Years of Childhood of Bagrov the Grandson

13 hrs. 38 min.

Classics

Language Russian

Author Sergei Aksakov

Narrator Yury Grigoryev

Description

"The Childhood of Bagrov the Grandson" is the second part of the autobiographical trilogy by the remarkable Russian writer of the mid–past century, Sergey Timofeevich Aksakov.

In this book, S. T. Aksakov tells about his childhood—his childhood as the son of a middle-ranking landowner in Central Russia at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. Aksakov wrote "The Childhood of Bagrov the Grandson" for children; yet with no less interest, the book was read by his adult contemporaries. And later, for already one hundred and twenty years, people of all ages have continued to read it and never stop admiring the amazing craftsmanship of Aksakov, the chronicler of everyday life, and his wonderful lyric portrayal of the Russian nature.

In Aksakov’s papers, the following note was found:

“Among me there is a cherished thought that has long occupied me day and night, but God does not send me the reason and inspiration to carry it out. I want to write for children such a book as has never existed in literature… Such a book would preserve the memory of me throughout all literate Russia… The secret is that the book must be written without pretending to childish age, as if for adults, and so that there is no preaching (children don’t like all of that), but so that there is no hint of moral influence—and that the execution is, to the highest degree, artistic.”