Russia Books

*REVIEW BY NURI KINO, JOURNALIST, SWEDEN:

In Rosie Malek-Yonan's The Crimson Field the author has succeeded in poetically braiding historical facts and personal experiences into a novel--into a book at its best. In one of the chapters the author's grandmother cuts off her braid. The braid is swept in the current of the river. It remains floating in the shifts and slowly becomes undone. The Assyrian nation and the Assyrian youth are much like every strand of that hair looking to where they once came from. The Crimson Field gives them the reason why they became unbraided and why many lost their roots.

To read The Crimson Field is to understand that the Assyrians were not merely guests in Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. The country of Bet-Nahrin in Mesopotamia was the cradle of civilization and the homeland of Assyrians (who also call themselves Chaldeans or Syriacs). Through her characters Malek-Yonan gives us an open window into a past history most would prefer to remain unstirred. She allows the reader to see the scars of her nation that have yet to heal. The only way to understand Assyrians of today is to understand their past.

But most importantly, this book transcends barriers of race and religion. It is a mirror image of the human race at its best and at its worst. There is no physical border between Good and Evil, however, Evil is very real. It is real in the sense that we cannot imagine Evil without its opposite: the care of others, compassion, and love.

This tale of one life takes you on that journey, in the most amazingly literary, beautiful and poetic way possible. Evil can never be forgotten or justified, but it can be forgiven so long as it is acknowledged and recognized!

I'm almost always skeptical when a storyteller or writer leaves little to one's own imagination by making very clear and bold statements. But that is not the case with Malek-Yonan. In The Crimson Field it's important for the reader to be brought along when a soul is extorted from a slaughtered body and let the author tell us to look down at the earthly body, in order to understand the feelings of a mother who is driven from her homeland and forced to leave her only child.

Rosie Malek-Yonan's liquid and lyrical style of writing is a perfect blend of long and short phrases each a poem in itself. The cadences of a concert opera are evident in her writing. A concert you don't want to leave. Colorful, her writing jars all five senses. The reader smells and touches what her characters experience. The reader sees, feels and tastes what the characters do.

The Crimson Field is literature at its best.

*REVIEW BY PROFESSOR DWIGHT SIMPSON, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY:

I have completed reading your wonderful historical novel, The Crimson Field. It is, in my opinion, truly a fine piece of writing, and I congradulate you. You have done a great service to the Assyrian people and to humanity in general by recording the terrible tragedy that befell the Assyrian people in the early 20th century.

*REVIEW BY PROFESSOR S.G. OSIPOV, MOSCOW, RUSSIA:

Upon seizing Jerusalem in 1799, the future French Emperor Napoleon was said to have been struck by the sight of pious Jews shedding tears beside the Wailing Wall. Still further struck when informed that the Temple above the Wall had been ruined over 17 centuries before, he could not but exclaim in amazement: "And they are still weeping!"

So are the Assyrians, who have a Wailing Wall of their own after being expelled from their historical motherland in 1918. This is Urmia, the focus of their 19th century efforts to revive the Assyrian culture and regain nationhood. Losing it caused a similar frustration to the loss of Nineveh 25 centuries earlier. A bleeding wound in the national psyche that ensued is best compared to a lesion in the heart from a severe life-threatening attack. It badly hurts and will continue so in many more generations of the Assyrian people.

The dispersal of the Jews is part of common knowledge. The 20th century flight and subsequent dispersal of the Assyrians are largely to the Assyrians themselves. Being untold and unexplained, this tragedy is all the more hurtful, creating the feeling of desperation and no way forward for them.

This tragic feeling pulsates in The Crimson Field by Ms. Rosie Malek-Yonan. A composer, a pianist, a film and stage actress, a figure skater for the Winter Olympics in 1980 and a gifted writer, so talented a person is the best imaginable mouthpiece for this feeling. She expresses it so intelligently, caringly and tactfully, that an image arises of a suffering nation that gradually overcomes a tragedy in its recent past with wisdom and spiritual fortitude.

The plot is centered on the family history of an Assyrian woman named Maghdleta. This history unfolds as part of the recent history of the entire Assyrian people. All major events with the Assyrians in the 20th century are reconstructed with scientific precision and in places they almost give the novel the feel of a documentary. Overarching everything are marvelous love stories of rare psychological elaboration and artistic quality. They are a golden find in the novel. Mastership of music enables the author to provide precise emotional and psychological guidance for the reader, setting fine tonal guidelines for each passage in her book.

Characters from four generations of women are in the spotlight, Pari, Maghdleta, Maghdleta's daughters and Maghdleta's granddaughters. The main supporting characters (such as Soeur Marie, Zahra Khanoom, Shakar and Madam Gaudin), too, are all women. This feminine prevalence in the book creates overwhelming passion and emotion which keep the reader riveted.

Emotional poignancy in the novel comes to its peak in a small girl named Fibronia. Her tragic story reasserts the old maxim that the treasures of the entire world cannot redeem a single tear of a weeping child.

Last, but by no means least, the author treats her complicated and multifaceted subject in ways and terms that are easily comprehensible and quite simple. My everyday tongue is Russian, but, unexpectedly ­ and I am never tired of thanking God for this ­ I easily read The Crimson Field in its original language, English. Moreover, I read it on a single breath. Ms Rosie Malek-Yonan succeeded in winning what writing is actually for, emotional and intellectual involvement by the reader.

*REVIEW BY BRIAN PATRICK CLARKE, ACTOR, USA:

It is with a mix of both trepidation and humility that I approach this, my attempt to do justice to Rosie Malek-Yonan's exceptional first offering, "The Crimson Field." Since my ambition herein is to prompt the prospective reader, i.e., "book jacket skimmer," to do as I personally did: proceed with all alacrity to actually purchase and immediately immerse myself in a personal exploration, I will focus on what I, an actor by trade and an avid reader by avocation, do know: Story.

