Gary Saul Morson reviews Between Two Millstones, Book 1

The eminent Russian scholar Gary Saul Morson reviews Between Two Millstones, Book 1 in the Winter 2019 issue of The American Scholar.

“When Solzhenitsyn called for gradual change to democracy and observed that “it is not authoritarianism that is intolerable, but . . . arbitrariness and illegality,” Western journalists gasped. When he castigated the shallowness of reporters, they accused him of opposing a free press. And when they discovered he had embraced Russian Orthodox Christianity, and hoped for a Russian spiritual rebirth, they called him a dangerous, perhaps fascist, nationalist. This charge particularly mystified Solzhenitsyn, because in his “Letter” he recommend Russia give up its domination over Eastern Europe and let the “peripheral nations” of the Soviet Union go their own way: “Let us find the strength, sense, and courage to put our own house in order before we busy ourselves with the cares of the entire planet.” What sort of nationalist calls for his country to give up its empire?”

— Gary Saul Morson

New bilingual edition of Miniatures from YMCA-Press

Yesterday YMCA-Press, Solzhenitsyn’s long-time publishing house in Paris, released a beautiful new bilingual (Russian and French) complete edition of his Miniatures, containing both the 18 miniatures of 1958–63, and the 14 miniatures of 1996–99. There is a new afterword by renowned Solzhenitsyn scholar Georges Nivat, as well as some useful notes about each miniature. For convenient juxtaposition, and as traditional with bilingual editions, the original Russian text appears verso, and the French translation recto. The translation is the same expert one, by Lucile Nivat and Nikia Struve, that first appeared in 2004 from Fayard.

A Slew of Moscow Events to Mark Solzhenitsyn Centennial

There is a slew of upcoming events in Moscow to mark the peak of the Solzhenitsyn Centennial. Highlights include the première of a new production of the Alexander Tchaikovsky opera “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”, conducted by Ignat Solzhenitsyn at the Bolshoi Theatre; the international conference “Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: Looking Back from the 21st Century”; and a special theatrical production starring Evgeni Mironov at the legendary Moscow Art Theatre. See here for a more comprehensive list.

Spectator review of Between Two Millstones

“Solzhenitsyn, Russian Nobelist and noblest Russian”: The Spectator reviews Between Two Millstones, Book 1.

“I don’t know if this is relevant, to use a Sixties word, to the emigres of our own scattering age, though our rulers might profit from this injunction of Solzhenitsyn’s:

‘The aims of a great empire and the moral health of the people are incompatible. We should not presume to invent international tasks and bear the cost of them so long as our people is in such moral disarray.’

The Soviets at whom he directed this were as obdurately indifferent as Bushes and Clintons to the moral health of their countrymen and the corrosive effects of empire.”

— Bill Kauffman, Spectator

Cavendish to Celebrate Solzhenitsyn's Centennial on 2 December

Cavendish's celebration of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's 100th birthday will take place on Sunday Dec. 2, 4 pm at the Cavendish Baptist Church. There will be a screening of his farewell address to Cavendish, discussion, and a potluck supper. The Cavendish Historical Society will be providing refreshments. The snow date is Dec. 9 at the same time and place. FMI: margocaulfield@icloud.com or 802-226-7807.

Russian Federation to issue 2-Ruble Solzhenitsyn coin

This is a first! Proper currency that will go into circulation soon. Read more here.

Two brief reviews of BTM-1

David Luhrssen at Shepherd Express and Mark Movsesian at Law and Religion Forum with brief reviews of Between Two Millstones, Book 1.

“Abruptly released by the KGB and sent to the West, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was like a man who emerged from a dark room into the blinding light of high noon. ”

— David Luhrssen, Shepherd Express

Oxford lecture and exhibition

Renowned Solzhenitsyn scholar will present a lecture at Oxford University on 23 November 2018, in conjunction with a centenary exhibition that will run through 17 December. More details here.

Ignat Solzhenitsyn: A Special evening of Music and Poetry

Ignat Solzhenitsyn, the conductor and pianist, and middle son of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, will present an intimate evening of music featured in and inspired by his father’s writings, along with excerpts from those writings, in honor of the centenary of his birth. The program includes piano works by Beethoven and Shostakovich, personal reflections, and a selection of Solzhenitsyn’s compelling poems, some of which will be heard in English for the very first time. This event takes place at the 92nd Street Y in New York City on Monday, 19 November 2018 at 7.30pm. For more details and tickets, go here.

Solzhenitsyn conference in Paris begins Mon, 19 Nov

A major three-day conference and exhibit of Solzhenitsyn’s manuscripts entitled, “ALEXANDRE SOLJENITSYNE: UN ÉCRIVAIN EN LUTTE AVEC SON SIÈCLE”, begins in Paris on Monday at the Institut de France and the Sorbonne. More info on the conference website.

Margo Caulfield to speak in burlington

Cavendish historian and author Margo Caulfield will speak in Burlington, Vermont on Thu, 15 November as part of Vermont Historical Society’s Third Thursday series. Her topic is “"I Wrote and Waited": Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s Life in Cavendish, VT”. The event will be streamed live on Facebook, with viewers able to ask questions.

