What do you think?
Rate this book
Osip Mandelstam: A Biography
The personal and political life of the iconic Russian poet Osip Mandelstam is graphically portrayed in this lavishly illustrated book
This is the first full-scale biography of Osip Mandelstam to combine an analysis of his poetry with a description of his personal life, from his beginnings as a young intellectual in pre-revolutionary Russia to his final fate as a victim of Stalinism.
The myth has grown up that Mandelstam was a gloomy, miserable figure; Dutli deconstructs this, stressing Mandelstam’s enjoyment of life. There are several underlying themes here. One is Mandelstam’s Jewish background in pre-1914 Russia, which he rejected as a young man, but reaffirmed in later life. Another is the inescapable impact of Russia’s political and social transformation.
His evolution as a poet naturally occupies a large place in the biography, which quotes many of his most famous poems, including his devastating anti-Stalin epigram. He produced wonderful poetry before the October Revolution, but did not reach his full poetic stature until the 1930s when in exile in Voronezh. He was never an official Soviet poet, and it was only thanks to the intervention of Bukharin that he was brought back from utter impoverishment.
The biography gives full weight to his emotional life, beginning with his friendship with two other Russian poets, Marina Tsvetaeva and Anna Akhmatova, followed by love and marriage to Nadezhda Khazina.
This is the first full-scale biography of Osip Mandelstam to combine an analysis of his poetry with a description of his personal life, from his beginnings as a young intellectual in pre-revolutionary Russia to his final fate as a victim of Stalinism.
The myth has grown up that Mandelstam was a gloomy, miserable figure; Dutli deconstructs this, stressing Mandelstam’s enjoyment of life. There are several underlying themes here. One is Mandelstam’s Jewish background in pre-1914 Russia, which he rejected as a young man, but reaffirmed in later life. Another is the inescapable impact of Russia’s political and social transformation.
His evolution as a poet naturally occupies a large place in the biography, which quotes many of his most famous poems, including his devastating anti-Stalin epigram. He produced wonderful poetry before the October Revolution, but did not reach his full poetic stature until the 1930s when in exile in Voronezh. He was never an official Soviet poet, and it was only thanks to the intervention of Bukharin that he was brought back from utter impoverishment.
The biography gives full weight to his emotional life, beginning with his friendship with two other Russian poets, Marina Tsvetaeva and Anna Akhmatova, followed by love and marriage to Nadezhda Khazina.
432 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
4 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
About the author
Ralph Dutli
42 books3 followersPoète suisse de langue allemande né en 1954, Ralph Dutli a publié trois recueils de poèmes - Notizbuch der Grabsprüche, 2002, Novalis im Weinberg, 2005, Salz zu Salz, 2007 - à partir desquels il a lui-même composé la présente anthologie. Essayiste, il est l'auteur de Europas zarte Hände, 1995, et Nichts als Wunder. Essays über Poesie, 2007. Il a traduit du russe et édité les Oeuvres complètes d'Ossip Mandelstam en dix volumes aux éditions Ammann à Zurich. Il a également consacré quatre livres au poète russe, dont une biographie intitulée Mandelstam, Mon temps, mon fauve, que Le Bruit du temps publiera en 2011 en coédition avec La Dogana.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 31, 2024
This was an excellent biography. It takes us through the tragedy of this man's life at the hands of the Soviets, yet shows us his ability to shine through his poetry.
Displaying 1 of 1 review