Today I want to tell a book of great interest, in my opinion, of course. These are letters from Russia to Custine I found in an old edition of Fogola 1977. I think that is not readily available, so for the cover I had to serve to that of a British edition. Well, I say that finding stimulating and exciting book written in 1832, is a bit 'risky, but in this case, I confess that I struggled to break away before the end, though in fact, repetitions and the style a bit 'pompous and didactic work may seem at times cloying. Our author, a French nobleman and idler, an aspiring writer and diplomat at the same time, avid traveler, will tell their countrymen what is the Russia of his time and especially as the Russians are.
At that time the country was trying to establish itself as a new European power and was viewed with some that the West was considered sufficiently advanced and modern in comparison to those barbarians besides Asian upstarts. We can say that Russia had the knowledge by hearsay, very biased and partial, a bit 'as it does today for China. We, therefore, traveling Moscow to St. Petersburg for four months and in the form of letters daily, described with insight and effectiveness, the country, people, the court, but also highlights the way of thinking and way of life of the country. What makes the book amazing is the number of points that forms the backbone. Well, if we did not know the year in which they were written, all may be perfectly valid and adequate, whether we speak of the Stalin era, that of gerontocracy bresnieviana that the current political situation. If we also consider that the same Custine, reports that the same things also apply to the past centuries, one can not get that to a conclusion. All
defects and problems that we have given the regime which for 70 years was the Great Evil Empire and believed to cause and effects of disasters, sometimes tragic, sometimes comic who made the emblem of the Soviet empire failure of a system, are its centuries of this country, if that leads them on the rump, as a legacy of a past and a history that remains unchanged to changes in power and the various political upheavals. Certainly this book will be appreciated by all who have a basic knowledge of Russia, who will gather in every phrase and every story, they will recognize character types and situations, warning correspondences with the immediate events that took place two centuries ago. Poor Custine was horribly snubbed by his contemporaries, who probably also isolated for his supposed sexual orientation. So his book was criticized by scholars of the time and fell into oblivion for over a century, has now become a fundamental text for anyone interested in the Great Mother. If you have any curiosity about the topic certainly give it a look.
At that time the country was trying to establish itself as a new European power and was viewed with some that the West was considered sufficiently advanced and modern in comparison to those barbarians besides Asian upstarts. We can say that Russia had the knowledge by hearsay, very biased and partial, a bit 'as it does today for China. We, therefore, traveling Moscow to St. Petersburg for four months and in the form of letters daily, described with insight and effectiveness, the country, people, the court, but also highlights the way of thinking and way of life of the country. What makes the book amazing is the number of points that forms the backbone. Well, if we did not know the year in which they were written, all may be perfectly valid and adequate, whether we speak of the Stalin era, that of gerontocracy bresnieviana that the current political situation. If we also consider that the same Custine, reports that the same things also apply to the past centuries, one can not get that to a conclusion. All
defects and problems that we have given the regime which for 70 years was the Great Evil Empire and believed to cause and effects of disasters, sometimes tragic, sometimes comic who made the emblem of the Soviet empire failure of a system, are its centuries of this country, if that leads them on the rump, as a legacy of a past and a history that remains unchanged to changes in power and the various political upheavals. Certainly this book will be appreciated by all who have a basic knowledge of Russia, who will gather in every phrase and every story, they will recognize character types and situations, warning correspondences with the immediate events that took place two centuries ago. Poor Custine was horribly snubbed by his contemporaries, who probably also isolated for his supposed sexual orientation. So his book was criticized by scholars of the time and fell into oblivion for over a century, has now become a fundamental text for anyone interested in the Great Mother. If you have any curiosity about the topic certainly give it a look.
