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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
honestly on the same level of pale fire (#1 best book statuuusss) fuck i love it so much
Cool book. I went back and forth on how I felt about it, but there were sections of writing that were fun and innovative. The plot was interesting. It might’ve been better in the original Russian; it has to be hard to fully translate Bely’s stylistic choices. Although there are obvious similarities, I don’t know that it truly compares to Ulysses. Regardless, I’m glad I experienced this one.
Andrey Beliy (Андрей Белый)'s «Петербург» has been translated four times into English, and determining which is the best also depends on which version of the Russian text you take as the "correct" one. The novel was first published in serial format from 1913 to 1914, then in a single volume in 1916. Prior to its republication in 1922, Beliy drastically revised the text; further changes were made alongside further reprintings in 1918 and 1935 and so on. The most significant differences are between the 1916 version (П.-A) and the 1922 version (П.-B); those are therefore considered the "main" versions.
П.-A (1916) was nearly halved in the process of becoming П.-B (1922). Much of what was removed happened to be the more experimental (nay symbolist) passages; the overall structural format of the text was also streamlined considerably. Of the four major English-language translations produced over the past century, two are of П.-A (1916) and two are of П.-B (1922).
П.-A (1916) was nearly halved in the process of becoming П.-B (1922). Much of what was removed happened to be the more experimental (nay symbolist) passages; the overall structural format of the text was also streamlined considerably. Of the four major English-language translations produced over the past century, two are of П.-A (1916) and two are of П.-B (1922).
JOHN COURNOS (1959)Cournos's translation, published under the title St. Petersburg, used П.-A. (1916) as its source text. Cournos, born Ivan Grigorievich Korshun (Иван Григорьевич Коршун) in Zhytomyr (now in Ukraine), was a ridiculously cool person who spoke Yiddish, Russian, German, Hebrew, and English. This translation, however, isn't great; it's really not worth reading unless you, like me, are interested in comparing all extant versions.
ROBERT A. MAGUIRE & JOHN E. MALMSTAD (1978)Maguire's and Malmstad's translation, published under the title Petersburg, used П.-A. (1916) as its source text. This is, in my opinion, the best by far, if for no other reason than the extensive scholarship included along with the actual translated text.
DAVID McDUFF (1995)McDuff's translation, published under the title Petersburg, used П.-B. (1922) as its source text. In the process of changing П.-A. (1916) to П.-B. (1922), Beliy not only removed various sections (mostly those related to the revolutionary movement and political terrorism) but also changed the foot of his prose to amphibrach instead of anapest. While preserving the linguistic details in Beliy's Russian writing is frankly impossible, McDuff does a decent job at maintaining the general feeling of the novel—which is why it's such a shame that he didn't translate П.-A. (1916) instead.
JOHN ELSWORTH (2009)Elsworth's translation, published under the title Petersburg, used П.-B. (1922) as its source text. Elsworth's translation won the Rossica Translation Prize in 2012, and Elsworth himself has written extensively on Beliy. It's unfortunate that Elsworth translated П.-B. (1922) rather than П.-A. (1916), because Elsworth's translation and comprehension of Beliy's work are both quite good; however, П.-B. (1922) is generally considered a significant downgrade from the original text, and I can't disagree.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Being beautifully written isn't enough to make a book good: this book lacks a plot, character development, or anything interesting apart from vague references to a building peasant revolt. I put this book down after reading 25% of it.
I read for pleasure for about 5 hours a day, longer when I'm on vacation. I've been like that since I was a small child. So I figure my reading comprehension skills are pretty good. But I get nothing out of post-modernism. Nothing.
This book is really long and hard to follow and full of references, but also its really cool
This is one of those books where if you really wanted to fully appreciate it, you'd have to teach yourself Russian and dig into the original text, because as the footnotes in the back will tell you, there's no real translation that will do this book justice. But for those of us who don't have the time to do so, the current translation is pretty good as it is... although the Prologue and many other parts still look weird at first glance (but I'm guessing it's mostly like that in the original text also).
In part the story is intended to be understood by contemporary Russian readers of the early 20th century, as there are a lot of allusions and symbolism that will be lost if you don't have any working knowledge of Russian history up to that point, what with all the references to Peter the Great and Pushkin and The Bronze Horseman and how rectilinear Nevsky Prospect is and whatnot. Honestly, the only thing I could remember from reading this the first time around was that expanding spheres show up everywhere, and that was because the Slavic professor asked us to count how many times they showed up, which I felt was mostly distracting away from the real point. But anyway, if you have the patience to cross-reference or reread later, the footnotes to the current translation do a great job of providing a lot of the historical background, or at least to the point where I felt like I had a decent grasp of the history of the city afterwards without having to read an actual textbook.
All that said, if you can get past the obscure references and odd symbolism (well... considering this is a Symbolist novel), it's a great read. This is a novel that really tries to capture the spirit of the city of St. Petersburg and focuses on an issue that Russians, along with everyone else at some point, have struggled with for ages - their national identity. Are they really European, or Asian, or both or neither or something else altogether? (I've always kinda wondered that myself ever since seeing Russia for the first time on a map.) Particularly at a time where the country was undergoing continual turmoil with protests happening everywhere, amid a recent loss in an international war. Paranoia was rampant, and you can feel it throughout these pages.
It probably helped a lot that I reread this in preparation for a trip to St. Petersburg, as it gave me a chance to see the geographical features and quirks of the city come to life and made actually seeing those sites in person much more meaningful. Even past the historical/geographical context though, there's way more going on in this novel in terms of language, plot, themes, and so on that I have still have trouble processing even after rereading. It's one of those works worth coming back to if you can find the time - there's always something new to discover here.
In part the story is intended to be understood by contemporary Russian readers of the early 20th century, as there are a lot of allusions and symbolism that will be lost if you don't have any working knowledge of Russian history up to that point, what with all the references to Peter the Great and Pushkin and The Bronze Horseman and how rectilinear Nevsky Prospect is and whatnot. Honestly, the only thing I could remember from reading this the first time around was that expanding spheres show up everywhere, and that was because the Slavic professor asked us to count how many times they showed up, which I felt was mostly distracting away from the real point. But anyway, if you have the patience to cross-reference or reread later, the footnotes to the current translation do a great job of providing a lot of the historical background, or at least to the point where I felt like I had a decent grasp of the history of the city afterwards without having to read an actual textbook.
All that said, if you can get past the obscure references and odd symbolism (well... considering this is a Symbolist novel), it's a great read. This is a novel that really tries to capture the spirit of the city of St. Petersburg and focuses on an issue that Russians, along with everyone else at some point, have struggled with for ages - their national identity. Are they really European, or Asian, or both or neither or something else altogether? (I've always kinda wondered that myself ever since seeing Russia for the first time on a map.) Particularly at a time where the country was undergoing continual turmoil with protests happening everywhere, amid a recent loss in an international war. Paranoia was rampant, and you can feel it throughout these pages.
It probably helped a lot that I reread this in preparation for a trip to St. Petersburg, as it gave me a chance to see the geographical features and quirks of the city come to life and made actually seeing those sites in person much more meaningful. Even past the historical/geographical context though, there's way more going on in this novel in terms of language, plot, themes, and so on that I have still have trouble processing even after rereading. It's one of those works worth coming back to if you can find the time - there's always something new to discover here.
funny
mysterious
slow-paced