How did a country with such a tormented past bring such stunning works of art into being? America's leading Russian historian, W. Bruce Lincoln, finds answers in a land uniquely suspended between East and West, past and future, sacred and secular, and in its suppressed artists' creative search for identity and inner freedom under tyranny. Examining Russia's masterpieces through the prism of its social and political history, Between Heaven and Hell synthesizes accounts of music, painting, architecture, literature, iconography, ballet, and cinema into a gripping saga. Transforming exhaustive archival research into a passionate story, this gorgeously illustrated volume brims with the silent mysteries of Byzantine Christianity, the dazzling Imperial splendor of the czars, and the poignant return of brutalized exiles to their homelands. The roster of artists--Pushkin, Tolstoy, Borodin, Tchaikovsky, Kandinsky, Pavlova, Chagall, Pasternak--carries straight through to the contemporary ordeals of Solzhenitsyn and Brodsky. A fabulous gift for Russophiles, history buffs, and connoisseurs of all the arts, Between Heaven and Hell shows how the collision of social contradictions, imported art forms, and creative genius gave birth to the quintessential Russian experience.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
This slim volume tackles an overwhelming subject: 1,000 years of Russian achievements in the arts, from medieval ikons to the novels of Tolstoy to the films of Eisenstein. Much has been written about the subject over the years, but Lincoln poses himself a slightly different task: to depict not so much the history of Russian arts as the history of the country's "artistic experience," including the "social and political forces" that shaped artistic creation. Author of such histories as Romanovs and Nicholas I, Lincoln ably provides the context such a task requires. Unfortunately, Lincoln's purple prose can sometimes be distracting. No one ever seems to merely wear a medal, they wear it "proudly"; a building is not simply painted turquoise when it can be "brilliant" turquoise. Here, for instance, is Lincoln on the music of Rimsky-Korsakov: "Oceans churned, storms thundered, the sun sparkled in wintry forests, and in the new warmth of spring nightingales sang and golden fish leaped from crystal streams." Overall, however, Lincoln's marriage of history and the arts is a happy one, demonstrating how the peculiarly Russian tension between East and West and between politics and the arts helped produce artistic works that were both uniquely beautiful and uniquely Russian.
Review
Especially in the first quarter of the book, the reader has the same sensation of glut--cathedrals, dates, rulers, isms--that comes from a tour guide's breathless patter.... All this is a shame because Lincoln ... has clearly done epic research for this book, which, once it settles down, especially in its treatment of the 19th and 20th centuries, has both good anecdotes and good insights.... -- The New York Times Book Review, Richard Lourie
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent introduction,
By A Customer
This review is from: Between Heaven and Hell: A Thousand Years of the Russian Artistic Experience (Hardcover)
I purchased this book, hoping that I would be provided an overall introduction to Russia's cultural history. With the PBS two series THE FACE OF RUSSIA and THE HERMITAGE, and this book, I can now further explore individual aspects of the geography of Russia's culture. I especially enjoyed the early parts of the book. It left me wishing to read more on Kiev, Novgorod, and early Moscovite history. I want to congratulate the author on his excellent work here. Well-written with good footnotes, it makes the culture and history easily accessible for the beginner. The only thing that seemed to be missing was a good bibliography. But that is nitpicking of an otherwise outstanding work. This should be a guide for any who wish to write cultural histories of other nations. Again congratulations Mr. Lincoln. Your work is much-appreciated.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a unique approach!,
By
This review is from: Between Heaven and Hell: The Story of as Thousand Years of Artistic Life in Russia (Paperback)
Once past the Introduction, which is so laden with copious details of the lurid opulence of the coronation of Nicholas II and Alexandra that the effect is almost soporific, this is a marvelous history of Russia's immense cultural heritage. For a single-volume history of an epic thousand years, it's rich with nugget after nugget of genuine scholarship and understanding about a seemingly infinite panoply of artistic riches. Lincoln not only covers all the arts- architecture, painting, music, literature (his revelations of Gogol are alone worth the price of the volume!), he exquisitely realises an integration of his subject into a fine general history of Russia. Catherine the Great is given rather short shrift, not much meat there, but the chapters on the Romantic period and the rise of Realism are fascinating and meticulous crafted. This is history writing Richard Pipes can only dream of- readable, deep, authentic, and beautifully attuned to genuine literary merit. I recommend this book to anyone interested in a comprehensive history of Russian arts. It's intelligent, beautifully paced, and not burdened by unnecessary digression. Russiaholics, of course, will eat it up!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intersting Perspective on a Great Nation,
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This review is from: Between Heaven and Hell: The Story of as Thousand Years of Artistic Life in Russia (Paperback)
Bruce Lincoln has chosen a very apt title to describe Russian history and culture. On one hand Russia has been plagued with an often violent history and tyrannical rulers. On the other Russians have adapted to the cultures of their invaders and the cultures they absorbed through their own invasions. This process has enabled Russians to develop an amazing cultural and intellectual heritage that should be envied by the entire world. I bought this book to help me understand Russian music - which I find to be among the most beautiful ever written - and film for a research project on Eisenstein. I found the approach very useful in understanding a this great film director given the political nature / and purpose of his films. However, the book will enlighten your understanding of the 19th century literary greats Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and particularly Gogol.It is suitable for the expert of Russian studies as well as the novice - so long as you can appreciate great art as well as the failures and the achievements of man. Ochin Khorosho
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