Arthur and Evgenia: a love story
I thoroughly enjoyed the BBC documentary about Arthur Ransome's adventures in Russia before and after the October Revolution, though a lot of it may have been old news to Guardian readers.
It was an absolutely fascinating story, anyway, told with great skill, and all the more satisfying because it had all the elements: romance, war, revolution, skulduggery, and more than a little bravery and guile.
What an absolute hero Ransome was, risking everything to go in and get his girl, and what a superb film it would surely be - except, if someone outlined it to you, you'd just laugh at them. Cameo appearances from Lenin and Trotsky? Escaping from under the noses of the White Russian army by losing at chess? Children messing about on boats? You're having a laugh, aren'tcha?
It's the fact that he never talked about it that tells you how very serious it all was. With his wife's family still stuck in Russia under Stalin, it was a question of keeping your head down - or else.
Brilliant.
It was an absolutely fascinating story, anyway, told with great skill, and all the more satisfying because it had all the elements: romance, war, revolution, skulduggery, and more than a little bravery and guile.
What an absolute hero Ransome was, risking everything to go in and get his girl, and what a superb film it would surely be - except, if someone outlined it to you, you'd just laugh at them. Cameo appearances from Lenin and Trotsky? Escaping from under the noses of the White Russian army by losing at chess? Children messing about on boats? You're having a laugh, aren'tcha?
It's the fact that he never talked about it that tells you how very serious it all was. With his wife's family still stuck in Russia under Stalin, it was a question of keeping your head down - or else.
Brilliant.
posted by Anonymous at
Monday, September 19, 2005
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