Maria Stepanova (1) (1972–)
Author of In Memory of Memory
For other authors named Maria Stepanova, see the disambiguation page.
Works by Maria Stepanova
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Степанова, Мария Михайловна
Stepanova, Maria Mikhailovna - Birthdate
- 1972-06-09
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- Russia
- Birthplace
- Moscow, USSR
- Education
- Maxim Gorky Literature Institute
- Awards and honors
- Andrei Bely Prize (2005)
Big Book Prize (2018)
Members
Reviews
Lists
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 5
- Also by
- 1
- Members
- 343
- Popularity
- #69,543
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 11
- ISBNs
- 41
- Languages
- 10
Obviously Stepanova isn’t American, and I have no idea if the same trend towards DIY ancestry has been ascendant in Russia too, but there were many times in this book I felt like I was being regaled with reams and reams of information that had no significance to anyone outside of the writer’s family. There were moments in the book where the reader is treated to insight about art or literature or history (the sections about Charlotte Salomon and the siege of Leningrad stick out for me) and these made it worth reading. But at a certain point I had a hard time keeping all the names straight on the twisting branches of the family tree. At one point late in the book, Stepanova admits that for all this writing about these dead family members, she actually took on the project for very self-conscious reasons. Actually, I’m still not clear why she wrote this book or did what must add up to years and years of research. Her reflections on topics that have some significance for the uninitiated reader are almost incidental to the stories of marriages, deaths, letters sent back and forth decades and decades ago, and for a book aimed at the public, it seems it seems that hierarchy should be flipped around.… (more)