Childhood, youth, and exile cover

Childhood, youth, and exile

by Aleksandr Herzen

**My Past and Thoughts** (Russian: *Былое и думы*, romanized: *Byloje i dumy*) is an extensive autobiography by Alexander Herzen, which he started in the early 1850s and continued to expand and revise throughout his later life. Serialized in *Polyarnaya Zvezda*, the book in its full form came out as a separate edition after its author’s death. In Herzen’s lifetime the major parts of the book were translated into English (1855), German (1855) and French (1860-1862). *My Past and Thoughts* gives a panoramic view on the social and political life in Russian Empire as well as the European West of the mid-19th century. It is considered to be the classic of Russian literature. (Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Past_and_Thoughts))

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?