Why Is Pushkin the Most Influential Writer in Russia?

Alexander Pushkin is considered the father of Russian Literature, the Shakespeare of Russia whose poetry captured the spirit of Russia, who influenced subsequent writers like Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy. His most famous work is Eugene Onegin, a novel in verse. Today I will answer the following questions. Who was Pushkin? What’s Eugene Onegin about? I will summarise it and discuss its major themes. I will also answer how and why Pushkin captured the imagination of the Russian people. Pushkin also posed a few interesting questions, such as: is human existence nothing but a contradiction? Do we all want happiness or struggle and anguish? And Are smart, learned people really stupid and less happy because they suppress their natural inclinations? At the end I will read one of his most famous poems that nearly all Russians know by heart. 

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🕔Time Stamps🕔
00:00 Intro
01:34 Pushkin's Life
04:55 Eugene Onegin Summary
18:05 Theme: Fiction in real life
19:17 City vs Country
22:28 Suffering
23:24 Pushkin's Spell on Russia
26:03 Poem "To***"

Music:

#Pushkin
#Eugeneonegin
#Russianliterature
#readtheworld

[dimus]

One of important reasons why Pushkin is so important for Russians is his fairy tales. His nun, a simple village woman told him her stories and then he reimagined them as poems, rebuilding them into a magical beauty. They are rich, poweful, but also simple in their language, so that 4-5 year olds can not only understand them, but also fall in love with them, learn them by heart, and return to them through all their lives for support and solace.

[gracefitzgerald]

We’re your friends. Thankfully you read these beautiful books and help us understand them. A lot of times I’d rather hang out with an Oscar Wilde or Marcel Proust, than go out with Jen for a coffee, or a Tina for a glass of wine. Definitely will always listen to your interpretation of a beautiful piece of literary magic. Thank you as always.

[Richard-jkv]

Great stuff. Thanks for the educational knowledge about this man and his work. I'm amazed at how powerfully the poem hits you when translated in English. His use of words strike you powerfully so that you feel the force of them long after you hear the poem. They stand like physical objects in front of you that cannot be moved, not just words or feelings. Amazing stuff. Thank you so much. Peace and love

[pattidean]

I'm glad I found your channel. I love Russian literature and have read many Russian novels but I've never had anyone to discuss them with. Listening to your videos is the next best thing. I consider you my friend. Thanks!

[geraldmeehan]

Thank you for yet another tremendous episode!

[ClarkinFlame]

Pushkin is a follower of Zhukovsky and Batyushkov, it was they who greatly influenced him. Pushkin's creativity is not limited to one work "Onegin", he left a lot of poems and prose as a legacy. He admired others. And people admired him, he became famous during his lifetime. On the other hand, he was a gambler and left his wife in debt after his death (her story ended well, don't worry). He treated his homeland with tenderness, for example, in the poem "to Chaadaev" he hopefully believes in better times. Or the poem "village" (I do not know if its translation into English is so good, but you can copy and translate the poem in Google). Russians want to believe, and they find confirmation of their thoughts in the works of A.S. Pushkin.

[michaelcondry]

man i am glad to have stumbled across your channel. warm wishes from Massachusetts, USA ! i just finished Eugene and am loving this video

[anuradhatiwari]

One of the best Chanel regarding literature ..you deserve millions of subscriber ...

[samikshakumari]

I'll definitely read this novel now..your way of explaining things is superb, this makes me to buy and read more and more novels...😅...thank you so much for this wonderful video.

[kasialeparska]

Excellent review; 👌
thank you for your hard work, very much appreciated! 👍🌹

[kyrill]

No friends??? Dude you make the best videos about Literature, love listening to your videos after reading a book! You would definitely be an awesome friend you can have the best types of conversations with!!

[ML-rzhb]

You do an excellent job with your various subjects, and I really like your voice.

[danielpetrov]

never thought I'd have any interest in russian literature. I'm gonna go ahead and watch your other videos as well while I'm at it I guess

[lilyghassemzadeh]

I have recently found and subscribed to your channel. I admire your minute perspectives on the great novels of the world that are so deep that usually are not readily understood. Thank you.

[MCGaar]

It’s like most things in life. We need a balance between the happiness and struggle although we lazily prefer happiness almost always.

[tatyana]

Thank you very much for the video! I accidentaly got on your channel, and I am very impressed by the depth and the thoroughness of your analysis.

Eugene Onegin is a masterpiece of russian literature, which is studied in schools, but not so many people truly understand it's meaning, preferring superficial understanding of it as a tragic love story or a story of the so-called "superfluos man" (very popular archetype in russian 19th century literature - for example, among Onegin is also Bazarov in "Fathers and Sons" by Turgenev and Pechorin in "Hero of our time" by Lermontov). "Eugene Onegin" is, how it was called by russian criticist and writer Belinskiy "encyclopedia of russian life", one of the books, which truly represent our culture and try to analyze such themes as conflicts between city and suburb, tradition and modern life, eastern and western. The structure of the poem is simple, yet is touching on a deepest level. And without Puskin there would be no Tolstoy, no my favourite Dostoyevskiy )

For me this poem also means a lot, as you can see from my name ) The character of Tatyana is one of the first attempts in russian literature to understand women's perspective, which was continued by Tolstoy in "Anna Karenina". She is not perfect, as she is bound with the limits of her time, but the way she behaves, with all that sincerity, cleverness and honor - that is insipiring even now, 2 centuries later.

Thank you again and greetings from Saint Petersburg :)
P.S. I hope that russian literature and russian art in general will not be viewed in different light because of all that darkness that comes from our country right now...

[eliaspanou]

You do an amazing job with literature. It would be amazing to see you cover the Beat Generation, that would be such a cool video! I love your content

[saveaprayerforme]

I recently discovered your channel as I was reading Pushkin's drama Boris Godunov and I was really interested in getting to know his ideals regarding life. This is a really good video, very detailed but also covers the most important things for someone wanting to understand his writing. New subscriber!

[bertBdv]

Thanks for the video! <3 (You are never alone mate)

[Vikingvideos]

A very good video! Many thanks for this.