Pogorelskaya, I. and Levin, S. (2020). Isaak Babel: A life. St. Petersburg: Vita Nova. (In Russ.)

Abstract

By examining archived records, letters, memoirs and fiction, the authors set out to reconstruct the story of Babel’s life and resurrect his spiritual biography. An exemplary scholarly study, the book also conveys a strong humanistic message; the authors clearly love the object of their reflections and respond to his pain with deep compassion. Babel is shown through comparison with his contemporaries. Main characters of the story include Gorky, Voronsky, and Polonsky. The biographers portray Babel as he enters the lives of his friends and correspondents and wins their hearts. The book is dedicated to A. Pirozhkova, the writer’s widow — an astonishing woman who spared no effort in reacquainting readers with Babel. The writer’s biography will provide an enduring inspiration for scholars of Babel and literature of the 1920s — 1930s, and offer a key to understanding of the unpredictable and incredibly complicated situation of this Soviet author.