Свет и тени. Избранная проза

by Fyodor Sologub, Федор Сологуб

В книгу русского писателя - одного из крупнейших поэтов и прозаиков начала нашего столетия - Федора Кузьмича Сологуба (1863-1927) включены наиболее известный роман "Мелкий бес", и лучшие рассказы из литературного наследия автора.

383 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Fyodor Sologub (Russian: Фёдор Сологуб, born Fyodor Kuzmich Teternikov, Russian: Фёдор Кузьмич Тетерников; 1 March 1863 – 5 December 1927) was a Russian Symbolist poet, novelist, playwright and essayist. He was the first writer to introduce the morbid, pessimistic elements characteristic of European fin de siècle literature and philosophy into Russian prose.

Reviews

[Tocotin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Petty Demon is one of my favorite books eve, and I don't feel like reviewing it here right now. I'll focus on the short stories – some of them were new to me.

First I read "Light and Shadows" – it might have been translated to English, since it seems to be famous – and "The Worm". They are somewhat similar in that they are both sad, pessimistic, highly symbolic, and about sensitive children and obsessions. The main character of "Light and Shadows" is a schoolboy named Volodya, a quiet, charming boy, who lives alone with his mother, a widow, and an old servant. One day he finds a tiny booklet about making hand shadows, and he becomes completely obsessed with it, to the point of neglecting his studies. His mother notices he obsession and tries to cure him of it, only to succumb to the lure of shadows herself. The second story, "The Worm", resonated with me very strongly. It's about a cheerful little schoolgirl Vanda, who lives far away from her family with other girls like her, at a house of a strict lady who takes in boarders. One day Vanda, overjoyed at having received a good mark at school, breaks a favorite bowl of the rude, coarse master of the house. He wants to beat her, but she hides away, so he yells that a huge worm will find its way into her mouth and eat her inside. Little Vanda starts thinking about the worm, starts having nightmares, then falls ill and slowly wastes away, convinced that the worm is indeed inside her, surrounded by people who only laugh and tease her and show her no compassion whatsoever until it is too late. (Sologub never mentions her nationality, but it's evident that she's from a persecuted ethnic minority and it adds an extra layer to the story.) Both stories are beautifully written and very atmospheric, but it is the latter one that made a lasting impression on me; the desperate loneliness of a child forced to live in a foreign place, without anyone to talk to about her fears, childish and irrational as they might be, but no less damaging and serious, and all that in the middle of winter – it was intense, and believable, and absolutely heart-rending. At last the boy from "Light and Shadows" had a close and trusting relationship with his mother.

The "Insolence" story (my translation of the title, not very accurate) was about a schoolboy with socialist leanings, who cannot understand his mother and grandmother, and is not understood by them either; the oppressive atmosphere of the late imperial Russia is to blame. I'm not sure what exactly was the point of it, however, other than great characterization. "The Smile" is about a shy, poor boy who grows up into a shy adult who cannot find his place in life. The construction of the story is absolutely masterful; it consists of just three scenes, and one has the feeling of knowing the MC's entire life. These two were absolutely depressing.

"A Little Man" was a grotesque, nightmare-is tale about a short guy who married a lady who is very big and tall. He wants her to be smaller than him, and he manages to obtain a very expensive, mysterious potion from a creepy Armenian guy. It doesn't end well for anyone, the wife is not harmed though. This story decidedly has Gogol vibes, a la "The Nose".

"The Glimmer of Hunger" was another sad story about a guy who is searching for a job, and when he seemingly manages to find one, he snaps at the unreasonable demands of his future employer, a rich young lady who wants to publish a journal. It's very short and depressing, as usual with Sologub, but it is a great character study, with the most vivid one being the main character's landlady.

The next one – OMG! I remembered it; I'd read it very long ago in translation. It is a long, detailed, terrifying story, seemingly fictional, but in fact about a real historical event, the Khodinka Field Tragedy, which was a stampede that occurred during the coronation festivities of the last tsar of Russia Nicholas II (who got to be called Nicholas the Bloody after that). Sologub's story, titled "In the Crowd", centers three children who go to a (fictional) Opalikha Field – the names alone are enough to invoke a feeling of dread; Opalikha comes from "opala", which means falling out of grace with – because it is the anniversary of their (fictional) town of Mstislav, and whoever goes there, will receive a gift. That's it. The story starts in the afternoon of the previous day, and is one long nightmare whose last sentence is simply "Death". It's almost physically uncomfortable, but at the same time it's tightly packed with wonderful character descriptions of various people in the crowd – some of those are just a voice, some just a smell – and the way it builds up the atmosphere, while giving a whiff of solemn fin-de-siecle symbolism in places, is worth studying.

So after this trauma, I read one more story, "The Search", a bittersweet tale about a little boy who is unjustly accused of theft at school. Everything turns out well, the boy's one consolation (apart from being proven innocent) is that he'd got a new shirt from his mom in the morning, so he didn't have to feel embarrassed when they searched him, but the whole thing leaves a nasty aftertaste. The mother tells the boy to treat it as a good experience, and says at the end, "Who knows what's in store for you when you grow up? Anything can happen here."

"Beastly Existence" is a story about a wealthy widower who has a 12 years old son whom he loves dearly. One day the widower has a strange visitor – a sleazy private investigator, who informs him that the boy is in danger, because his uncle, the brother of his dead mother, wants to inherit his money. The father of the boy finds it ridiculous, but he gives in out of curiosity, and agrees to pay the investigator. Things ensue. The story was kind of straightforward and perhaps typical for the era, but I quite enjoyed it thanks to great characterization and observations on culture and society.

The last one I read, "Lohengrin", was an absolute delight, the more because I didn't expect this kind of story from this particular author. I'm not going to spoil it here. I absolutely adored it and I cried at how funny and cute it was. And it was my absolute favorite in this collection.

I wish I had other books by Sologub available...