Rating: 
Summary: Lots of blah blah!
Review: No doubt that Figes is very well informed and he describes everything so vivid that you think he was there right in the middle of everything!!
But the book is full of his interpretations of famous Russian books (i.e. "War and Peace") and he rewrites the stories of those books in his book!!!
He could have compress all these informations in an interesting 200 pages book, which I guess would have more readers and would be less boring!
This book unfortunately gives you a headache. He goes on and on with explanations of Gogol's "Dead Soul"!!!But I guess every reader who is interested can grab Gogol's book and read it. I had the feeling that he just wanted to fill in the blank pages!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Tell a friend...!
Review: Other reviews at this website summarize well the contents of NATASHA'S DANCE; I needn't duplicate such worthy efforts but offer instead further commentary. When I bought the book, I assumed that no cultural history of Russia could give everybody in it equal time lest it run longer than Karamzin's 12-volume history of the country. Neither did I assume that Professor Figes would necessarily emphasize the same artists and agitators, peasants and nobles whose accomplishments and influences were dissected customarily in academia. Rather, I presupposed that cultural historians must define then refine their scholarly inquiries, a process demanding painful choices. Darwin-like, they who tackle seemingly limitless material must cover all the basics but also cull their herds--by thesis, topic, and featured player. I also wouldn't expect them to violate too freely boundaries in aesthetic criticism or psychobiographical research--turf watchdogged, and zealously, too, by other disciplines. And being fluent in neither spoken Russian nor Church Slavonic, I would avoid etymological debates with anybody who knew either tongue. Standing on this platform, I discovered that Professor Figes had written a uniquely kaleidoscopic narrative--compact and colorful, abounding with tantalizing viewpoints and swift-moving scenes, structurally solid but inviting wonder, and depicting in brilliant relief four centuries of Russia's bedazzling past. Although the Petrine-Soviet period served as his centerpiece, Figes made forays as needed into, say, Kievan Rus or the Novgorod Principality. The book's narrative drive was enhanced by its thematic arrangement, fittingly symphonic and more engaging than a strictly chronological assault on the subject. As one long beguiled by Russian history, I sensed a newfound joy--I could talk my friends into reading this one!!!Throughout, Figes made uncommon sense, illuminating such crucial dynamics as the Franco-Russo Love-Hate Connection and how that pendulum swung radically throughout the French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, and more, driving one Russian school to react against the former but generating its own opposition in the process. He positioned St. Petersburg as a European City because it was situated in, well, Europe, and because Peter the Great, not Orlando Figes, spent a great deal of money and killed an awful lot of people to make it so. His discussions of key writers and artists were refreshingly devoid of duckspeak, neither lionizing nor demonizing these imperfectible beings who grappled lifelong with identity problems projected into their politics, private lives, and art. He revealed his own artistic sensibilities, selecting episodes that not only burned his point into the reader's memory but dramatized some telling truths as exemplified by the tragic marriage of nobleman and serf, Count Nikolai Sheremetev and bride, not only a haunting tale of class stratification but the foundation of an opera somebody really should compose. Populating his text were figures variously eccentric, brutish, famous, obscure, insipid, inspiring, manic, selfish, or sacrificial, so many of them bound together by sad and bottomless needs--among these, to unearth one's core nationality. Other factors set the book apart, in particular its accessibility for readers new to Russian history while those revisiting the scholarly subject could savor the lead-free prose. The text ran 586 printed pages with the balance of the book serving as referential material. Stylistically more akin to conversation than lecture or sermon, this history engages the reader as a partner on the dance floor of great ideas, great souls, great movements in Russian culture, leaving one a bit breathless for the beauty and richness of the experience...like Natasha Rostov's dance.
Rating:
Summary: Deep Culture
Review: Readable and fascinating. Figes' work is to understanding Russian character what Frederick Jackson Turner's "The Significance of the Frontier on American History" was to understanding the American character.
Rating:
Summary: There's no book like this on most cultures
Review: So much praise has been heaped on this book that it is hard to say anything new. The encyclopedic knowledge, the refined sensibility, the able selection of episodes and anecdotes make it a delight to read.
