
Natasha's Dance
A Cultural History of Russia
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Narrated by:
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Ric Jerrom
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By:
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Orlando Figes
About this listen
History on a grand scale - an enchanting masterpiece that explores the making of one of the world's most vibrant civilizations.
A People's Tragedy, wrote Eric Hobsbawm, did 'more to help us understand the Russian Revolution than any other book I know'.
Now, in Natasha's Dance, internationally renowned historian Orlando Figes does the same for Russian culture, summoning the myriad elements that formed a nation and held it together.
Beginning in the 18th century with the building of St. Petersburg - a 'window on the West' - and culminating with the challenges posed to Russian identity by the Soviet regime, Figes examines how writers, artists and musicians grappled with the idea of Russia itself - its character, spiritual essence and destiny.
He skillfully interweaves the great works - by Dostoevsky, Stravinsky, and Chagall - with folk embroidery, peasant songs, religious icons and all the customs of daily life, from food and drink to bathing habits to beliefs about the spirit world.
Figes' characters range high and low: the revered Tolstoy, who left his deathbed to search for the kingdom of God, as well as the serf girl Praskovya, who became Russian opera's first superstar and shocked society by becoming her owner's wife.
Like the European-schooled countess Natasha performing an impromptu folk dance in Tolstoy's War and Peace, the spirit of 'Russianness' is revealed by Figes as rich and uplifting, complex and contradictory - a powerful force that unified a vast country and proved more lasting than any Russian ruler or state.
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the Story Behind the Story
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This book is a must read ( or listen)for everyone who would rather learn the post Petrov Russian story through the culture of it’s people rather than through a timeline of events. The book was my best preparation for my first trip to Petersburg.
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The heart and soul of Russia
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Comprehensive Cultural Study of Russia
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amazing!
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The performance of the reader was good, but the mispronunciation of Russian names was disturbing. He often misses the position of the accented syllable and vowel a should be used in place of o if it is immediately before the accented syllable.
Not an introduction.
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Taught me a lot, but could have been shorter.
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love it!
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The reader is splendid, and I cannot recommend this book more highly. Many thanks to the author and the reader for the great pleasure they have afforded me.
A Kaleidescopic panorama of an enigmatic culture.
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