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"Avril Pyman brings to the biography of Pavel Florensky the experience of a lifetime's research on Russian culture of the early twentieth century. No one could be better equipped to write this first biography in English of a man whom the epithet 'polymath' fits like no other... Avril Pyman's book brings to the attention of English-language readers for the first time a neglected cultural figure of immense importance." Professor Emeritus John Elsworth, University of Manchester, UK, President of the International Council for Central and East European Studies" --Professor Emeritus John Elsworth, University of Manchester, UK, President of the International Council for Central and East European Studies"
Pavel Florensky is one of the most extraordinary intellectuals ever to emerge in the Russian speaking world (and the competition is formidable), yet outside Russia he is almost completely unknown beyond a small community of Slavists and theologians. Avril Pyman's fine biography the first of Florensky in English must surely redress the situation. It is possible, and greatly to be desired, that its publication will become the defining moment when the study of Florensky breaks out of Russian studies into all the disciplines in which he himself worked at the highest level: aesthetics, art history, geology, linguistics, mathematics, philosophy, physics and theology. [...] Avril Pyman reconstructs Florensky's last years beautifully, largely from his careful, loving letters to his family. --TLS, September 3rd, 2010
'This is a thoroughly researched and very readable book that includes evocative photographs, a very useful chronology, a helpful glossary of names and extensive notes... The book should be of special interest for those engaged in both theology and science. In the first instance, it is a great source of inspiration of a life well lived.' --ESSSAT, 6th June 2011
Pavel Florensky is one of the most extraordinary intellectuals ever to emerge in the Russian speaking world (and the competition is formidable), yet outside Russia he is almost completely unknown beyond a small community of Slavists and theologians. Avril Pyman's fine biography the first of Florensky in English must surely redress the situation. It is possible, and greatly to be desired, that its publication will become the defining moment when the study of Florensky breaks out of Russian studies into all the disciplines in which he himself worked at the highest level: aesthetics, art history, geology, linguistics, mathematics, philosophy, physics and theology. [...] Avril Pyman reconstructs Florensky's last years beautifully, largely from his careful, loving letters to his family. --TLS, September 3rd, 2010
'This is a thoroughly researched and very readable book that includes evocative photographs, a very useful chronology, a helpful glossary of names and extensive notes... The book should be of special interest for those engaged in both theology and science. In the first instance, it is a great source of inspiration of a life well lived.' --ESSSAT, 6th June 2011
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This is the first biography in English of an extraordinary polymath whose great genius was stifled and finally extinguished by the Soviet Union. "Pavel Florensky: A Quiet Genius" is the first biography in English of an extraordinary polymath whose genius was stifled and finally extinguished by the Soviet Union. Today Pavel Florensky is often referred to as the Russian da Vinci. Florensky was, at one and the same time, a supremely gifted philosopher, mathematician, physicist, inventor, engineer and theologian. He was also a poet and wrote studies of history, language and art. Although he taught philosophy for most of his working life, his interests were wide-ranging and profound and included the study of time and space, the theory of relativity, aspects of language, and the properties of materials and geology. His book "The Pillar and the Ground of Truth" is widely seen as a masterpiece of Russian Orthodox theology. Eminent Russian scholar Avril Pyman looks at Florensky's life, from his childhood as the son of a railroad engineer to his mysterious death, and provides a populist perspective on his achievements. "Pavel Florensky: A Quiet Genius" celebrates the life of this unjustly forgotten victim of the Soviet Union.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The text is only 182 pages not the indicated 300+. There is a huge amount of superfluous time line, annex, principal character names, padding.
Florensky may have been a polymath but this book spends all its time on him as muddled religious philosopher cum theologian struggling about the meaning of life and what it means to be human, the soul of man, etc etc. And worse still to do so from a purely theoretical esoteric viewpoint. Only someone already fascinated by the dark corners of religious navel gazing could possibly be interested in this.
Any contact with reality does not surface until page 150 - when he gets arrested. Then the story merely tracks events as per his now released prisoner file and letters. Then he gets shot, 1937.
There is not even any concluding attempt to show what direct impact he had on any Russian or Soviet research; what were the results of all this huge intellectual endeavour? Judging by what has been written here, you would have to suspect there was none.
Otherwise the polymath, the inventor, the physicist, the mathematician, the Russian Da Vinci - you'd never know it from this.
Dreadful. Waste of money.
Florensky may have been a polymath but this book spends all its time on him as muddled religious philosopher cum theologian struggling about the meaning of life and what it means to be human, the soul of man, etc etc. And worse still to do so from a purely theoretical esoteric viewpoint. Only someone already fascinated by the dark corners of religious navel gazing could possibly be interested in this.
Any contact with reality does not surface until page 150 - when he gets arrested. Then the story merely tracks events as per his now released prisoner file and letters. Then he gets shot, 1937.
There is not even any concluding attempt to show what direct impact he had on any Russian or Soviet research; what were the results of all this huge intellectual endeavour? Judging by what has been written here, you would have to suspect there was none.
Otherwise the polymath, the inventor, the physicist, the mathematician, the Russian Da Vinci - you'd never know it from this.
Dreadful. Waste of money.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
A top pick for biographical collections
13 Jun 2010
Format:Hardcover
Brilliance doesn't need to be told it's brilliant. "Pavel Florensky: A Quiet Genius, The Tragic and Extraordinary Life of Russia's Unknown Da Vinci" looks into the life of Pavel Florensky, man who has retrospectively compared to Leonardo Da Vinci as one of History's greatest minds. A man of many professions, he placed his thoughts into everything from the priesthood to physics, engineering, mathematics, and philosophy. A renaissance man after the fact, Avril Pyman paints a complete picture of this truly unique man. "Pavel Florensky" is a top pick for biographical collections.
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