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A review by lauren_endnotes
Tolstoy, Rasputin, Others, and Me: The Best of Teffi by Teffi
4.0
"Yes, they want to kill me. Well, so what! ... But there's one thing they don't understand: if they kill me, it will be the end of Russia. Remember, my clever girl: if they kill Rasputin, it will be the end of Russia. They'll bury us together."
From "Rasputin", in Tolstoy, Rasputin, Others, and Me: The Best of Teffi. By Teffi (nee Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya), 1924. Translated from the Russian by Anne Marie Jackson. This compilation edition by NYRB, 2016.
Gathered from the generous introduction to this work, and some other sources online, Teffi's short-form prose and satirical works were so well-known and loved in pre-Revolutionary Russia that she managed to have both Tsar Nicholas II AND Vladimir Lenin as admirers of her work. With that kind of praise, it is interesting that so few non-Russians know of her now.
This NYRB edition collects memoirs, articles, and short stories published over decades of her life, from pre-Revolution to her exile / emigre life in Paris. Many of the stories blend this tragic/comic element that was her signature style. Bourgeoisie life, society foibles and gossip, and then a well-placed statement to foreshadow or bring the reader back with gravitas.
However, it is TWO specific stories in this collection that I will never forget now that I've read them, and both of them concern Teffi's interaction with two figures that indelibly changed modern Russia...
From the quote above, you can guess that one is Grigori Rasputin, in the eponymous story. Teffi, invited to a dinner party, has some *very* close encounters with the "Mad Monk". She is both revolted by him, and digging for a story, true to her journalist ways. He is apparently enamoured with her, keeps calling her "clever girl", touching her arms, and keeps inviting her to "come to him" (he even says one time so they "can pray" together.) That is just the tip of the iceberg... there's much more. This story left me wide-eyed and mouth agape.
The other story, entitled "New Life" is not as creeptastic, but still unsettling as to what it foreshadows. Teffi describes her work on the short-lived St. Petersburg newspaper, New Life, and the frequent editorial visits by Vladimir Lenin. While not directed specifically at Teffi, who he seemed to like and conversed with on several occasions, he attempts to make the newspaper a Bolshevik party rag, and the writers fear him and his influence.
Other stories include childhood memories, one particular interlude with Lev Tolstoy when she was a young teen, asking him to please change parts of War and Peace to keep her favorite character alive.
Teffi gives us a brief glimpse of a country - a whole way of life - on the cusp of a dramatic change. Her [b:Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea|25733829|Memories From Moscow to the Black Sea|Teffi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1461532853l/25733829._SY75_.jpg|45572152] also comes highly recommended from Jenny @readingenvy and others.
From "Rasputin", in Tolstoy, Rasputin, Others, and Me: The Best of Teffi. By Teffi (nee Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya), 1924. Translated from the Russian by Anne Marie Jackson. This compilation edition by NYRB, 2016.
Gathered from the generous introduction to this work, and some other sources online, Teffi's short-form prose and satirical works were so well-known and loved in pre-Revolutionary Russia that she managed to have both Tsar Nicholas II AND Vladimir Lenin as admirers of her work. With that kind of praise, it is interesting that so few non-Russians know of her now.
This NYRB edition collects memoirs, articles, and short stories published over decades of her life, from pre-Revolution to her exile / emigre life in Paris. Many of the stories blend this tragic/comic element that was her signature style. Bourgeoisie life, society foibles and gossip, and then a well-placed statement to foreshadow or bring the reader back with gravitas.
However, it is TWO specific stories in this collection that I will never forget now that I've read them, and both of them concern Teffi's interaction with two figures that indelibly changed modern Russia...
From the quote above, you can guess that one is Grigori Rasputin, in the eponymous story. Teffi, invited to a dinner party, has some *very* close encounters with the "Mad Monk". She is both revolted by him, and digging for a story, true to her journalist ways. He is apparently enamoured with her, keeps calling her "clever girl", touching her arms, and keeps inviting her to "come to him" (he even says one time so they "can pray" together.) That is just the tip of the iceberg... there's much more. This story left me wide-eyed and mouth agape.
The other story, entitled "New Life" is not as creeptastic, but still unsettling as to what it foreshadows. Teffi describes her work on the short-lived St. Petersburg newspaper, New Life, and the frequent editorial visits by Vladimir Lenin. While not directed specifically at Teffi, who he seemed to like and conversed with on several occasions, he attempts to make the newspaper a Bolshevik party rag, and the writers fear him and his influence.
Other stories include childhood memories, one particular interlude with Lev Tolstoy when she was a young teen, asking him to please change parts of War and Peace to keep her favorite character alive.
Teffi gives us a brief glimpse of a country - a whole way of life - on the cusp of a dramatic change. Her [b:Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea|25733829|Memories From Moscow to the Black Sea|Teffi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1461532853l/25733829._SY75_.jpg|45572152] also comes highly recommended from Jenny @readingenvy and others.