Russka by edward rutherfurd biography

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    Russka Part 1 of 2

    July 20,
    No country on Earth can boast a more tumultuous history than Russia. Born in the clash of marauding nomadic tribes nearly 2, years ago, this sprawling Euro-Asiatic nation has witnessed repeated bouts of foreign incursions, ethnic conflict, revolution, and a millennium of autocratic, and often heartless, rule. To portray the grand sweep of Russian history in fiction seems an impossible task. But the British novelist Edward Rutherfurd has managed to do so to a remarkable degree in just beneath 1, pages in Russka.

    FOUR FAMILIES EMBODY THE UPS AND DOWNS OF RUSSIAN HISTORY
    Rutherfurd traces the intertwined lives of four families over the 1, years during which the Russian state has come to formed. The action frequently shifts from Kiev, to Moscow, to St. Petersburg, but the story’s center of gravity lies in a small village called Russka. All four families—the Bobrovs, Suvorins, Karpenkos, and Romanovs—trace their roots there.

    Their faces, and their lives, refl
  • russka by edward rutherfurd biography

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    Russka

    RUSSKA is a mighty novel that spans 1, years of Russia's history, people, politics and culture from the ancient wandering tribes on the great Eurasian plain to the present day. The story follows the fortunes of five intertwined families: the noble Bobrovs, serf Romanovs, Cossack Karpenkos; the Suvorins - Old Believers, capitalists and patrons of the arts; and lastly the Popovs, parish priests and revolutionaries.

    Members of these families seek their destinies through the old Russian period of golden Kiev, with its famous Orthodox cathedrals and monasteries, the terrible invasions of the Mongol descendants of Genghis Khan, the rise of Moscow and the boyars, and the dark days of Ivan the Terrible and his secret police. Modern times begin with the wild, romantic story of the Cossacks, the conflict between the indomitable westernizer, Peter the Great, and the religious Old Believers who burn themselves alive rather than enter the europeanised world of St Petersburg. From this

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    Rutherfurd on Rutherfurd

    Russka

    Q. In your second book, Russka, you told the story of Russia. Why did you choose that subject?

    A. My grandfather, though English, lived abroad, including a period in Russia during Tsarist times. My oldest aunt spoke quite fluent Russian. Some of the first music I ever remember was the Russian music, especially Prince Igor, that my father liked to play. Russian music, it seems to me, from liturgical chant to Prokofiev, has a special sense of space that one doesn't find elsewhere. As a boy, it was always a haunting subject in my imagination.

    Q. You were retracing your grandfather's footsteps?

    A. Yes.

    Q. In researching the book you travelled to Russia. Were you able to move about freely?

    A. Fairly. This was the Gorbachev era. A few of my travel requests were refused, but not many. I made about six trips, on average a month each, travelling alone but usually with an Intourist guide. As well as the obvious places, they let me visit the Golden