Last week in Russia, awards were given for the best translations of Russian novels and books of nonfiction. Awards were given for translations into English, French, Spanish, and I have forgotten the last language. I am going to be writing about Boris Pasternak (Dr. Zhivago) and Alexander Solzhenitsyn (The Gulag Archepelago.) Most Americans are familiar with Russian writers because of the movies that were made from the great books. The most famous movie in my opinion would have to be Dr. Zhivago. The great David Lean directed it. The lives of these writers are almost as interesting as the books they wrote. Surely there will be volumes written about these men and Im sure Hollywood will make some great movies about them. Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn both were awarded the greatest prize on earth for writers: The Nobel Prize for Literature. Neither went to Stockholm, Sweden to accept the prize. However, Solzhenitsyn sent an acceptance speech. They were told by the Communist regime that if they left Russia they could never return. Also, their families were held hostage in Russia if they did go to Stockholm anyway. One of the great ironies of Solzhenitsyns life is in 1974 he and his family emigrated to the United States and lived inside a fenced compound in Vermont. His teenage sons then became American and spoke English with an American accent. They were on the television program 60 Minutes. He and his family returned to Russia in 1994 after the fall of the Soviet Union. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gulag_Archipelago en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Pasternak en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Zhivago_(novel)
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 00:13:23 +0000
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