“Margo Caulfield of the Cavendish Historical Society will share what his life was like and the impact he had on the community. She will also speak about the work being done to commemorate his life in his centennial year.”

Jordan Peterson on Solzhenitsyn, the man who destroyed the Soviet Union

Wednesday’s Times excerpts Jordan Peterson’s foreword to the new Vintage Classics edition of The Gulag Archipelago. Peterson also reads his entire foreword on video here.

“If there was any excuse to be a Marxist in 1917 there is absolutely and finally no excuse now. And we know that mostly because of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and The Gulag Archipelago. Thank Heaven for that great author’s outrage, courage and unquenchable thirst for justice and truth. It was Solzhenitsyn who warned us that the catastrophes of the Soviet state were inextricably and causally linked to the deceitful blandishments of the Marxist utopian vision. It was Solzhenitsyn who documented the price paid in suffering for the dreadful communist experiment, and who distilled from that suffering the wisdom we must all heed so that such catastrophe does not visit us again.”

— Jordan Peterson

Pushkin Museum's Solzhenitsyn exhibit now online in VR

The 2013-14 Pushkin Museum Solzhenitsyn exhibit, Александр Солженицын: Из-под глыб (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: From Under the Rubble) is now viewable online, complete with full exhibit catalog and VR (virtual reality) tour, in time for Solzhenitsyn@100 celebrations. This is the most comprehensive Solzhenitsyn exhibit yet mounted, containing many important manuscripts, documents, photographs, and personal objects.

Gulag Archipelago (abridged) newly re-issued by Vintage Classics

A beautiful new re-issue of the abridged Gulag Archipelago (authorized by Solzhenitsyn) is just out from Vintage Classics in the UK. This thoughtful new edition adds a profound foreword by Jordan B. Peterson that goes to the very heart of what this terrifying and uplifting book is all about, as well as a new glossary and index that will help readers orient themselves anew in Archipelago's rich material.

Nov-Dec issue of St. Austin Review focuses on Solzhenitsyn Centenary

The new issue of St. Austin Review contains several interesting articles about Solzhenitsyn, including an editorial by Joseph Pearce on the lasting significance of Solzhenitsyn; Daniel J. Mahoney on Solzhenitsyn’s “capacity to illumine the truth of things”, Fr. Benedict Kiely on the miniature “Remembrance of the Departed”, and Susan Treacy on Solzhenitsyn and Shostakovich.

“Some heroes are also giants. Within the context of the twentieth century we think perhaps of St. Pius X or St. John Paul ii, those holy heroes who battled with the evils of modernism in its various guises. and one must include in such a number the giant and heroic figure of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.”

— Joseph Pearce

Daniel Mahoney & Ignat Solzhenitsyn at Notre Dame

Yesterday Daniel Mahoney interviewed Ignat Solzhenitsyn to kick off the 2018 Notre Dame fall conference, “Higher Powers”, largely devoted to the thought and legacy of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Watch the video of their discussion below. It was also live-blogged here by Rod Dreher.

Two new Solzhenitsyn titles published in French today

The Paris house Fayard, Solzhenitsyn’s longtime French publisher, has published two new Solzhenitsyn titles: the Journal de la Roue rouge (Journal of the Red Wheel) and Révolution et mensonge (Revolution and the Lie). The first is a new translation by Françoise Lesourd of a major work that tracks the author’s discoveries and doubts during the major portion of his work on the novel (from 1965 through 1991). The second combines two previously available texts—Vivre sans mentir (Live Not By Lies!) and Leçons de Février (Lessons of February)—with a new Georges Nivat translation: Deux révolutions: la française at la russe (Two Revolutions: the French and the Russian) of Solzhenitsyn’s 1984 article comparing and contrasting those two cataclysms.

NY Journal of Books review of Between Two Millstones, Book 1

The New York Journal of Books reviews Between Two Millstones, Book 1.

“Between Two Millstones picks up the story of Solzhenitsyn’s remarkable and courageous literary and personal life where The Oak and the Calf and Invisible Allies, his two earlier memoirs, left off. It is a tale of the first stirrings of freedom in the West mixed with the fear of further Soviet retribution, the unceasing demands of celebrity, frustration with the Western elite’s commercialism, secularism, and legalism, and the personal desire to be left alone to complete his most important literary project, The Red Wheel. ”

— Francis P. Sempa

Between Two Millstones, Book 1 published today

At last, Between Two Millstones, Book 1: Sketches of Exile, 1974-1978 is available in English from University of Notre Dame Press, from Amazon, or wherever books are sold.

Notre Dame to launch first English translation of Solzhenitsyn memoir at fall conference

Ignat Solzhenitsyn — renowned conductor and pianist, and son of the late Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn — will speak at the University of Notre Dame for the launch of the first English translation of his father’s memoir, “Between Two Millstones, Book 1: Sketches of Exile, 1974-1978,”  published by University of Notre Dame Press at the centenary of the author’s birth. 

The launch will take place during “Higher Powers,” a three-day Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture conference examining the proper relationship between God, the human person and the state. Ignat Solzhenitsyn and Daniel Mahoney, distinguished Solzhenitsyn scholar and professor of political science at Assumption College, will deliver a joint plenary session at 8 p.m. Nov. 1 (Thursday) in McKenna Hall Auditorium.