They’re called bad drivers, tacky and pushy. Armenians get a bad rap if you live in Glendale. As he writes the events of his visit the primary focus is the people, whether fishing for trout in a cold mountain-locked lake, reading to curious children in a school, or, as in the last chapter, attending a wedding whose joy can't be diluted by the numbing poverty of the families. Vasily Grossman is known for his stunning writing on monumental tragedies of the 20th century: the holocaust, the Eastern Front, Stalinism. Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2020. Please try again. A delightful little book. After the Soviet government confiscated—or, as Grossman always put it, “arrested”—Life and Fate, he took on the task of revising a literal Russian translation of a long Armenian novel. After the Soviet government confiscated—or, as Grossman always put it, "arrested"—Life and Fate, he took on the task of revising a literal Russian translation of a long Armenian novel. I found An Armenian Sketchbook by Vasily Grossman an absorbing, wonderful book to read. At other points, he contradicts himself. None better than the other. This short book is more essay collection than straight travel narrative; Grossman reflects on the landscape, on various people he meets and experiences he has, and on aspects of life in general that interest him. Not only was the work itself confiscated but even the typewriters and ribbons on which it was produced were destroyed. This was my first introduction to Grossman. An Armenian Sketchbook is his account of the two months he spent there. After the Soviet government confiscated—or, as Grossman always put it, “arrested”—Life and Fate, he took on the task of revising a literal Russian translation of a long Armenian novel. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. In their joint introduction to this book, Robert Chandler and Grossman scholar Yuri Bit-Yunan surmise that he may have been given the task of serving as literary translator of an Armenian novel by way of compensation for the moral and financial loss of not being able to get Life and Fate into print. "In spite of everything, life would go on, the life of a nation making its way through a land of stone." His brief An Armenian Sketchbook, written in 1962, now appears in English for the first time. a look into the thoughts of Vasily Grossman, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 2, 2013, A very personal book, with Mr Grossman explaining his thoughts about the Armenians and their country. Don't Judge Grossman By This Ordinary Work, Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2014. I have never been lucky enough to visit the ancient land of Armenia, but I don't think you need to have in order to appreciate this short but beautifully written memoir. But that’s because they are. It … At moments, it seems like he is understanding and empathetic towards the Armenians he encounters. His father had social-democratic convictions and joined the Mensheviks. After the 'arrest' - as Grossman always put it - of Life and Fate, Grossman took on the task of editing a literal Russian translation of a lengthy Armenian novel. Part travelogue, part memoir, and shot through with historical and philosophical insights, it is a joy to read. Enjoyable if not a little on the short side, the Caucasus region has always been present in russian history and literature, it was enjoyable to read a little about one of the countries of the region. Buy An Armenian Sketchbook at Walmart.com An Armenian Sketchbook, however, shows us a very different Grossman, notable for his tenderness, warmth, and sense of fun. AN ARMENIAN SKETCHBOOK. This sketchbook details a trip into the Southern USSR near the end of Grossman's life. After the Soviet government confiscated—or, as Grossman always put it, “arrested”—Life and Fate, he took on the task of revising a literal Russian translation of a long Armenian novel. An Armenian Sketchbook, by Vasily Grossman An Armenian Sketchbook, by Vasily Grossman A trip to Armenia proved to be the creative answer for a writer censored by the KGB, broke, and dying of cancer This record of his journey is a delightful celebration of the human spirit he found there. It works. This long and interesting scene left an impression on me, as he was both honest of himself and to Armenians. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. This is the second half of the two part novel that begins with ‘Stalingrad.’. NYRB Classics; Illustrated edition (February 19, 2013). From his first day in Yerevan to his last vignette, a wedding at Mount Aragats, Vasily Grossman's glimpses of life in Armenia of 1962 hold your interest. The Armenia he saw died with him. After the Soviet government confiscated--or, as Grossman always put it, "arrested"--Life and Fate, he took on the task of revising a literal Russian translation of a long Armenian … All immigrants are and despised as such when they first arrive in the United States because they want the American Dream, which has been forced fed us through every media and educational institution since birth and broadcast over the world as a marketing ploy. Refresh and try again. An Armenian Sketchbook was also published posthumously. If you have read any of his books you will love this as well. The same can be said for this recently (2013) translated work An Armenian Sketchbook first published in an uncensored Russian version Dobro Vam in 1998. Happy Women's History Month! Vasily Grossman, after the confiscation of his Life and Fate by the KGB, decided to follow in the footsteps of other Russian authors and journey to Armenia, on the pretext of translating a book by an Armenian author, Martirosyan. _An Armenian Sketchbook_ is an equally