El trasgo

by Fyodor Sologub

La obra en prosa El trasgo está considerada como la mejor novela rusa después de las de Dostoievsky. Impregnada de matices simbolistas, la burocracia y la baja nobleza de una pequeña ciudad, esconde el argumento de su literatura satírico-social, donde la bondad y pureza de los individuos quedan absorbidas por el mal, representado por el protagonista Peredonov y su alter ego el demonio.

Peredonov es maestro en una pequeña ciudad de provincias. Vive con su amante Varvara, una modis­tilla que ha de soportar groserías y vejaciones en la espe­ranza de convertirse en su legítima esposa. Una princesa, cliente de Varvara, promete apoyar el ascenso de Pere­donov ante el inspector si se casa con su amante. Varva­ra le hace recibir una carta falsa de la princesa: el casa­miento tiene lugar, pero no así el ascenso. Obsesionado por la espera, Peredonov queda trastornado por una ma­nía persecutoria que le hace ganarse el odio de la escuela donde enseña y de la pequeña ciudad en la que vive. Se cree poseído por el demonio, que se le aparece bajo la for­ma de una pequeña bestia gris.

Genres: Russia, Fiction, Classics, Russian Literature, Literature, Novels, 20th Century

217 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1905

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

[Vit Babenco · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday,” – Psalms 91:6
Petty demon is taken from the Bible and it is the ‘destruction that wasteth at noonday’ or in some other translations ‘the demon of the midday’ – by which sunstroke would seem to be meant.
The novel characters live in the primeval boondocks and they behave as if they were sunstruck – lethargy and melancholia and gloominess prevail. In a one-horse town they just have one-way thoughts and every new day is a little bit madder than the day before.
The novel couldn’t find a publisher for a long while but when Petty Demon was at last published it had the effect of an explosion and it had become one of the most influential books of the time. And to this day it remains one of the most original books in the world literature.

True, people love to be loved. They like to have the lofty and noble aspects of their souls depicted. Even in malefactors they like to see glimmerings of goodness, of the ‘divine spark,’ as it was expressed in olden times. Therefore they cannot believe it when they are faced with a depiction that is faithful, precise, gloomy and wicked. They want to say: ‘He’s writing about himself.’
No, my dear contemporaries, it is about you that I have written my novel.

The process of reading Petty Demon is a slow descent into the abysmal twilight…
The creatures that abide in the twilight are just mean shadows.

[StefanP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peredonov upiraše u njega mutne oči i zapita:
- Jesi li mi ti prijatelj ili neprijatelj?
- Prijatelj, prijatelj, Ardašo! - odgovori mu Volodin.
- Prijatelj iskren, žohar ispečen - izusti Varvara.
- Ne žohar, nego ovan - ispravi je Peredonov.

Fjodor Sologub je radio deset godina na ovom romanu; strpljivo ga oblikovao i odstranjivao ono nepotrebno. Rezultat toga jeste da je ova knjiga uzbudljiva, a na momente i vrlo zavodljiva. Peredonov je ogledalo svih nas. Jedan od najgrđih likova koje sam upoznao ovih dana. Doslovno vam pljune u lice ako je to potrebno. I mnogi drugi likovi su brušeni prema zapažanjima koje je Sologub hvatao ne bi li tako svakome ponudio nešto, ne bi li se možda neko pronašao u jednom od njih, a tih likova svakako ima. Međutim Peredonov je tu jedini nekako arhetipski skrojen po mjeri današnjeg čovjeka. Gord, koristoljubiv, pravi nitkov. U nekim trenucima ga nosi neki miris harizme i istrajnosti, ali to se brzo skonča kad stupi na tuđe tlo.

Sama ideja i kompozicija romana je manje važna. Prvostepeno jeste prikazivanje onoga sa čime smo suočeni, možda svakodnevno; prije svega sa izopačenostima, strastima i opsesijama. Bez filozofskog iskakanja Sologub je vrlo sirov, bez ikakvih digresija, pojedini mu likovi vuku očajničke poteze, ne poštuje pravila, a dignitet prema drugima je totalno srozan. Ne znam koliko je pisac pronikao u ljudsku dušu, ali vidljivo je saznanje koje je pružio iz domena ponašanja. Zloduh je u svakome od nas i Sologub ga je vrlo vješto ovaplotio.

[Maziyar Yf · Rating 4 out of 5]

