Chekhov, Tolstoi (esse) by Iakov Berger; Mimo minuty (Aforizmy) by Iakov Berger;Trinadtsat', Poema by Iakov Berger; Ium i Kant, Moisei i Minskii, My i oni, Drugie esse byIakov Berger; Konets istorii, Iskusstvo, Betkhoven by Iakov Berger; Motsart i Bakh by IakovBergerReview by: Patrick MilesThe Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 68, No. 1 (Jan., 1990), pp. 133-134Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4210196 .

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REVIEWS 133

Nagrodskaia and E. Haber on Teffi emphasize the particular perspective of women novelists; contributions on Minskii's Al'ma and Solzhenitsyn's August I914 each dwell on the significance (or otherwise, in Solzhenitsyn's case!) of these authors' portrayal of women. Inevitably, some contributions are duller than others, and one might carp, here and there, more at the quality of the English than at the occasional misprint or lapse in critical apparatus. Never- theless, it is a collection which prompts one to emphasize strengths rather than weaknesses. Outstanding are N. Ingham's exposition of Leskov's 'White Eagle' as a well-camouflaged 'puzzle story' rather than an inconsequential 'spook tale', and Karlinsky's provocative analysis of Lermontov's 'unaccept- able' subjects and ideas. Most delightful of all, perhaps, is Markov's graceful combination of self-deprecating wit with immense erudition in discussion of the seemingly recondite question of Bal'mont's epigraphs.

The volume contains a bibliography of Setchkarev's work, and is a fitting tribute to his distinguished career. University ofBristol M. G. BASKER

Berger, Iakov. Chekhov, Tolstoi (esse). London, I986. 70 PP. ?4.00.

Berger, Iakov. Mimo minuty (Aforizmy). London, I987. 74 pp. ?4.00.

Berger, Iakov. Trinadtsat', Poema. London, i987. 66 pp. ?4.00.

Berger, Iakov. Ium i Kant, Moisei i Minskii, My i oni, Drugie esse. London, I 988. 54 pp. ?4.00.

Berger, Iakov. Konets istorii, Iskusstvo, Betkhoven. London, I988. 40 pp. ?3.00.

Berger, Iakov. Motsart i Bakh. London, I988. 90 pp. ?4.00. Available from Ia. Berger, I 74 Plum Lane, London SEI8 3HF.

THESE slim volumes, published by the author, are simply-bound, typewritten in various points, the text is not right-justified, it is full of hand-marked accents, blots and misprints, and occasionally has to be read from bottom to top rather than left to right. And yet these books contain the most original, exciting, vital Russian writing that I have read for years. In fact the samizdat 'obstacles' to reading contribute to the excitement: it is as though one is reading the words for the first time, as they issue from Berger's typewriter.

The writing is what one might call 'philosophical prose'. The range of subjects is endless, but core concerns emerge: music, ballet, logical positivism, Russian history, Pasternak, Christianity, being Jewish, conservation, the Russian literary classics, English life, the art of translation. They are all approached, though, from Berger's central standpoint, which is his concern with being, consciousness and the 'Not-Us' (which may be 'He') that he perceives in things as varied as Chekhov's pauses, English small-talk, Mozart, Makarova's dancing. Yet the 'philosophy' is anything but abstract or acade- mic: it is completely flesh-and-blood with Berger's language, which is pungent, sinuous, alive to the extreme. Here is a typical sentence: 'Ved' vse-vse otkryvaemoe nami, otkryvaiushcheesia nam - potom uzh, kogda napisannoe, tak i predstaet kak budto slepomu, no s vyrezannoiu lazerom-voskresitelem kataraktoiu, kotoromu iasno stanet, chto vot ono, skazhet - "drevo" i ptichki

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I 34 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW

poiut i vorony krylami trepeshchut - skazhut, da, Gospodi, kto zhe ne znal i ne videl etogo - tak vot eto vot miadencheski i infantil'no-s, i - zachem, a?' (Konets istorii, p. 37). There are quasi-Buddhist undertones to Berger, but the commitment to language is crucial to his thinking: 'Ved' dazhe i molchal'niki, my molchim slovami zhe' (Jum i Kant, p. I 3).

The English reader is constantly reminded of Blake. There is the same overwhelming intelligence (Berger's essay on Chekhov and the English, for instance, is simply in a different class from anything previously written on the subject); yet one cannot read him for more than about forty minutes at a time. The 'poema' Trinadtsat' I found as impenetrable as Blake's prophetic epics. Like Blake, Berger desperately needs a public, or he may cease taking enough 'trouble' with what he writes. He needs all these works to be carefully edited (by himself) and brought out in one volume by a quality emigre publisher. Cambridge PATRICK MILES

Milojkovic-Djuric,Jelena. Tradition andAvant-Garde: Literature andArt in Serbian Culture i900-19I8. East European Monographs, 234. Boulder, Colorado. Distributed by Columbia University Press, New York, I988. Vi + 227 PP. Notes. Illustrations. Index. $25.00.

DR MILOJKOVIC-DJURIC sets out to write an account of the relationship and interaction between new and traditional forms of cultural expression in Serbia in the early years of the twentieth century. Her book contains seven chapters. Four of the chapters deal with fine art, literature, music, and theatre, and the other three focus on aspects of the national revival in Serbian culture, cultural progress in the years leading up to the First World War, and the effects and immediate consequences of the war itself on Serbian culture. Unfortunately, the book is marred by an enormous number of mistakes. There are spelling mistakes in both English and Serbo-Croat, and such typographical errors are augmented on a few occasions by incomplete sentences and misplaced lines. In the footnotes some bibliographical details are omitted, the order of biblio- graphical details varies, and there is inconsistent punctuation and use of Arabic and Roman numerals. The index has been compiled with a large number of mistakes. For example, there is an index entry to Velimirovic, Nikola on page I70, when it should be on page I7I, and to a Velimirovic, Nikolaj on page I52, where there is no mention of the name. It can only be imagined that these references are to Nikolaj Velimirovic who became Bishop of Ohrid, but there is no explanation to identify the person in the text. The book presents a catalogue of statistics and personalities culled from the pages of contemporary journals. Such information is sadly lacking in the English language, and is the chief value of the book. The work of individual artists, critics, and cultural trends is discussed against the background of the move- ment for a united Yugoslavia. However, there is little serious analysis of the relationship between the aesthetics of traditional forms and the avant-garde in Serbia, and the ways in which they both reflected and challenged the changes then taking place in political consciousness. Dr Milojkovic-Djuric's interest in

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