But I was struck mainly by the sense of wonder at the extraordinary flowering of Russian culture in Czarist times, and of loss at the destruction of this world by the neo-barbarian Bolsheviks. Figes explicitly says that there was no such thing as a Soviet culture, and that the Soviet regime brought nothing of value in the cultural sphere. While harsh, that judgement is probably right, if one sees that there were no new Soviet musical composers besides well-known pre-revolutionary ones who returned to the Soviet Union, such as Prokofiev or Shostakovich. I loved the chapter on the Russian exile, a subject with which I was not familiar other than through Boyd's two volume life of Nabokov. A similar situation currently exists with the Cuban exiles, a similarly talented (and sized) diaspora.
The sections on Mongol influences in Russian culture and language, on the survival of pagan themes in folklore, on the exiled Decembrist noblemen, and particularly the peasant Prince Volkonsky and his wife, and on the awful life of Poet Tsevtaeva were specially trenchant. Several names remain in my memory, as people I would have liked to meet, particularly Akhmatova and Maiakovski. Or to have been a fly on the wall during the all-night meeting between poet Akhmatova and philosopher Berlin.
A friend brought me this book from the UK, and I read it through, always feeling a bit sorry that I was getting closer to the end. I recommend it wholeheartedly.
Rating: 
Summary: Very engaging
Review: The book examines roughly 250 years of Russian cultural history from the 1700's of Peter the Great to the middle of the 20th century. It is well organized: each of its eight chapters has a theme and exhibits a collection of facts loosely grouped around it. "Children of 1812", for example, describes how fundamentally Russian culture was affected by the disaffection with Bonaparte. "Descendants of Genghiz Khan" tackles a rather controversial and elusive issue of Russians' relation to the Asian influence in their culture. The narrative, well articulated and largely chronological, makes it a smooth read. The supporting facts and anecdotes are numerous, and constitute the book's main strength. Although, in the balance of facts and making sense of them facts win by a wide margin. For example, according to Figes, "[Stanislavsky's parents] inhabited the old Moscow's mercantile world. Stanislavsky's father slept (with his grandfather) in the same bed." Was sharing bed with one's father common for the "old Moscow's mercantile world"? And even if it was, is this the best fact that supports the statement about the beliefs and traditions of Stanislavsky's family? What did it mean for Stanislavsky? Did it influence his work and life? Were his parents Old Believers? Was the Old Believers' ethic of hard work in part responsible for his famous method, prescribing an actor to spend innumerable hours practicing? All these questions remain unanswered. More importantly, this statement about sleeping arrangements in Stanislavsky's family is not linked to anything before or after it and is not subject to any comment. Unfortunately, this is symptomatic of many passages. Another example is the statement about Russian emigrants in the early 20's who "were [...] on the whole much better read than either the French or the Germans". No attempt is made to elaborate on this rather interesting fact. Because of this tendency to make statements not supported by much analysis, the book oftentimes reads like a rather raw collection of facts. Another quality of the book that leaves a queasy feeling is the author's quite lofty statements on one hand and his occasional lack of basic scholarship on the other. Mandelstam, according to Figes, "miss[ed] the whole point of" Chekhov's "Three Sisters". Behind a statement of this kind one would expect a studious researcher. But when the author comments on the etymology of some Russian phrases, 'davai popem' is translated as "come on, let's get drunk", whereas it means "come on, let's have a drink". There is a difference. To see hobbyhorses that Russian kids are riding as a symbol of Russia's Asiatic legacy seems a bit cavalier. Russians did not love Koumis (horse milk) and horsemeat, most of them have never tasted them. The unfortunate slights such as these somewhat undermine the writer's surely learned opinion on other issues. Overall, I would recommend the book as it presents rich material for thought and further research.
