- Hardcover: 768 pages
- Publisher: Allen Lane (3 Oct 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0713995173
- ISBN-13: 978-0713995176
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.4 x 5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 448,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Amazon.co.uk Review
As epic and ambitious as his first book A People's Tragedy, Orlando Figes's Natasha's Dance is a sweeping panorama of Russian culture over the centuries. It takes its title from a scene in War and Peace in which the upper-crust Natasha Rostov, visiting her countrified "Uncle", falls instinctively into the rhythms of a peasant dance. Figes finds in this scene an ideal metaphor for his book's central theme--the perpetual see-sawing between the European cultural ideals of the aristocracy in St Petersburg and an "authentic" Russianess, usually seen as embodied in the peasantry and the country. The great debate in Russian culture has been between those who have seen it as a naturally "Western" society and those who have seen its destiny as lying in the East and its vast hinterland.
Around this supporting central theme, Figes has constructed an imposing edifice. The range of his knowledge and the sureness with which he deploys it are very impressive. Whether writing about the music of Stravinsky and Shostakovich or the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, the buildings of St Petersburg or the poetry of Akhmatova, he has something new and original to say. The great cultural achievements of Russia often seem, for those who have only a little knowledge of Russian history, like giant mountains suddenly rising out of featureless terrain. Figes's excellent book gives them a context and fills out many of the details of the surrounding landscape.--Nick Rennison
Independent on Sunday, October 6, 2002 (by Robin Buss)
"One of those books that, at times, makes you wonder how you have so far managed to do without it."
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely Fantastic,
By Tamarindos "tamarindos402" (Barcelona) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia (Paperback)
This really is one of the best books I have ever read. It has an enormous, if not terrifying scope, but Orlando Figes pulls everything together in a totally coherent and interesting way. I am not surprised it took him years to write! For many years I have had an interest in Russian culture, mainly the literature, and I have also read histories of Russia, but by taking culture as the central theme, the book provides an incredibly vivid picture of the history in general. I particularly enjoyed the chapter about the "east". It is superbly written, easy to follow, which is a rarity these days amongst general academic books. The final chapter, which deals with people alive in my lifetime I found particularly poignant and I was desperately sad when I had finished the book, although I now have a very long list of cds to buy! Thank you Orlando Figes for an amazing work of scholarship, which is also a joy to read!
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great book, if you don't mind its bias,
This review is from: Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia (Paperback)
If you are interested in Russian history and culture, this book is definitely worth reading. If you, like me, read every volume of classical Russian literature you can get your hands on, it will explain a lot of background facts and help you connect the dots. The book is written in a bold manner that might be viewed as controversial for the lack of focus (each chapter consists of several stories that are interwoven into each other), but it generally works very well for painting the big picture, and it is fun to read. One thing that might be viewed as a certain deficiency is the author's bias. He shows occassional tendency to put down widely recognized authors and diminish their credit (Tolstoy, Bunin, Dostoyevsky, Rimsky-Korsakov) and on the other hand, he seems to spend way too much time on two women poets, Akhmatova and Cvetaeva, because he likes them, and their life stories suit his story-telling purposes. This is all great - if you already know something about the subject, it's very interesting to confront your (or generally accepted) views and experience with a different point of view, that is nonetheless very intelligent and stimulating. But if you are a newcomer, it might give you a slightly distorted view of things. So if you bear in mind that this book is more of a personal confession of passion for and vast knowledge of Russian culture rather than an "academic" overview, you will not be disappointed. Also, the book is a great reference, so it's really worth buying to have it handy.
41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Russia, after this book I want to get to know you better.,
By And You May Find Yourself (Greece) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia (Paperback)
This is an excellent book. Though it is arranged thematically rather than chronologically, timelines are not confusing. The great debates of Russian culture - between East and West, between peasant and aristocrat, between Orthodoxy and the Old Belief - are presented vividly and clearly. The countryside and cities come alive with characters, not just of the great figures of Russian literature and art but of the nameless millions and their beliefs, culture, attitudes and preoccupations. Natasha's Dance made me want to learn much more about Russia, its people, its history, its literature and art. And that, to me, is the measure of success of a cultural history such as this.
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