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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Oh, Russian novelists and philosophers, you continue to steal my heart.
A short one but no compromises are made on quality. Chekhov's novella about two feuding men with opposing views of society and morality reminds us not to limit ourselves by our beliefs. It's highly topical. I'm recommending this to everyone I know.
A short one but no compromises are made on quality. Chekhov's novella about two feuding men with opposing views of society and morality reminds us not to limit ourselves by our beliefs. It's highly topical. I'm recommending this to everyone I know.
“It flings the boat back,” he thought; “she makes two steps forward and one step back; but the boatmen are stubborn, they work the oars unceasingly, and are not afraid of the high waves. The boat goes on and on. Now she is out of sight, but in half an hour the boatmen will see the steamer lights distinctly, and within an hour they will be by the steamer ladder. So it is in life. . . . In the search for truth man makes two steps forward and one step back. Suffering, mistakes, and weariness of life thrust them back, but the thirst for truth and stubborn will drive them on and on. And who knows? Perhaps they will reach the real truth at last.”
Feb 23, 16
* Also on my blog.
Feb 23, 16
* Also on my blog.
This novella is really beautiful. Chekhov represents ideologies and attitude embodies in flawed people. I identified with them because Chekhov describes them through their actions and bodily movements as much as their debates and monoloques. I was startled by how much I empathized with Laevsky, who is weak but thinks himself better than others because of his education. This translation was a joy to read.
He had cast out of heaven his dim star; it had fallen, and its track was lost in the darkness of night. It would never return to the sky again, because life was given only once and never came a second time.
what is it about russian literature that every character feels like a living, breathing person
what is it about russian literature that every character feels like a living, breathing person
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The redemption of laevsky was way too fast that it didn't feel believable but it was fun
The Duel is Beckett with great hats.
Review of the Vintage paperback edition (2010) translated by [a:Richard Pevear|3357|Richard Pevear|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1301560792p2/3357.jpg] & [a:Larissa Volokhonsky|3358|Larissa Volokhonsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1301560740p2/3358.jpg] from the Russian language original (1891)
The Duel (1891) was a novella that Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) wrote concurrently with the first parts of his non-fiction accounts of penal colony conditions on "Sakhalin Island" (1891-1895). I read the recent translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky where only the one novella was published as a tie-in edition to the 2010 feature film version directed by Dover Kosashvili with a screenplay by Mary Bing. Mary Bing's foreword in this edition provides a great entry point to reading the work:
Introducing the idea of Chekhov as a forerunner of Beckett's humour may not be to everyone's taste, but it certainly agreed with me. I would have found some of these characters hard to put up with for long otherwise, but felt more of a degree of empathy when human weakness and foibles had a degree of humour to them. The main character, named Laevsky, comes across as a n'er do well, a slacker civil servant who drinks and gambles away his money at cards and schemes to leave his lover Nadya, who had previously left her husband for him. The antagonist is a zoologist named Von Koren who looks on Laevsky as a waste of space that should be eliminated to allow evolution and life to proceed properly.
Laevsky starts having nervous attacks which are the signs of a complete breakdown yet to come and he hotheadedly provokes Von Koren to challenge him to a duel. Meanwhile their friends, a doctor and a deacon bemusedly look on. Nadya has her own little plots afoot as she has admirers in the seaside town than Laevsky doesn't even know about. It all resolves with pistols at dawn.
Review of the Vintage paperback edition (2010) translated by [a:Richard Pevear|3357|Richard Pevear|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1301560792p2/3357.jpg] & [a:Larissa Volokhonsky|3358|Larissa Volokhonsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1301560740p2/3358.jpg] from the Russian language original (1891)
The Duel (1891) was a novella that Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) wrote concurrently with the first parts of his non-fiction accounts of penal colony conditions on "Sakhalin Island" (1891-1895). I read the recent translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky where only the one novella was published as a tie-in edition to the 2010 feature film version directed by Dover Kosashvili with a screenplay by Mary Bing. Mary Bing's foreword in this edition provides a great entry point to reading the work:
... take heart, Chekhov loves life. The Duel is Beckett with great hats. And naked women, and guns that go off, and an absolution that extends to its audience. May we have the grace to take it.
Introducing the idea of Chekhov as a forerunner of Beckett's humour may not be to everyone's taste, but it certainly agreed with me. I would have found some of these characters hard to put up with for long otherwise, but felt more of a degree of empathy when human weakness and foibles had a degree of humour to them. The main character, named Laevsky, comes across as a n'er do well, a slacker civil servant who drinks and gambles away his money at cards and schemes to leave his lover Nadya, who had previously left her husband for him. The antagonist is a zoologist named Von Koren who looks on Laevsky as a waste of space that should be eliminated to allow evolution and life to proceed properly.
