Beginning of Essay
Russians hold Pushkin in such high esteem that his place in Russian literature can reasonably be compared to that of Shakespeare in the literatures of the English language. Pushkin's literary genius seems to have been almost limitless: in addition to the long n ....

Middle of Essay
.... to stand the test of time unshakably. His most widely read masterpiece, the verse novel EUGENE ONEGIN, is the source for another magnificent Tchaikovsky opera by the same name, as well as several ballets. Sections of this epic Romantic poem in novel form are still memorized by Russian and other Eastern European school children as reverently as if they were verses from the Bible. Pushkin was the first giant to achieve a truly international status while working in the Russian language, although, ironically, his great fame beyond the borders of Russia came later than that of others who would follow him: Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky and Turgenev, al ....