Newbury Town Library

Jacob's ladder, Ludmila Ulitskaya ; translated from the Russian by Polly Gannon

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novels

Jacob's ladder

1053570867

Ludmila Ulitskaya ; translated from the Russian by Polly Gannon

"Jumping between the diaries and letters of Jacob Ossetsky in Kiev in the early 1900s and the experiences of his granddaughter Nora in the theatrical world of Moscow in the 1970s and beyond, Jacob's Ladder guides the reader through some of the most turbulent times in the history of Russia and Ukraine, and draws suggestive parallels between historical events of the early twentieth century and those of more recent memory.Spanning the seeming promise of the prerevolutionary years, to the dark Stalinist era, to the corruption and confusion of the present day, Jacob's Ladder is a pageant of romance, betrayal, and memory. With a scale worthy of Tolstoy, it asks how much control any of us have over our lives--and how much is in fact determined by history, by chance, or indeed by the genes passed down by the generations that have preceded us into the world."--, Provided by publisher

The willow chest (1975) -- The watchmaker's shop on Mariinsko-Blagoveshchenskaya (1905-1907) -- From the willow chest: the diary of Jacob Ossetsky (1910) -- Closing down Chekhov (1974) -- A new project (1974) -- Classmates (1955-1963) -- From the willow chest: the diary of Jacob Ossetsky (1911) -- The garden of giants (1958-1974) -- Admirers (1975-1976) -- Froebel-miss (1907-1910) -- A letter from Mikhail Kerns to his sister Marusya (1910) -- One-of-a-kind Yurik: Yahoos and Houyhnhnms (1976-1981) -- A major year (1911) -- A female line (1975-1980) -- Unaccommodated man (1981) -- A secret marriage (1911) -- From the willow chest: Jacob's notebook (1911) -- Marusya's letters (December 1911) -- First grade: fingernails (1982) -- From the willow chest: Jacob's letters: volunteer Ossetsky (1911-1912) -- A happy year (1985) -- From the willow chest: letters from and to the Urals (October 1912-May 1913) -- A new direction (1976-1982) -- Carmen (1985) -- The diamond door (1986) -- From the willow chest: the correspondence of Jacob and Marusya (May 1913-January 1914) -- Nora in America: visiting Vitya and Martha (1987) -- The left hand (1988-1989) -- The birth of Genrikh (1916) -- Endings (1988-1989) -- A boat to the other shore (1988-1991) -- From the willow chest: family correspondence (1916) -- Kiev/Moscow (1917-1925) -- Yurik in America (1991-2000) -- Letters from Marusya to Jacob: Sudak (July-August 1925) -- Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (1999-2000) -- Uzun-syrt STP (1925-1933) -- First exile: Stalingrad tractor plant (1931-1933) -- Yurik comes home (January 2000) -- From the willow chest biisk: Jacob's letters (1934-1936) -- Letters from the willow chest: war (1942-1943) -- Fifth try (2000-2009) -- Family secrets (1936-1937) -- Variations on a theme: the fiddler on the roof (1992) -- With Mikhoels (1945-1948) -- Reunion in Moscow (2003) -- Theater of shadows (2010) -- Liberation (1955) -- The birth of a new Jacob (2011) -- The archives (2011)