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Title details for The Stalin Epigram by Robert Littell - Available

The Stalin Epigram

A Novel

by Robert Littell
Anne Flosnik
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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The Stalin Epigram is a masterful rendering of the life of Osip Mandelstam, one of Russia's greatest poets of the twentieth century. His heroic protest against the Stalin regime—particularly his outspoken criticism of the collectivization that drove millions of Russian peasants to starvation—finally reached its apex in 1934. When he composed a searing indictment of Stalin in a sixteen-line poem, secretly passed from person to person through recitation, the poet was arrested. It is widely accepted that Stalin himself was directly involved in Mandelstam's exile and his death in a Siberian transit camp in 1938.


A master of historical detail and cultural authenticity, bestselling author Robert Littell based this novel in part on a memorable, intimate meeting with Mandelstam's wife in 1979. Narrated by Mandelstam's wife, his friends Boris Pasternak and Anna Akhmatova, and Mandelstam himself, this lucid account of the relationships between the artists, politicians, and proletariat of Stalinist Russia is an astounding moment in history brought to life by a perceptive, immensely talented writer.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 26, 2009

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781400191543
      • File size: 301237 KB
      • Duration: 10:27:34

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from February 16, 2009
      Veteran espionage novelist Littell (Vicious Circle
      ; The Company
      ; etc.) trades cold war spies for interwar Russian poets in his wonderful new novel. In 1934, real-life poet Osip Mandelstam struggles to get published in the totalitarian state. A battered idealist who has witnessed his share of Stalin-orchestrated horrors, Mandelstam feels writers have “an abiding responsibility to be truth tellers in this wasteland of lies.” Much to the despair of his fellow poets, Osip writes an epigram likening Stalin to a ruthless killer, leading to Osip’s arrest, brutal interrogation and exile. The robust narrative employs an array of narrators, including Osip’s devoted wife, Nadezhda; his disloyal lover, actress Zinaida Zaitseva-Antonova; and Stalin’s personal bodyguard, Nikolai Vlasik. The most intriguing voice heard is that of Fikrit Shotman, a weightlifter turned circus strongman who shares a cell with Osip and whose journey from Moscow prison to Siberian gold mine perfectly captures the absurdity of life under tyranny. Littell is unflinching in his portrayal of Osip’s tragic arc, bringing a troubled era of Russian history to rich, magnificent life.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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