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Sasha's Reviews > Eugene Onegin
Eugene Onegin
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by
Sasha's review
bookshelves: 2010, favorite-reviews, reading-through-history, top-100, russia, rth-lifetime
Jun 14, 2010
bookshelves: 2010, favorite-reviews, reading-through-history, top-100, russia, rth-lifetime
This foundation stone of Russian literature is a smashing, lilting read - and it's only 200 pages to boot, so it's less of a commitment than all those later Russians who thought editing was for assholes.
It's a "novel in verse," which means epic poem, wtf, in iambic tetrameter. It's organized in stanzas that are almost sonnets, but far enough off to kindof fuck with your head, or mine anyway. The scheme is abab, ccdd, effe, gg, so he's switching it up in each quatrain, which leaves me constantly off-balance. But in a good way! Tetrameter has a dangerous tendency to sound sing-songy to me, and this helps counterbalance that somehow.
It also makes a tough challenge for a translator, and for a long time Onegin was considered untranslatable. Stanley Mitchell has done what feels like an admirable job; I'm sure if I knew Russian I'd say he brutalized it, but one takes what one can get and this version felt readable and elegant. He's no Mos Def, but he's pretty good with the rhymes.
The story ends abruptly at Chapter VIII; Pushkin had to do some last-minute rearranging, by which I mean burning most of a chapter that was critical of the government, which really throws the pace off there. The version I have includes some fragments after VIII - stuff that survived the flames for whatever reason - but it's really not enough to be more than a curiosity.
Tolstoy called this the major influence for Anna Karenina, and you can see it. He kinda took this story and said what if, at a crucial moment, things had gone differently? (The point I'm thinking of, if you're interested, is the duel. (view spoiler)) So if you read these two together it's basically like a really long Choose Your Own Adventure with only one choice. Rad!
And as an added bonus, Pushkin includes what I'm cheerfully going to assume is the most beautiful ode to foot fetishes ever written. It's five stanzas long, so that's 70 lines of foot fetishing, including hits like this:
I used to know a dude like that. His nickname was seriously "Sniffer."
Anyway, but in case you're not Sniffer, here's a stanza that's not about feet, so you can get a feel for how good this shit is:
Frankly, even if it does we're probably not friends. But we could be, if you want.
It's a "novel in verse," which means epic poem, wtf, in iambic tetrameter. It's organized in stanzas that are almost sonnets, but far enough off to kindof fuck with your head, or mine anyway. The scheme is abab, ccdd, effe, gg, so he's switching it up in each quatrain, which leaves me constantly off-balance. But in a good way! Tetrameter has a dangerous tendency to sound sing-songy to me, and this helps counterbalance that somehow.
It also makes a tough challenge for a translator, and for a long time Onegin was considered untranslatable. Stanley Mitchell has done what feels like an admirable job; I'm sure if I knew Russian I'd say he brutalized it, but one takes what one can get and this version felt readable and elegant. He's no Mos Def, but he's pretty good with the rhymes.
The story ends abruptly at Chapter VIII; Pushkin had to do some last-minute rearranging, by which I mean burning most of a chapter that was critical of the government, which really throws the pace off there. The version I have includes some fragments after VIII - stuff that survived the flames for whatever reason - but it's really not enough to be more than a curiosity.
Tolstoy called this the major influence for Anna Karenina, and you can see it. He kinda took this story and said what if, at a crucial moment, things had gone differently? (The point I'm thinking of, if you're interested, is the duel. (view spoiler)) So if you read these two together it's basically like a really long Choose Your Own Adventure with only one choice. Rad!
And as an added bonus, Pushkin includes what I'm cheerfully going to assume is the most beautiful ode to foot fetishes ever written. It's five stanzas long, so that's 70 lines of foot fetishing, including hits like this:
Once by the sea, a storm impending,Almost makes you wish had a foot fetish so you could really get into that bit.
I recollect my envy of
The waves, successively descending,,
Collapsing at her feet with love.
Oh how I wished to join their races
And catch her feet in my embraces!
1.32
I used to know a dude like that. His nickname was seriously "Sniffer."
Anyway, but in case you're not Sniffer, here's a stanza that's not about feet, so you can get a feel for how good this shit is:
Let me glance back. Farewell, you arboursRight? And if that doesn't kick your ass, you're no friend of mine.
Where, in the backwoods, I recall
Days filled with indolence and ardours
And dreaming of a pensive soul.
And you, my youthful inspiration,
Keep stirring my imagination,
My heart's inertia vivify,
More often to my corner fly.
Let not a poet's soul be frozen,
Made rough and hard, reduced to bone
And finally be turned to stone
In that benumbing world he goes in,
In that intoxicating slough
Where, friends, we bathe together now.
