Summary
Summary
When the British journalist Rachel Polonsky moves to Moscow, she discovers an apartment on Romanov Street that was once home to the Soviet elite. One of the most infamous neighbors was the ruthless apparatchik Vyacheslav Molotov, a henchman for Stalin who was a participant in the collectivizations and the Great Purge--and also an ardent bibliophile. In what was formerly Molotov's apartment, Polonsky uncovers an extensive library and an old magic lantern--two things that lead her on an extraordinary journey throughout Russia and ultimately renew her vision of the country and its people.
In Molotov's Magic Lantern , Polonsky visits the haunted cities and vivid landscapes of the books from Molotov's library: works by Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Akhmatova, and others, some of whom were sent to the Gulag by the very man who collected their books. With exceptional insight and beautiful prose, Polonsky writes about the longings and aspirations of these Russian writers and others in the course of her travels from the Arctic to Siberia and from the forests around Moscow to the vast steppes. A singular homage to Russian history and culture, Molotov's Magic Lantern evokes the spirit of the great artists and the haunted past of a country ravaged by war, famine, and totalitarianism.
Author Notes
Rachel Polonsky has written for Prospect , The Guardian , The Times Literary Supplement , and The Spectator , among other publications. She is the author of English Literature and the Russian Aesthetic Renaissance and lives in Cambridge, England, with her family.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
When she moves to Moscow, British journalist Polonsky discovers that the former apartment of Vyacheslav Molotov, Stalin's most loyal henchman, is right above hers. Purely by coincidence, she is conducted into Molotov's apartment and discovers, among other objects, much of the former leader's library, some of it crumbling to dust, and an old magic lantern. Like faded images waiting for the light of this antique slide projector, Russian history and the Russian present reveal themselves in glimpses, like figures rising out of the dark, to Polonsky. In this sometimes entertaining and sometimes dreary book of travels, Polonsky uses the rotting pages of the books in Molotov's library as a guide, sometimes tracing lines that lead to places of exile, quest, or crime. In her travels, Polonsky goes to Lake Ilmen, where Christianity challenged many pagan deities, as well as to the towns where Chekhov and Dostoyevski wrote their most famous works. Part memoir, part travelogue, and part literary history, Polonsky's reminiscences bring to life both the familiar and the obscure in Russian history and literature, and raise indirectly the question of how Molotov, with his deep love and apparent appreciation of literature, could be responsible for his role in the execution of so many writers during the 1930s purges. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* British writer Polonsky moved to Moscow and took up residence in a once-opulent old building that had been a favorite of the Soviet elite, including the monstrous Vyacheslav Molotov, Stalin's second in command. Invited into Molotov's apartment, still owned by his granddaughter, Polonsky is morbidly fascinated by Molotov's belongings, including a magic lantern and a stash of books from his formerly enormous library. And so begins Polonsky's book-steered journey through modern Russian history. Cogently descriptive, empathic, plucky, and acerbic, Polonsky begins with a tour of Moscow's grim landmarks of the Stalin era, then ventures out into the countryside, excavating the tragic and heroic stories of writers and scientists who suffered banishment and worse, many the victims of Molotov's industrious murderousness. She visits the site of Dostoyevsky's dacha and Rostov-on-Don, the world of the Cossacks, which Isaac Babel so bravely infiltrated. She travels north to the formidable Kola Peninsula, then to Siberia, the realm of shamans, exiles, and prisoners; a Buddhist enclave along the Mongolian border; and imperiled Lake Baikal. Polonsky is so steeped in Russian history and literature that everywhere she goes, her inner magic lantern projects the past onto the present, the imagined onto the real, and what we see is an illuminated land of immense brutality and beauty, suffering and spirit.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
British journalist Polonsky (English Literature and the Russian Aesthetic Renaissance) delivers a literary, cultural, and travel memoir crafted with obvious compassion. Writing of both her own journey and the life of Vyacheslav Molotov, one of Stalin's infamous henchmen, she relates-in a manner sometimes approaching stream-of-consciousness-the connections between her Russian experiences and the lives and stories of those who influenced her when she and her family moved to a particular apartment building in Moscow. In the same building lived Molotov's granddaughter, in what had been Molotov's apartment. From ruminations on Molotov's possessions, Polonsky moves on to share the historical and cultural details of her literary-inspired travels through Russia, from the late 1990s through the early 2000s. Quite varied in scope, her book shares the personal stories of many everyday Russians and some of its most historical figures. She shows the understanding of an academic but not the academic's devotion to citation, evidential support, or argumentative structure. Verdict This book will be enjoyed by lovers of Russian history, including its cultural and literary heritage, and many who have dreamed of traveling through Russia or of understanding its beauty and struggle through the eyes of its people.-Elizabeth Zeitz, Otterbein Univ. Lib., Westerville, OH (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.