Far from Russia : A Memoir

by Olga Andreyev Carlisle

Release Date: 10 March, 2000

Edition: Hardcover

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The life of an intellectual in a postwar world

This is a graceful little memoir rich in anecdote and detail of post-WWII Paris and New York. In it, the author chronicles her development as an intelligent and talented young woman during the 1950's, beginning in Paris, where her emigre Russian parents strove to carry on the Andreyev family traditions in art and literature. While studying to become a painter, she meets a handsome American student at the Sorbonne, marries, and moves to America. There she dives into the New York art scene, studying with Robert Motherwell and bcoming friends with those who became landmark figures in 20th century arts and letters. Her stoutness of character is indicated by the fact that she persisted in bringing to Motherwell's class the small still-life paintings whose techniques she was determined to master - having to display them among the enormous, flat abstractions with which her teacher and fellow students were enamored at the time. Rather than belabor his charming young student regarding her entire approach to art, Motherwell simply ignored her paintings. In later years, having become a respected writer on Russian affairs, she becomes a conduit and agent for Alexander Solzhenitsyn and other writers living under Soviet oppression.The author's knack for evoking the mood of her times as well as the sights, sounds, and smells of her surroundings, plus her lifelong dedication to the intellectual life and intellectual freedom make this a satisfying and inspiring read.

A good Read!

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Russian literary society. This book gives an interesting account of her life as an emigre of her life in France and US, and how her Russian heritage and literary upbringing affected her daily life.