Maghdleta's extraordinary saga is, in "genre," another commentary on the remarkable capacity of even the most unassuming and unlikely of our species to endure the inconceivably unendurable -- and to surmount the seemingly most insurmountable of circumstances.

"The Crimson Field" is viscerally horrific and palpably heroic. It is likewise a "must read" for these times, as it is a tale both unique (I, personally, was unaware that there had even been an Assyrian genocide, less than one-hundred years past) and frighteningly familiar. Need one look any further than today's Middle East to foretell the dire prospects attendant to centuries of instability and inhumanity? With an administration in Washington that continues to trumpet its success in "fighting terrorism" and, yet, repeatedly reveals the danger inherent in its ignorance about the region, the people, and, most importantly, the history, "The Crimson Field" is, sadly, a commentary on just how suddenly ­ and grotesquely - things can change. To prevail against one's enemy, one must first understand one's enemy. If, in fact, "knowledge is power", then the benefit in educating oneself through a compelling read of this book is an exponential growth in empowerment. As George Santayana cautioned, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

This is NOT a dry, read-yourself-to-sleep, historic narrative. Since Rosie's "The Crimson Field" is her own ancestral epic saga (i.e., opus magnum), it is with such personal pathos that she has vested her work. The reader not only reads what Magdhleta, her family, and her Assyrian friends and neighbors endured but also feels the pain with intimate immediacy. It is, thus, not a tome for the faint-of-heart. The suffering is real, and the reader who does not connect with shock and revulsion to the magnitude of cruelty brought by man against his fellow man had best reexamine his own desensitized soul. It is simply not possible to ingest this book with the measured passivity of one who has "seen or heard it all." The humanity, and its converse inhumanity, demands a visceral connection from the reader.

It is on this last basis with which I must take exception to one of the prevailing reactions that my friend, Rosie, has enjoyed among her Assyrian readers: "This is our story. This is the story of all the Assyrian people!"

At the risk of offending those who, God knows, have already suffered unimaginably, I believe it would be a gross mistake to make claims of exclusivity on this extraordinary book; specificity, inarguably, but exclusivity by its very definition diminishes the potential for universal impact of this gifted author. True, the Assyrian genocide ­ and its nearly three-quarters of a million victims ­ provides the specific setting for "The Crimson Field." In that sense, it would be absurd to take issue with proprietary reactions from among those whose forebears lived it. However, this book is ultimately so much broader in its application. Change the geographic and temporal settings, change the indigenous peoples, and change the scope of the deeds, and what remains is a too often told tale. The Crusades, The Inquisitions (French and Spanish alike), The Holocaust, and even the give-no-quarter sweep of Alexander the Great share a very familiar thread: pathological pursuit of pleasure by inflicting horror on "others" (that is, anyone whose ideology does not comport with one's own).

*REVIEW BY WILFRED BET-ALKHAS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ZINDA MAGAZINE, WASHINGTON D.C.:

Malek-Yonan is a gifted writer who skillfully captures the naked struggles of a young self-assured Assyrian woman trapped in a war-torn province in northwest Iran, of a Christian nation insensate by ruthless atrocities, and the hopes and fears of an unforgettable cast of characters tormented by numbing events leading to and moving farthest away from the memories of the war, yet each finding themselves years later forever trapped in the hues of the insanity of The Crimson Field.

A stark and compelling treatment of one of the least known horrors of wars of the 20th Century, The Crimson Field is a stirring narrative that masterfully depicts the persecution and murder of some 750,000 Christian Assyrians of Iran, Turkey, and Iraq. Malek-Yonan takes us on a voyage of self-discovery of her grandmother who finds that her search for the meaning of life was more overwhelming than the misery and chaos of the most insane atrocity ever committed on a defenseless people.

*REVIEW BY DR. ROBERT PAULISSIAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, JOURNAL OF ASSYRIAN ACADEMIC STUDIES:

In his book Nationalism in Iran, Dr. Richard W. Cottam stated, "The story of [the Assyrian] flight is one of those epical human tragedies that cries for a great novelist to record." Rosie Malek-Yonan has done just that. The Crimson Field is a significant historical novel by a gifted writer depicting the human miseries of a war-ravaged Assyrian nation. No one has dramatized this epical human tragedy better than Rosie Malek-Yonan through her sensitive and lyrical style writing. The story combines historical facts and suspense in gripping narratives. It is full of excitement, anguish, sorrow, pain and joy. A fearless writer, Malek-Yonan propels the reader through this very visual novel to the events in Urmia, Iran, during World War I. Through the masterful use of her poetic language and style she has excelled in creating this intriguing historically accurate novel.

*REVIEW OF NINOS MARAHA, HUJADA MAGAZINE, SWEDEN:

Rosie Malek-Yonan's novel about the last century's first genocide is based on a true story focusing on her maternal grandmother, Maghdleta, who searches a past filled with beautiful and equally cruel memories. These events created a hole in her soul as significant as the hole left in the soul of the Assyrian nation, a hole punctured by the neighboring Turks and Kurds during the First World War, when over 750,000 Assyrians were slaughtered.

The images of the brutal genocide depicted in The Crimson Field are countered by stories of love and romance written in a very poetic and symbolic style. Nevertheless, those of weak heart may consider not reading this novel, as it may be too shocking, cruel and rough.

I felt very emotional when reading The Crimson Field, a story that every living Assyrian can relate to through the inherited stories told by generations of Assyrians, carried in their hearts. At the same time it is a story about human tragedy and how easily friends can turn into enemies.

