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A review by keepreadingbooks
The Enchanted Wanderer: And Other Stories by Nikolai Leskov
3.0
First half: 2.5 stars - second half: 3.5 stars
”But I have little faith; it does not give my mind the power to contemplate such loftiness: I am of the earth, earthy. I am thinking of those mortals who love the good simply for the sake of the good itself and expect no reward for it anywhere. These straightforward and reliable people, it seems to me, should also be perfectly pleased by the holy impulse of love and the no less holy patience of the humble hero of my faithful and artless story.”
I started this tome back in September, got about halfway and then had to take a break. Many of the stories that make up the first half of the book were rather heavy and much longer than needed – especially the title story, The Enchanted Wanderer, drained me of energy. I still wanted to finish it, as I did enjoy a number of the stories, so I decided to read a story here and there in between other reads. That worked well. And then we reached December and the compulsive part of me wanted very much to finish the entire thing before the new year, so I resolved to read the rest.
Luckily, the second half was much more to my liking than the first. The stories were entertaining, engaging, and quickly read. It’s a fascinating and extremely varied look into Russian life in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, dealing both with Princes and Counts as well as peasants and townsfolk and everything in between, in a large collection of different stories that illuminate certain aspects of life and religion in that time period.
If you’re a seasoned reader of classic Russian literature, I would recommend picking this one up, too (and practice your patience during some of the longer stories) – many argue that Leskov is one you need to read. If you’re new to the genre, however, I don’t think this is the place to start. I’d recommend Nikolai Gogol’s Petersburg Tales instead!
/NK
”But I have little faith; it does not give my mind the power to contemplate such loftiness: I am of the earth, earthy. I am thinking of those mortals who love the good simply for the sake of the good itself and expect no reward for it anywhere. These straightforward and reliable people, it seems to me, should also be perfectly pleased by the holy impulse of love and the no less holy patience of the humble hero of my faithful and artless story.”
I started this tome back in September, got about halfway and then had to take a break. Many of the stories that make up the first half of the book were rather heavy and much longer than needed – especially the title story, The Enchanted Wanderer, drained me of energy. I still wanted to finish it, as I did enjoy a number of the stories, so I decided to read a story here and there in between other reads. That worked well. And then we reached December and the compulsive part of me wanted very much to finish the entire thing before the new year, so I resolved to read the rest.
Luckily, the second half was much more to my liking than the first. The stories were entertaining, engaging, and quickly read. It’s a fascinating and extremely varied look into Russian life in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, dealing both with Princes and Counts as well as peasants and townsfolk and everything in between, in a large collection of different stories that illuminate certain aspects of life and religion in that time period.
If you’re a seasoned reader of classic Russian literature, I would recommend picking this one up, too (and practice your patience during some of the longer stories) – many argue that Leskov is one you need to read. If you’re new to the genre, however, I don’t think this is the place to start. I’d recommend Nikolai Gogol’s Petersburg Tales instead!
/NK