The Life of an Unknown Man by Andrei Makine

This is a big novel set within a relatively short book. It deals with the major disruptions of Russian history in the twentieth century from World War II to the coming of the New Russia after the demise of the Soviet Union. The central characters are Shukov, a middle aged onetime dissident and writer who has lives in Paris, and Volsky, a former soldier and victim of Stalin's purges.

"Sobornost", although not invoked directly, provides one of the central themes of novel, as embodied in the life of Volsky, the unknown man, who in the siege of Leningrad had "come to see human lives as one single communal life and it was perhaps this perception that gave him hope".

However, Volsky's sense of solidarity with other people is contrasted with the lives of the new Russian elite, who are in the process of removing him from a small apartment in Saint Petersburg so this can be re-developed. The eviction co-incides with celebrations of the city's tercentenary, and the arrival of global leaders, including one who for Makine seems to symbolise the New World Order, Tony Blair.

SOBORNOST AND THE BIG SOCIETY

Sobornost : "Spiritual community of many jointly living people". Icon showing the Trinity by Andre Rublev (Wikipedia).

Whilst "en vacances" bicycling around the West Midlands, Boris chanced upon an autobiography of the Archbishop of Canterbury called "Rowan's Rule" in a sale of local library books. Being more spiritual than religious, Boris was not familiar with the Archbishop's affinity for the Orthodox Church and deep interest in Russia's intellectual legacy, failings which this book has now rectified.

It is, therefore, a great shame that BBC Radio 4 did not consult Dr Williams in the making of their epic Russian history series, "The Wild East", the final part of which concluded last week. Whilst some episodes of the series were very good, particularly those dealing with the aftermath of the second 1917 revolution, it is a pity that the central premise of "The Wild East" - civil society in Russia always cedes to the power of the state - came across as BBC propaganda.

The last episode, which focused on the Yeltsin, Putin and Medvedev troika, was especially weak. For whatever the ethical and other shortcomings of post-Soviet government, Russian politicians whilst small in stature have nevertheless succeeded in fulfilling their role in big man politics. However, even the autocratic oligarch nemesis and ever-macho Vladimir Putin, notably during last year's disastrous forest fires across Russia, has been firmly put in his place by those fearless babushkas who beat back the flames engulfing the mother land. It is in these admirable peasant matriarchs and their communities that, in Boris's view, the true and enduring spirit of Russia and sobornost are to be found.

Similarly, when Londoners, and their Mayor, took up brooms to sweep up after the recent riots, the Big Society found something of the same sobornost; which just as well given that the state on the this occasion, both in its government and police, has been found lacking in solidarity: or, put another way "success has many fathers....but failure is a single mother."

"Better than afternoon on oligarch's yacht"

Boris is "en vacances" just now, but his friend Janet reports that a half day trip to Droitwich recently was "better than afternoon on oligarch's yacht (although she has never been on one). The above picture shows the Lido at Droitwich: bigger and better images can be found @ http://ladyofthewaters.wordpress.com/

Whilst lounging beside the pool, Janet read "The Song of Triumphant Love" by Ivan Turgenev from a short story collection in the Oxford World's Classics series, edited by Richard Freeborn. Described as a "jeu d'esprit" this is an exotic tale of love and occult powers set in renaissance Italy.

The Real Wild East - Osterns & Red Westerns

From a Cossack Wedding by Jozef Brandt

Whilst re-reading Octavio Paz's "Itinerary" recently, it occurred to us that "Trotsky - The Western", in which the hero is pursued and eventually killed in Mexico by the ruthless Stalin Gang, might be the material of a darkly humorous movie. We were then only vaguely aware of the existence of the "Ostern" or "Red Western".

These were films made in the former Soviet Union, often in the real wild east of Russia - note reference to current BBC Radio 4 series - with plots adapted to convey a socialist message. It seems, therefore, that the Western was not only a dominant narrative of the US state, but also of the Soviet.

Setting aside inconvenient historical time lines, we feel that John Wayne could have played the role of Boris Yeltsin rather well in the classic western mould, whilst the Stalin-Trotsky relationship might unfold more along the lines of a Sam Peckinpah film.

What is certainly true is that "The Wild East" provides a setting just as evocative as "The Wild West", with the option of a Mexican location available to both Western and Ostern.

With this in mind, Boris shall be setting some space aside on his shelves for films as well as books. He may even venture into video-making territory - the contemporary Cossack resurgence would make excellent subject matter - should an appropriate opportunity present itself.

Against the Grain of Businesss and Politics

Alexender Mamut's current interest in Waterstone's bookstore in some ways goes against the grain of strategic investment by Russian oligarchs, although the British media has recently become a focus of attention.

Mr Mamut was a key supporter of First Russian President Boris Yeltsin, and is now regarded as one of the oligarchs closest to Prime Minister Putin.

Boris's Bookshelf received a copy of Mr Yeltin's autobiography, "Against the Grain", as a gift at the time of publication, and we read it with great interest.

Former President Yeltsin, who died in 2007, became identified with the political and economic problems suffered by Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States following the breakup of the Soviet Union.

However, it may well be that without the intervention of Boris Yeltin in rallying opposition to a military coup in 1991 Russia would not have accomplished the transition from communism to a market economy.

The rest, as they say, is history; and had this been different Alexander Mamut might not be investing against the grain in Waterstone's bookstore

MY DANCING WHITE HORSES

The equestrian pomp and circumstance of the recent British Royal Wedding has reminded Boris of another book whose reading is incomplete: Alois Podhajsky's "My Dancing White Horses".

An autobiography by the former, and perhaps best known, director of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, this book deals with the tumultuous events of the first part of the twentieth century from the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire as a consequence of the First World War, through events leading to World War II, to the re-building of Europe in its aftermath.

"My Dancing White Horses" is testimony to how a great passion - in Podhajsky's case horses and the Spanish Riding School - can sustain people through the most difficult circumstances.

Writing the Century - The Iron Curtain

We found the latest BBC Radio 4 "Writing the Century" drama about the 1980s  love affair of Paula, an English teacher, and Knut, an East German doctor, very moving.