*REVIEW OF EDGAR WEINSTOCK, ACTOR & DIRECTOR OF THEATRE & OPERA, NEW YORK:

Ms. Malek-Yonan is an artist who shares her journey most beautifully. The author's narrative articulates aspects, which unite us all as a race. I know our American Martin Luther King, as well as the Spanish Miguel de Unamuno, the French Victor Hugo and the Japanese Chiune Sugihara would consider Rosie Malek-Yonan a woman of stature; a soul of Tragedy. Unforgettable and endearing characters who never gave their adversaries an easy chair to lounge in by allowing themselves to be washed away into the sea. The people she puts before us have, instead, crossed vast oceans in order to survive. And they have.

*REVIEW OF FIRAS JATOU, EDITOR, NINEVEH MAGAZINE, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA:

What a remarkable book! Rosie Malek-Yonan's The Crimson Field takes us on a journey to a time and place that has been largely forgotten in the annals of history. This is a very personal, engagingly written account that moved me like nothing I have ever read on the suffering of a people. It transitions effortlessly from depicting provocative atrocities in a hard hitting no punches pulled style, to vivid portrayal of love, honor, and hope. A beautifully written book that is a must for the Near-East enthusiast and general readers alike.

*REVIEW OF LEE ENOKIAN, THE TIMES, NW INDIANA & THE ILLINOIS LEDER:

Few people within the mainstream American culture even know the Assyrian people still exist. Fewer know anything about the Genocide perpetrated against them. Almost three million Assyrian, Armenian and Greek Christians were murdered by the Islamic Ottoman Turks during World War I because of their ethnicity and faith.

The Crimson Field assigns faces and names to the victims of this dreadful chapter of history. It captures the plight of an Assyrian girl, helplessly caught up in the turmoil of her surroundings.

Malek-Yonan's work shines a terrible light on an overlooked study of Islamic violence during the 20th Century. It is a must read for any person interested in learning about the personal cost of Islamic Jihad.

Few people within the mainstream American culture even know the Assyrian people still exist. Fewer know anything about the Genocide perpetrated against them. Almost three million Assyrian, Armenian and Greek Christians were murdered by the Islamic Ottoman Turks during World War I because of their ethnicity and faith.

The Crimson Field assigns faces and names to the victims of this dreadful chapter of history. It captures the plight of an Assyrian girl, helplessly caught up in the turmoil of her surroundings.

Malek-Yonan's work shines a terrible light on an overlooked study of Islamic violence during the 20th Century. It is a must read for any person interested in learning about the personal cost of Islamic Jihad.

Lee Enokian, The Times (Northwest Indiana) and The Illinois LeaderA Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish ResponsibilityDarfur: The Ambiguous Genocide, Revised and Updated Edition

This is a great book which shows the extents of the crimes done to Assyrians during WWI by Moslems. Even today, Assyrians are being persecuted for their only crime is being Christians. History does repeat itself and I hope books like this would make people aware of the crimes done against humanity. This book is very well written, a great story. I would recommend this book to everyone especially Assyrians so they know more about happened during WWI.

Few people within the mainstream American culture even know the Assyrian people still exist. Fewer know anything about the Genocide perpetrated against them. Almost three million Assyrian, Armenian and Greek Christians were murdered by the Islamic Ottoman Turks during World War I because of their ethnicity and faith. The Crimson Field assigns faces and names to the victims of this dreadful chapter of history. It captures the plight of an Assyrian girl, helplessly caught up in the turmoil of her surroundings. Malek-Yonan's work shines a terrible light on an overlooked study of Islamic violence during the 20th Century. It is a must read for any person interested in learning about the personal cost of Islamic Jihad.

Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and BeyondWe Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from RwandaThe Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness (Newly Expanded Paperback Edition)The Devil Came on Horseback: Bearing Witness to the Genocide in Darfur

You have spelled the author's name wrong. My name is Yale Richmond, and the paper edition of the book was published in 2004, not 2000.

Yale Richmond

Cultural Exchange highlights the intrinsic events within the educational system, that is, the exchange program between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., that led to the downfall of the Soviet Union by the ideas that it helped to foster. It gives you a detailed, well researched account of the events that led to these programs, as well as many small entertaining tid-bits such as students in the program who were afraid to do anything because they thought the CIA was working with the KGB. All in all, a synopsis of the book is not needed here, just pick it up yourself if you have an interest in the Cold War and/or the events that led to the downfall of the Soviet Union, to see for yourself what lies within the book.

Other recommendations along with this title:
New Myth, New World, from Nietzsche and Stalinism
Toilet: The Novel (A Tribute to the Literary Works of Franz Kafka)

Scholarly and illuminating, Richmond's book colorfully documents official, government Soviet-American cultural exchanges that began after Stalin died in 1953, and helped to break down barriers of fear and ignorance, at a time that many of us felt the Cold War was freezing all contact.

These cultural exchanges involved books, movies, writers, performing artists, scientists, technologists, think tanks, politicans, and scholars.

Richmond writes eloquently, liberally using quotes of people who took part in the exchanges. One was organized by Gerald Mikkelson, professor of Slavic languages and literature at the University of Kansas, and it flourished in the 1970s and 80s. From several days to several weeks, Soviet writers came to the university, experienced the Midwest, and went away forever changed.

"Those visits to Kansas," says Mikkelson, "not only broadened their horizons culturally and ideologically, and gave them plenty of food for thought that sometimes got translated into specific literary works or images, but it added to their prestige and emboldened them at home in their efforts to make the Soviet Union a more livable place for writers and people in the other creative and performing arts."

Imagine a Soviet writer being plunked down in Kansas!
And other new places!
The same for Americans in the Soviet Union!

Some Soviet scholars were not allowed to take part, because the Soviet Foreign Travel Commission didn't think they were "reliable" to travel abroad, for whatever reasons. One of them was Soviet professor George Mirsky, a Middle East expert, who whole-heartedly encouraged his students at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations to go on such exchanges.

