچ یک از رمان های حماسی و پرشور قرن نوزدهمی خود نویسندگان بزرگ روسیه ندارد
414 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1949
10 people are currently reading
333 people want to read
About the author
Edward Hallett Carr
152 books233 followersEdward Hallett Carr was a liberal realist and later left-wing British historian, journalist and international relations theorist, and an opponent of empiricism within historiography.
Carr was best known for his 14-volume history of the Soviet Union, in which he provided an account of Soviet history from 1917 to 1929, for his writings on international relations, and for his book What Is History?, in which he laid out historiographical principles rejecting traditional historical methods and practices.
Educated at Cambridge, Carr began his career as a diplomat in 1916. Becoming increasingly preoccupied with the study of international relations and of the Soviet Union, he resigned from the Foreign Office in 1936 to begin an academic career. From 1941 to 1946, Carr worked as an assistant editor at The Times, where he was noted for his leaders (editorials) urging a socialist system and an Anglo-Soviet alliance as the basis of a post-war order. Afterwards, Carr worked on a massive 14-volume work on Soviet history entitled A History of Soviet Russia, a project that he was still engaged in at the time of his death in 1982. In 1961, he delivered the G. M. Trevelyan lectures at the University of Cambridge that became the basis of his book, What is History?. Moving increasingly towards the left throughout his career, Carr saw his role as the theorist who would work out the basis of a new international order.
Carr was best known for his 14-volume history of the Soviet Union, in which he provided an account of Soviet history from 1917 to 1929, for his writings on international relations, and for his book What Is History?, in which he laid out historiographical principles rejecting traditional historical methods and practices.
Educated at Cambridge, Carr began his career as a diplomat in 1916. Becoming increasingly preoccupied with the study of international relations and of the Soviet Union, he resigned from the Foreign Office in 1936 to begin an academic career. From 1941 to 1946, Carr worked as an assistant editor at The Times, where he was noted for his leaders (editorials) urging a socialist system and an Anglo-Soviet alliance as the basis of a post-war order. Afterwards, Carr worked on a massive 14-volume work on Soviet history entitled A History of Soviet Russia, a project that he was still engaged in at the time of his death in 1982. In 1961, he delivered the G. M. Trevelyan lectures at the University of Cambridge that became the basis of his book, What is History?. Moving increasingly towards the left throughout his career, Carr saw his role as the theorist who would work out the basis of a new international order.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 23, 2010
This was an excellent book. Tom Stoppard mentioned that this was one of his main sources for his Coast of Utopia trilogy of plays. After my second read through the trilogy, I decided that it might be worth while to learn a little more about the historical figures at the center of those plays. The book turned out to be just as enjoyable if not more so than Stoppard's work.
This book was written in the 1930's by a former British diplomat who later became well known as a Sovietologist. I was pleased to find that the text lacked a purely pedantic style, and instead read as fairly fast paced, intimate look at the personal lives of a group of Romantic Radical Revolutionists during the mid 1800's. The lives of these very real people were more intertwined than a Tolstoy novel. Among historical figures mentioned in this book are Marx, Wagner, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Herzen, Bakunin, and even James Buchanan. Moreover, the personal escapades of a number of the main players rival those portrayed on modern soap operas. Love quadrangles, delusions of grandeur, class anxiety... its all here.
The most striking aspect to me was here was a group of very intelligent people, who spent most of their adult lives arguing passionately about the nature of man, and the best way to structure society so that man could be free, yet they seemed completely to lose touch with reality. Perhaps I'm judging from my standpoint in the 21st century, but it sure seems to me that their gradiose schemes of utopia should have been easily recognized as being bound for failure. I'm also struck with the complete lack of humility that many of these players had, and their readiness to completely throw away the old order without having a clear idea of what was next to come.
Anyway, a very good book, and I recommend it and the Stoppard trilogy highly.
This book was written in the 1930's by a former British diplomat who later became well known as a Sovietologist. I was pleased to find that the text lacked a purely pedantic style, and instead read as fairly fast paced, intimate look at the personal lives of a group of Romantic Radical Revolutionists during the mid 1800's. The lives of these very real people were more intertwined than a Tolstoy novel. Among historical figures mentioned in this book are Marx, Wagner, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Herzen, Bakunin, and even James Buchanan. Moreover, the personal escapades of a number of the main players rival those portrayed on modern soap operas. Love quadrangles, delusions of grandeur, class anxiety... its all here.