Laevsky starts having nervous attacks which are the signs of a complete breakdown yet to come and he hotheadedly provokes Von Koren to challenge him to a duel. Meanwhile their friends, a doctor and a deacon bemusedly look on. Nadya has her own little plots afoot as she has admirers in the seaside town than Laevsky doesn't even know about. It all resolves with pistols at dawn.
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It appeared that of all the people present not one had ever in his life been at a duel, and no one knew precisely how they ought to stand, and what the seconds ought to say and do. But then Boyko remembered and began, with a smile, to explain.. "Gentlemen, who remembers the description in Lermontov?"
Hey! I do!
And so, on this last day of 2019, The Duel rounds off my Russian season perfectly since it references the duel scenes in Lermontov's [b:A Hero of Our Time|226378|A Hero of Our Time|Mikhail Lermontov|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344023178l/226378._SY75_.jpg|166902] which I read in early November, but also recalls to my mind the duel in Pushkin's [b:Eugene Onegin|27822|Eugene Onegin|Alexander Pushkin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388373138l/27822._SY75_.jpg|1795311] which I read soon afterwards. And in the course of his tale, Chekhov mentions Tolstoy and Leskov whose stories were part of my 2019 Russian winter too. Plus, The Duel is set in the same place as Vodolazkin's [b:Solovyov and Larionov|48805590|Solovyov and Larionov|Eugene Vodolazkin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573769107l/48805590._SY75_.jpg|74187939] which I just finished. I've come full circle.
Other quotes I liked:
"I understand Von Koren very well. His is a resolute, strong, despotic nature. You have heard him continually talking of 'the expedition,' and it's not mere talk. He wants the wilderness, the moonlit night: all around in little tents, under the open sky, lie sleeping his sick and hungry Cossacks, guides, porters, doctor, priest, all exhausted with their weary marches, while only he is awake, sitting like Stanley on a camp-stool, feeling himself the monarch of the desert and the master of these men. He goes on and on and on, his men groan and die, one after another, and he goes on and on, and in the end perishes himself, but still is monarch and ruler of the desert, since the cross upon his tomb can be seen by the caravans for thirty or forty miles over the desert."
That description by one of the characters about another reminded me of Patrick White's [b:Voss|411496|Voss|Patrick White|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330428809l/411496._SY75_.jpg|2938914]. Voss was just such a one as Van Koren.
"The mole has a powerful thorax, just like the bat," Van Koren went on, shutting the box; "the bones and muscles are tremendously developed, the mouth is extraordinarily powerfully furnished. If it had the proportions of an elephant, it would be an all-destructive, invincible animal. It is interesting when two moles meet underground; they begin at once as though by agreement digging a little platform; they need the platform in order to have a battle more conveniently. When they have made it they enter upon a ferocious struggle and fight till the weaker one falls...
Hey! I do!
And so, on this last day of 2019, The Duel rounds off my Russian season perfectly since it references the duel scenes in Lermontov's [b:A Hero of Our Time|226378|A Hero of Our Time|Mikhail Lermontov|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344023178l/226378._SY75_.jpg|166902] which I read in early November, but also recalls to my mind the duel in Pushkin's [b:Eugene Onegin|27822|Eugene Onegin|Alexander Pushkin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388373138l/27822._SY75_.jpg|1795311] which I read soon afterwards. And in the course of his tale, Chekhov mentions Tolstoy and Leskov whose stories were part of my 2019 Russian winter too. Plus, The Duel is set in the same place as Vodolazkin's [b:Solovyov and Larionov|48805590|Solovyov and Larionov|Eugene Vodolazkin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573769107l/48805590._SY75_.jpg|74187939] which I just finished. I've come full circle.
Other quotes I liked:
"I understand Von Koren very well. His is a resolute, strong, despotic nature. You have heard him continually talking of 'the expedition,' and it's not mere talk. He wants the wilderness, the moonlit night: all around in little tents, under the open sky, lie sleeping his sick and hungry Cossacks, guides, porters, doctor, priest, all exhausted with their weary marches, while only he is awake, sitting like Stanley on a camp-stool, feeling himself the monarch of the desert and the master of these men. He goes on and on and on, his men groan and die, one after another, and he goes on and on, and in the end perishes himself, but still is monarch and ruler of the desert, since the cross upon his tomb can be seen by the caravans for thirty or forty miles over the desert."
That description by one of the characters about another reminded me of Patrick White's [b:Voss|411496|Voss|Patrick White|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330428809l/411496._SY75_.jpg|2938914]. Voss was just such a one as Van Koren.
"The mole has a powerful thorax, just like the bat," Van Koren went on, shutting the box; "the bones and muscles are tremendously developed, the mouth is extraordinarily powerfully furnished. If it had the proportions of an elephant, it would be an all-destructive, invincible animal. It is interesting when two moles meet underground; they begin at once as though by agreement digging a little platform; they need the platform in order to have a battle more conveniently. When they have made it they enter upon a ferocious struggle and fight till the weaker one falls...