Bookshelf

Jan Brokken: Dostoïevski: Une amitié en Sibérie". Vuibert, 2023.

Traduit du néerlandais par Mireille Cohendy.

"Dostoïevski bondit hors de son fauteil. Nous nous tenions l'un en face de l'autre, chacun frappé par le sort, chacun enfermé dans sa solitude. Il me fixait de son regard triste et pesnif. Submergé par l'émotion, oubliant mon titre d'avoué aux affaires civiles et criminelles, je me jetai dans ses bras ssans réfléchir." 

Pour écrire ce récit émouvant, Jan Brokken s'est glissée dans la peau d'Alexandre von Wrangel, le confident oublié de Dostoïevski.

Chaque soir, les deux hommes se retrouvent et se livrent l'un à l'autre. Les travaux forcés, l'exil, la mort, l'amour fou, l'écriture, la réconnaissance... c'est leur vie qu'il se racontent.

Tout les séparait. L'amitié entre eux fut pourtant entière, sincère et bouleversante. Ils avaient besoin l'un de l'autre, tant pour les petites choses du quotidien que pour l'essentiel.

Des steppes de Sibérie aux rues de Saint-Pétersbourg, c'est un pan méconnu de la vie de'un des plus grands écrivains russes qui nous est dévoilé. 

Jan Brokken est l'un des plus célèbres auteurs néérlandais contemporains. Il a écrit une trentaine de livres, romans et récits historiques, dont "Les Ames baltes" (Denoël, 2013).

Notre critique du livre à lire ici (en russe) et ici (en français). 

About the author

Nadia Sikorsky

Nadia Sikorsky grew up in Moscow where she obtained a master's degree in journalism and a doctorate in history from Moscow State University. After 13 years at UNESCO, in Paris and then in Geneva, and having served as director of communications at Green Cross International founded by Mikhail Gorbachev, she developed NashaGazeta.ch, the first online Russian-language daily newspaper, launched in 2007.

In 2022, she found herself among those who, according to Le Temps editorial board, "significantly contributed to the success of French-speaking Switzerland," thus appearing among opinion makers and economic, political, scientific and cultural leaders: the Forum of 100.

After 18 years leading NashaGazeta.ch, Nadia Sikorsky decided to return to her roots and focus on what truly fascinates her: culture in all its diversity. This decision took the form of this trilingual cultural blog (Russian, English, French) born in the heart of Europe – in Switzerland, her adopted country, the country distinguished by its multiculturalism and multilingualism.

Nadia Sikorsky does not present herself as a "Russian voice," but as the voice of a European of Russian origin (more than 35 years in Europe, 25 years spent in Switzerland) with the benefit of more than 30 years of professional experience in the cultural world at the international level. She positions herself as a cultural mediator between Russian and European traditions; the title of the blog, "The Russian Accent," captures this essence – the accent being not a linguistic barrier, not a political position but a distinctive cultural imprint in the European context.

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