The most striking aspect to me was here was a group of very intelligent people, who spent most of their adult lives arguing passionately about the nature of man, and the best way to structure society so that man could be free, yet they seemed completely to lose touch with reality. Perhaps I'm judging from my standpoint in the 21st century, but it sure seems to me that their gradiose schemes of utopia should have been easily recognized as being bound for failure. I'm also struck with the complete lack of humility that many of these players had, and their readiness to completely throw away the old order without having a clear idea of what was next to come.
Anyway, a very good book, and I recommend it and the Stoppard trilogy highly.
September 5, 2023
Russian romantic revolutionaries (Herzen, Ogarev, Bakunin) try to live their ideals. Actual loves clash with an ideal of universal love.
August 23, 2021
قصهی پرشور و حرارت قوم رمانتیک روسی که سالها رویای جنگ و انقلاب و فروپاشی امپراتوریهای اروپا رو داشتن و آخر هم انقلاب درست و درمونی رو به چشم ندیدن. نویسنده با بی اعتنایی و خونسردی و طنز ظریف این قصه رو تعریف میکنه که احتمالن خیلی متفاوت با لحن برلین تو متفکران روس باشه. با تمام اینها خوندنی و دلچسب بود و نور خوبی روی اروپای قرن ۱۹ مینداخت و فضا رو آماده میکرد واسه رفتن سراغ مارکس و بعد انقلاب اکتبر.
February 14, 2021
1840'ların Rus devrimcilerinin kişisel yolculuklarını bir tarihçinin romanından okumak olağanüstü. Carr'ın kitabın sonunda dediği gibi Marx'tan sonra romantik devrimcilerin yerini işçi sınıfı alacak. Eagleton, Coetzee gibi düşünürlerin de Rus devrimcilerinin olduğu romanlarını okumak istiyorum.
September 3, 2011
Read this on a friend's recommendation and enjoyed it very much. It gives very human portraits of many of the leading Russian 19th century exiles, chiefly Herzen, Bakunin and Ogarev. And wow, did these guys (and their wives, and friends, and friends' wives, and children) have messy, tangled love lives.
I had two issues with the book. First, although it focuses on Herzen, it really doesn't give you much background about his work. It seems to be written for an audience that already knows his writings. Unfamiliar readers might be left wondering what this guy did that was such a big deal, anyway. Second, Carr assigns "fault" in the many extramarital affairs he chronicles. In every case, the fault is with the woman. This book was written in 1933; I can't imagine an author today reaching quite the same conclusions - or sharing them.
In any case, a great read for any old Russia hand and a useful reminder that, even before facebook, romance- "it's complicated".
I had two issues with the book. First, although it focuses on Herzen, it really doesn't give you much background about his work. It seems to be written for an audience that already knows his writings. Unfamiliar readers might be left wondering what this guy did that was such a big deal, anyway. Second, Carr assigns "fault" in the many extramarital affairs he chronicles. In every case, the fault is with the woman. This book was written in 1933; I can't imagine an author today reaching quite the same conclusions - or sharing them.
In any case, a great read for any old Russia hand and a useful reminder that, even before facebook, romance- "it's complicated".
July 10, 2007
I started reading Carr's portrait of Alexander Herzen as background for Tom Stoppard's trilogy Coast of Utopia. Herzen is one of those astonishing 19th century intellectuals who created a whole new world for themselves — in Herzen's case, he established himself as the archetypal Russian exile, an expatriate champion of freedom, a brilliant writer (see his memoir My Past and Thoughts) and also something of a erotic idiot. His first wife wounded him forever by having an affair with a second-rate German poet virtually in front of him; after she died he almost destroyed his best friend by having an affair with his wife. Carr's book, first published in 1933, recreates the texture of his life and ideas.
July 13, 2012
This is a fascinating book about how political thinkers in nineteenth century Russia tried to live out their ideals in their personal lives, and failed.
