Natalia Trauberg. Life Itself

This book by Natalia Leonidovna Trauberg (1928–2009), the renowned translator of G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and P.G. Wodehouse, is a collection of articles united by their experience of confronting totalitarianism and spiritual depravity. The essays contained in the book are a lesson in free, sincere, compassionate, and engaged communication. Among those featured in the author's profile are Father Alexander Men, S.S. Averintsev, Thomas Venclova, Father Georgy Chistyakov, and many others. From the author's preface: "The book contains various articles and notes, reflections in one form or another, but it contains many more stories about what Pushkin called 'strange encounters.'" When these stories appeared in magazines, they were invariably considered memoirs. I'm actually a bit wary of memoirs for several reasons: the temptation to be ruthless, the temptation to boast, the failure of memory, and, finally, the fact that "we don't know the whole truth." I wanted not so much to share my memories as to console and even delight readers by reminding them of the everyday, mundane miracles that show us we are not alone, and not in a meaningless world.