profound but sadly lesser-known work. The book resulting from his trip is An Armenian Sketchbook, which is an apt name indeed. An Armenian Sketchbook, however, shows us a very different Grossman, notable for his tenderness, warmth, and sense of fun. Like the best travel books, Grossman's Armenian Sketchbook is a document of the human condition more than a tourist guide. Even though he's obviously a Russian outsider he can so easily fit himself into their days. Go right to his masterpieces "Life and Fate" and "Everything Flows". Excellent. Confirms that Vasily Grossman is one of my favorite authors (maybe top two). After the Soviet government confiscated—or, as Grossman always put it, “arrested”—Life and Fate, he took on the task of revising a literal Russian translation of a long Armenian novel. I was drawn to the book because I have visited Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, twice, the first time in 2015, the second time in 2016. People come here to get rich and if they do, they flaunt it. Maybe they will even become president one day and wave their privilege in all our faces. It made me laugh, it made me cry. Immediately, I felt I was in a beautiful word landscape under a word waterfall with words cascading over me. Welcome back. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. I was drawn to the book because I have visited Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, twice, the first time in 2015, the second time in 2016. He enjoys them and they enjoy his curiosity and the mutual enjoyment allows vodka to flow on every page. Young Vasily Grossman idealistically supported the Russian Revolution of 1917. An honest read and an interesting moment in history, Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2019. Also, I don't think the author made Armenia come alive. We’d love your help. Although it contains some witty pen portraits and lyrical descriptions of vistas, it is really a book of profound reflections on life by a man who has seen the absol, Here is further evidence that non-fiction soothes the soul. After the Soviet Government confiscated—or, as Grossman always put it, “arrested”—Life and Fate, he took on the task of revising a literal Russian translation of a long Armenian … Hard to imagine that a scant hundred or so pages can give one hope for this dirty business of being a human being, but Grossman delivers. I only wish there was more of it. Where Grossman spends an entire chapter painting me an impeccable picture of his first impressions of Yerevan, wandering through the city while desperately needing to pee. by NYRB Classics. My supplemental reading taught me that Armenia is an ancient and fascinating place. His description of the landscape is stunning. This brought a huge smile to my face. He was born in Ukraine to a Jewish family and became a journalist and was known to be very critical of the Soviet Union, comparing it even to Hitler's Nazi Germany. Grossman provides hauntingly beautiful descriptions of the Armenian landscape that rival the best work of nature-writers like Anne Dillard (_Pilgrim at Tinker Creek_) or Loren Eiseley (_The Night Country_) and muses on the incredibly tragic histories of peoples like the Jews and the Armenians. Vasily Grossman is known for his stunning writing on monumental tragedies of the 20th century: the holocaust, the Eastern Front, Stalinism. ... s reflections on the Armenian people among whom he lived for two months in 1961 as a “translator” for a famous Armenian novelist, Rachiya Kochar, although Grossman didn’t speak Armenian. A must read. Armenians get a bad rap if you live in Glendale. The novel is a mishmash of sketches of life in Armenia, Grossman's own views on life, philosophical musings, and the author's activities in the country. An Armenian Sketchbook An excerpt. MacLehose Press, £12. For Grossman these people stride proudly over the rocky paths and they shoulder back against mountains which tower over everything they do. Near the end of his road, the author … You will see there the true measure of this literary master craftsman who has yet to earn the widespread recognition he richly deserves. After a lifetime allowing his work to be mangled by the Soviet authorities, he wouldn’t be pushed around any more. The book’s introduction notes that it could have been published in Grossman’s lifetime but he refused to take out fifteen lines the censors demanded he cut. An Armenian Sketchbook, however, shows us a very different Grossman; it is notable for its warmth, its sense of fun and for the benign humility that is always to be found in his writing. (He was actually cleaning up a literal translation into literary Russian, and did not in fact speak Armenian at all.) Unable to add item to List. Timeless stories from our 170-year archive handpicked to speak to the news of the day. You don't have to sign up for courses, read 35 books under the direction of professorial inanity tithed in occasional albeit cheap wisdom at a cost no one seriously seeking the truth will ever pay off; you just spend a day or two with Grossman here, and then carry around An Armenian Sketchbook with you. Above everything Grossman admired about Armenia was its people, the peasants of this mountain republic who've endured the stoney hardships of pulling a living from resistant earth. It is a fascinating read, and a must for anyone who likes the authors other books, or wants to know more about Armenia, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 21, 2013. Ararat, because of its fundamental link with the beginnings of all things and all history. And no matter how old the city is it is new to you, built as you see it, street by street, square by square, building by building. In an Armenian Sketchbook, written by Vasily Grossman, the author details the two months he spent visiting Armenia. