8/6/2019 5 Minutes With a Russian-Studies Scholar Who Retraced Tolstoy's Steps, For 100 Miles

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8/6/2019 5 Minutes With a Russian-Studies Scholar Who Retraced Tolstoy's Steps, For 100 Miles

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Q. What is the par t of Russia you walked through like?

A. It's just the middle of nowhere. I marveled as I walked, because

the history of 19th-century Russia was about "the land problem,"

about how to properly give freed peasants their due. Tolstoy was at

the center of the debate over land. It led unequivocally to the 1917

Bolshevik revolution, because their platform was, "We will

distribute land freely." And what I'll always remember is, at hillafter hill, coming to the crest and seeing nothing but the road

disappearing in the distance. And I wonder, have ever so few people

ever fought so bitterly over so much land? And that's absurd, of

courseeveryone knows Russia is huge. But walk 100 miles of it,

and you'll understand what that means.

And we got lost a lot because maps of Russia are really, really bad.

That's what really brought out the Russophile in me: how incredibly

hospitable the Russians were. At one point we had to cross the Oka

River. There was an ambulance there with a little aluminum boat,

so I say, "Hi, we're Tolstoy experts and we're following the historical

path of Tolstoy." I lie a little bit"Tolstoy would always ask the

boats on the river for a ride across." And they shrug like this is a

perfectly normal request they get every day, and they gave us a lift.

As soon as the Russians hear Tolstoy's name, they'll do anything for

you.

Q. When p eople hear that you walked more than 100 miles

to follow in Tolstoy's footsteps, how d o they rea ct?

A. Everyone thought we were completely daft for doing this. Wewere repeatedly warned that we would be preyed upon, mugged,

killed, hit by a car. When we got to Yasnya Polyana, there was a

conference going on that turned into a very angry discussion about

the sorry state of Russia and the disappearance of regard for

culture. You can imagine the reaction as we tell this jaunty tale of

our expedition through Russia, and tell these embittered and

cynical Russians how great ordinary Russian people were. We were

accused of not really "getting" Russia. And I ended it recommending

that they all take a walk.

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nutes With a Russian-Studies Scholar Who Retraced Tolstoy's Steps, ... http://chronicle.com/article/5-Minutes-With-a

7/12/2011

8/6/2019 5 Minutes With a Russian-Studies Scholar Who Retraced Tolstoy's Steps, For 100 Miles

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I'm suprised Denner got lost in Russia. Did he have a geographer along?

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nutes With a Russian-Studies Scholar Who Retraced Tolstoy's Steps, ... http://chronicle.com/article/5-Minutes-With-a

7/12/2011