Review

Reviewed Work(s): O Pushkine: stat'i i zamechaniia. [On Pushkin: Articles and Remarks] by
Pushkin and Anna Akhmatova
Review by: Sonia Ketchian
Source: The Russian Review, Vol. 37, No. 3 (Jul., 1978), pp. 364-366
Published by: Wiley on behalf of The Editors and Board of Trustees of the Russian Review
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/129059
Accessed: 16-01-2020 02:02 UTC

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 364 The Russian Review

WAUGH,
WAUGH, DANIEL
DANIELCLARKE,
CLARKE,comp.
comp.TheThe
F.F.
A.A.Tolstoi
Tolstoi
Collection.
Collection.
TheThe
Slavic
Slavic
Manuscripts
Manuscripts in
in the
theCollection
CollectionofofCount
Count F. F.
A.A.
Tolstoi:
Tolstoi:
Materials
Materials
on on
thethe
History
History of
of the
the Collection
Collectionand
andIndexes
Indexes
ofof
Former
Former
and
and
Current
Current
Code
Code
Num-
Num-
bers.
bers. Zug,
Zug, Switzerland:
Switzerland:Inter
InterDocumentation
DocumentationCompany,
Company,
IDCIDC
Micro-
Micro-
Book
Book Edition,
Edition, 1976.
1976.122
122pp.
pp.

This
This is
is my
my first
firstexperience
experiencewithwitha amicro-book
micro-book edition
editionwhere
where parts
parts
of the
of the
text,
text, in
in this
this case
casethe
theIntroduction
Introductionand andtwo
twobrief
brief chapters,
chapters,oneoneon on
thethe
his-his-
tory
tory of
of the
the Tolstoi
TolstoiCollection,
Collection,the
theother
otherononitsits
present
present location,
location,areare
printed
printed
as well
well as
as given
givenononmicrofiche.
microfiche.The Theprinted
printedbook
book is is
of of
thethe
sizesize
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a microfiche
a microfiche
card
card and
and the
the print
printisisvery
veryfine,
fine,although
although very
very clear.
clear.
AnyAnylonger
longertext,
text,
how-
how-
ever,
ever, then
then the
the present
presentone
one(11
(11pp.)
pp.)would
wouldbebetootoogreat
great
a strain
a strain
on onthethe
eyes.
eyes.
Waugh's
Waugh's brief
brief history
historyisisbased
basedmainly
mainlyonon
previously
previously published
published works
worksby by
Kalaidovich
Kalaidovich and
andStroev,
Stroev,and
andon
onunpublished
unpublishedannotations
annotations
byby
Bykov
Bykov
andand
Likhacheva.
F. A. Tolstoi's manuscript collection has been divided among several
libraries: the State Public Library; the Institute of History of the Academy
of Sciences in Leningrad; the Manuscript Section of the Institute of Russian
Literature (Pushkinskii Dom) and the Library of the Academy of Sciences.
The holdings from the Tolstoi collection in these libraries are given in lists
of collated code numbers. Short texts preceding these tables give scant in-
formation on acquisitions and changes of ownership. No descriptions of
the mss. are provided except in the appendix of Table 5 of mss. from the
Alekseev list, the location of which is unknown, and in the appendix of Table
6 for mss. of which no other description has been made. Table 7 gives code
numbers and descriptions of mss. located now in the Institute of History in
Leningrad; Table 8 gives the list of mss. now in the Pushkinskii Dom. These
lists are short in comparison with 120 pages of only code numbers from
different systems for the largest part of the collection, located in the library
of the Academy of Sciences.
This book on the Tolstoi Collection is of very limited use for the literary
historian. Waugh admits himself in his introduction that only limited
sources were available to him. Except for the appendices and Tables 7 and
8 Waugh does not give the subject matter of the mss. For this information
on the Tolstoi Collection he refers the reader to the catalogues published
by Kalaidovich and Stroev and other works written in the nineteenth cen-
tury, and to the description of the Library of the Academy of Sciences. A
microfiche edition of the latter as a second volume would be most welcomed
by scholars.
VALERIE A. TUMINS
University of California, Davis

AKHMATOVA, ANNA. O Pushkine: stat'i i zamechaniia. [On Pushkin: articles

and remarks]. Leningrad: Sovetskii pisatel', 1977. 320 pp. 0.88 rubles.

This collection contains critical studies by Akhmatova on the life and

works of Pushkin. Begun in the 1920s and first published in the 1930s, they
were continually expanded and revised by the author. Several pieces were
envisioned as a book that never saw fruition. Edited by Emma Gershtein,
this volume marks the first Soviet compilation of Akhmatova's articles and

