Alexander Pushkin, By Robert Chandler
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Hesperus's "Brief Lives" series of short biographies offers a sound and accessible alternative to the blockbuster literary life.
Pushkin, so pivotal to Russian history as well as literature as a pioneer in poetry, drama and fiction, but often so elusive to readers further west, makes stringest demands on a short-haul biographer.
Chandler, a superb translator from the Russian, rises to the challenge as he celebrates the writing while dodging the "crushing weight of reverence". He gives a swift but sensitive account of Pushkin's eventful life: part-African ancestry, romance, rebellion, exile, travel, death in that absurd duel in 1837. And, via pithy summary and apt quotation, we glimpse the works - such as Boris Godunov, Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades – that fixed his role as the national icon claimed by Russians of all stripes.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments