titania7
07-Oct-2008, 10:04
Although he was not nearly as famous as many of his fellow Russian writers of the same period, Fyodor Sologub most assuredly had a permanent impact on Russian literature. In the words of Yevgeny Zamyatin, author of the novel, We, "Cruel time will erase many, but Sologub's place in Russian literature is assured."
Born in 1863 in St. Petersburg, Russia, Fyodor Teternikov (later Sologub) was a symbolist poet, short story writer, novelist, and dramatist. His mother was an illiterate housemaid and his father, who died when Sologub was just four years of age, was a shoemaker. Sologub was educated at The Teacher's Institute and taught school, mostly mathematics, in St. Petersburg and various provincial towns for over 10 years. In the 1890s, Sologub joined a circle of Symbolist poets who had moved to St. Petersburg. Sologub was very much interested in exploring the world of evil "within oneself." His verses are metaphysical, filled with vivid imagery and, by turns, melancholic and fantastic. His first book of poems, Poems, Book I, was published in 1896. Sologub's two most important collections of short stories, Shadows and Decaying Masks feature mostly children as their protagonists. Sexual undertones in many of these stories led some to vilify Sologub, calling him a "Russian pornographer."
It isn't hard to believe that Sologub might have had unusual sexual proclivities, for there are certainly aspects of his most famous work, The Little Demon, that are somewhat perturbing. Having finished this book yesterday afternoon, it is quite fresh in my memory. It tells the story of Peredonov, a depraved teacher who eventually drives himself into a frenzy with his hallucinations and twisted delusions. Peredonov, in the beginning of the novel, is trying to get promoted to the position of school inspector. From the start, we are aware that Peredonov is both demented and obtuse ("He did not always immediately react to what was funny, as his brain worked slowly, sluggishly.") At the same time he is clearly a paranoiac ("as always, if people laughed in his presence and he didn't get the joke, he concluded that they must be laughing at him.") It would be unlikely that even Nikolai Gogol could have created a more vividly imagined, absurd, and hilariously villainous character than the unforgettable Peredonov. For fun, he enjoys such sadistic activities as watching as others are flagellated and rubbing his pet cat's fur with thistles. On one occasion, he devours a bag of raisins intended for cooking purposes and blames the "theft" on the cook (he even puts the empty bag in the pocket of her jacket). He invents a story that one of his pupils, Sasha, is a girl and does his best to ensure that several of his students are flogged by personally visiting their parents' homes and making up outlandish stories about them.
Sasha Plynikov, who turns out to be a boy, after all (though he is cruelly tormented by his classmates for seeming "girlish"), ends up in a provocative affair with a young woman named Lyudmila. They engage in such erotic, fetish-driven activities as kissing each others' hands and feet obsessively, and Lyudmila insists upon dressing Sasha in women's clothes. The high point of Sasha's forays into dressing as a woman takes place at a masked ball, which Sasha attends in the spectacular guise of a geisha girl. This is such an extravagant scene in the novel that it will definitely not be forgotten.
Peredonov's fiancee is his cousin, Varvara, a haggard, slovenly woman with a sullen temperament ("as usual, she was looking very scruffy, with her grey, grease-spotted blouse, filthy skirt, and worn-out slippers. Her hair was uncombed and hung over her eyes.") Even though Varvara is not a character one can easily empathize with, it is puzzling, considering Peredonov's despicable behavior, that she is so eager to marry him. However, she is. Indeed, she is so anxious that she gets a friend to help her forge a letter. In the letter, Varvara--or rather Varvara's friend--impersonates a princess who has promised to help Peredonov get his promotion if he will but marry Varvara. Peredonov is unaware of the trick Varvara plays on him, and, falling right into the trap, marries her. Throughout all this Peredonov has sightings of a small, rascally "imp"--a little demon, of sorts. At first the sightings of this creature are not frequent. However, as the novel goes on, he begins to see it constantly. As things progress, he starts to become so paranoid that he has fantasies about stacks of playing cards ("Obscure, terrifying shapes silently walked up and down--kings and jacks waved their sceptres, they whispered to each other, tried to hide from Peredonov and crawled towards him under the pillow.") Even when Peredonov cuts all the eyes out of the figures in the playing cards, they still torment him ("He felt that the blinded cards were making faces at him, grinning and winking with the gaping holes where once there had been eyes. Perhaps they've discovered a way of seeing through their noses? Peredonov wondered.")
