History Literature / TheDeathOfTheVazirMukhtar

This book is notable for a lot of things - a fairly quirky writing style (slipping into the nigh-incomprehensible on a few occasions), plenty of various lyrical, psychological and historical digressions, the realization of Tynyanov's modernist theories of literature, detailed and sometimes striking psychological insights into many - often entirely incidental - characters, as well as simply being an extraordinarily well-researched piece of HistoricalFiction. Its critical reception has been variable - Solzhenitsyn in particular found a lot of things he disagreed with in its style and its specific arguments - but despite being relatively obscure and overshadowed by other early 20th century works, it is still a part of the Russian [[UsefulNotes/SchoolStudyMedia high school curriculum]]. It is not entirely unknown in the West, either, at least not to Tynyanov's fellow literary critics. It was translated in 1938 as ''Death and Diplomacy in Persia''.

This book is notable for a lot of things - a fairly quirky writing style ([[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible slipping into the nigh-incomprehensible on a few occasions]]), plenty of various lyrical, psychological and historical digressions, the realization of Tynyanov's modernist theories of literature, detailed and sometimes striking psychological insights into many - often entirely incidental - characters, as well as simply being an extraordinarily well-researched piece of HistoricalFiction. Its critical reception has been variable - Solzhenitsyn in particular found a lot of things he disagreed with in its style and its specific arguments - but despite being relatively obscure and overshadowed by other early 20th century works, it is still a part of the Russian [[UsefulNotes/SchoolStudyMedia high school curriculum]]. It is not entirely unknown in the West, either, at least not to Tynyanov's fellow literary critics. It was translated in 1938 as ''Death and Diplomacy in Persia''.

* MeddlingParents: Griboyedov's mother, who goes out of her way to ensure a successful diplomatic career for her son whether he likes it or not.

''The Death of the Vazir-Mukhtar'' ("Смерть Вазир-Мухтара", "Smert' Vazir-Mukhtara") is a [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]] by early Soviet literary historian and critic Yury Tynyanov, set in early 19th century Russia and Persia and centered on the last year in the life of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griboedov Aleksandr Sergeyevich Griboyedov]], a famous Russian [[HeAlsoDid playwright, poet, Oriental scholar, polyglot and diplomat]]. It opens with his return to Moscow after a successful diplomatic mission in Persia; from there, he goes to St. Petersburg to report to his superiors, and, after a short while, sets out on a new mission to Persia in the capacity of Minister (Ambassador) Plenipotentiary, or, as the Persians call him, [[TitleDrop "Vazir-Mukhtar"]]. Along the way he visits Tiflis ([[IstanbulNotConstantinople Tbilisi]]), another important location in his past, then goes on to Tebriz, and finally, Tehran. [[ItWasHisSled And then he dies.]] [[BookEnds The book ends with a Persian embassy to Russia, sent with the purpose of making up after the circumstances of Griboyedov's death, that goes through many of the same places and encounters many of the same people as Griboyedov did in the beginning.]] Note that all this traveling, while thematically very important, is of course the skeleton of the novel's plot; the meat is Griboyedov's encounters with a colorful cast of characters inhabiting all those locations, as well as trying to fulfill some of his many ambitions, be they career, political, matrimonial or literary, all while dealing with various personal issues and setbacks.

''The Death of the Vazir-Mukhtar'' ("Смерть Вазир-Мухтара", "Smert' Vazir-Mukhtara") is a [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]] by early Soviet literary historian and critic Yury Tynyanov, set in early 19th century Russia and Persia and centered on the last year in the life of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griboedov Aleksandr Sergeyevich Griboyedov]], a famous Russian [[HeAlsoDid playwright, poet, Oriental scholar, polyglot and diplomat]]. It opens with his return to Moscow after a successful diplomatic mission in Persia; from there, he goes to St. Petersburg to report to his superiors, and, after a short while, sets out on a new mission to Persia in the capacity of Minister (Ambassador) Plenipotentiary, or, as the Persians call him, [[TitleDrop "Vazir-Mukhtar"]]. Along the way he visits Tiflis ([[IstanbulNotConstantinople Tbilisi]]), another important location in his past, then goes on to Tebriz, and finally, Tehran. [[ItWasHisSled And then he dies.]] [[BookEnds The book ends with a Persian embassy to Russia, sent with the purpose of making up after the circumstances of Griboyedov's death, that goes through many of the same places and encounters many of the same people as Griboyedov did in the beginning.]] Note that all this traveling, while thematically very important, is of course the skeleton of the novel's plot; the meat is Griboyedov's encounters with [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters a colorful cast of characters inhabiting all those locations]], as well as trying to fulfill some of his many ambitions, be they career, political, matrimonial or literary, all while dealing with various personal issues and setbacks.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: A variation - there are lots and lots of entirely incidental one-shot characters who nevertheless are described with some psychological detail and receive some memorable lines and/or internal narration, and sometimes a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome.

This book is notable for a lot of things - a fairly quirky writing style ([[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible slipping into the nigh-incomprehensible on a few occasions]]), plenty of various lyrical, psychological and historical digressions, the realization of Tynyanov's modernist theories of literature, detailed and sometimes striking psychological insights into many - often entirely incidental - characters, as well as simply being an extraordinarily well-researched piece of HistoricalFiction. Its critical reception has been variable - Solzhenitsyn in particular found a lot of things he disagreed with in its style and its specific arguments - but despite being relatively obscure and overshadowed by other early 20th century works, it is still a part of the Russian [[SchoolStudyMedia high school curriculum]]. It is not entirely unknown in the West, either, at least not to Tynyanov's fellow literary critics. It was translated in 1938 as ''Death and Diplomacy in Persia''.

* ADayInTheLimeLight: While the main body of the text follows Griboyedov, many other characters get some portions dedicated to their own POV, sometimes in an unique frame (Professor Adelung has a diary, for instance; [[SadClown General Sipyagin]] gets a drunken monologue that alternates between TearJerker and SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}}). Pretty much all of them are noteworthy in some way.

* NotSoDifferent: On a national level - Russia and Persia are repeatedly shown to be very, very similar in many regards - Griboyedov is particularly prone to noticing this soon after going from one to another. The Persians also tend to insist on this, even when it is apparently inaccurate (see Succession Crisis). Arguably, likewise with the British and the Russians in the incipient Great Game; as the British ambassador to Persia and his staff often point out, they're [[MightyWhitey all Europeans among savages]].

* EvilPlan: A fairly weak one on Alajar Khan's part towards the end - he [[spoiler: wants to assassinate Hodja Mirza Yakub, thus violating the peace treaty outright, getting the Qajars into another war with Russia and so hopefully driving the country to a breaking point and paving the way for his coup d'etat]]. [[RealityEnsues He is easily overruled by other Persian courtiers who can do the math just as well as he.]]

* TheJester: Fazil Khan the Qajar court poet is this in the broader sense of the trope. Subverted with fatal consequences when Griboyedov mistakes a dervish for this as well and idly wonders what a dervish is doing at the court during an important reception without getting a closer look; the dervish turns out to be Abdul-Vehab, an influential, high-ranking clergyman who [[spoiler: casts the deciding vote for putting Griboyedov on trial for violation of the Sharia, launching the sequence of events that directly leads to the destruction of the embassy and the death of Griboyedov]].

* DeadlyDecadentCourt

* AmbitionIsEvil: Chaadayev and some of the other "people of the [eighteen] twenties" tend to have viewpoints; Griboyedov tends to notice that this might be because ''their'' careers are ruined already.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Professor Senkovsky, with his insistence on bringing his huge dog to an examination and other MadScientist/MadArtist antics.

* ADayInTheLimeLight: While the main body of the text follows Griboyedov, many other characters get some portions dedicated to their own POV, sometimes in an unique frame (Professor Adelung has a diary, for instance; [[SadClown General Sipyagin]] gets a drunken monologue that alternates between TearJerker and CrowningMomentOfFunny). Pretty much all of them are noteworthy in some way.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: A variation - there are lots and lots of entirely incidental one-shot characters who nevertheless are described with some psychological detail and receive some memorable lines and/or internal narration, and sometimes a CrowningMomentOfAwesome.

* ToughActToFollow: ''Woe from Wit'' is [[{{In-universe}} shown as this]] for Griboyedov; he literally ''can't'' follow it with anything, although he tries.

* AngstWhatAngst: Griboyedov apparently [[InvokedTroper deliberately]] went into this mode having stopped for some rest and a brief love affair in the middle of nowhere (or, more specifically, somewhere between St. Petersburg and Tiflis). It's lampshaded and justified in the book itself:

-->"[[RussianNamingConvention Aleksey Petrovich]], [[EstablishingCharacterMoment inasmuch as I do not respect people and am indignant at their deceit and vanity]], [[ByronicHero what the devil do I care for their opinion?]] But nevertheless, if you tell me who [[MaliciousSlander said that]], [[NotSoAboveItAll I, despite having no respect for foolishness,]] [[DuelToTheDeath will fight him]]. As for you - [[MentorArchetype you are untouchable for me, and not just because of your old age.]]"

* ArtistDisillusionment: Griboyedov has such tendencies, at any rate. He isn't very happy being a role model for people like Maltsov, either.

* LifeImitatesArt: To an extent; Griboyedov's famous play begins with the main character returning to Moscow, only to realise that he is a StrangerInAFamiliarLand. The beginning of the novel is similar enough in the broad outline, but very different in all the details. Many other themes from ''Woe From Wit'' turn out to be quite significant in the novel and are openly discussed.

* {{Flashback}}: Several, as Griboyedov reminisces about some of his old friends and the places he has been in (his first time in Tiflis; his meeting with some of the Decembrist leaders including Burtsev in Odessa; a disastrous duel he has maliciously arranged between some of his acquintances). There is a historical flashback to the destruction of Tiflis by Aga Khan.

* GossipyHens: Many, many examples - what would you expect from a book with so many 19th century high society characters? Faddey Bulgarin probably takes the cake though; he's practically an early 19th century Russian Paparazzo, and he evidently can't help but comically spout out semi-fabricated rumours about various literary world greats to his friends.

* HeelFaceTurn: Both Hodja Mirza Yakub and ensign Skryplev attempt to defect (sort of; the book goes into detail on the nuances of both cases, the former was from a territory now recognised as Russian and so had the right to leave for Russia per the Treaty of Turkmenchay, the latter was just a nearly accidental defector who decided to defect right back) to Russia. Hodja managed to get into the embassy and died when it was attacked by an angry mob, the latter implicitly didn't even make it that far.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Averted and possibly even inverted: all the contemporary characters, including those who are traditionally idolised in Russia, are shown warts and all and their hypocrisy, together with other flaws, is highlighted, [[AccentuateTheNegative possibly too much so]]. [[ValuesDissonance Views on various matters are also left unupdated]].

* LargeHam: Professor Senkovsky and Samson Khan (the latter even more so in his letter than in everyday life - and he ''is'' a LargeHam in everday life).

* MaliciousSlander: Plenty of it all around. Bulgarin likes to spread this in his literary journal, and the aforementioned numerous GossipyHens like it too; one early bit of MaliciousSlander (reffered to in the page quote) was about how Griboyedov is supposedly helping Paskevich feign intelligence. It's a cause of some annoyance, but ultimately isn't such a major plot point.
** [[spoiler: Maltsov's MaliciousSlander against Griboyedov is nevertheless notable for putting a capital M into Malicious, as you realise that he is blaming Griboyedov, ''who is dead'', for ''everything'' that went wrong, whether it was in any way his fault or not, all to save himself.]]

* NerdGlasses: Technically, a 19th century version of this is what Griboyedov has, but they still somehow manage to seem both cool and, in Persia, intimidating (despite never once being [[ScaryShinyGlasses mentioned as shiny]]). Towards the end he is often refered to as "the kafir with glasses".

''The Death of the Vazir-Mukhtar'' ("Смерть Вазир-Мухтара", "Smert' Vazir-Mukhtara") is a [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]] by early Soviet literary historian and critic Yury Tynyanov, set in early 19th century Russia and Persia and centered on the last year in the life of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griboedov Aleksandr Sergeyevich Griboyedov]], a famous Russian [[HeAlsoDid playwright, poet, Oriental scholar, polyglot and diplomat]]. It opens with his return to Moscow after a successful diplomatic mission in Persia; from there, he goes to St. Petersburg to report to his superiors, and, after a short while, sets out on a new mission to Persia in the capacity of Minister (Ambassador) Plenipotentiary, or, as the Persians call him, [[TitleDrop "Vazir-Mukhtar"]]. Along the way he visits Tiflis ([[IstanbulNotConstantinople Tbilisi]]), another important location in his past, then goes on to Tebriz, and finally, Tehran. [[ItWasHisSled And then he dies.]] [[BookEnds The book ends with a Persian embassy to Russia, sent with the purpose of making up after the circumstances of Griboyedov's death, that goes through many of the same places and encounters many of the same people as Griboyedov did in the beginning.]] Note that all this traveling, while thematically very important, is ofcourse the skeleton of the novel's plot; the meat is Griboyedov's encounters with [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters a colourful cast of characters inhabiting all those locations]], as well as trying to fulfill some of his many ambitions, be they career, political, matrimonial or literary, all while dealing with various personal issues and setbacks.

This book is notable for a lot of things - a fairly quirky writing style ([[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible slipping into the nigh-incomprehensible on a few occasions]]), plenty of various lyrical, psychological and historical digressions, the realisation of Tynyanov's modernist theories of literature, detailed and sometimes striking psychological insights into many - often entirely incidental - characters, as well as simply being an extraordinarily well-researched piece of HistoricalFiction. Its critical reception has been variable - Solzhenitsyn in particular found a lot of things he disagreed with in its style and its specific arguments - but despite being relatively obscure and overshadowed by other early 20th century works, it is still a part of the Russian [[SchoolStudyMedia high school curriculum]]. It is not entirely unknown in the West, either, at least not to Tynyanov's fellow literary critics. It was translated in 1938 as ''Death and Diplomacy in Persia''.

** [[strike:Hodja Mirza]] Yakub ''Markaryan'' pulling an ethnic version of DyingAsYourself by encouraging to mob to tear him into pieces [[BilingualBonus in Armenian]], after realising that his plan to return to the land of his birth fell through for good. His ThisIsGonnaSuck reaction to the whole angry mob thing counts too.

* FakeUltimateHero: Griboyedov, at least as far as rescuing the Russian theatre is concerned. Everybody notes that he has a lot of promise in all the areas he applies himself to, but ultimately he can't seem to be able to accomplish much. Pushkin said it best in the end and in real life: "Perhaps a Descartes who never wrote anything? Or a Napoleon without any soldiers?"

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: ''Internal'' example: Griboyedov arrives in Tehran on the beginning of the Islamic month Muharram, the first ten days of which are associated in Shi'a Islam with mourning the martyrdom of Imam Husayn ibn Ali. The man responsible for Ali's death, Umar ibn Sa'ad, infamously rode into Karbala on a black horse. Then: [[ChekhovsGun "Vazir-Mukhtar entered the city on a black horse."]]

* OneSceneWonder: As mentioned, there are plenty of interesting, well-written characters like Senkovsky or Yermolov who only appear once or twice in the book (though Yermolov has a slightly bigger role in another one of Tynyanov's historical novels).