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Stalin's Scribe: Literature, Ambition, and Survival: The Life of Mikhail Sholokhov
Stalin's Scribe: Literature, Ambition, and Survival: The Life of Mikhail Sholokhov | Brian Boeck
7 posts | 1 read | 2 to read
Mikhail Sholokhov is arguable one of the most contentious recipients of the Nobel Prize in Literature. As a young man, Sholokhov's epic novel, Quiet Don, became an unprecedented overnight success.Stalin's Scribe is the first biography of a man who was once one of the Soviet Union's most prominent political figures. Thanks to the opening of Russia's archives, Brian Boeck discovers that Sholokhov's official Soviet biography is actually a tangled web of legends, half-truths, and contradictions. Boeck examines the complex connection between an author and a dictator, revealing how a Stalinist courtier became an ideological acrobat and consummate politician in order to stay in favor and remain relevant after the dictator's death.Stalin's Scribe is remarkable biography that both reinforces and clashes with our understanding of the Soviet system. It reveals a Sholokhov who is bold, uncompromising, and sympathetic--and reconciles him with the vindictive and mean-spirited man described in so many accounts of late Soviet history.Shockingly, at the height of the terror, which claimed over a million lives, Sholokhov became a member of the most minuscule subset of the Soviet Union's population--the handful of individuals whom Stalin personally intervened to save.
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coffees
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I've decided on this being my first novel for #awesomeaugust, it's a book I read almost two years ago?? It's kind of fun to see what I've written in the margins 😆😆 #nonfiction #stalin #russianhistory #sovietunion

@andrew65

Andrew65 Looks interesting. 4y
6 likes1 comment
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BookishTrish
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Still chugging away at this one. I love dipping into and out of non-fiction

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BookishTrish
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Morning reading view

mcipher Pretty! So I‘m late but I finally looked at Lincoln. I split it kind of randomly but: week 1 to p 60, wk 2 to 164, wk 3 to 290, wk 4 to end (p 343). Does the that work? Long sections page-wise but it looks like there‘s a lot of white space. (edited) 5y
BookishTrish @mcipher Start March 1? 5y
mcipher Sounds good! 5y
66 likes3 comments
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BookishTrish
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It‘s here! It‘s here! #pubday #bookmail #Russia

wordzie 😎 5y
67 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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BookishTrish
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It‘s here! It‘s here! #pubday #bookmail #Russia

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coffees
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First, the choice to alter the font was great, now the K looks like a K, lolol. Second, it's finally here! Also, hopefully there's a post about this on the blog soon 😅😅

#books #book #nonfiction #creativenonfiction #stalin #mikhailsholokhov #stalinsscribe #brianjboeck #biography #russianhistory #worldwar2 #sovietunion #literature #russianliterature #history #wordpress #blogger

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coffees
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So this book is coming out soon!! #history #russianhistory #historyminor #school #stalin