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Two crosses of Konstantin Batiushkov
This year marks the 230th anniversary of the birth of Konstantin Nikolaevich Batyushkov (1787–1855) and the 200th anniversary of the release of his only book, the two-volume book Experiments in Verse and Prose (1817). An outstanding personality – bright, heroic and tragic – the Russian poet Konstantin Batiushkov occupied a special place in the history of Russian literature. Pushkin considered him one of his teachers in poetry, recognized the works of Batiushkov as a poetic miracle and in this sense called him a “wonderworker”. Continue reading
Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin in the story “The Overcoat”
The Gogol story “The Overcoat” (see its full text, summary and analysis) depicts a petty, downtrodden and pathetic official Akaky Akakiyevich Bashmachkin (see his description in the text of the work). He is so humiliated, so intimidated, so offended by fate that, apart from the mechanical rewriting of papers, he does not know how to do anything. He says more pronouns and interjections, is afraid of mocking co-workers and trembles in front of the authorities. Continue reading
“The Tale” by Abraham Palitsyna
The famous figure of the Time of Troubles, Avraham Palitsyn, described the circumstances of protection from the Polish troops of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and his personal exploits in a work entitled: “The Legend of the Troitsky Sergiyev Monastery siege from the Poles and Lithuania, and the insurgencies later in Russia, composed by the Holy Trinity Monastery Kelarem Abraham Palitsyn. This “Legend” is a monument, remarkable as much in literary as in historical terms and reveals in the author remarkable literary talent and not only the reading in books of theological content, but also familiarity with the facts of the history of civil and even philosophy. Continue reading
