Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A unique and brilliant book, a must read if you want to understand Russia, 8 May 2007
Natasha's Dance is in a class of its own. It is the only book that takes in the whole sweep of Russian culture and history, linking literature, theatre, dance, opera and more. Although I studied Russian language, literature and history and I was living in Moscow, there were many things that I just couldn't understand: why were Russians like they were? How did they be so boorish one moment but so cultured and romantic the next? What really happened when the Mongols invaded? Where did those matrioshka dolls come from? Why does Russian music sound different to western European music? What was life like in feudal peasant Russia? or in Siberian exile? How did one country produce peasants, communists, oligarchs, Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky and a whole lot of spies? In Russian literature, why was there so much about wet-nurses, religion, name days, icons, duelling, Decembrists, noble serfs and mystic fools? Who were the Cossacks? Did the entire Russian noble class really speak French to each other? Why didn't the peasants revolt earlier? And why did exiles harbour such a longing for their homeland, even though it was full of communists, corruption and subzero temperatures?
Natasha's Dance tells you all this and far more, much more than I can recall in one go. The name of the book, which is rather offputtingly esoteric, refers to a scene from War and Peace, which indicates what level of reader it is pitched at.
This book is not a light read. There is so much information, you may find you need to stop to take a thinking break after every page just to take it all in. It is so rich that you may be overwhelmed if you haven't got at least a passing knowledge of Russia. If you're not vaguely familiar with at least a handful of names such as Tolstoy, Pushkin, Chekhov, Stravinsky or Akhmatova, you might find Natasha's Dance is a bit of an uphill struggle, and it might be better to start with a gentler climb, like Anna Karenina or Doctor Zhivago.
But for those who know something about Russia and want to supercharge their understanding of the place and its people, this book is undeniably, uniquely, wonderful: a treasure trove.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely Fantastic, 3 Nov 2004
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!
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40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Russia, after this book I want to get to know you better., 16 Dec 2003
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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