Solovki by Rob Robson

[elizaveta]

Highly recommended reading:  "Solovki" by Rob Robson (Yale Press).  The story of Solovki Island where, in 1429, two intrepid monks sailed to Solovki to establish what would become one of Russia's holiest monasteries.  Almost every Russian sovereign revered Solovki, and even the dilletante Felix Yusupov made a stab at "spiritual cleansing" there.  He didn't like the straw mattresses and came quickly home.

However, this book is beautifully written, thoroughly researched, and a real treasure .

E

[Pravoslavnaya]

A great thank you for this recommendation.  Solovki is doubly holy ground as a monastery and as a place of martyrdom.  I will definitely look for this book.  God bless you!

[Belochka]

On page 32 of 64 in Section 7 there is a marriage of an Alexandra in 1923 to  Yuro Mikhailovich Ossorguine who died Oct 16, 1929 at Solovki. This would have been during the horror of the gulag at the sacred monastery.
Joanna

In his memoirs Reflections on the Russian Soul, A Memoir Dmitry Lihachev (published in English in 2000), who was an imminent historian and intellectual from SPb, presented a chilling account about confinement in Solovki.

He provides a few pages (pp 169 -71) about Georgi Mikhailovich Ossorgin. He worked as a clerk in the medical section, where he apparently tried to persuade the doctors to classify as many in-mates as possible as being unfit to perform work in this notorious prison.

Lihachev describes Ossorgin's final meeting with his wife, in which he deliberately failed to mention to her about his impending execution in a few days. Unknowingly, she emigrated to Paris believing that Ossorgin died of 'natural causes'.

[Belochka]

Hi Joanna,

You're welcome!

Likhachev's compelling book contains a number of images of Solovki, and including the Solovki Theater (Solteatr), where plays were performed.

This is one of the verses of a song which was composed by Boris Glubokovski (previously an actor from Moscow), who now organized plays within the Solovki confines (p 128):

Far from the frost, the blizzards and the snow
We like all the seagulls haste to go,
From afar the faint light's glimmer see,
Solovki, Solovki, Solovki.

Likhachev was a complex scholar who wrote with a distinctive style. His descriptive use of the Russian language reflected his love for Imperial SPb and culture. He was a gentleman of the old school.

He argued that computers are the 'thing' for today, while books lasted an eternity!

[Scout]

Many facts about Solovki  prison may be also found in a wonderful book "Descending into the Darkness" (Pogruzhenije vo t'mu) by Oleg Volkov. The author tells us about his own experience - he spent 27 years in those horrible places. As he was related to many famous people he tells their stories too.

I am not sure if the book was translated in English. If not it is a great pity. It  is filled with facts and interesting material.

[Elisabeth]

Thanks to everyone for letting us know about all of these wonderful books! I'm making a list for my next trip to the library.

Solzhenitsyn also gives an account of the concentration camp at Solov'ki in Chapter 2 of "Gulag Archipelago II." It includes the story of Georgii Osorgin. And there is yet another account of Osorgin's life and death in that beautiful book, "Echoes of a Native Land"... Belochka, you're a magical writer, if it's not too much trouble, could you write a review of that book someday? Anyone who hasn't read it... really you must!

[Scout]

I forgot to mention the fact that Georgi Osorgin was Oleg Volkov's friend and co-prisoner and he tells quite a lot about him in his book.

Also, I would like to point out that there is another great book by Sergei Michailovich Golizin "Zapiski Utselevshego" (The Memoirs of a Survivor)  where the fate of Georgi Osorgin is mentioned. Accidentally S.M. Golizin was a popular children's author.
Solzhenitsin only echoes the evidence of those two.

[Belochka]

Belochka, you're a magical writer, if it's not too much trouble, could you write a review of that book someday?

Hi Elizabeth,

Thanks for your kind words. Which book are you refering to?

BTW I thouroughly enjoyed Echoes of a Native Land by Sergei Schmemann. Imagine writing about your ancestral estate, and finally having the opportunity to visit Russia and search for what remains. But to be presented with an offer to purchase that property was quite unexpected and overwhelming.  To disclose what decision this American author reached would only spoil the texture of the whole book.

[Belochka]

Also, I would like to point out that there is another great book by Sergei Michailovich Golizin "Zapiski Utselevshego" (The Memoirs of a Survivor)  

Hi Scout,

Thanks for this reference. I am unfamiliar with this title. In which year was this book published?

[Elisabeth]

Belochka, I meant, please write a review of Schmemann's "Echoes of a Native Land" - if you ever feel like it, of course. I would start a new thread, but it's been so long since I've read this book, I'm afraid I couldn't do it justice. I'm only surprised no one else has reviewed it yet!

[Scout]

Belochka
Sergei Mikhailovich died in 1989, the book was published posthumously somewhere in 1991. I am not quite sure about the dates  - it might be checked on the net.

There is a shortened magazine version of the book available on the internet for reading in Russian. Though curtailed it makes very interesting reading. I doubt there is an English translation - which is a shame. It is asking to be translated as it is a very powerful document.
Can't find the link at the moment, but if you google the net you would certainly trace it.
I'll make some enquiries and let you know the details.

[Belochka]

Thanks Scout!  

Elizabeth,

I agree with you - that book should have its own thread because there are many issues which would be of interest to others.

I will need to review this book again first. As you can probably appreciate, it impressed me enormously, particularily the last line of the book!