Towards the end of the book, Peredonov becomes increasingly disturbed by Volodin, a friend who often comes to visit him and Varvara. Volodin, who is often referred to as resembling a sheep (he even bleats!), is not a major character in this book, but he is an essential one. He keeps Peredonov company because he "finds his ridiculous actions amusing" and enjoys listening to his "stupid remarks." But in the final chapter, his keeping company with Peredonov proves fatal.
The words of the title of this book, The Little Demon, refer to Peredonov, not the evil "spirit" that he sees. Sologub used the Russian word Nedotykomka, which is used to describe a person who is moody and overly sensitive.
This is a decadent little book with a certain pungent charm. It is certainly worth a read--maybe even a second read. It is thought that Sologub was trying to portray, through this novel, the sense of imperfection in the world. In the beginning paragraph he sets the stage for the ensuing betrayal, duplicity, and deceit with the lines:
"A stranger to this town, looking upon the idyllic scene, would have thought all was perfect peace and harmony. Appearances, however, are deceptive."
Sologub's other works include two lyric dramas, The Gift of the Wise Bees and Conquest of Death, several plays (among them, Nocturnal Dances), and a trilogy of novels entitled The Created Legend. His personal life was marred by tragedy. His wife, the playwright Anastasiya Chebotarevskaya, whom he married in 1908, committed suicide in 1921, following the Revolution. Sologub died in 1927.
One can find a paucity of information on Sologub online.
You can discover a few things about him here:
Fyodor Sologub (http://kirjasto.sci.fi/sologub.htm)
For those of you who love Russian literature--or who, perhaps, enjoy reading books by writers who are somewhat obscure--I recommend taking a look at Sologub's work, particularly The Little Demon. The last time I was so taken by a Russian writer was six or seven years ago, when I read Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov.
Titania
The Little Demon: my rating: *****
"Only children lie;
adults are mistaken."
~The Little Demon, Fyodor Sologub
Born in 1863 in St. Petersburg, Russia, Fyodor Teternikov (later Sologub) was a symbolist poet, short story writer, novelist, and dramatist. His mother was an illiterate housemaid and his father, who died when Sologub was just four years of age, was a shoemaker. Sologub was educated at The Teacher's Institute and taught school, mostly mathematics, in St. Petersburg and various provincial towns for over 10 years. In the 1890s, Sologub joined a circle of Symbolist poets who had moved to St. Petersburg. Sologub was very much interested in exploring the world of evil "within oneself." His verses are metaphysical, filled with vivid imagery and, by turns, melancholic and fantastic. His first book of poems, Poems, Book I, was published in 1896. Sologub's two most important collections of short stories, Shadows and Decaying Masks feature mostly children as their protagonists. Sexual undertones in many of these stories led some to vilify Sologub, calling him a "Russian pornographer."
It isn't hard to believe that Sologub might have had unusual sexual proclivities, for there are certainly aspects of his most famous work, The Little Demon, that are somewhat perturbing. Having finished this book yesterday afternoon, it is quite fresh in my memory. It tells the story of Peredonov, a depraved teacher who eventually drives himself into a frenzy with his hallucinations and twisted delusions. Peredonov, in the beginning of the novel, is trying to get promoted to the position of school inspector. From the start, we are aware that Peredonov is both demented and obtuse ("He did not always immediately react to what was funny, as his brain worked slowly, sluggishly.") At the same time he is clearly a paranoiac ("as always, if people laughed in his presence and he didn't get the joke, he concluded that they must be laughing at him.") It would be unlikely that even Nikolai Gogol could have created a more vividly imagined, absurd, and hilariously villainous character than the unforgettable Peredonov. For fun, he enjoys such sadistic activities as watching as others are flagellated and rubbing his pet cat's fur with thistles. On one occasion, he devours a bag of raisins intended for cooking purposes and blames the "theft" on the cook (he even puts the empty bag in the pocket of her jacket). He invents a story that one of his pupils, Sasha, is a girl and does his best to ensure that several of his students are flogged by personally visiting their parents' homes and making up outlandish stories about them.
