Reviews for Earthly Signs: Moscow Diaries, 1917-1922

The average rating for Earthly Signs: Moscow Diaries, 1917-1922 based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-06-16 00:00:00 Dawei Wu Have previously loved three books of Tsvetaeva's poetry and a book of essays on poetry, so it was a no-brainer to read the Moscow Diaries, and it simply didn't disappoint. A few quotes below - "I must learn to approach a person's loving present the same as his loving past, that is'with complete aloofness and passion of creativity" "I'm not a romantic heroine, I'll never merge with a lover, always'with love" "To love'is to see a person as God intended him and his parents failed to make him. To not love'is to see a person as his parents made him. To fall out of love: is to see, instead of him, a table, a chair" "The snow drifts haven't been cleared, so I'm standing on Sapunov's grave, a little tormented by the fact that this, well, is very un-Stakhovichian. I remember a lady in mourning dress. Large blue eyes, glassy with tears. As the coffin is lowered, she follows its trajectory with small, frequent crosses. Later I find out'she's an actress whose mother and sister were killed in Kiev not long ago" "I listen, listen, listen. My head sinks lower and lower. I understand the fatal mistake of this winter, every word is a knife, the knife goes in deeper and deeper, I don't allow myself to feel it fully'oh, it doesn't matter'after all, I too will die!" "I take as I give: blindly, as indifferent to the giving of a hand as to my own, receiving" "A relationship is not a value judgement. I am tired of repeating this. From your giving me bread, I have perhaps become kinder, but you have not become more sublime" "I won't leave you" Only God can say this'or a man with milk in Moscow, winter 1918" "Death is frightening only to the body. The soul can't conceive of it. Therefore, in suicide, the body'is the only hero" "At present everything is running out, because nothing is repaired: things as well as people, and people, as well as love" "Strange. Here you have epitome of happiness, there the epitome of unhappiness, and from both books an identical sadness' as though Goethe had also been exiled to Weimar!"

Review # 2 was written on 2017-02-14 00:00:00 Chris Cordova Take a very talented and spirited poet, and place her in Moscow between the years 1917 and 1922. What you have is Marina Tsvetaeva is Earthly Signs: Moscow Diaries, 1917-1922. Although the people of Moscow during this period suffered from near famine (Marina's youngest daughter was placed in a state orphanage to guarantee she god fed, and she died there of starvation), Marina herself and her older daughter managed to hang on for dear life -- and even managed to live with a certain élan. Although I have not read much of Tsvetaeva's poetry, her prose was so interesting that I am determined to find a good selection of her poetry as well. This is easily one of the best diaries I have ever read, with a high literary quality throughout, not to mention an unquenchable spirit.