Experimental Blog #119

Quotations from "The Magical Chorus - A History of Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn" by Solomon Volkov and translated from the Russian by Antonina W. Bouis

Here are only a few of the hundred or more of references to Joseph Stalin in this book:

"Even though Stalin's formal education ended when he was expelled from the Tiflis Seminary < >, he read a lot{some recall his reading 400 pages a day, both fiction and nonfiction} and he had a lively interest in cultural issues."
"In his youth, he had written poetry, and he was a lifelong avid reader of varied nonfiction < > and fiction, including foreign and naturally Russian classics..."
"He was a great lover of film and classical music. < > He was frequently seen at the theater."
"The road to this intellectual parity was not an easy one for Stalin, but he was a good student, mastering the lessons and advice of people with a wider worldview< >, such as Lenin, and other old party leaders with emigre' experience."
"Certainly Stalin was ruthless toward his own people and other nations. < >"but his attitude toward the cultural elite was outwardly friendlier than that of Lenin  < > {he} felt more respect for people of culture. < >Stalin ... almost never shouted at cultural figures, and when he was angry, he actually lowered his voice. Simonov, who heard many stories of how cruel and coarse Stalin could be ... stressed that the ruler 'was never once boorish' to writers."
"Stalin might have read "Doctor Zhivago", as he did dozens of other novels by Soviet writers .. As stated Simonov, who attended many discussions of literary works nominated for the Stalin Prize at which Stalin was present, 'everything that was in the least bit controversial and caused disagreement, he had read ..."
"Gorbachev was better educated than Khrushchev or Brezhnev, but less well read that Stalin or Andropov."