Mirsky writes, "Before the exchange, people believed that Western society, no matter how wealthy and affluent, was narrowly materialistic, devoid of any humanism and spirituality, selfish and arrogant, indifferent to moral, cultural, and artistic values, full of hostility for Russians and of anti-Communist crusading spirit.

"What amazed them was American hospitality, warmth, willingness to oblige, civility and politeness, lack of ethnic prejudices, care for disabled, richness of artistic life, pluralism of opinions, abundance of associations. The Soviets were able for the first time in their lives to see a functioning civil society. This was a great surprise...The exchange visitors would never be the same again."

As a musician and lover of the arts, I especially enjoyed the chapter on performing arts, with highlights of American impresario Sol Hurok's success in bringing Soviet musicians, dance troupes, ice shows, and circuses to the U.S. As a child, I had seen some of these performances, but not been aware of their long-range effect! Reciprocal trips took such Amerian writers as Norman Cousins, Robert Lowell, and Edward Albee, and such groups as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the American Ballet Theatre, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to the Soviet Union.

These cultural exchanges paved the way for the the arrival of Mikhail Gorbachev to the presidency of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev and his wife had done a great deal of foreign travel in the 1970s and 80s, and loved it. They saw that another world existed beyond their country. As president, Gorbachev opened the door even farther and moved the Soviet Union forward to help end the Cold War.

I love this book because it is informative, inspiring, and written with obvious relish and passion. Richmond was there, working on these exchanges, helping to get people talking, and opening up their minds. He records this first-hand. Who else can tell such a great story so well? I recommend the book to anyone who wants to learn, to understand more about history, and to appreciate the people who changed it. Bravi!

The jacket of Richmond's book states that this work "demonstrates that the best policy to pursue with countries with whom we disagree is not isolation but engagement." Whether or not this is universally true, a very strong case is made for this argument in this study of cultural exchanges during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States.

The exchanges between the two countries were initiated by President Eisenhower in a letter to Bulganin, the Soviet head of state, and were begun in 1958. Whatever concerns there might have been about potential Soviet espionage, the program found approval even from FBI Director J. Edger Hoover. Richmond demonstrates the wisdom of this program as thousands of Russians and Americans participated in these exchanges which continued up to the time when the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

The book's table of contents provides early clues to the range of the program. There were exchanges of scholars in science and in the political and social sciences, exchanges of scientists and technicians for conferences and participation in working groups, exchanges of journalists and diplomats, and the well publicized exchanges of performing artists in ballet, music and theater. Students in the exchange program often remained in the host country for several years; scientists and technicians only for the several weeks of a conference or working group.

The background to the exchange rogram is provided through citations from the reports of American administrators and scholars associated with it and through personal interviews in which they describe the difficulties of implementation in the face of bureaucratic obstacles from two mutually suspicious countries. It is the interviews with the exchange participants, however, which is at the very heart of this quiet but remarkable story. Of particular interest are the interviews with dozens of participants from the Soviet Union.

This reader was arrested by the positions held by the Soviet participants at the time of their arrival in the U.S. and by what became of them and their careers on their return to the home country. In contrast with the American exchange scholars who came largely out of academia, many from the Soviet appear to have held government positions when they arrived in the U.S. or at some earlier time. The nature of some of these positions is especially surprising to the lay reader. Among four students who came to study at Columbia University, for example, two were in the KGB, one in Soviet military intelligence, and the fourth in the Central Committee of the Communist Party. These backgrounds do not appear to have been exceptional among Soviet exchange scholars.

It is not certain from Richmond's reports if expsure to the U.S. through this program was, in general, an advantage or handicap to Soviet participants' careers on their return home. Nevertheless, it is evident from some of the case studies that some achieved positions of great influence. Alexander Yakolev, for example, became a senior advisor to Gorbechev and is known as the "godfather of glasnost." Rem Khoklov was awarded the Lenin Prize for his scientific research and became a member of the Soviet Parliament. What may have been of importance even greater than those who reached high positions, however, is that many scholars were inthe government and on the job when the Soviet Union collapsed and were prepared for the social and economic changes which were to come.

At a time of increasing barriers to those who would enter the U.S. as students or observers, CULTURAL EXCHANGES AND THE COLD WAR demonstrates the value of openness even during the most stressful periods of the Cold War. American leaders coming from a broad political spectrum took the risk of allowing access to this country by students and leaders from our most feared competitor. From this there appears to have been an unimagined payoff.

This is truly a terrific book on zhostovo technique. Ms. Redick covers everything from choosing your tools (brushes, palette, paints, etc.), to the final coat of varnish - and everything in between is covered in exquisite detail. Heather explains everything (and I mean everything!)in very fine detail. Each step or technique is very descriptively written and fully accompanied by loads of photos, so that one only has to concentrate and follow step-by-step.
Many (if not most) painting books assume that the reader will understand what is meant by "put your word or technique here". I find that Ms. Redick makes no assumptions about what we do or do not understand by a given word or description. There is text and accompanying photos to describe pretty much anything and everything that this book covers. It does a very thorough job of covering everything from choosing colors, blending colors and how to paint each type of stroke. Every flower and leaf is broken down into stroke-by-stroke description and picture. Given that the reader is motivated to put in at least a moderate effort and amount of practise, it is what I would describe as a "no fail" painting book.
I most surely hope that she plans to do another!

After studying Zhostovo painting in Ontario, Canada, with Heather, I found this book to be of great benefit to refresh my learned skills. It has explicit instruction on leaves, flowers, and designing your own linework borders which are very beautiful, yet the guidelines are easy to construct using a compass. The book is easy to follow and her technique is of the finest. You will master brush control if you follow her detailed instruction on strokes. How to load a brush is detailed in depth and no stone is left unturned in this area. I can feel the rhythm and movement in the clear illustrated pictures. A great book to study from...a great teacher to show you how!