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 Book Reviews 365

sketches with the exclusion of some previously published notes and margin-
alia. The articles are represented more extensively than in the unannotated
Struve edition (Anna Akhmatova, Sochineniia.)
The book divides into "Articles," works on critical prose and biographical
investigations considered completed, and "Sketches," supplementing the
articles. A terse panegyric "Slovo o Pushkine" opens the subsection on
critical prose. A solid Afterword by Gershtein embellishes this edition. The
editor's notes commence with a history of publication, the location of
manuscripts, connections with Akhmatova's poetry, unfulfilled plans, and
textual sources followed by annotations which are meticulous, albeit at
times redundant for the scholar. For the sake of clarity, as in "The Death
of Pushkin," the editor interpolates quotations not provided by Akhmatova.
The Afterword, which evaluates Akhmatova's investigations against the
backdrop of her reading and interests, is a good starting point for research-
ing her ties.
Akhmatova centered her investigation on determining Pushkin's sources
and influences. The final, unfinished works address psychological problems
in Pushkin's creations. They reveal that Akhmatova researched Pushkin's
oeuvre by applying relevant biography. Gershtein draws analogies between
the poetic methods and style of Akhmatova and Pushkin and maintains that
for Akhmatova the primary layer in the text, concealed, as it were, even
from its creator, is pivotal. In analyzing Pushkin's "subtext," Akhmatova
predicates her argument mainly on imagery. Originally challenged by Push-
kinists, many of Akhmatova's contentions have been borne out by later-
uncovered documentation.
Stylistically the articles are unpretentious and laconic. Indeed, the un-
adorned sentences and short paragraphs lend a certain choppiness. In "The
Last Fairy Tale of Pushkin" Akhmatova treats the history of publication and
acceptance into various languages of Washington Irving's The Alahambra,
noting the editions owned by Pushkin and those available for his use. In
"'The Tale of the Golden Cockerel' and 'The Tsar Saw in front of Him:
A Commentary'," analyzing the differences between the young and the
mature Pushkin, Akhmatova may well be divulging information on her own
creative path. Similarly, her poetic "silence" of the 1920s and 1930s may
stem in part from a quest for her own mature voice. "Pushkin's 'The Stone
Guest'" presents a sentient comparison of Don Juan with Sylvio from "The
Shot" and hence with the poet himself. Nonetheless, the autobiographical
sources enlisted by Akhmatova from Pushkin's correspondence suggest an
assimilated reworking of the Don Juan legend to incorporate his emotional
experiences. In "The Death of Pushkin" Akhmatova's deductive method
uses documents, such as the Karamzin family correspondence. Her conclu-
sions are convincing despite Gershtein's support of the prevalent Soviet stance
in defense of the poet's wife and an occasional labeling of Akhmatova's views
as "too opinionated." In "Aleksandrina" Akhmatova disavows a liaison be-
tween the poet and his sister-in-law. She discerns an attempt at revenge by
adversaries, for Aleksandrina's recently published letters reveal a frivolous
woman seeking a spouse and not the perfect cerebral companion for Push-
kin. The unfinished sketches contain astute literary observations. Foremost
are the discoveries of the strophe jettisoned from Eugene Onegin and of the
quotes from Ovid in this poama.

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 366 The Russian Review

This volume, then, brings together with annotations important exegeses

on Pushkin and at the same time provides insight into Akhmatova's creative
processes. Accordingly, unnoticed aspects of her indebtedness to Pushkin
become patent. Now it is up to scholars to avail themselves of this treasure.
SONIA KETCHIAN
Harvard University

HOLQUIST, MICHAEL. Dostoevsky and the Novel. Princeton: Princeton Uni-

versity Press, 1977. xiii, 202 pp. $12.50.

The argument of Holquist's monograph is based on an intricate synthesis

of historical analysis, time philosophy, and theory of the novel. The peculiar
orientation of the Russian mind toward questions of man versus time (the
"tyranny of historicism," Isaiah Berlin has called it) leads Holquist to a
series of ingeniously conceived templates of the structure of Dostoevskii's
novels. At the same time, Holquist's insights into the structure of these
novels often establish the Russian writer's uncanny anticipation of twentieth-
century dilemmas which one likes to consider peculiar to the Western world.
A masterful analysis of Notes from the Underground demonstrates how the
structure-anti-structure of that work is symbolic of a conception of modern
man as a cerebral being existing only by virtue of his fancy (not his imag-
ination, to use Coleridge's distinction) and quite incapable of living a real
life (zhivaia zhizn'). Holquist's interpretation of Crime and Punishment is
felicitously expressed in a simile likening Raskol'nikov to a Baron von
Miinchhausen who "seeks to pull himself out of the swamp of time by his
own metaphysical pigtail." The interpretation implies that the epilogue with
its metabasis eis allo genos is the only possible solution to Raskol'nikov's
plight and is hence even novelistically sound.
The chapter on The Idiot is perhaps the most valuable in the book. I
believe that it provides the first satisfying interpretation of that beautiful
and difficult novel. Holquist's interpretation hinges on the role which the
incompatibility of chronos (relative time) and kairos (absolute time) plays
in the novel. Much as Christ did not change the course of history, the saintly
Myshkin cannot change the lives of those who meet him. Here, as elsewhere,
in his book, Holquist tends to foreground the negative, pessimistic side of
the argument. I believe that in Dostoevskii, as so often, God is in the details,
moreso than in the broad outlines of structure. I would attribute more im-
portance to the occasional epiphanies of kairos that break through the
structure ruled by chronos.
This is particularly true of The Possessed, the gloomiest of Dostoevskiifs
great novels. (Incidentally, the action does not take place in August, as
Holquist suggests, but in the fall: we read at the very beginning of pt. 1,
chap. 6 that the Drozdovs returned "at the very end of August." This is
important for "atmosphere.") Surely Holquist's analysis of Stavrogin as
another version of the human "piano key" desperately seeking to escape the
"trauma brought on by the discovery of structure, structure that stands
over against psychology, which has no time in the sense of becoming" is
correct. He produces many convincing observations of detail to support this
interpretation. The same holds true for the other "possessed." But still,

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