Notes on Theodore Dreiser's two-month 1927-28 tour of the Soviet
Union that provided the material for the book Dreiser Looks at
Russia (1928). Its title notwithstanding, much of this "diary" was
pinned by American-born Ruth Epperson Kennell, then living in
Russia. As Dreiser's secretary (and lover), she kept notes that
Dreiser reviewed and annotated at the time, and later edited.
Together, they describe visits to places as varied as the
Hermitage, the State Circus, the Czar's Village ("the worst palace
I have ever seen," says Kennell in Dreiser's voice), a candy
factory, an "electro-mechanical" plant, and a coal mine. In
addition to chatting with Communist bureaucrats (questioned with
terrier-like tenacity, as he tries to expose failings in the
system), Dreiser converses with people ranging from Sergei
Eisenstein and Konstantin Stanislavski to a woman who, mistaking
the author and his entourage for an inspection commission,
complains of dampness in her walls. Although Kennell includes
comments to please people at VOKS (the government cultural agency
to whom, without telling Dreiser, she supplied a duplicate of most
of her portion of the diary), much here will be interesting to
scholars - particularly when read in conjunction with Dreiser's
1928 volume and with Kennells own book on the trip. En route to
Russia, Dreiser speculates that after a revolution "the miraculous
will become the real," and, indeed, he is determined to see the
"real" Russia. At times, perhaps, the experiences become a bit too
real, as Dreiser grouses about unreliable trains, mediocre food,
and seemingly ever-present filth. By the end of the tour he has
seen enough reality to say (per Kennell-Dreiser), "My one desire is
to get out of here as quickly as possible and back to America." The
editors, Riggio (English/Univ. of Connecticut) and West
(English/Pennsylvania State Univ.), have prepared a volume that is
primarily for those interested in Dreiser or in the USSR of the
1920s. (Kirkus Reviews)
Theodore Dreiser's "Russian Diary" is an extended record of the
American writer's travels throughout the Soviet Union in 1927-28.
Dreiser was initially invited to Moscow for a week-long observance
of the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution. He asked, and
was granted, permission to make an extended tour of the
country.This previously unpublished diary is a firsthand record of
life in the USSR during the 1920s as seen by a leading American
cultural figure. It is a valuable primary source, surely among the
last from this period of modern history.
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