November 24, 2019
harika bir kitap. roman gibi akıyor ama roman değil, hayatı roman tadında yaşayan romantiklerin gerçek öyküleri.
herzen diye bir zatı muhteremin (bkz: aleksandr herzen) ailesi ve çevresi etrafındaki hikayeleri anlatmış bize iki gözüm carr. kendisi biliyorsunuz büyük bir tarihçidir. dostoyevski biyografisi de enfesti, doyamamıştım. bu herzen, zengin bir rus ve ilerici, devrimci bir adam. bir şekilde avrupaya kaçmak zorunda kalıyor ve ömrü orada nihayete eriyor. hem çıkardığı çan dergisiyle hem de yakın çevresine doluşan, bir kısmını maddi manevi himaye ettiği o çağın devrimci tipleriyle, bize mükemmel bir 19. yy romantik dönem panoraması sunuyor.
kitabın adı zaten romantizmin altını çiziyor. bize magazinel yanlarıyla ballı şerbetli gelen o üçlü aşk ilişkileri falan feşmekan, temelinde devrimci romantizm düşüncelerinin olduğu, ya da en azından romantik ideolojiyle izah edilen şeyler. geçmişin köhne değerlerini yıkıp yerine hakiki sevgiyi, doğruyu koyacağız falan deyince eh böyle aldatmalar, itiraflar, kabulleniş ve reddedişler de ortaya çıkıyor.
evliliğin sahiplenici bencilliğini kırmak için ne uğraşlar veriyor bu tontişler ama insan doğasını değiştirmek kolay mı? hadi özcülük yapmayalım, doğası demeyelim de alışkanlıkları, görenekleri diyelim.
neyse, bence ilginç ve hadi şaşırtıcı diyelim, başka bir nokta da bu ciddi fikir adamlarının zihinsel temellerinde george sand gibi romantik edebiyatçıların ne büyük payları olduğunu görmek oldu. flaubert reisin madam bovary'si gibi aşk öykülerini okuyarak kezbanize olan, manyak, histerik kadıncağızlar. o çağın aydın kadınlarında böylesi sık histerik tiplerin çıkması tabii ki tesadüf değil. aile değerleriyle devrimci açılımların çatışması kadınları daha çok arafta bırakmıştı mutlaka. üstelik ilericilik adına kendi mizaç ve eğilimlerini başkalarıyla değiş tokuş etmek için kendilerine ne işkenceler yaptılar, uçlardan uçlara ne çok savruldu garipler. hem erkek gibi olmaya çalışıp hem de erkekler tarafından sahnenin gerisinde bırakıldılar. büyük bir kazık.
neyse, herzen fena adam değil, kahır çekmiş ömrünce. bakunin falan gibi devrimciler ise evden içeri sokulmayacak kımıl zararlıları. şebelek tipler.
herzen diye bir zatı muhteremin (bkz: aleksandr herzen) ailesi ve çevresi etrafındaki hikayeleri anlatmış bize iki gözüm carr. kendisi biliyorsunuz büyük bir tarihçidir. dostoyevski biyografisi de enfesti, doyamamıştım. bu herzen, zengin bir rus ve ilerici, devrimci bir adam. bir şekilde avrupaya kaçmak zorunda kalıyor ve ömrü orada nihayete eriyor. hem çıkardığı çan dergisiyle hem de yakın çevresine doluşan, bir kısmını maddi manevi himaye ettiği o çağın devrimci tipleriyle, bize mükemmel bir 19. yy romantik dönem panoraması sunuyor.
kitabın adı zaten romantizmin altını çiziyor. bize magazinel yanlarıyla ballı şerbetli gelen o üçlü aşk ilişkileri falan feşmekan, temelinde devrimci romantizm düşüncelerinin olduğu, ya da en azından romantik ideolojiyle izah edilen şeyler. geçmişin köhne değerlerini yıkıp yerine hakiki sevgiyi, doğruyu koyacağız falan deyince eh böyle aldatmalar, itiraflar, kabulleniş ve reddedişler de ortaya çıkıyor.