Rating:
Summary: A fabulous technicolour story unfolds
Review: This book is bewitching. One of those rare reads where you just cannot put it down. Even when you hit " bits" that perhaps aren't your usual interest you are compelled to just carry on reading. From the foundations of St Petersburg through the " loss" of their language and the compulsion to speak French, the scenes of the palaces, ball rooms, serf artists, the influences of Asia, Persia and then back to Russia itself this is a fabulous book. Orlando Figes maintains our interest even those of us with a purely " lay interest", with enchanting vignettes, stories, almost unbelievable accounts of excess with wealth, food,jewels elicit liasons, and entices you into a World where you dsicover how the music, the plays, the poetry, cinema, ballet, people from all strata of life, all start to link together. Whether Cinema or architecture is your interest or passion this is just amazing. Wonderful. An engrossing and fantastic adventure.
Rating:
Summary: Informative and entertaining - a "must buy"
Review: This is a really fascinating book. Figes explores the development of the Russian national identity and the extraordinary role of literature and all the other arts in Russian history. It is not meant to be a "comprehensive history" of all the Russian arts but an interpretation of the Russian tradition. Figes makes this clear in the Introduction - so it is quite unfair to criticize his book for omissions. Natasha's Dance is a wonderfully rich and entertaining read. Figes writes quite beautifully. As in A People's Tragedy (his brilliant history of the Russian Revolution), Figes develops his analysis through mini-narratives which bring his "cultural history" to life. The book starts for example with a rivetting account of the building of St Petersburg in the early eighteenth century, which leads him to the theme of the first chapter - the elusive and ambiguous ideal of European civilization. The chapters are thematically arranged but the chapters follow in a sort of sequence - from the 18th to the 20th centuries - which gives the book a grander narrative. All the major themes of Russian culture are discussed: the tension between the ("high") European culture of the aristocracy and the native ("low") culture of the peasantry; the contrast between Moscow and St Petersburg; the religious searching for the "Russian soul" (developed beautifully through the biographies of Gogol, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy); and the influence of Asia (fascinating stuff!). There are also chapters on Soviet culture and the emigres. At 700 pages this is a long book . But don't let that put you off. It reads like a novel. And there are some wonderful pictures. Overall a bargain - and a "must buy".
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Summary: Russia, after this book I want to get to know you better.
Review: This is an excellent book. Though it is arranged thematically rather than chronologically, timelines are not confusing. The great debates of Russian culture - between east and west, between serfs and aristocracy, between Orthodoxy and the Old Belief - are presented vividly and clearly. The countryside and cities come alive with characters, not just of the great figures of Russian literature and art but of the nameless millions and their beliefs, culture, attitudes and preoccupations. Natasha's Dance made me want to learn much more about Russia, its people, its history, its literature and art. And that, to me, is the measure of success of a cultural history such as this.
Rating:
Summary: Patience will be rewarded
Review: Whew! This is a THICK book! Be prepared for dense, detailed, intelligent discussion of many aspects of Russian cultural history. This book's style reminds me of Simon Schmama's Citizens (a history of the French revolution). If you liked that book and are interested in learning a lot about Russian culture, this book is for you. At times, you will need to plod through many paragraphs to get the golden nuggets of information, which is why this review suggests three stars but also states that the diligent reader will find the investment fairly worthwhile.
Figes opens the discussion with the question, "What does it mean to be Russian?" There are many examples of European cultural affinity, such as punishment in the upper social circles for a child's speaking Russian rather than French. However, many will recall the famous quote that "scratch a Russian and you will find an Asian" to paraphrase. And much of Figes' book demonstrates that truism. For example, there's the legacy of the Mongol invasion that resulted in many generations of illiteracy, with a tiny reading audience even in 1800. Diaghilev's compositions and sets, as well as the works of Borodin and Tchaikovsky, give tribute to oriental themes and subjects. The chapter on the children of 1812 is enlightening, as we learn how the military leaders of that generation came into contact with the progressive ideas of the west brought in part by Napoleon's officers and their books. We learn that changes occurred soon thereafter in Russian painting and history, as serfs were introduced as subjects worthy of art (Repin might be considered the master of this), and bookstores became flooded with history books while several history departments were founded at universities.
Besides the aforementioned criticism of the book's density, it might also have helped to have more maps as well as some architectural plans and elevations of great cultural icons like the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
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