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Surely one of the great neglected masterpieces of 19th century Russian literature. This and its companion volumes in the author's Family Chronicle trilogy are a truly remarkable account of life in provincial Russia in the early part of that century, seen through the eyes of a child but filtered through the consciousness of the adult Aksakov writing it down half a century later. Both passionate and perceptive, with wit and irony, he re-creates through the life of the growing child the world of the small rural gentry and peasantry in both its detail and its overall culture in a way that allows the reader to feel what it was like to be there at that time living that life.
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Trinity College Booklist (1951): Class Six, Biography
119 works; 4 members
All Things Russia
459 works; 11 members
Author Information
39+ Works 600 Members
A close friend of Nikolai Gogol, Aksakov came from the old landholding nobility. His family background became the subject for a series of reminiscences written late in life. Their objective and precise description of the often brutal provincial existence, their insight and honesty about human psychology, as well as their eventful narratives have show more made them enduring classics of nineteenth-century prose. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Years of Childhood
- Original title
- Детские годы Багрова-внука; Detskie gody Bagrova-vnuka
- Original publication date
- 1858; 1915 (English translation) (English translation)
- Important places
- Russia
- Epigraph
- [None]
- Dedication
- [None]
- First words
- The first thing to be said aout this book is that it is one of the world's few literary masterpieces; for me unrivalled, the best book of childhood reminiscences I have ever read.
(Introduction).
The very first objects that survive on the old picture of the distant past - a picture much faded in some places by time and the lapse of sixty years - objects and images which my memory still retains, are my foster-mother, m... (show all)y little sister, and my mother; at that time they had no distinct meaning for me, and were only images without names. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I was at the wedding myself, and drank beer and mead; but it all ran down my chin and none went down my throat.*
*A stock ending to a Russian fairy tale. - Original language
- Russian
Classifications
- Genres
- Biography & Memoir, Fiction and Literature
- DDC/MDS
- 891.733 — Literature & rhetoric Literatures of other languages East Indo-European and Celtic literatures Russian and East Slavic languages Russian fiction 1800–1917
- LCC
- PG3321 .A5 .Z522 — Language and Literature Slavic languages and literatures. Baltic languages. Albanian language Slavic. Baltic. Albanian Russian literature Individual authors and works 1800-1870
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 73
- Popularity
- 432,197
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.50)
- Languages
- English, French, Italian, Russian
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 5
