NOTEBOOKS OF A LYRIC POET: Avetik S. Isahakian 1875-1957

By Avetik S. Isahakian, Translated by Leon D. Megrian

Isahakian's Notebooks represents a historical and literary source book, a valuable contemporary record stretching from 1891-1956. In modern Armenian letters it has no equal from either a literary or an intellectual viewpoint. The book also has a broader significance since the poet spent many years in Europe, first as a student, then as a political exile, an escapee from tsarist persecution. The Notebooks reflect Isahakian's thoughts, philosophies and individual concerns, his concerns for his people as well as society at large. They also provide an honest, invaluable insight into the psychological mood behind many of his works. Will be of interest to students of comparative literature, Slavic studies, and history.

University Press of America (1991)