Pushkin Hills

,

• Publisher: Alma Books
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781847492210
• eBook ISBN: 9780714549248
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literature General
• Index: Literature

An unsuccessful writer and an inveterate alcoholic, Boris Alikhanov is running out of money and has recently divorced from his wife Tatyana, who intends to emigrate to the West with their daughter Masha. The prospect of a summer job as a tourist guide at the Pushkin Hills preserve offers him hope of bringing back some balance into his existence, but during his stay in the rural estate of Mikhaylovskoye, Alikhanov's life continues to unravel.Populated with unforgettable characters, such as Alikhanov's fellow guides Mitrofanov and Pototsky and the KGB officer Belyaev, and presented here for the first time in the English language, Pushkin Hills is arguably Dovlatov's most personal work and a poignant portrayal of the Russian attitude towards life and art.

Pushkin Hills

Notes

p. 7, Gordin, Shchegolev, Tsyavlovskaya… Kern’s memoirs: Arkady Gordin (1913–97) was a Pushkin expert who wrote a number of books on Pushkin in Mikhailovskoye, where the Pushkin Preserve is now located. Pavel Shchegolev (1877–1931) and Tatyana Tsyavlovskaya (1897–1978) were also noted Pushkin specialists. Anna Kern (1800–79) was briefly Pushkin’s lover. The two met in nearby Trigorskoye in 1825.

p. 8, Alexei Vulf’s Diaries: Alexei Nikolayevich Vulf (1805–81) was a bon vivant and close friend of Pushkin.

p. 8, Ryleyev’s mother: Kondraty Ryleyev (1795–1826) was a leader in the Decembrist Revolt of 1825, which sought to overthrow the Tsar, and a publisher of Pushkin’s work.

p. 12, Hannibal… Zakomelsky: Ibrahim Hannibal (1696–1781) was Pushkin’s great-grandfather, an African (probably from modern-day Eritrea) who was kidnapped as a child and given as a gift to the Russian tsar, later becoming a high-ranking favourite of Peter the Great. Pushkin wrote an unfinished novel, The Negro of Peter the Great, on the subject of Hannibal. There is a famous painting that was traditionally thought to depict Hannibal, though some scholars have argued that the medal depicted in the painting was an order not created until after Hannibal’s death. Baron Ivan Mellor–Zakomelsky (1725–90), the putative subject of the painting, was a high-ranking general who served in the Second Russo-Turkish War.

p. 13, The Bronze Horseman: Pushkin’s 1833 narrative poem which takes its title from a statue of Peter the Great in St Petersburg.

p. 15, Likhonosov: Viktor Likhonosov (1936–) was closely associated with the “Village Prose” literary movement of the Sixties that focused on rural life in the Soviet Union and often presented a nostalgic or idealized view of Russia.

p. 16, Mandelstam: Osip Mandelstam (1891–1938), Russian poet and essayist.

p. 17, the writer Volin’s work: Probably Vladimir Volin (1924–98), writer and journalist who worked for a variety of Soviet magazines and journals.

p. 18, Gleb Romanov… in Bucharest: Gleb Romanov (1920–67) was a popular actor and performer. Ruzhena Sikora (1918–2006) was a well-known Soviet singer of Czech origin. “This song for two soldi” is a line from the song ‘Una canzone da due soldi’ by the Italian singer Achille Togliani (1924–95). ‘I Daydreamt of You in Bucharest’ was a Russian song from the Fifties performed by Sidi Tal (1912–83), a Jewish singer popular in the Soviet Union.

p. 20, The sacred path will not be overgrown: A deliberate distortion of Pushkin’s famous poem ‘Exegi monumentum’: “the people’s path will not be overgrown”. Dovlatov famously attempted never to have two words in one sentence begin with the same letter – Pushkin’s text “ne zarastyot narodnaya tropa” has two Ns.

p. 23, Agdam: An Azeri fortified white wine.

p. 26, the Order of the Red Star: A decoration given for exceptional military bravery, or for long service in the armed forces.

p. 27, Gagarin: Yuri Gagarin (1934–68), Soviet cosmonaut and the first human to travel into outer space.

p. 29, The Decembrist uprising: The failed attempt to overthrow the Tsar in 1825, directly supported by many of Pushkin’s close friends.

p. 29, Benois: Alexandre Benois (1870–1960) was a Russian artist who worked extensively with the Ballets Russes and Sergei Diaghilev.

p. 31, Yesenin… Pasternak: Sergei Yesenin (1895–1925), a Russian lyrical poet who committed suicide at the age of thirty. His works were widely celebrated, but many were banned by the authorities. The poet and novelist Boris Pasternak (1890–1960) suffered enormously at the hands of the authorities, especially after being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958 for the novel Doctor Zhivago, which was banned in the Soviet Union.

p. 31, Solzhenitsyn’s: Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1914–2008), dissident writer and activist.

p. 32, the famous drawing by Bruni: In 1837, Fyodor Bruni (1799–1875) sketched Pushkin on his deathbed.

p. 32, the secret removal and funeral… Alexander Turgenev: Alexander Turgenev (1784–1846), a close friend of Pushkin’s, transported the poet’s body to the family vault in Svyatogorsky Monastery, near Mikhailovskoye.

p. 33, Kramskoy’s Portrait of a Woman on the wall: Ivan Kramskoy (1837–87), Russian ...

Table of contents

• Pushkin Hills