February 2024 – Pitirim Alexandrovich Sorokin

“A Sociologist’s Political Memories”

review of Leaves from a Russian Diary – Chicago Evening Post 1-30-1925

Posted here:

“A Sociologist’s Political Memories”

review of Sorokin, Leaves from a Russian Diary

reviewed by Lawrence Martin

The Chicago Evening Post Literary Review

January 30, 1925

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a “footnote”

I read Sorokin’s Leaves years ago, after “discovering” him. It was the second Sorokin book I read (after The Crisis of Our Age). It was unforgettable; it made a very strong impression of me.

This review conveys the excitement that the book conveyed. And it hints at some of its weaknesses, which I would say are those of a lot of good storytellers: a tendency at times to exaggeration and of, at times, “polishing the apple,” which is to say “prettying” incidents for effect.

— posted by Roger W. Smith

February 2024

a visit to 8 Cliff Street

On May 24, 2017, on a trip to Massachusetts, I made a stop in Winchester (a town near Cambridge), where Pitirim A. Sorokin, his wife Elena, and their sons lived. Both of Sorokin’s sons graduated from Winchester High School.

I know the area well, having grown up in Cambridge. My father grew up in nearby Arlington. A musician and piano teacher, he had many piano students in Winchester and was involved in musical productions there.

Sorokin and family resided at 8 Cliff Street in Winchester.

I was interested not only to see the residence of a world renowned scholar and writer, but also to see the house because it was famous for its grounds: a garden developed and maintained by Sorokin himself, for which he had won awards from horticultural societies and of which he was proud.

I drove up the block, which was on a steep ascent, using GPS to guide me. The GPS system advised me that I had arrived at my destination, 8 Cliff Street, on my left. I saw 6 Cliff Street, but where was number 8? Number 8 was shrouded and hidden by a profusion of flowering bushes. It reminded me of the Forest of Thorns in “Sleeping Beauty.”

‘Winchester Hillside Aglow with Azaleas’ – Boston Globe 5-23-1954

— posted by Roger W. Smith

February 2024

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Pitirim A. Sorokin residence, 8 Cliff St., Winchester, MA. Photographs by Roger W. Smith