VI.46
Frankly, even if it does we're probably not friends. But we could be, if you want.
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Reading Progress
June 14, 2010
–
Started Reading
June 14, 2010
– Shelved
June 14, 2010
– Shelved as:
2010
June 18, 2010
–
Finished Reading
January 25, 2011
– Shelved as:
favorite-reviews
July 19, 2011
– Shelved as:
reading-through-history
December 29, 2013
– Shelved as:
top-100
October 13, 2014
– Shelved as:
russia
January 2, 2015
– Shelved as:
rth-lifetime
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El
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Jun 14, 2010 12:50PM
Cool. This is one I have not read yet.
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This is a great review, Alex. It's so good, I'm even forgiving you for insinuating that Dostoevsky was a 'Russian asshole'. (Or were you referring to Tolstoy?)
Thanks Jessica! They're both assholes. But I'm ashamed to say I've never read any Dostoevsky. I will soon.
I think they're both allowed to be assholes. They had tough lives. They were Russian. Do you know what it's like to be Russian? You have to wear things like this all the time:
Yeah, that can be a downer. Also, I'm not even going to mention the images that came up when I did a google search for 'Russian asshole'.
Lol.But seriously, you know how happy I would be if I could pull off a mustache as well as that guy?
Anyone else think Captain Kangaroo looking at that guy?What I especially like about the picture is that it's from the National Geographic. So it's not even meant to be a funny picture. And you know it's real, and not just some drunken-Wikipedia entry or from the Onion.
I love how, despite his dowdy clothing, he still looks so content and happy holding his rake over his shoulder.
Heh, I forgot about the foot passage. It all comes back to me now. However, his claim that you would struggle to find 3 pairs of slender legs in the whole of Russia has always seemed somewhat dubious to me.Great review, by the way.
Thanks Gloria! Coincidentally, I just finished posting the stanza I quoted above as today's daily sonnet. I almost used the foot fetish bit instead, but I really want people who haven't experience Pushkin yet to be bowled over, rather than just amused.
Sorry in advance for my awful English, but I live in the city where I can practice it only by explaining foreign tourists how to pass to Red Square or wherever they go. LOLI really appreciated your review not just because you are among rare foreigners who saying that they are familiar with works of Russian poet (which in fact is real icon of Russian literature), but because you are clearly among people who grasped the essence of his art.
Combination of irony, ability to have a good laugh at humans in general and Russians in particular flaws and rebellious spirit that’s why Pushkin was always loved and valued maybe more than Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Chekhov altogether.
While he lived during times when long skirts covered and abscure great number of noteworthy legs in Russia, in most other issues Pushkin was objective and still relevant in his judgments.
So I definitely could be your friend at least on that matter.
And oh! You are absolutely right � Tolstoy and Dostoevsky ARE assholes! Ask any Russian who were forced to read their endless opuses in school and write reviews afterward! LOL
PS If you like poems and became interested in Russian poets I can recommend you to try Marina Tsvetaeva’s lyrics. I’m sure I’ll enjoy your particularly-drunk-review on her works as much as I enjoyed your Onegin’s review (yes, I’m selfish Russian beach (is it possible to call woman ‘asshole�?) which cares mostly about her own pleasure! LOL)
Katerina, your English is excellent. You have a very impressive vocabulary, with words like opus and obscured. For practice's sake, I'm gonna make a few minor corrections and suggestions:----------------------------------
Sorry in advance for my awful English, but I live in the city where I can practice it only by explaining to foreign tourists how to pass to Red Square or wherever they go. LOL
I really appreciated your review not just because you are among rare foreigners who say
Combination of irony, ability to have a good laugh at humans in general and Russians in particular flaws and rebellious spirit that’s why Pushkin was always loved and valued maybe more than Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Chekhov altogether.
While he lived during times when long skirts covered and
So I definitely could be your friend at least on that matter.
And oh! You are absolutely right � Tolstoy and Dostoevsky ARE assholes! Ask any Russian who were forced to read their endless opuses in school and write reviews afterward! LOL
PS If you like poems and
--------------------------------------
Anyway. Thank you very much for that compliment; it's high praise. I wish Onegin was better-known in the Western world. I usually get blank looks when I mention it. (That could also be because I'm mispronouncing it brutally; I was told that it should be something like "YevGENee OnYAYgeen.")
I'm starting Karamazov, my first Dostoevsky, in just a couple weeks. Fingers crossed that I like it as much as I liked Tolstoy, who - sarcasm aside - I actually am pretty fond of.
And finally, thanks a ton for pointing Marina Tsvetaeva out to me. I've already looked her up and read a few of her poems, which are stellar. I've volunteered to run a "Poem of the Day" thing for a week in November; I'm now strongly considering using her as my theme.
