Customer Reviews

Rasputin the Holy Devil

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This study of the "starets" Rasputin is both cinematic and visceral. The reader is shocked by the pre and post coital scents that linger in his shabby rooms, unwashed linens and unwashed body to which the fanciest women were drawn. He had an animal-like hunger for sex, food and drink. He consumed huge plates of fish and was often drunk and not in the condition to respond to the Imperial call for his company. His notorious debauchery was transformed into a religious event by the respectable ladies who even gave their daughters to the sacramental ecstasy. These women and many men as well gave money as well as their bodies to this Siberian giant, wearing soiled clothes, with hair and beard atrociously unkempt.
There is little doubt that Rasputin had some superior powers, be they demonic as history has suggested or from some other plane, his ability to mesmerize and predict is too universally aclaimed to have been untrue. His reputed miracles of healing with the suffering Tsarevitch are well documented for their medical as well as political implications. And Miller's study, closely lifted from many primary sources, substantiates the claim of influence he had over the foreign and domestic policies of the Tsar. The picture of the anguished Romanov, Nicholas, and his unpopular foreign wife; suggests more that their historical doom was as much a feature of their own misfortunes and personal failures as they were from exploitation from the holy father. It was true however, that the weak Nicholas did listen to the advice of the peasant who was so despised by police and royals alike. However the author points out that Rasputin often gave good advice despite the opinions published in the underground pamphlets that circulated throughout Moscow. Miller published this book in 1929 while there were still many living witnesses to refute the misinformation that was disseminated by the Bolsheviks. He researched diaries, publications and police reports as well. Rasputin spoke in defense of the Jews and impacted decisions to halt pogroms. He was the voice of the peasant to a Tsar who was otherwise deaf by virtue of distance not lack of compassion. And it was Rasputin who denounced Russian involvement in the fatal World War, about which he had projected great suffering upon the land. That foreboding we know became horrifyingly true.
Rasputin was indeed a remarkably craven figure, lustful and drunken, but not, we discover, alone in his sin. He was the subject of several murderous plots and hated most vehemently by a religious power figure, Iliodore, who had been displaced in his position with the royal family. If Rasputin were from fiction, where he seems to belong, there would be some way to decide about the true nature of his soul, but this is life filtered through time and so we will likely continue to remain unsure. I recommend this book as a clear and relatively unsubjective account of the times. It certainly is superior to Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra.

This story on Rasputin is a recommended read for those who like history. It is inconceivable how such a mysterious character can come from peasant stock yet be known and respected as an Emperor. In the beginning of the story, a stranger comes from Siberia and has the ability to cure the sick of their maladies. This news reaches the Emperor, who has a handicap son. Thus, begins his life in high society. The biggest challenge was Rasputin always clashed with members of this upper echelon. I can not imagine such a holy man existing now in Washington, or London, or even the EU. It could happen but it has not yet been publicised. His reputation for being a womanizer and drinker catches up with him. Yet he was so shameless about it, even spilling state secrets in moments of drunkenness. This all led to his expected murder by members of the court. Rasputin was mysterious from where he came and the book ends with the fulfillment of his prophecy which compliments this real life mystery.

A good book to discern what are the facts versus the drama-hype. I purchased this for a scholarly project and enjoyed it immensely. Of special interest was the detail on the Russian Khlysty mystic sect. This book left me believing that Grigori Rasputin was probably less psychic than hypnotic, but certainly fascinating. Holy? I'm still out on that one. If it had been a fakery, it was a good schtick that gave him great power, riches and fame. If it was real, it really makes one wonder if we've got our traditional ideas of God all wrong.

Rasputin's legendary power over women made sense in context of the times, as the Russian women of all classes believed what they did with him was "holy," and they were otherwise culturally quite sexually repressed. Husbands even approved. The Khlystys believed one had to know sin to be free of it--an interesting perspective that caused great scandal, but explains a lot as to his social behavior.

The details of Rasputin's death are less dramatized than where I've read elsewhere. There is nothing of his penis being cut off, nothing of his body sitting up in the funeral pyre. For me, this just solidified that author Fulop-Miller was sticking to the facts only. I liked that Fulop-Miller refused to write the book from anything but actual state records, diary entries, letters, and things that he could verify. This is why I chose a book written in the 1920s over one that's been colored with all the legend and mystery. After all, this book was written just a decade after his death!

"Rasputin The Holy Devil" stops just before the exile and execution of the Romanovs. To me, it ended on a surprisingly beautiful note, with the Empress and little Alexei looking over the tulips on the steppes of Siberia from their train car, as the Empress quietly pondered Rasputin's words of their fate.

I can find little about author Rene Fulop-Miller, and that's going to be my next academic tangent, as he has written a great deal on subjects that interest me.

Unfortunately, having done a lot of research on the subject, I find that this book only furthers the gossip and myths surrounding Rasputin, rather than expounding on the less sensationalist reality of his life.

It would be hard to give a full and satisfactory account of the life of Rasputin. His exploits -- from duping the Romanov family into thinking he had magic powers, to holding marathon orgies -- were astonishing in their breadth and weirdness. This book, whose title is taken from an anti-Rasputin pamphlet published near the end of his life, does as good a job as any of explaining who he was and where he came from. It was first published several years ago, so it is somewhat out of date with historical scholarship.