The Death of the Vazir-Mukhtar: Difference between revisions

{{tropework}}

''[[The Death of the Vazir-Mukhtar]]'' ("Смерть Вазир-Мухтара", "Smert' Vazir-Mukhtara") is a [[Historical Fiction|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 [[wikipedia:Griboedov|Aleksandr Sergeyevich Griboyedov]], a famous Russian [[He Also Did|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, [[Title Drop|"Vazir-Mukhtar"]]. Along the way he visits Tiflis ([[Istanbul (Not Constantinople)|Tbilisi]]), another important location in his past, then goes on to Tebriz, and finally, Tehran. [[It Was His Sled|And then he dies.]] [[Book Ends|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 [[Loads and Loads of Characters|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.