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. That is the feeling that before you visit a city it is just a name on the map but when you enter it you create your own version of it in your mind and you see it as no one else has seen it before or ever will again. In my opinion, you can skip this book. He admires the land itself, dominated by Mt. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2021, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, The Road: Stories, Journalism, and Essays. An Armenian Sketchbook by Vasily Grossman, 9780857052353, available at Book Depository with free delivery worldwide. Beautiful, humane, intelligent and insightful. An Armenian Sketchbook, by Vasily Grossman, trans. Condition: new. Future plans include reading both his newly translated, This is a vivid little book, as much a platform for the author’s musings on a variety of subjects as it is a travelogue. Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free. They’re called bad drivers, tacky and pushy. A rather charming oddity, much lighter in tone and substance than anything else Grossman wrote - so although it is an easy read anyone starting with this one will see nothing of the power and humanity of his great novels (Life and Fate, Everything Flows and Stalingrad). It's as if he felt he had to "pad" the chapters with "significance". The introduction and appendices note that during his time in Armenia Grossman was ill, his marriage was breaking down, and his masterpiece, I, who have always loved books on travel, had never heard of. , had recently been "arrested" as he put it - confiscated by the KGB. The passage describing the author's 'near death experience', written only around two years before he actually perished of cancer, is one of the most amazing such passages I've read in all of literature. An Armenian Sketchbook displays all the humanity and candour of Grossman’s Red Star journalism, but with a difference. This is a vivid little book, as much a platform for the author’s musings on a variety of subjects as it is a travelogue. As he is a novelist, I liked the way he was able to give life on the page to every one he met during his two month visit to Armenia. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in, No Import Fees Deposit & $8.39 Shipping to Canada. Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. This is a delightful little book and a great place to start with Grossman, here at the end of his life on the Armenian steppe in the early sixties. An Armenian Sketchbook, however, shows us a very different Grossman; it is notable for its warmth, its sense of fun and for the benign humility that is always to be found in his writing. Vasily Semyonovich Grossman was born on December 12, 1905, in Berdichev, a Ukrainian town that was home to one of Europe’s largest Jewish communities. Thanks for signing up! He is an exceptional writer and this book was sad and hilarious at the same time. An Armenian Sketchbook By Vasily Grossman NYRB Classics, 160 pages, $14.95. An Armenian Sketchbook is the first of Grossman's non-fiction I've read, and it's certainly the most personal of any of his published writings. A lovely gentle description of Grossmans trip to Armenia. Life and Fate (New York Review Books Classics), Everything Flows (New York Review Books Classics), The Road: Stories, Journalism, and Essays (New York Review Books Classics), A Writer at War: A Soviet Journalist with the Red Army, 1941-1945, “Vasily Grossman is the Tolstoy of the USSR.” —Martin Amis. He goes a bit overboard in the these-people-don’t-suck-they’re-great flip side of prejudice, but that’s only a small part of this interesting memoir. (He was actually cleaning up a literal translation into literary Russian, and did not in fact speak Armenian at all.) It is a pearl of great price. Passersby stared at me. One of the undisputedly good things about modern scholarship is that women’s history is finally getting its due.... To see what your friends thought of this book. The humor, observation, and powerful prose of this master come clear through the translation to give an insight into an intelligence worth knowing. ‘An Armenian Sketchbook’ appears to be a simple travelogue, written after Grossman spent some time there translating an Armenian epic. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. Free 2-day shipping. The discovery here isn't just the Armenian people, landscape and culture, but of Grossman himself. It can't be this easy. To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. An Armenian Sketchbook is his account of the two months he spent there. I didn't totally know what to expect but it has left an impression on me and my family members. Time had aged the mountain; time had killed the mountain-and here lay the mountain's bones.”, PEN Translation Prize Nominee for Elizabeth & Robert Chandler (2014), An Armenian Sketchbook, by Vasily Grossman, Power, Sister! ‘An Armenian Sketchbook’ appears to be a simple travelogue, written after Grossman spent some time there translating an Armenian epic. Email address Sign Up. This is by far the most personal and intimate of Grossman’s works. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15796750-an-armenian-sketchbook An Armenian Sketchbook is his account of the two months he spent there. His record of his first walk around the streets of Yerevan particularly impressed and moved me. People come here to get rich and if they do, they flaunt it. One of the first things that strikes himin Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, is the huge statue of Stalin. Got it! 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