Word: rubinstein
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Perhaps it is just because Ehrenburg was most successful as a journalist and public figure, not as a major creative writer, that Joshua Rubinstein's Tangled Loyalties: The Life and Times of Ilya Ehrenburg is so consistently absorbing. Most lierary biographies are forced to make an exciting story out of lives containing little external incident, and as a result they either present a catalogue of mundane details or try to unearth some salacious, gossipy stories about their subject...
...Ehrenburg's life actually was as interesting as his writing; over six decades he came in contact with virtually every major political and cultural figure in Russia. Joshua Rubinstein is a historian, affiliated with Harvard's Russian Research Center, and this biography treats Ehrenburg as a historical figure, paying only moderate attention to his literary work. The result is a book that brings Ehrenburg vividly to life, even for those who have never read his novels, as well as skillfully illuminating the dark times in which he lived...
...Ehrenburg's biographer, it is perhaps to be expected that Rubinstein becomes his advocate, trying to acquit him of the moral taint of collaboration. Rubinstein's thesis is a reasonable and, for the most part, well-supported one: namely, that Ehrenburg used his public image as "a harsh spokesman for Soviet interests" as "a cover to pursue his ultimate goal: to challenge the limits of Soviet censorship, revive Russia's connection to European culture, and restore to living memory the names and works of those whom Stalin first killed and then erased from history...
...Yale (4-3-0, 2-0-0) victory, sophomore Jill Rubinstein scored both goals and was the Ivy League Player of the Week. Rubinstein tallied her first point after only 6:28 had elapsed in the game and cemented the win late in the second half...
...right, he's no Rubinstein, no Picasso. But even a Rocket Man can have a long trajectory. Bank on it: Elton will forever keep pumping the piano and cranking out the hits. Still standing. Still playing your song...