Particularize Out Of Books The Madonnas of Leningrad
| Title | : | The Madonnas of Leningrad |
| Author | : | Debra Dean |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 228 pages |
| Published | : | February 20th 2007 by Harper Perennial (first published 2006) |
| Categories | : | Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. Cultural. Russia. Art. War. World War II |
Debra Dean
Paperback | Pages: 228 pages Rating: 3.78 | 16510 Users | 2140 Reviews
Representaion To Books The Madonnas of Leningrad
Bit by bit, the ravages of age are eroding Marina's grip on the everyday. And while the elderly Russian woman cannot hold on to fresh memories—the details of her grown children's lives, the approaching wedding of her grandchild—her distant past is preserved: vivid images that rise unbidden of her youth in war-torn Leningrad.In the fall of 1941, the German army approached the outskirts of Leningrad, signaling the beginning of what would become a long and torturous siege. During the ensuing months, the city's inhabitants would brave starvation and the bitter cold, all while fending off the constant German onslaught. Marina, then a tour guide at the Hermitage Museum, along with other staff members, was instructed to take down the museum's priceless masterpieces for safekeeping, yet leave the frames hanging empty on the walls—a symbol of the artworks' eventual return. To hold on to sanity when the Luftwaffe's bombs began to fall, she burned to memory, brushstroke by brushstroke, these exquisite artworks: the nude figures of women, the angels, the serene Madonnas that had so shortly before gazed down upon her. She used them to furnish a "memory palace," a personal Hermitage in her mind to which she retreated to escape terror, hunger, and encroaching death. A refuge that would stay buried deep within her, until she needed it once more. . . .
Itemize Books Conducive To The Madonnas of Leningrad
| Original Title: | The Madonnas of Leningrad |
| ISBN: | 0060825316 (ISBN13: 9780060825317) |
| Edition Language: | English URL https://www.debradean.com/the-madonnas-of-leningrad/ |
Rating Out Of Books The Madonnas of Leningrad
Ratings: 3.78 From 16510 Users | 2140 ReviewsArticle Out Of Books The Madonnas of Leningrad
When I allot the stars I go by my gut feeling, but I do try to be restrictive. When you have just finished a book and think of all the things you liked about it, you tend to give the book too many stars. If you do this, a four or five star book just doesn't mean anything! So this gets three stars.I DO like this book! A lot. I liked the wonderful description of the Hermitage and the paintings there. Sometimes when you take a guided tour of a museum and you get a guide who really knows theirThe paintings in THE HERMITAGE were evacuated shortly before the Siege of Leningrad. Marina commits them to memory (her Memory Palace) to sustain her spirit over that three year period. This is how Dean brings these paintings to life for the reader. You will not want to read this book without summoning the actual paintings on your computer screen. They are really the whole point of the book.One might even say that the advertising term, Borrowed Interest, applies to MADONNAS OF LENINGRAD, so
This was a very moving story about a woman who has Alzheimer's and in the course of her disease, she remembers her earlier life during the Seige of Leningrad. She lived in the Hermitage during the seige and one of the things that she did was memorize the rooms so that she could tell the people about the art that had been removed, basically giving them an imaginary tour. The story compares the fear of the unknown during the course of her disease with uncertainty of living day to day during the
I reviewed this book for Harper Collins Canada, here's what I said:The Madonnas of Leningrad is a lyrical and elegant novel about Marina, a young tour guide at the Hermitage Museum, during the siege of Leningrad in World War Two and her loosing battle with Alzheimers in present day Seattle. The novel shifts smoothly back and forth from Marinas battles in Leningrad with starvation and bitter cold and her present day battle with Alzheimers, comparing and contrasting the two. During the siege,
I am not a big fan of "Mom Fiction" and that is the specific sub genre that I would put this book in. The strong point of this work was the style that it was written in. Take an 80 year old Russian immigrant who suffers from Dementia and watch her have flashbacks to her youth at the Hermitage in Leningrad during the siege of 41. This is all happening as her daughter is planning to take her to her nieces wedding. Yes, this is where the mom fiction comes in. The book spends most of the time with
This work of historical fiction hangs in my memory like a painting. Leningrad (St. Petersburg)is under seige by the Nazis and while many fled, several caretakers of the Hermitage take up residence in the basement. Their lives as tour guides transformed the paintings into life companions. Removing them from the walls, they stored these grand works of art in the deep recesses of the Hermitage's underground crypts. The women who cared for these paintings walked the halls and continued the tours
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