Nightly Vigils with Johann Wolfgang Goethe

Vyacheslav P’yetsukh (1946), a historian by education, feels as if he were in his own apartment in the intricate labyrinths of Russia’s past. But not always—no matter how much we’ve settled into the “house” — are we given to guess the architect’s design. And in those bygone times, no matter how closely you look, the riddles of the Russian soul still remain unsolved. And it always turns out that whichever path to progress you take, it will still be something special—and again we are destined to teach all other peoples a lesson, except ourselves. Apparently, the key lies in the peculiarities of our national character— and that is what the writer investigates. Rescue from V. P’yetsukh’s and his readers’ unrelieved тоска and despair comes from his excellent sense of humor and faith in the same old Russian character.