After studying Zhostovo painting in Ontario, Canada, with Heather, I found this book to be of great benefit to refresh my learned skills. It has explicit instruction on leaves, flowers, and designing your own linework borders which are very beautiful, yet the guidelines are easy to construct using a compass. The book is easy to follow and her technique is of the finest. You will master brush control if you follow her detailed instruction on strokes. How to load a brush is detailed in depth and no stone is left unturned in this area. I can feel the rhythm and movement in the clear illustrated pictures from her book. A great book to study from...a great teacher to show you how!

This book certainly fits the bill. Heather Redick's work is beautiful and inspiring, and her teaching style is detailed and informative. She provides instructions on composing your own designs,and provides a range of projects for all levels of difficulty, and on plenty of surfaces. I wish she would have included some history of the Zhostovo style, and perhaps some more patterns. Overall I've had great success with her techniques.

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881)is the world's greatest pyschological novelist probing the human mind without peer. Professor Joseph Frank of Princeton has written a five volume biography-literary commentary on the works of Dostoevsky. "The Seeds of Revolt" is the first volume in the series. This initial volume discusses the life and works of Dostoevsky from his birth to a doctor in Moscow to his arrest for a conspiracy against the goverenment in 1849. Dostoevsky was sentenced to Siberia for several years.
Dostoevsky was the second son of an emotionally distant physician and a loving mother. His father may have been murdered by his servants but this has never been proven. Dostoevsky was a shy, quiet boy who enjoyed reading and study. His father forced him to attend an Engineer Academy in Moscow. He hated it and left the army soon after his graduation. Unlike the wealthy Leo Tolstoy he came from the middle class.
Dostoevsky leaped to fame with his 1846 epistolatory novel "Poor Folk" which was aided by the good reviews given it by the influential critic Belinksy. Dostoevsky eventually broke with the Belinsky circle becoming involved in groups seeking to free the serfs. In repressive Tsarist Russia he was arrested for such participation.
Frank's book is a scholarly written study not just of Dostoevsky but of the literary and social trends of his time. The author gives succinct but sound interpretations of the author's early works. Some general readers who expect a straight biographical account may not appreciate this type of book. I, as a lover of Dostoevsky's works, found it fascinating. We see the literary influences on the young Dostoevsky (Balazac, Hoffman, George Sand, Schiller, Sue, Scott and others); his movement from Romanticism to a deep psychological understanding of humanity and his Slavophilic and Messianic view of Russia.

As Frank emphasizes repeatedly in the Preface (and in the prefaces of subsequent volumes), he is not writing as a biographer, strictly speaking, but rather as a literary critic (and to a lesser extent a socio-cultural historian) - primarily of Dostoevsky's novels. (Frank does admit that things got a little rough for him during the period of Dostoevsky's imprisonment, as he has chosen to cover the man chronologically rather than book by book.) This kind of books I have never read before, I must confess. However, I think his expressed purpose serves my needs perfectly: I am more interested in what the novels mean, than what Dostoevsky was having for dinner on a particular day. Frank's is a serious and scholarly approach, and I am sure all five volumes - now in an honored place on my shelves - will stand the test of time as the definitive work on the great Russian novels (as opposed to the great Russian novelist).

The limits of a non-vernacular literary biography are mostly intuitive but Frank makes you feel like Dostoevsky wrote in English. Not that he was English, or American, he was most assuredly very Russian, but Frank's effusive manner and luminous analysis bring out a character in Dostoevsky's early work that could be easily overlooked when, as I did I first, the reader jumps from Brothers Karamazov to Crime and Punishment to the Idiot and then jumps over to Tolstoy or Turgenev. Frank shows you the pleasure of staying with Dostoevsky, immersing yourself in Dostoevsky, and that is a strong achievement indeed.

La mejor biografia de Dostoievsky escrita en ingles hasta el momento. Una joya insuperable.

Fantastic story of the Brynner family. The pictures themselves are quite an interesting aspect of the book. I gave this book to my mother-in-law for her birthday, as her favorite movie is "The King & I".

Rock Brynner proves himself to be a very capable historian and writer. To put this together was an amazing labor of love. Not only is the text riveting, the photographs are wonderful, and there are a lot of them.

The book's title clearly fits. The Bryners build an empire and travel widely. The book describes both across 4 generations.

This family was certainly where the action was over these generations: shipping, mining, and entertainment. (Now, Rock appears to be a free lance academic, similarly, a reflection of our times.) A fascinating timber deal may have been the precipitating element in a Russo-Japanese War, a war which sewed further disconent with the Tzar and spurred his downfall.

In this book we get glimpse of the founding of a Russian city, how a clever hardworking immigrant could make a fortune and how tenuous that fortune could be. We see how events in Moscow and St. Petersburg affected people across many time zones and countries.

The mobility of the early generations is interesting. They easily move from Hong Kong to Japan, to Russia, to China and back again. These foreigners found not only businesses, but cities in these places. The paperwork seems to be mininal to nonexistent. After the revolution, leaving was problematic (but solved). Later generations circumnavigate the globe, but citizenship is a mobility issue.

Due to her own personal heartache, Yul's mother moves and these moves keep Yul one step ahead of political upheaval. Living with his mother, he was exposed arts at home and in Paris. His uncle provided a stable father figure. Had the divorce not occurred, would his father's influence have prevailed and would he have been a businessman or have been purged along the way? Were it not for his eventual fame, this particular book, this amazing story, would never have been told.

Rock points out how art immitates life (or is it the other way?) through the irony of his sister singing Madame Butterfly which is a parallel story to her grandfather's. He shows the themes of "leaving behind" (otrecheniye) and returning to place through the generations. I love how he refers to Yul's status as a faux monarch, and how the real ones relate to him.

