Elegant and informative ... An excellent starting point for an inventive history of a country that has staked so much on the tenuous fables of nationalism.
Expansive, often absorbing ... Pinkham is at her sharpest when examining the Soviet era and its aftermath ... At times the avalanche of names, places and events grows dizzying.
While Pinkham keeps herself out of the narrative, it is clear she believes these priceless forests should be appreciated for their own sake, not just for what they provide humans ... Pinkham, ever a realist, sounds a somber note.
Fascinating ... A comprehensive account of the ways writers, poets and artists have looked to the forest for meaning ... Pinkham’s prose is spare, precise, becoming more evocative in passages about flora and fauna ... Overall, the book makes a compelling argument for the forest as a prism through which to understand Russia.
Often graceful ... It’s hard, though, not to be struck by some of Pinkham’s odd choices and unexamined ideas ... Perhaps Pinkham’s account is so oddly mild because her research depends on travel to Russia, or access to its archives: this would make her perspective comprehensible.
Ambitious ... Offers a unique way to understand the shifts and turns of Russian and Soviet history ... Pinkham succeeds in writing with a leaf-like lightness while focusing on heavy and important themes.
