Book description
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A major biography of one of literature's most romantic and enigmatic
figures, published in hardback to great acclaim: 'one of the great
biographies of recent times' (Sunday Telegraph).
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin is indisputably Russia's greatest poet -
the nearest Russian equivalent to Shakespeare - and his brief life was
as turbulent and dramatic as anything in his work. T. J Binyon's
biography of this brilliant and rebellious figure is 'a remarkable
achievement' and its publication 'a real event' (Catriona Kelly, Guardian).
'No other work on Pushkin on the same scale, and with the same grasp of
atmosphere and detail, exists in English… And Pushkin is well worth
writing about… he was a remarkable man, a man of action as well as a
poet, and he lived a remarkable life, dying in a duel at the age of
thirty-seven.' (John Bayley, Literary Review)
Among the delights of this beautifully illustrated and lavishly
produced book are the 'caricatures of venal old men with popping eyes
and side-whiskers, society beauties with long necks and empire curls
and, most touchingly, images of his “cross-eyed madonna” Natalya'
(Rachel Polonsky, Evening Standard).
Binyon 'knows almost everything there is to know about Pushkin. He
scrupulously chronicles his life in all its disorder, from his years at
the Lycee through exile in the Crimea, Bessarabia and Odessa, for
writing liberal verses, and on to the publication of Eugene Onegin and,
eventually, after much wrangling with the censor, Boris Godunov' (Julian
Evans, New Statesman) and in this, 'Binyon is unbeatable'(Clive James,
TLS). 'Only a biographer of the first rank could show how the poet's
brilliant spirit was extinguished, not just by a regime, but by elements
in that regime that to some extent reflected his own personality. That
is true tragedy, and that is Russia.' George Walden, Sunday Telegraph
'A weighty biography in every sense, Binyon's book is poignant, brisk
and at times downright funny: the best possible tribute to the
changeable and elusively fascinating character of its subject.' Catriona
Kelly, Guardian
'A grippingly entertaining and magnificently authoritative account of
the poet's life, which is, almost unbelievably, the first to appear in
any language since 1937.' Alan Marshall, Daily Telegraph
'In T. J Binyon [Pushkin] has finally found the biographer he deserves.
Here in all its splendour is his rebellious, flamboyant personality and
his world of tenuous finance, imperial balls and sexual adventure…
Pushkin remains immortal and he certainly lives again in this book.'
Simon Sebag Montefiore, Mail on Sunday
'Binyon's Life gives a marvellously clear sense of the man Pushkin
might have been to meet: alternately belligerent and sweet, physically
small. On the matter of Pushkin's politics, Binyon is excellent.' Ian
Thomson, Independent on Sunday
'Scrupulously researched, lucidly and ojectively written, with an
admirable lightness of touch and a good dose of dry humour'. (Economist)
'Readable, perceptive and witty… a valuable achievement.' Jonathan
Sumption, Spectator T. J. Binyon lectures in Russian literature at
Wadham College, Oxford.