Have you read the American poet Emily Dickinson? It strikes me that there's a little bit of a kindred spirit between these two. Check it out:
"Every Verse is a Child of Love," Marina Tsvetaeva
Every verse is a child of love,
A destitute bastard slip,
A firstling -- the winds above --
Left by the road asleep.
Heart has a gulf, and a bridge,
Heart has a bless, and a grief.
Who is his father? A liege?
Maybe a liege, or a thief.
"A Man may make a Remark," Emily Dickinson
A Man may make a Remark -
In itself - a quiet thing
That may furnish the Fuse unto a Spark
In dormant nature - lain -
Let us divide - with skill -
Let us discourse - with care -
Powder exists in Charcoal -
Before it exists in Fire -
"[Ed: use "the" more often. English speakers love "the."]"Chanting:”THE.THE.THE!� There is THE problem: THE idea of using ‘THE� or ‘A� for that matter is absolutely alien to THE Russian language. We just don’t have such things. But I’m working on it! Hard. LOL
‘Beach�? Beach?! Really?! Oh, God! My subconscious finally took over! (Hello, Mr.Freud!) I really need vocation!
"(is it possible to call woman ‘asshole�?) [Ed: absolutely! It's an enlightened age!]"
Well, at least on that matter Russian and English languages (or should I say mentality?) are similar! LOL
Seriously, thank you very much for your corrections. I really appreciate that. It’s hard to improve language without help.
Re ‘mispronunciation� of Russian names. Only one advice � ‘don’t worry, be happy�! Nobody does it right except Russians� and even we are sometimes confusing things� like this for example: YevGENiY OniYEgin� LOL
Kidding aside. If you are interested in native sound of Russian language I found for you songs from old soviet movies with Tsvetaeva’s lyrics on YouTube. Hope you’ll enjoy it.
“Bless you�
“I like that you are not obsessed with me�
“To the Generals of the 1812 (1913) English subtitles�
I’ve read Emily Dickinson, but I have to confess that, to my shame, not a lot and mostly in Russian. But here is my favorite:
‘If I shouldn't be alive
When the Robins come,
Give the one in Red Cravat,
A Memorial crumb.
If I couldn't thank you,
Being fast asleep,
You will know I'm trying
With my Granite lip!�
Or this one (I couldn’t decide):
‘I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you � Nobody—too?
Then there's a pair of us!
Don't tell! They'd banish us—you know!
How dreary—to be—Somebody!
How public—like a Frog�
To tell your name—the livelong June�
To an admiring Bog!�
And this one should be posted on the main page of goodreads.com, don’t you think so?
‘There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry�
This Travel may the poorest take
Without offence of Toll �
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears the Human soul.�
An excellent review, made me look up more reviews that you wrote. I hope you are using your talent professionally! Thanks, this is the best stuff that I have read tonight
Oh thank you, Milica! What a nice thing to say.
Dostoevsky made me wanna checkout classical Russian literature. I’m going to read all of Dostoevsky’s major works, War and Peace-Tolstoy, Eugene Onegin-Pushkin and Fathers and Sons-Ivan Turgenev. I don’y think either Dostoevsky or Tolstoy were assholes. But arguing that some of there books are too big is a fair criticism, i mean if an average book is around 200-300 Pages. Then War and Peace-Tolstoy is effectively multiple books based on it’s size alone
What do you think Dostoevsky's major works are? I think your plan is great, and you've got a good reading list there. I don't really mean they're assholes, although to be honest they both completely were. But in this context I was just poking fun at how extraordinarily long their books are.
More stuff about feet:1.30
I love their little feet, yet guess
You'd be unlikely to discover
Three shapely pairs of women's feet
in all of Russia. Long indeed
Have two small feet caused me to suffer...
1.31
Ah, little, little feet! I wonder
Where now you crush the flowers of spring?
1.33
quoted above
1.34
Another memory comes, revealing
A cherished dream in which I stand
Holding a happy stirrup...feeling
A tiny foot inside my hand.
...
Their charming words and glances cheat
As surely as...their little feet.
Thank you for the review! I just reread Eugene Onegin almost 20 years after reading it in school. I don't know how a teenager at 15 should understand the full depth of this work, but at 33 it's wonderful! Thank you for making it possible to get acquainted with excerpts in English. As a Russian, I can say that Stanley Mitchell has done an amazing job! He not only kept the pace of the story, he also kept the meaning of each line. There are wonderful comments by Yuri Lotman on this work (I don’t know if it is possible to find them in English), which will help to understand the work deeper, introduce the reader to the era depicted in the novel, the details of its life, historical figures, events, literary works, etc.