evliliğin sahiplenici bencilliğini kırmak için ne uğraşlar veriyor bu tontişler ama insan doğasını değiştirmek kolay mı? hadi özcülük yapmayalım, doğası demeyelim de alışkanlıkları, görenekleri diyelim.
neyse, bence ilginç ve hadi şaşırtıcı diyelim, başka bir nokta da bu ciddi fikir adamlarının zihinsel temellerinde george sand gibi romantik edebiyatçıların ne büyük payları olduğunu görmek oldu. flaubert reisin madam bovary'si gibi aşk öykülerini okuyarak kezbanize olan, manyak, histerik kadıncağızlar. o çağın aydın kadınlarında böylesi sık histerik tiplerin çıkması tabii ki tesadüf değil. aile değerleriyle devrimci açılımların çatışması kadınları daha çok arafta bırakmıştı mutlaka. üstelik ilericilik adına kendi mizaç ve eğilimlerini başkalarıyla değiş tokuş etmek için kendilerine ne işkenceler yaptılar, uçlardan uçlara ne çok savruldu garipler. hem erkek gibi olmaya çalışıp hem de erkekler tarafından sahnenin gerisinde bırakıldılar. büyük bir kazık.
neyse, herzen fena adam değil, kahır çekmiş ömrünce. bakunin falan gibi devrimciler ise evden içeri sokulmayacak kımıl zararlıları. şebelek tipler.
October 6, 2017
کتاب روایت تاریخی پرکشش و مفصلی است از سرگذشت نسلی از چهرههای مهم و انقلابی رومانتیک روسی در قرن نوزدهم که با آمال و سوداهای فراوان چشم به تغییرات بنیادین در جامعه استبدادزده و فروخفته حکومت نیکالای اول و دوم دارند. ای. ایچ. کار، مورخ سرشناس انگلیسی، به روال معمولی که در زندگینامه داستایفسکی (جدال شک و ایمان) هم دنبال کرده بود، بطور مفصل و مستند و جزئی روی تکتک شخصیتها دست میگذارد و برشهایی از زندگیهایشان را که در خلال این سالها دستخوش حوادثی بوده بهدقت بررسی میکند - یا بهتر بگویم، این «گالری چهرهها» را به نظاره مینشیند. نامهها و مکاتبات بجامانده یکی از ابزار معمول و همیشگی کار برای روایتش هستند و جز آنها سیر بازگویی وقایع کتاب باعث شده بیشتر از اینکه با یک نثر تاریخی خشک و آکادمیک سروکار داشته باشیم، به تأسی از شخصیتهای پرشور و حرارت غائلههای این روایت، کتابی بخوانیم که دستکمی از رمانهای تاریخی نویسندگان بزرگ روس ندارد. هرکس که به جنبش رومانتیسم و شاخههایش در روسیه قرن نوزدهم علاقه داشته باشد، نسلی از سوداییان روس که به ناچار جلای وطن کردهاند و در تبوتاب خیزشی عظیم انتظار مدینهی رویاهایشان را میکشند و اصلا مرام و مسلک رومانتیکها برایش جذاب باشد (این نسل یکی از آخرین نسلهایشان بودهاند) تبعیدیان سودایی برای اوست... با روایت ای. ایچ. کار از زندگیهای پرفرازونشیب هرتسن، آگاریوف، باکونین، نچایف و تکتک اعضای خانواده و آشنایای نزدیک و هرکسی که به نحوی در این ماجراها سهمی داشته، میشود سالهای پرحادثه و مهمی از قرن نوزدهم را از نزدیک دید.
March 12, 2020
The Romantic Exiles centers on the life of the 19th century Russian writer Alexander Herzen and the circle that revolved around him, including his life-long friend Nicholas Ogarev, the revolutionary Mikhail Bakunin, and various spouses, lovers, children and friends.
Herzen believed in change in Russia; he had twice been exiled by Nicholas I and was part of the emerging intelligentsia that wanted an end to oppression and the adoption of European norms of freedom. Herzen's great strength was as a writer. His memoirs, My Past and Thoughts, are still worth reading 150 years after their publication.
