English Original
Book shows Putin at his best (2002)
Russian journalist Oleg Blotsky holds his book entitled "Vladimir Putin: Life Story" during a news conference in Moscow, January 21, 2002.
He is fearless, altruistic, steel-willed, hospitable, unbelievably hardy, unpretentious and warm -- and he has lost none of these qualities since becoming Russia's president.
It is a scrupulously unbiased snapshot of Vladimir Putin if you believe the author of the first volume of a Kremlin-backed trilogy on Putin's life, written in the unmistakable style the Soviets once reserved for Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin.
"I do not think it is a eulogy. I simply conveyed what people (who met Putin) said," Oleg Blotsky told a news conference on Monday as he posed for photos with his book.
The book, complete with a genealogical tree back to the beginning of the 18th century and a chapter dedicated to Putin's ancestors, spans from his birth to the start of his career as a KGB spy.
Putin contributed to the work with extensive interviews to Blotsky. The result is a selection of memories by Putin's friends and acquaintances who hold nothing but the warmest recollections of him. The only person in the book who does not heap praise on the president is Putin himself, who is characteristically humble.
Praise bestowed on the Kremlin leader ranges from young judoist Putin fighting "like a snow leopard" to many years later his being visibly moved when decorated war veterans in the Kremlin stood up in salute as he entered the hall.
It opens with the Kremlin munificently answering an old woman's plea -- addressed in a letter to "V. V. Putin, the Kremlin, Moscow" -- to help erect a decent tombstone on the grave of Putin's first teacher.
One account portrays Putin as a man who would stop at nothing to win a fight. "He would scratch, bite, snatch tufts of hair, do anything to avoid being humiliated in any way," an old friend said. But young Putin is also an ordinary boy, frightened by a looming visit to the dentist.
The book is written in simple easy-to-read Russian.
Blotsky said neither Putin nor any other Kremlin official ever sought to censor his work or steer it in a specific direction. Putin only read the book when it hit shop shelves last week, he said.
The book's first run of 15,000 copies was selling well in Moscow shops and China, Bulgaria and Slovenia have shown an interest in issuing a translation, the publisher said.
Blotsky, who said he was a converted Putinist after his audiences with the president, said he was already working on the second volume of his series "Vladimir Putin: Rise to Power".
中文翻译
传记呈现普京最佳形象 (2002年)
2002年1月21日，俄罗斯记者奥列格·布洛特斯基在莫斯科的新闻发布会上手持他的著作《弗拉基米尔·普京：生活的故事》。
他无畏、无私、意志如钢、热情好客、异常坚韧、谦逊而温暖——并且在成为俄罗斯总统后，他从未失去这些品质。
如果你相信作者的话，这是对弗拉基米尔·普京一丝不苟、不偏不倚的写照。这本由克里姆林宫支持的普京生活三部曲的第一卷，采用了苏联时期曾专门用于布尔什维克领袖弗拉基米尔·列宁传记的独特风格。
奥列格·布洛特斯基在周一的新闻发布会上手持他的书拍照时说：“我不认为这是一篇颂词。我只是转达了（见过普京的）人们所说的话。”
这本书附有追溯到18世纪初的家谱，并有一整章专门讲述普京的祖先，内容涵盖从他的出生到他克格勃间谍生涯的开始。
普京通过接受布洛特斯基的大量采访为这本书做出了贡献。其成果是精选了普京朋友和熟人的回忆，他们对他的回忆只有最温暖的。书中唯一没有对总统大加赞扬的人是普京自己，他以其特有的谦逊示人。
对这位克里姆林宫领导人的赞誉范围很广，从年轻的柔道运动员普京战斗时“像一只雪豹”，到多年后，当他进入大厅时，克里姆林宫内佩戴勋章的战争老兵起立敬礼，他明显被感动了。
该书开篇讲述了克里姆林宫慷慨回应一位老妇人的请求——她在写给“莫斯科克里姆林宫 V. V. 普京”的信中——请求帮助在普京第一位老师的坟墓上立一块体面的墓碑。
一段描述将普京描绘成一个为赢得战斗会不择手段的人。一位老朋友说：“他会抓、会咬、会揪头发，会做任何事情来避免以任何方式被羞辱。”但年轻的普京也是一个普通的男孩，对即将到来的牙医访问感到害怕。
这本书是用简单易读的俄语写成的。
布洛特斯基说，普京和其他任何克里姆林宫官员都从未试图审查他的作品或将其引向特定方向。他说，普京只是在上周这本书上架销售时才读到它。
出版商表示，该书首印的15,000册在莫斯科商店销售良好，中国、保加利亚和斯洛文尼亚已表示有兴趣发行翻译版。
布洛特斯基表示，在与总统会面后，他已成为一名转变而来的“普京主义者”。他说，他已经开始着手创作他的系列作品的第二卷《弗拉基米尔·普京：权力的崛起》。