Anna Akhmatova: Poet and Prophet [Paperback]

Roberta Reeder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2007

A definitive biography, ten years in the making, of Russia's greatest twentieth-century woman poet recounts her aristocratic childhood in St. Petersburg, her reputation for clairvoyance, her influential innovations in the art of poetry, her abuse by Stalin, and more.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this monumental biography of one of Russia's-and the 20th century's-greatest poets, Reeder, editor of the poet's complete works, deftly combines incisive literary analysis with a complex portrait of Akhmatova (1889-1966) and her turbulent times. Initially influenced by the Symbolists and Imagists, the poet became more oracular, moving from the "chamber intimacy" of her earlier work to poetry that increasingly addressed the oppressiveness of the Russian people: "I-am your voice," one poem proclaims. So fervently did Akhmatova embrace this role that Stalin's regime suppressed her poetry for 20 years. Drawing upon interviews with the poet's friends and colleagues, some interviewed for the first time for publication, Reeder humanizes a woman lionized by the Russian people. Oppressed by governmental scrutiny, she was sometimes afraid to commit poetry to paper, relying instead on her memory and on those of her friends. Her romantic entanglements with Modigliani and Pasternak (whose persistent advances she rebuffed), as well as a sense of self-mockery about her exalted status, give further depth to Reeder's absorbing study. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

"The chamber intimacy of Akhmatova... what meaning [does it] have for our harsh, iron age?" asked the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky in the early days of the revolution. That intimacy has in fact proved remarkably enduring, but for decades Akhmatova faced censure, deprivation, and the imprisonment and death of loved ones before her genius-recognized in the early 1900s-was again acknowledged by the regime. Reeder, editor of The Complete Works of Anna Akhamatova (LJ 4/1/90), does not emulate her subject's spare, lucid verse, offering instead a richly detailed, exhaustively-indeed, exhaustingly-researched work. She brings in other writers with whom Akhmatova was linked, analyzing and quoting from their works as well as Akhmatova's, and while the result is a nice overview of the era, the poet does get lost in the process. Reeder seems to have hunted down every last reminiscence, however peripheral, and some filtering might have resulted in a stronger portrait. Still, this major study of a major poet usefully assembles a breadth of material. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.
--Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 864 pages
• Publisher: Figueroa Press (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932800239
• ISBN-13: 978-1932800234
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,265,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Indigestible, June 25, 2008

By 

Irina Hynes (Chicagoland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Anna Akhmatova: Poet and Prophet (Paperback)

This is an exhaustively researched biography; no stone is left unturned in the names, places, dates and events of the poet Akhmatova's life. However, Reeder doesn't seem to manage compiling the mountain of data into a flowing narrative. The effect is a bit like watching a homemade movie made with a handheld camera, constantly zooming around and giving a sudden close-up of something. Suddenly, you'll get several pages in which she heavily excerpts other works about a particular person's life, even at the expense of shining any light on Akhamatova herself. In the section she devotes to the poet Osip Mandelstam, we are suddenly told that he "had the brilliant idea of getting a cow" to survive his exile. In fact, his widow Nadezhda wrote in her superlative memoir that getting a cow was her idea and (Osip) was "not keen on my plan ... 'Nothing ever comes of such schemes,' he said." Ultimately, Reeder's biography feels a bit clinical. She does a good job at analyzing the poetry, but Akhmatova herself eludes us. (By the way, to hear Akhmatova reciting her own poetry, go to www.russianpoetry.net, then click on "Voices.")

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting character in interesting times, June 26, 2007

By 

DOROTHY (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Anna Akhmatova: Poet and Prophet (Paperback)

Beautifully written bringing to life the real Anna set in the real history of that period in Russia. Both a history lesson and a poetry lesson.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A look into Russian intellectual life, October 17, 2008

By 

Paul E. Richardson "Russian Life" (Montpelier, VT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Anna Akhmatova: Poet and Prophet (Paperback)

Much more than the biography of a great poet, it is a looking glass into intellectual life in Russia during one of its most prolific and tragic eras. Invaluable. (Reviewed in Russian Life)