But Herzen was at heart a constitutional democrat, and by the 1860s, Herzen's brand of reformist politics had been superseded by the so-called Nihilists, who sought violent overthrow in Russia, and dismissed Herzen as timid and ineffectual. It was the heirs of the Nihilists who eventually brought an end to Tsarism through the revolts of 1905 and 1917.
The Romantic Exiles was published in 1933, when Haller could still talk to the descendants of the people he was writing about, and when the struggles of the 19th century were nearer and seemed more important. Hallet is mostly sympathetic to his subjects, although not above the occasional jibe at their complex domestic arrangements. This is a valuable contribution to the literature regarding Russia in the 19th century.
Herzen believed in change in Russia; he had twice been exiled by Nicholas I and was part of the emerging intelligentsia that wanted an end to oppression and the adoption of European norms of freedom. Herzen's great strength was as a writer. His memoirs, My Past and Thoughts, are still worth reading 150 years after their publication.
But Herzen was at heart a constitutional democrat, and by the 1860s, Herzen's brand of reformist politics had been superseded by the so-called Nihilists, who sought violent overthrow in Russia, and dismissed Herzen as timid and ineffectual. It was the heirs of the Nihilists who eventually brought an end to Tsarism through the revolts of 1905 and 1917.
The Romantic Exiles was published in 1933, when Haller could still talk to the descendants of the people he was writing about, and when the struggles of the 19th century were nearer and seemed more important. Hallet is mostly sympathetic to his subjects, although not above the occasional jibe at their complex domestic arrangements. This is a valuable contribution to the literature regarding Russia in the 19th century.
November 13, 2023
Can you still take revolutionaries seriously if you get to know their intimate private life? There's no general answer, other than „It depends“. Well, at least for the ones that this book focuses on, the answer's probably no: Aleksandr Herzen remains an aristocrat, mostly, Mikhail Bakunin is the super-radical type who's always turning a little coward when revolutionary activities really come near him and who's recklessly exploiting everyone financially, Georg Herwegh is a jealous piece of sausage. The fourth one dealt with here is probably the one that get's the most sympathy, albeit a sympathy often based on pity: Nikolay Ogarev is an epileptic and alcoholic, slowly fading away when ageing; but he seems to humbly bear and get along with his social decline and he seems to treat his lower-class wife Mary Sutherland decently. The starkest contrast with Ogarev is the schemer and murderer Netchayev.
What all of those revolutionaries have in common, according to Carr, is their romanticism. That's what distinguished them from the rationalist and materialist Karl Marx. An interesting point, elaborated on in an interesting book.
What all of those revolutionaries have in common, according to Carr, is their romanticism. That's what distinguished them from the rationalist and materialist Karl Marx. An interesting point, elaborated on in an interesting book.
April 4, 2018
In this book, Carr proves to be a master in the form of historical narrative. His unique perspective today has a value for historians. A masterpiece of romanticism and the social typology of the romantic individual.
There are three different historical strata about Herzen's life: personal, political and ideological. Personal life is conveyed in a detailed, psychologically fluid narrative that reflects the psychoanalytic tendencies of the 1920s and 1930s. There is also a comprehensive explanation of the most scandalous tragedies of the Herzen family. The reader is constantly empathizing with these romantic liberals, who are oppressed by the tides of political and social turmoil.
Carr's priorities for the elite can easily be criticized. It can also be concluded that a Marxist historian neglected the "influence of the proletariat". It is another matter that Carr stresses Herzen's personal significance in shaping the course of the 19th-century Russian-European history.
Yet none of these criticisms diminish the importance of the book.
Highly recommended.
There are three different historical strata about Herzen's life: personal, political and ideological. Personal life is conveyed in a detailed, psychologically fluid narrative that reflects the psychoanalytic tendencies of the 1920s and 1930s. There is also a comprehensive explanation of the most scandalous tragedies of the Herzen family. The reader is constantly empathizing with these romantic liberals, who are oppressed by the tides of political and social turmoil.
Carr's priorities for the elite can easily be criticized. It can also be concluded that a Marxist historian neglected the "influence of the proletariat". It is another matter that Carr stresses Herzen's personal significance in shaping the course of the 19th-century Russian-European history.
Yet none of these criticisms diminish the importance of the book.
Highly recommended.