This is a wonderful book. In reading it you see the impact of history on people's lives. You learn more about Yul Brynner (didn't know he did so much directing, spoke so many languages, knew mobsters) and the interesting life of Rock.

Empire and Odyssey, by Rock Brynner, is a most delightful read of non-fiction. To tell the most extraordinary story of his family, starting with his great-grandfather, Jules, Mr. Brynner has masterfully woven in the last 150 years of Russian history. His eye-opening observations are clearly the product of a facile and scholarly mind, but the reader is unaware of this richness thanks to the author's obvious talent for storytelling. The book hits the ground running with Jules sailing aboard a pirate vessel to find his way to Shanghai, where he lays the foundation for a trading company. By way of Japan, he is one of the founders of the city of Vladivostok, and there he deals with Tsar Nicholas II, who determines to build a railroad from St Petersburg, to this Wild East seaport town. The author uncovers the reasons for the resulting war with Japan, that ultimately precipitated the Bolshevik Revolution. His grandfather Boris struggles to outwit the Soviet beauracracy, for the Brynner Empire, and for his family's survival.
The Brynner patriarchs' remarkable love lives counterpoint the politics and industry, as they surround themselves with beautiful, strong, intelligent women, who fight for what they want, alongside their husbands, or without them.
By the time the story focuses on Mr. Brynner's famous father, Yul (after Jules), the reader is treated to anecdotes of Mikhail Chekhov, Jean Cocteau, Cecil B. DeMille, Rogers and Hammerstein, Marlene Dietrich, Frank Sinatra, and other titans of 20th century show business, providing unique and candid insight into the nature of celebrity.
The author finally turns the lens on himself, and the weight his family's legacy has had on his own life, which is no less remarkable. Bartending for the Rat Pack, chauffeuring Sam Giancana, bodyguarding Mahummed Ali, road managing The Band, and poignantly returning, on invitation as the Brynner scion, to Vladivostok, wearing his father's cowboy boots from The Magnificent Seven.
Empire and Odyssey proves that fact is more fantastic than fiction. Fast paced and entertaining, I recommend it to anyone. It left me wanting more. I hope Mr. Brynner will return to extract additional exquisite ore from this mother lode.

Rock Brynner's biographical history of his amazing family has to be one of the most exciting non-fiction books this year. This is not a tale that could have been told in a magazine article (unless it had filled the entire magazine) ! Yet this reads as swiftly as a really compelling article in Vanity Fair magazine. It is like Dr. Zhivago, Around The World In Eighty Days, and Horatio Alger all rolled into one, starring Yul Brynner no less, with equally superb supporting roles played by his own father, grandfather, and heroic scapegrace son. Heroic in the last case, because the latest Brynner is a first-rate historian who gives the reader a beautiful historical sketch of the fascinating but little-known part of the world that has been called 'Russia's Wild East.'

The actual story of all the members of this family is as, or more astounding than anything Yul Brynner performed on the screen, which is saying quite a lot. When the story moves to Yul and Rock it is peppered with new cameos of many of the most intriguing people of our times. As for Yul himself, his Superstar status is not in the least bit diminished by all this elaborate detail - it only becomes more awesome. Hollywood usually glamorizes it's subjects but Yul was that amazing exception, the real thing ! One also discovers that it was not such a stretch for him to play an unusually admirable King, or Pharoah since he had a good assist from his own life and from his own DNA. His immediate forebears also all looked as if they had stepped off movie screens, were natural leaders, and lived very thrilling, demanding lives. It is a something of a miracle that they all survived the swirl of major historic events that they did live through.

The biographical and historic material by Rock is beautifully researched, well balanced, and described with bright wit and economy of phrase. Yul and the ancestors would be truly proud !

"Escape" is a full throttle thriller from beginning to end. Persistent in action and suspense, the main character Hayden keeps up the surprises with his intelligence and passion. A member of the Russian Rebel Army, he is driven by both the revenge of his father's death and pride for what his country could be. A peace lover turned marksmen; he relentlessly pursues his and his friend's escape, and throws in a $64 million dollar heist as a bonus. Brian T. Seifrit has crafted an entertaining piece of fiction that leaves the reader anticipating a follow up.

Author of The O'Brien Series, Manhunt, and Flesh Craves - The VanFell Legacy, Brian Seifrit stays true to his course in this contemporary action adventure thriller. Strong characters and macho action are his trademark.

The Cold war may be over, but Hayden Rochsoff still has an axe or two to grind. Life under communism has been grim for Hayden. He's become one of the best shooters in the Russian Rebel Army but he's weary of the game. No longer able to tell the good guys from the bad guys, beaten and tortured to within an inch of his life, Hayden vows revenge. He longs for freedom and safety, but first he must rescue his long time friends, Monique and Alex Farrell. This brother and sister team have not fared well and Hayden has his hands full pulling off their rescue from a commie prison. Their run for freedom is interrupted by Ellis Leroy, an unsavory operative from Hayden's past who plays both ends against the middle for monetary gain. He suggests a plan to the trio that will provide millions of dollars and guarantee their freedom. The only drawback is that the money must be stolen in Alaska from the DEA and US Navy. It's not an easy go, even for the accomplished Hayden and his friends.

Escape takes our hero and his friends from Russa to a cruise ship on the Bering Strait and finally to Alaska. Action and intrigue abound. Will Hayden and his friends survive to reach freedom and pull off the caper that will make them millionaires? You'll have to read the book to learn the answer.

