Michael Scammell

02/14 (2) 20th century (3) 20th century European history (2) 20th century literature (2) Arthur Koestler (3) author biography (2) authors (3) biography (66) biography-memoir (2) Civitella Library (3) communism (3) communism and socialism (2) English language (2) English literature (2) Europe (4) fiction (3) Germany (2) history (6) Hungary (2) Israel (1) Jewish (3) Koestler (2) Lang & Lit - English (2) literary biography (2) literary criticism (2) literary history (4) literature (10) non-fiction (10) politics (3) Ravitch (2) Read in 2010 (M) (1) review article (2) Russia (3) Russian (2) Russian literature (7) Solzhenitsyn (5) Soviet Union (3) to-read (6) writers (3) Zionism (2)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Scammell, Michael
Birthdate: 1935
Gender: male
Nationality: UK
Birthplace: Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England, UK
Places of residence: Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
Bodmin, Cornwall, England, UK
Slovenia
New York, USA
London, England, UK
Education: Joint Services School for Linguists
University of Nottingham (B.A. ∙ Slavic Studies ∙ 1958)
Columbia University (Ph.D. ∙ Slavic Studies)
Brockenhurst Grammar School
Occupations: interpreter, British Army
lecturer in English
translator
biographer
professor of Russian Literature
professor of Writing (Nonfiction) and Translation
Relationships: Scammell, William (brother)
Nossiff, Rosemary (2nd wife)
Organizations: University of Ljubljana
Hunter College
Writers and Scholars International
International PEN Club
Cornell University
Columbia University (show all 7)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Members

Reviews

Koestler: The Literary and Political Odyssey of a… by Michael Scammell

Interesting quote from Johann Hari in a review on Slate:He [Koestler:] said he was cursed with "absolutitis": When a cause didn't offer him absolute salvation, he would discard it in despair and try to find another with the same promise. The one possibility he never explored for long is the only real answer to suffering—incremental democratic reform. Real improvements in human societies almost always come inch-by-inch, without any grand map of a perfect world. If you demand perfection, you can only be disappointed; if you demand improvement, you can succeed—and build enough hope to fight another day.

See http://www.slate.com/id/2238790/… (more)

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ecw0647 | Sep 30, 2013 |