lexandre Dumas, pre (father) (1802-1870) was not only a
productive novelist and playwright, but also a curious traveller.
The Travel Impressions book he has written about his journey to the
Caucasus is noteworthy, and in order to better understand its
meaning, one should take into account its qualities and
inaccuracies.
Dumas visited numerous countries throughout his lifetime, and
not only because of his desire to travel. Dumas was popular for his
unrestrained lifestyle and enormous debts in Paris. It is actually
to escape from his creditors that he started to travel around the
world. His visit to Georgia took place in the 1950s. The Georgia of
that period turned out to be a real discovery for the novelist, who
was fond of new impressions, contrasts and different cultures. He
was fascinated by the country, its nature and its inhabitants.
Dumas arrived to Georgia at the end of 1858, when serfdom had
not yet been abolished and the Caucasian war was in its fi nal
stage. The social, political and military-bureaucratic atmospheres
of the period are slightly described in Dumas book. While reading
about his journey from Tbilisi to Poti, the reader has the
opportunity to get acquainted with the life that existed in
Georgian provinces before the reform, with interesting ethnographic
details, impassable roads, and so on. But the writer does not study
the everyday life of common people in detail; he is more attracted
to everything that seems unusual, sometimes weird or exotic.
Alexander Dumas is a romanticist and belletrist, for whom something
exceptional is more interesting than the ordinary and the
typical.
In general, Dumas, as a belletrist, used to mold the story in
his own manner. The frame in which he would place a story was an
interesting scene, overstated and exaggerated, with fascinating
narration dynamics. The same virtues and inconveniences are
characteristic to Dumas as a traveler and memoir writer.
Dumas records about Tbilisi are really interesting. Everything
that attracts the novelists attention comes to life in his light
and smart narration. His description of a ball-masquerade at the
house of Bariatinski, who was a vice regent in the Caucasus, is
fascinating. The writer cannot hide his surprise at the education,
good manners and European style of the high society. He speaks with
admiration about the beauty of Georgian women, and remarks that the
ladies of Tbilisi managed to follow the fashion of the Italian
theatre or the Gandhi Boulevard in a delay of just a fortnight. He
describes the streets of Tbilisi and its exotic bazaar with great
interest, but in the end, he adds with regret that because of the
mud and the untidiness, it is impossible to return home clean after
walking in these beautiful streets.
Dumas was fascinated by the Georgian theatre hall, which was not
luxurious, but rather modest and decorated with good taste. The
balconies were decorated with Arabic carvings
instead of ornaments, the curtain was beautifully adorned, and
the stage itself looked more like a fairy palace, and not because
of its expensive decorations, but for its sophisticated tasteI
thought I was at the theatre of Pompey.
Alexander Dumas writes about Georgians with special interest,
and thinks that it is important to study this nation better: I am
not saying a word about the Georgians, whom you cannot see anywhere
away from their country. They are so wonderful, noble, honest,
brave, and generous, that a separate research should be made on
them.
Dumas was fascinated with the appearance of Georgian men. He
tells about the Imeretians, Gurians, and Megrelians:
Europeans cannot even imagine the beauty of the Colchian people.
Men especially have particularly beautiful bodies and walking
manner. Even an ordinary servant looks like a nobleman.
The novelist pictures Georgian feasts and traditions with great
interest. He writes about the tamadas (feast leaders) and Georgian
songs, as he is fond of exaggeration, he overstates the Georgians
love of wine: Common drinkers usually have fi ve or six bottles of
wine at the feast, better drinkers can cope with 12-15 bottles, but
there are some who drink not from bottles, but from special skin
vessels, and they can drink as much as 20-25 bottles in one
session. So, average Georgians drink about 15 bottles of wine.
During one of his
THE BOOK OF IMPRESSIONS
A
A PUBLICATION OF TBILISI MARRIOTT HOTEL & COURTYARD BY
MARRIOTT TBILISI65
visits to a Georgian family, the writer managed to show his
abilities in similar extreme circumstances, and passed the Georgian
feast exam with dignity. At the end of the party, the writer was
awarded a special note with the signatures of the people who were
feasting with him, notifying that he drank more wine than the
Georgians.
There is one particular subject that is approached very
seriously by the writer the culinary, of which Dumas is a
professional. He speaks about Georgian dishes and wines with the
knowledge and talent of a chef, and describes different traditional
dishes, including grilled meat (mtsvadi).
A big part of Dumas travel book is dedicated to the so-called
Caucasian war, the notes about Shamil, his family, and Haji-Murat.
Dumas knows the place where Haji-Murat was killed. There is no
doubt that his decapitated head was brought to Tbilisi. I have an
image of it, copied from the natural head. tells Dumas. Haji-Murats
head was actually exhibited in Tbilisi, and a photograph was taken,
but by the artist Koradin, and not by Dumas.
The best pages in Caucasus are those that show the novelists
personal observations. For instance, his impressions on Caucasian
and especially Georgian nature and landscapes are magnifi cently
described. He gives a superb description of the Karanai mountain
range in Dagestan. Those who have been there could confi rm that
Dumas model represents a awless copy of the place. Dumas also
presents an impressive description of his journey from Tbilisi to
Pasanauri during a snowstorm. These places are the best examples of
Dumas landscape rendering.
Dumas Caucasus is read with great interest. We can suppose that
many Europeans visited Georgia after reading this piece of work, in
order to see with their own eyes the things and places which the
lover of strong effects, the author of The Three Musketeers had
offered to his readers with his light and interesting narration,
and sometimes with an overstated interpretation of facts and
exaggerations characteristic to his style.
THE BOOK OF IMPRESSIONS
A PUBLICATION OF TBILISI MARRIOTT HOTEL & COURTYARD BY
MARRIOTT TBILISI66
