Ease Reading-Find Your Next Favorite Book

Hot Search

The Same Solitude: Boris Pasternak and Marina Tsvetaeva

catherine ciepiela

... Show More
"Still, we have the same solitude, the same journeys and searching, and the same favorite turns in the labyrinth of literature and history."―Boris Pasternak to Marina Tsvetaeva One of the most compelling episodes of twentieth-century Russian literature involves the epistolary romance that blossomed between the modernist poets Marina Tsvetaeva and Boris Pasternak in the 1920s. Only weeks after Tsvetaeva emigrated from Russia in 1922, Pasternak discovered her poetry and sent her a letter of praise and admiration. Tsvetaeva's enthusiastic response began a decade-long affair, conducted entirely through letters. This correspondence-written across the widening divide separating Soviet Russia from Russian émigrés in continental Europe-offers a view into the overlapping worlds of literary creativity, sexual identity, and political affiliation. Following both sides of their conversation, Catherine Ciepiela charts the poets' changing relations to each other, to the extraordinary political events of the period, and to literature itself. The Same Solitude presents the first full account of this affair of letters and poems from its beginning in the summer of 1922 to its denouement in the 1930s. Drawing on many previously untranslated letters and poems, Ciepiela describes the poets' mutual influence, both in the course of their lives and the development of their art. Neither poet saw any separation between a poet's life and work, and Ciepiela treats each poet's letters and poems as a single text. She discusses the poets' famous triangular correspondence with Rainer Maria Rilke in 1926, and she addresses the profound significance of Tsvetaeva for Pasternak, who is often perceived (mistakenly, Ciepiela asserts) as the more detached partner. Further, this book expands our understanding of poetic modernism by showing how the poets worked through ideas about gender and writing in the context of what they themselves called a literary "marriage."

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 5,2006

This edition

Format
320 pages, Hardcover
Published
August 28, 2006 by Cornell University Press
ISBN
9780801435348
ASIN
080143534X
Language
English

More editions

About the author

Profile Image for catherine ciepiela

catherine ciepiela

... Show More

Readers also enjoyed

Community Reviews

Rating(4.7 / 5.0, 3 votes)
5 stars
2(67%)
4 stars
1(33%)
3 stars
0(0%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
3 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Tekumi
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
... Show More
Thorough, riveting, and devastating. These three words perfectly encapsulate the essence of [article topic]. The research presented in this article is truly comprehensive, leaving no stone unturned.

Every aspect of the subject matter is explored with great detail and precision, making it a riveting read from start to finish. The author's ability to present complex information in a clear and engaging manner is truly remarkable.

However, the findings of this article are also devastating. They揭示了一些令人不安的事实和问题 that cannot be ignored. The implications of these findings are far-reaching and have the potential to impact our lives in significant ways.

Overall, this article is a must-read for anyone interested in [article topic]. It is a powerful piece of work that will leave you with a new perspective on the subject and a sense of urgency to take action.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
hermitsage
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
... Show More
'It was more first than first love and the simplest thing in the world'

'fall asleep and sleep'

I don't know anything, and I feel all the more with reading this.

Look at what the LC cataloger gives as its genre: 'Criticism and interpretation'.

I should have stopped there. But I admit to thirsting so very much for BP and Marina T's words that I read the damn thing. (Every other word from the author is 'agency' and I died a thousand times every time I read it.)

I would simply like THEIR words please.

BP explaining his wife-type and a certain idea that the ideal condition of human is poet: "at bottom she is a good sort. Sometime in the n'th generation this soul, too, like all the rest, will become a poet, armed with the whole sky".

YES! Hello! And who among us is not a poet?! If you say not me, let me tell you, 'you have been!'

BP splitting the skies! About Marina t's appearance in his dream: 'Who were you? A sketch of everything that in a decisive moment of feeling raises the woman you are holding to proportions physically incompatible with human size, as though she weren't a person but a sky with the beauty of all the clouds that ever floated above you...Your beauty, conveyed in the photograph--beauty in your special case--i.e., the manifestations of a great spirit in a woman, beat into the air around you before I fell into these waves of benevolent light and sound. This was the world's condition called into being by you....It was more first than first love and the simplest thing in the world'.

yes! Please.

(And people please read Flaubert's legend of St. Julian Hospitator for the most moving description of what it feels like to grow, and grow and grow larger than the room from a pure embrace, and like Czech poet V. Holan writes... "there is such a love, that the world is too small for even your tiniest step".

yes!!!!!!!!!!

And wonderful Marina t: 'I want to sleep with you, fall asleep and sleep. That magnificent folk word, how deep, how true, how unequivocal, how exactly just what it says. Just---sleep. And nothing more....Sometimes I think: I must exploit this chance that I still am (after all!) a body. Soon I won't have any arms'.

Stop interpretations please! Give me more letters please. And people everywhere...

hello!!!!!!
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
poirotto
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
... Show More
OMG! OMG! Tortured epistolary romance is the hotz0rz!

Tortured epistolary romance has been captivating readers for ages. It combines the power of written communication with the intensity of a passionate and often tumultuous love story. Through letters, characters express their deepest emotions, fears, and desires, creating a unique and intimate connection. The element of torture adds an extra layer of drama and tension, making the story even more engaging. Readers are drawn into the world of the characters, experiencing their joys and sorrows along with them. Whether it's a forbidden love, a long-distance relationship, or a love that is tested by time and circumstance, tortured epistolary romance has the ability to touch our hearts and leave us longing for more. It's no wonder that this genre has become so popular in recent years.
0 0 Reply
Leave a Review
You must be logged in to rate and post a review. Register an account to get started.