"Escape" is the story that is very well written and it is a story that is "dying" to be told on the "big screen". The everlasting human wish to reach freedom as a person and as a member of the society, society that has been oppressed many years by a communist regime, is the fuel that powers this story. When the political idea becomes a personal agenda or vice versa, be sure (if you're the audience) to buckle up, because this story will take you to the rollercoster ride. All elements are there: love, passion, action, revenge. And fear, of course, the primary human sense. And it is not just the plain fear. It is rather a more "sophisticated" fear that deals on so many levels of the human mind: fear of the personal and collective welfare, welfare of the immediate significant one, fear of both success and failure.

Denis Cviticanin

writer, director

I have had the pleasure of reading and reviewing several of Mr. Seifrit's works. I have to say that he is definitely emerging as a skilled writer bringing his characters to life, which is a true gift given to the reader of any work.

Escape is a story of Hayden, Alex and Monique. Although to me, it is a story of mainly one man Hayden and his quest to free his friends, revenge his troubled soul and perhaps live out his life in peace. But much will transpire before he could ever hope to achieve his goals.He must first rescue his friends from the hands of the commies, steal millions of dollars from the DEA and US Navy and pray to finally have true freedom. Does he accomplish all of these goals?
What happens within the spirit of men and women who have lived under the heavy oppression of Communism. Once they are free, are they really free, or do the scars
travel with them and haunt them all of their lives? Do they make decisions based on those scars and their past? Perhaps!

Escape is a book filled with action and intrigue, mystery and sorrow. A story that shows the strength of the human spirit and the determination of the heart. Will he and his friends survive the trials that are now set before them? Escape, a thriller of a book, with underlining whispers of one man's heart and the cost of being free!

~Shirley Johnson Senior Reviewer MidWest Book Review
Denise's Pieces

Love this book. I love poetry and Puskin is one of my favorite authors. The story depics Russian society in the 1800. It is a well written novel in the form of a poem. The hero of the novel Eugene Onigin is described as a sinical character while Tatyana, the heroine is the fulfilment of moral and social duty. It is a wonderful book to read. It is a love story.

What we have here is Pushkin's ultimate fiction: Eugene Onegin. It became a rebirth of great Russian Literature, a few hundred years before "The Lay of Igor's Campaign" was created. It became a classic ever since it was published, and it's still going strong in modern times. It certainly ranks with Lermontov's "A Hero of our Time" and Gogol's "Dead Souls" when it comes to recommended reading.

This is the first English translation I came across, and I did enjoy it. Charles Johnston did a splendid job with creating a flow that English speakers like me can understand, while never losing the overall Russian atmosphere. He gets an thumbs up from me. As for the work itself, it's astounding, and I don't think there will ever be anything like this created in the future.

For those who can read the original Russian, I'm sure this English translation would be surprising to them. A poem-novel...written in Russian by the great Pushkin, known for his short stories, plays and poetry...this book is the beginning of our understanding of Russian literature in the 19th century. The hero is Byronic in nature but the landscape, the time, the mood is distinctly Russian. This novel set the tone for Lermontov, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and to a certain extent, the writings of Akmahtova in the 20th century.

I would consider this translation above others. It's the first version I read and the only one I want to read (I've made comparisons to other versions and still find this the most emotionally satisfying...the feelings, the intensity of mood, the beauty, the passion...I'm sure if Byron were alive today, he would read this one...and if Pushkin were alive and read modern English, perhaps this one too.)

Well worth your currency to pick this one up, for yourself and/or those with a love of Dostoevsky or Lermontov.

Eugene Onegin, capably translated by Charles Johnston is a simply amazing piece of literature. Possibly Pushkin's most well known work, it maintains enormous influence in Russia today, with Pushkin often considered to be the 'Russian Shakespeare'. Any fan of Russian literature should take the time to read this or any of Pushkin's other works, as so many of the great Russian writers that are so well known were inspired and influenced by this great poet's work.

The novel is written in verse format, in a style that has come to be known as the "Onegin Stanza". This 14 line format allows for a range of emotions and reading experience over the course of the novel. Sometimes light and playful, other times deadly serious, the verse format of the novel adds a lyrical readability to the novel, while at the same time making the many shifts in subject potentially disconcerting. These shifts in focus (to literary conventions and precedents, women's feet, and various other confessions and tidbits) along with the novel's scope of focus and time make it many times complicated to understand. However, this is one of the novel's great achievements as it provides insight and exploration in a wide range of topics, while maintaining a literary self-awareness. The guiding plot is thoughtful, surprising and enjoyable as it (again) explores a vast range of life experiences, hinging on a couple of vicissitudes.

The Penguin edition with its introduction and further reading recommendations is helpful in understanding the role that this novel has had in Russian culture as well as critical studies. The notes are helpful throughout the novel - the fact that they are not denoted in the text and are instead attributed to each stanza makes it easy to read the notes either concurrent with the novel or as a nice addition after having completed the novel.

Eugene Onegin is truly deserving of all the praise and attention that it has received over the years - I highly recommend it as a literary experience that will not be soon forgotten.

An exquisite book, large format. Beautiful color plates. If you get one book on Faberge for the quality of its plates, this is it.

While in Moscow, we were able to see the traveling exhibition of Faberge eggs and pick up this book. The exhibition itself was stunning - the individual settings were chosen especially for the particular egg, the accompanying commentary intriguing, the lighting spectacular.

The only thing that compared to the eggs themselves was this book which is one of the best of its type. It is large and the photographs and descriptions lush. One is transported back in time to the days of Tsars and Orthodoxy and the now disappeared Russian craftsmanship. This is a must for your coffee table.

This book is amazing! The oversized photos are mezmorizing. I am a collector of the small egg charms used in the Czarina's Maria Feodorovna's necklace. I was thrilled to see photos of many of the egg charms I own. I love this book!

I couldn't ask for a better Faberge book. Exepting those by my freind Geza Von Habsburg.

If "The Flying Witch" Has "Psycho", You're In Deep Trouble!

