Dmitry Samoilov What books should you devote August to so that you do not regret it? 08/03/2024, 09:02

No one likes summer reading lists.

They are not loved at school age because everything in them needs to be read, and the mind is not mature enough to appreciate all these Raskolnikovs, Bolkonskys and Karamazovs.

As adults, they don’t like lists because it’s hard to figure out what to read. The variety is endless, you don’t want to go back to the classics, and it’s easy to stumble upon another example of graphomania with every new book you buy.

There is only one month left until summer, let’s definitely try to read at least two valuable books. It will not be easy both in the real sense and in the perception, but books need to pull us above where we are now.

The first of these is Mikhail Shemyakin, “My Life: Before Exile.”

Mikhail Shemyakin is an artist, sculptor, laureate of state awards, author of exceptionally impressive monumental works, including the monument to Peter the Great in the Peter and Paul Fortress and the composition “Children – Victims of Adult Vices” on Bolotnaya Square. A collector of millions of works of art, a keeper of antiques, valuables and rarities, the author of philosophical theory turned out to be a brilliant writer.

The book, as its title suggests, is dedicated to the early period of Shemyakin’s life, that is, from 1943 to 1971. At first I was a little disappointed, and here’s why. It was absolutely clear to me that Mikhail Shemyakin was an extraordinary person and that whatever he said, he would do it with talent and inspiration. But I want a thousand-page story about how a young Soviet artist became a global figure, exceeding all possible standards, working in a foreign country, in a different linguistic and cultural environment, despite and contrary to it.

In other words, about how a great Russian becomes great on a global scale while remaining Russian. How is it implemented there – in New York, in Paris, in Venice?

And the first part of the artist’s biography turned out to be more interesting than expected. Here we see the birth of the personality, Shemyakin tells in general where he came from, what radically influenced his formation, how the seeds that sprouted towards greatness were laid.

If you imagine what Mikhail Shemyakin was like, you will probably agree that he gives the impression of a tough, direct and harsh person. But in his book he shows incredible kindness to the events around him. He seemed to understand everyone, but did not judge anyone.

A significant part of the story is dedicated to Shemyakin’s father, Mikhail. The red commander, colonel and cavalryman was, first of all, a drunkard and a womanizer who beat his wife and children. But everyone remembers the hero for his paradoxical exploits, like a drunken Lezginka at the festive table, for his manic desire to instill in his son as much knowledge as possible on some minor historical topics, for his military exploits, for his love for the Motherland and life. In today’s delicate psychotherapeutic times this is incomprehensible, but Shemyakin loves his father, speaks about him somewhat ironically, but respectfully, firmly, but fearlessly. It was as if the figure of this artist was formed in the crucible of the harsh conditions that were suggested to him.

Here is an episode, let’s say. After the war, Shemyakin’s father was to be the commander of Riga. In the morning, a parade was planned with the presentation of the keys. My father went to buy bread in the evening, and in the morning they brought him drunk from the commandant’s office – he drank beer, met someone, went to visit, got drunk, had a fight, missed the parade. When I woke up, I sent everyone away. Heroism? No, it’s stupid. But it seems that the person has earned the right to this stupidity.

And a similar attitude continues throughout the entire huge volume – everyone is understandable, good and reasonable can be found in everyone. Let’s say that Shemyakin spent two years as a novice in a monastery at a young age. And here is how he describes the governor: “Yes, the governor’s father loved to drink a lot, sometimes expressed himself with unprintable words, sometimes smoked, behaved strangely, but he did not hesitate to fight with the Soviet authorities for the preservation of the monastery and defended it.”

As the author writes, “Holiness is a multifaceted phenomenon.” And Shemyakin’s book is a multi-volume and comprehensive source of information about both the artist’s personality and the context in which he worked.

The second book is by Tim Skorenko, “Mars rover, accordion, MR. The history of Armenian creative thought.”

Of course, writing about what Armenians have invented in the world of technology is not an obvious and controversial choice for the author. Tim Skorenko wrote two volumes about what was invented in Russia and now he has moved on to Armenia, because the perception of Armenians’ contribution to the world of science ranges from “Armenians invented everything” to “What other Armenians?” But the truth is that Armenians are the second largest population of scattered settlements, that is, a population that exists in one way or another in all corners of the world and lives especially in places where, for historical and legal reasons, creative thinking works most fruitfully in conditions – in the United States.

Skorenko talks about inventions made by people of Armenian origin: both Soviet Armenians and those who settled in the US or France. The only thing that matters is nationality, which in the case of these people is quite simply both established and confirmed.
Despite its impressive size, this book is a must-have for travel. Whenever you meet new people, you can easily come across as an interesting conversationalist, pulling out little-known and surprising facts.

Let’s say you have dollars in your hands. Did you know that the main problem when printing banknotes is always to protect against counterfeiting? But who invented a special composition containing protective paint, which is used to apply certain inscriptions on dollars? Sit back, I will tell you the story of Christopher Ter-Seropian, who came to the United States in 1843.

Do you see this concrete mixer? It was invented by an Armenian. Of course it is not exactly the same, the history of concrete mixing goes back thousands of years, but it was the Armenian inventor who designed the modern mechanism used all over the world.

Do you know who Andronik Iosifyan is? ABOUT! This is a great Soviet Armenian who did extraordinary things for the space industry. He also invented a contactless selsyn, the patent for which was bought by dozens of different countries from the USSR. Don’t know what a “contactless selsyn” is? And everything is written here in the book.

This is often a distinctive feature of Skorenko’s books – he writes a lot and in detail about complex things, so much so that the reader understands not only the nature of this thing, but also the need to know about it. All with verified facts, links, pictures and diagrams. The research is as deep as it is fascinating.

The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the editors’ position.