Sasha Plynikov, who turns out to be a boy, after all (though he is cruelly tormented by his classmates for seeming "girlish"), ends up in a provocative affair with a young woman named Lyudmila. They engage in such erotic, fetish-driven activities as kissing each others' hands and feet obsessively, and Lyudmila insists upon dressing Sasha in women's clothes. The high point of Sasha's forays into dressing as a woman takes place at a masked ball, which Sasha attends in the spectacular guise of a geisha girl. This is such an extravagant scene in the novel that it will definitely not be forgotten.
Peredonov's fiancee is his cousin, Varvara, a haggard, slovenly woman with a sullen temperament ("as usual, she was looking very scruffy, with her grey, grease-spotted blouse, filthy skirt, and worn-out slippers. Her hair was uncombed and hung over her eyes.") Even though Varvara is not a character one can easily empathize with, it is puzzling, considering Peredonov's despicable behavior, that she is so eager to marry him. However, she is. Indeed, she is so anxious that she gets a friend to help her forge a letter. In the letter, Varvara--or rather Varvara's friend--impersonates a princess who has promised to help Peredonov get his promotion if he will but marry Varvara. Peredonov is unaware of the trick Varvara plays on him, and, falling right into the trap, marries her. Throughout all this Peredonov has sightings of a small, rascally "imp"--a little demon, of sorts. At first the sightings of this creature are not frequent. However, as the novel goes on, he begins to see it constantly. As things progress, he starts to become so paranoid that he has fantasies about stacks of playing cards ("Obscure, terrifying shapes silently walked up and down--kings and jacks waved their sceptres, they whispered to each other, tried to hide from Peredonov and crawled towards him under the pillow.") Even when Peredonov cuts all the eyes out of the figures in the playing cards, they still torment him ("He felt that the blinded cards were making faces at him, grinning and winking with the gaping holes where once there had been eyes. Perhaps they've discovered a way of seeing through their noses? Peredonov wondered.")
Towards the end of the book, Peredonov becomes increasingly disturbed by Volodin, a friend who often comes to visit him and Varvara. Volodin, who is often referred to as resembling a sheep (he even bleats!), is not a major character in this book, but he is an essential one. He keeps Peredonov company because he "finds his ridiculous actions amusing" and enjoys listening to his "stupid remarks." But in the final chapter, his keeping company with Peredonov proves fatal.
The words of the title of this book, The Little Demon, refer to Peredonov, not the evil "spirit" that he sees. Sologub used the Russian word Nedotykomka, which is used to describe a person who is moody and overly sensitive.
This is a decadent little book with a certain pungent charm. It is certainly worth a read--maybe even a second read. It is thought that Sologub was trying to portray, through this novel, the sense of imperfection in the world. In the beginning paragraph he sets the stage for the ensuing betrayal, duplicity, and deceit with the lines:
"A stranger to this town, looking upon the idyllic scene, would have thought all was perfect peace and harmony. Appearances, however, are deceptive."
Sologub's other works include two lyric dramas, The Gift of the Wise Bees and Conquest of Death, several plays (among them, Nocturnal Dances), and a trilogy of novels entitled The Created Legend. His personal life was marred by tragedy. His wife, the playwright Anastasiya Chebotarevskaya, whom he married in 1908, committed suicide in 1921, following the Revolution. Sologub died in 1927.
One can find a paucity of information on Sologub online.
You can discover a few things about him here:
Fyodor Sologub (http://kirjasto.sci.fi/sologub.htm)
For those of you who love Russian literature--or who, perhaps, enjoy reading books by writers who are somewhat obscure--I recommend taking a look at Sologub's work, particularly The Little Demon. The last time I was so taken by a Russian writer was six or seven years ago, when I read Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov.
Titania
The Little Demon: my rating: *****
"Only children lie;
adults are mistaken."
~The Little Demon, Fyodor Sologub