December 5, 2024
En sevdiğim yazarlardan biri olmasından yine sonuna kadar mutluluk duyduğum bir eser oldu... Herzen ve çevresindeki devrimcilerin hayatını çok iyi anlatan bir eser. Son kısımın yıkıcılığı ve ardından gelen son söz ile yüzümde bıraktığı minik mutluluk...
Son sözden ufak bir alıntı:
"Darwin'in biyoloji alanında tanımladığı kaçınılmaz düzen unsurunu siyasi evrim kuramına dahil etmişti. Darwin'le Marx'ın kuramları, insan doğasını ve mutluluğunu bilimsel ilkelerin işleyişine
bağlamaları dolayısıyla, duygusuzlukta rahatça birbirleriyle yarışırdı, ancak bu iki kuram Viktorya çağındaki bilimin belki de en önemli ve en etkili iki ürünüydü."
Son sözden ufak bir alıntı:
"Darwin'in biyoloji alanında tanımladığı kaçınılmaz düzen unsurunu siyasi evrim kuramına dahil etmişti. Darwin'le Marx'ın kuramları, insan doğasını ve mutluluğunu bilimsel ilkelerin işleyişine
bağlamaları dolayısıyla, duygusuzlukta rahatça birbirleriyle yarışırdı, ancak bu iki kuram Viktorya çağındaki bilimin belki de en önemli ve en etkili iki ürünüydü."
September 30, 2021
Una travesía biográfica que entrecruza tres figuras centrales (Herzen, Ogarev y Bakunin) y otras cuantas asociadas a estas. Un libro juiciosamente documentado en el que el exilio de estos rusos se convierte en símbolo y acción romántica, pues los caminos por los que se tejen las vidas de estos héroes trágicos es el amor, la revolución, el sueño y la lucha.
April 18, 2022
Ozellikle Herzen'e odaklanmis olsa da 1800lerin ortasinda Avrupa kitasinin bir kosesinden digerine savrulmus, Ogaryov'dan Bakunin'e cok degisik karakterleri konu eden, o zamanin hizla degisen ortamini da detaylandiran, nerdeyse roman havasinda yazilmis bir tarih kitabi. Karakterler arasindaki karmasik iliskilerden romantizmin detaylarina kadar bircok ilgi cekici yani var, ve zevkle okunmakta.
January 7, 2025
Hay viejos libros, tan extraordinariamente buenos, que no pueden sino recordarte, lo tan malos y supervacáneos que pueden llegar a ser, los libros nuevos.
September 21, 2013
The subtitle that dubs this book "A Nineteenth Century Portrait Gallery" is quite accurate. Not only is it a picture of certain revolutionary-minded Russian exiles who published newspapers and pamphlets while wandering through Europe, it is also a portrait of their distinct style of personal and political Romanticism. I had not previously realized how much European Romanticism was intrinsically a political influence; unlike the nature-loving, fairly apolitical Romanticism of the English-speaking world.
The Russians in this book (which centers around Alexander Herzen and his immediate circle) conducted their romantic and sexual lives in accordance with the principles espoused by George Sand, and boy did it cause them a lot of grief.
The personal and anecdotal style of the book made me feel almost as if i was guiltily eavesdropping on the sort of people who would be on a bad reality show today. However, despite the emotional wallowing and ridiculously unwise romantic choices, the groups' ideals are lofty and representative of forces that have shaped our current world. I understand those forces better for having read Romantic Exiles.
I wrote a more in-depth (and more interestingly illustrated) review for my blog: http://annailonamussmann.blogspot.com...
The Russians in this book (which centers around Alexander Herzen and his immediate circle) conducted their romantic and sexual lives in accordance with the principles espoused by George Sand, and boy did it cause them a lot of grief.
The personal and anecdotal style of the book made me feel almost as if i was guiltily eavesdropping on the sort of people who would be on a bad reality show today. However, despite the emotional wallowing and ridiculously unwise romantic choices, the groups' ideals are lofty and representative of forces that have shaped our current world. I understand those forces better for having read Romantic Exiles.
I wrote a more in-depth (and more interestingly illustrated) review for my blog: http://annailonamussmann.blogspot.com...
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