Siberia has no history of independent political existence, no claim to a separate ethnic identity, and no clear borders. Yet, it could be said that the elusive country 'behind the Urals' is the most real and the most durable part of the Russian landscape. For centuries, Siberia has been represented as Russia's alter ego, as the heavenly or infernal antithesis to the perceived complexity or shallowness of Russian life. It has been both the frightening heart of darkness and a fabulous land of plenty; the 'House of the Dead' and the realm of utter freedom; a frozen wasteland and a colourful frontier; a dumping ground for Russia's rejects and the last refuge of its lost innocence. The contributors to Between Heaven and Hell examine the origin, nature, and implications of these images from historical, literary, geographical, anthropological, and linguistic perspectives. They create a striking, fascinating picture of this enormous and mysterious land.

In this wry, judiciously balanced, and thoroughly engaging book, Galya Diment explores the complicated and fascinating relationship between Vladimir Nabokov and his Cornell colleague Marc Szeftel who, in the estimate of many, served as the prototype for the gentle protagonist of the novel Pnin. She offers astute comments on Nabokov's fictional process in creating Timogey Pnin and addresses hotly debated questions and long-standing riddles in Pnin and its history. Between the two of them, Nabokov and Szeftel embodied much of the complexity and variety of the Russian postrevolution emigre experience in Europe and the United States. Drawing on previously unpublished letters and diaries as well as on interview with family, friends, and collegues, Diment illuminates a fascinating cultural terrain. Pniniad--the epic of Pnin--begins with Szeftel's early life in Russia and ends with his years in Seattle at the University of Washington, turning pivotally upon the time in Szeftel's and Nabokov's lives intersected at Cornell. Nabokov apparantly was both amused by and admiring of the innocence of his historian friend. Szeftel's feelings towards Nabokov were also mixed, raning from intense disappointment over rebuffed attempts to collaborate with Nabokov to persistent envy of Nabokov's success and an increasing wistfulness over his own sense of failure.

In this wry, judiciously balanced, and thoroughly engaging book, Galya Diment explores the complicated and fascinating relationship between Vladimir Nabokov and his Cornell colleague Marc Szeftel who, in the estimate of many, served as the prototype for the gentle protagonist of the novel Pnin. She offers astute comments on Nabokov's fictional process in creating Timofey Pnin and addresses hotly debated questions and long-standing riddles in Pnin and its history.Between the two of them, Nabokov and Szeftel embodied much of the complexity and variety of the Russian postrevolution emigre experience in Europe and the United States. Drawing on previously unpublished letters and diaries as well as on interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, Diment illuminates a fascinating cultural terrain.Pniniad -- the epic of Pnin -- begins with Szeftel's early life in Russia and ends with his years in Seattle at the University of Washington, turning pivotally upon the time when Szeftel's and Nabokov's lives intersected at Cornell. Nabokov apparently was both amused by and admiring of the innocence of his historian friend. Szeftel's feelings toward Nabokov were also mixed, ranging from intense disappointment over rebuffed attempts to collaborate with Nabokov to persistent envy of Nabokov's success and an increasing wistfulness over his own sense of failure.