I checked this book out of the library and am now looking to buy it. My 6 year old just loves it, both the story and the illistrations. (A girl that falls off her father's turnip truck!?!?!). Great! And I sub and share this story with students and they just sit and listen and always want to hear it again and again. Love it!!!

By: Elizabeth age 8

I like the flying witch because I thought that the witch Baba Yaga was going to eat the girl she saw in the woods but she did not. The witch made a friend girl named Yummy.

This is my favorite part, Yummy (Y-um-mee) told Baba Yaga to get some beets so she can make beet soup. While her father was at the market selling beets and Baba Yaga ask to buy them all, Yummy's dad was worried and his daughter was missing from the car. His daughter fell off the car. When Baba Yaga got home, Yummy's dad followed Baba Yaga. When Yummy fed the witch she asked if this is better than a little girl.

This is my favorite part of the book because I like when Baba Yaga says that she wants to buy them all because it could make her sick. Yummy's dad follows the witch into her house so he could get his daughter.

The illustrations were so good I wouldn't be able to understand the book without them.

I think that ages 3-5 is good to read out loud, but to read to her/him self should be 6-9.

I think that the theme of this book is don't judge a person by they look.

The Flying Witch is not a series.

"The Flying Witch," by Jane Yolen, is illustrated by Vladimir Vagin. The book tells the story of Baba Yaga, a Russian witch who flies around in a giant mortar-and-pestle. Her goal: to kidnap and eat a child!

In the afterword, Yolen notes that she read a number of Baba Yaga stories in 3 books, but that the story here is her own. I imagine that a story whose main character wants to abduct and eat a child might not suit all tastes (forgive the pun), and that the portrayal of such a villainous witch might offend some Wiccan readers. But those issues aside, this is a wacky, fun, deliciously macabre book. The illustrations are really wonderful; Vagin successfully combines down-to-earth detail with fantastic imagery. Together the text and illustrations create a fairy tale world that has color and bite.

Perhaps the highest compliment I can pay to any author, or any literary work, is not being able to get enough of it. I simply didn't want the book to end -- so I am reading it again.

The post cold-war world is seeming chilly to the Russians, and the only way to save face is to beat the American's at their own game, American football. The (former?) KGB is involved as well with its "arsenal" of secret weapons and programs -- including my favorite secret-agents Bimbova and Bendova. The Americans also have their secret weapons and programs, including a reverse-engineered prototype of an inter-galactic hover craft that crash-landed near Roswell in the 1940's.

This is a hilarious work of creative genius. Kroll is great! The multi-faceted and multidimensional plot kept my interest throughout the book. And since a sequel is technically impossible, I would like see a prequel, with Bimbova and Bendova of course.

An exciting adventure of the day after tomorrow, "Fourth & Gogol" is incredibly detailed, impossible to predict, subversively funny and yet deeply emotional. The scenes, from loading a Makarov automatic to the unique agony of football camp (called a "FULAG," insanely enough) to a horrifying rape of a teenager to a hysterically funny encounter with a cross-dressing ex-president aboard Air Force One to an evil Stalinist eugenics program, one is moved to believe Kroll has been overexposed to Kubrick, Clancy, P. J. O'Rourke and maybe even Voltaire. It's hilariously sick stuff with characters you'll never forget. It's the utter unporedictability of it that makes it such a worthwhile adventure.

Mix one part "The Longest Yard" in with one part "Dr. Strangelove," a helping of "The Hunt for Red October," any Stanislaw Lem you've got at hand and then pour in some marinated (and I do mean marinated) Russian masters, hit "LIQUEFY," and you come up with "Fourth & Gogol: The True Story of Russia's Top-Secret American Football Program."

Who knew that an atom-bio confrontation, eugenics, genetic engineering, Area 51 and a wholesale invasion of the West by Russia could be humorous? I guess Alex Kroll did. And it is.

The Russians are stinging. Licking their wounds for losing the Cold War. So they set their sights on humiliating the Americans by beating them at their very own, most American game. Payback for the 1980 Olympic Hockey upset. They blackmail the NFL's best coach (he's got a betting problem) and arrest some of Russia's best athletes to form a team at football GULAG out in Russian Central Asia. They will take on the Americans at the coming Olympic Games, where football is to be the demonstration sport. The coolest part, possibly, is Russia's secret weapon: A special, central-computer controlled "Head-Up" football helmet system with visor displays showing formations, blocking assignments, pass routes etc.

Meanwhile, Russian dictator Hrapchenko decides to spring west and south -- seeking the direct route to the Persian Gulf and brie in Paris. Not that I'd blame him for it!

It's an insane, well-written read. That's all I'll say.

If you love international intrigue, and football -- the kind where a certain female entertainer has not only one, but several wardrobe mishaps, and then goes on to play stellar cornerback through the second half -- look no further than Kroll's droll stroll through 60s-style one-upmanship between US and THEM (read Rooskies).

While I, myself, am not an expert on the genre, I recognize expertise when I read it. Kroll's handle on things technological, espionage-related and how to kill a guy with your bare hands -- on and off the football field -- is firm, baby.

The larger picture is not left un-splattered upon, either. Sure, times have changed since we pointed so many ICBMs at each other, but I sense a subtle bit of finger pointing going on between the pages here. Check the latest polls and you'll find a US citizenry that doesn't necessarily feel it's at war, strangely enough. Could Iraq and Afghanistan be this century's version of the Cold War? If so, what the heck do we call it? GWOT? Pshaw! Warm War? Well, getting warmer.

Anyhow, no matter what you make of "Fourth & Gogol" by the time you get to the pseudo-apocalyptic ending, you'll likely be viewing Mr. Tom Clancy's deadwood thrillers through the space dust in the rear-view mirror of your own literal stealth spaceship -- made in the USA, I might add.

Comrade Kroll, you have written a funny, funny novel. Now, about the film rights...