شیطان کوچک ، کتابی ایست از فیودور سالاکوب نویسنده و شاعر روس که به نظر می رسد در آسمان پر ستاره ادبیات روسیه ، کمی نادیده گرفته شده . سالاکوب با وجود آنکه کتاب های متعددی به روسی دارد ، تنها همین کتاب از او به فارسی ترجمه شده است
شیطان کوچک رمانی است که به اعماق تاریک روان انسان نفوذ می‌کند و تصویری واقع‌گرایانه و سیاه از جامعه و افراد نشان می‌دهد. سالاگوب دنیای پیچیده و تاریکی را پیش روی خواننده گذاشته که او هرچه بیشتر به آن فکر می کند ، بیشتر در آن غرق می شود .
شخصیت اصلی داستان، پردوناف، معلمی است که از زندگی و اطرافیان خود متنفر است و توهم توطئه علیه خود را در سر می‌پروراند. او با طنزی سیاه و نگاهی بدبینانه به جهان اطرافش می‌نگرد و هر اتفاقی را بهانه‌ای برای تأیید نظریات منفی خود می‌یابد . پردوناف را باید یکی از متوهم ترین ، بیمارترین و نفرت انگیزترین ضد قهرمانان تاریخ ادبیات روسیه دانست . رفتار او چنان کاسب کارانه و منش او آن قدر پست است که نمی تواند هیچ حس همدردی در خواننده ایجاد کند .
او به هیچ‌کس و هیچ چیز اعتماد ندارد و همه را دشمن خود می‌پندارد و به شدت به توطئه و بدخواهی دیگران باور دارد. از طرفی دیگر پردوناف احساس می‌کند که در جامعه جایی ندارد و هیچ‌کس او را درک نمی‌کند. این احساس تنهایی، او را به سمت افکار منفی و رفتارهای مخرب سوق می‌دهد. او که به زحمت در طبقه میانه جای دارد سخت به دنبال قدرت و جایگاه اجتماعی است و برای رسیدن به این هدف، حاضر است هر کاری انجام دهد.
اما پردوناف را نمی توان یک شخصیت ساده و یک‌بعدی دانست. او پیچیدگی‌های بسیاری دارد. همزمان هم از جامعه متنفر است و هم به دنبال تأیید آن است. او همزمان هم احساس حقارت می‌کند و هم خود را برتر از دیگران می‌داند. این تضادها به شخصیت او عمق و جذابیت می‌بخشد.
دیگر افراد جامعه ، دوستان و نزدیکان پردوناف هم فرق چندانی با او ندارند . گویی جمعی بیمار روانی و دگر آزار جامعه روسیه را ساخته اند . این گونه هر کسی به گونه ای دیگری را می آزارد و به هر روشی تلاش می کند نیشی به او بزند.
سالاگوب در کنار داستان پردوناف ، داستان های موازی دیگر را هم روایت کرده . همین سبب شده که کتاب او پر از کاراکتر و شخصیت با اسامی سخت باشد . برخی از این داستان ها ، مانند رابطه دختری جوان و زیبا با پسری در آستانه بلوغ ، گرچه جذاب روایت شده اند ؛ اما بود و نبود آن چندان فرقی در داستان ندارد .
سالاگوب در این داستان تاریک ، با خلق شخصیت پردوناف، به بررسی تاریک‌ترین گوشه‌های روان انسان پرداخته و نشان داده که هر انسانی پتانسیل انجام اعمال پلید را دارد. هم چنین او با نشان دادن جامعه‌ای که شخصیت اصلی را به انزوا می‌کشد، به انتقاد از ارزش‌های اجتماعی و روابط بین افراد می‌پردازد. نویسنده در خلق دنیایی سیاه و تاریک شخصیت بیمار پردوناف کاملا موفق بوده است .

[Steve]

Fyodor Sologub (1863-1927)

Smooth is the surface of my mirror and pure its construction. Repeatedly measured and painstakingly checked, it has not a single blemish.


The watershed between the realist canon of the 19th century Russian novel and the modernist novels of the Russian literary Silver Age was Fyodor Sologub's The Little Demon (1907), but this striking novel still has sharp teeth and is of much more than just historical interest. It is inventive, engaging and very aptly expressed; it also offers the reader no hope for the human race.

Born Fyodor Kuzmich Teternikov into the family of a poor tailor who died early of tuberculosis, he somehow managed to graduate from the St. Petersburg Teachers' Institute and begin a career as provincial secondary school teacher. In light of the way he describes provincial life in The Little Demon, he must have found that time trying, but in 1892 he wrangled a transfer back to the capital, where he began writing poetry, fiction, plays and criticism seriously. A survivor, he climbed the administrative ladder of the Tsarist education establishment, welcomed the February Revolution and became the head of the Union of Artists, then opposed the October Revolution and nonetheless ended up the head of the Leningrad Union of Writers under the Soviets. From 1892 on he was engaged at the heart of the Petersburg literary scene, interacting with Andrei Bely, Osip Mandelstam and Anna Akhmatova, to mention just a few.

But what about that watershed novel?

According to Sologub himself, he began The Little Demon in 1892, and a not quite complete version was serialized in 1902. The final version was not published until 1907. Though he wrote a great deal else during that time, it is evident both from the text itself and from Sologub's proud preface (from which the above quote is extracted) that he fashioned and re-fashioned his masterpiece, yes, painstakingly.

The main character, Ardalyon Borisovich Peredonov, is a high school teacher in an unnamed snakepit of a provincial town (just like his creator); he is unspeakably self-centered, monstrously dull-witted, pusillanimous, gluttonous, absent of any scruples, and sliding ever deeper into the madness of paranoia. The townsfolk are hardly any better, both male and female - the words "stupid," "torpid" and "dull" occur again and again in the narrator's description of the characters. Two of the characters are described as "boredom machines." Sure, provincial life had been bitingly portrayed in the 19th century novel and repulsive antiheroes had been employed before. But Sologub was not rehearsing old tricks.

Previously, provincial life had been examined with the purpose of urging improvement, progress and the hope of change; there is no such prospect of change, no such hope in The Little Demon, where all that is outside the anonymous town is spectral, unreal. Only the pointless, pathetic goings-on in that Everyplace and Noplace really exist.

And antiheroes had been used to satirize some class, attitude or characteristic with the intent of, once again, urging improvement, progress and the hope of change. Not here.

There are no noses walking around of their own volition, no ghosts chasing after overcoats, no one too lazy to get from his bed to his chair in this text: with strict adherence to the rules of descriptive realism, Sologub does not exaggerate for effect,(*) he just holds up his finely polished mirror:

No, my dear contemporaries, it is of you that I have written my novel about the little demon, about Ardalyon and Varvara Peredonov, Pavel Volodin, Darya, Lyudmila, and Valeriya Rutilov, Aleksandr Pylnikov and the others. About you.

If so, then his readers had grounds for taking offense, for in Sologub's mirror everyone crawls on their bellies like snakes.

Along the way Sologub jettisons the basic tenet of 19th century Russian literature that everything can, indeed must get better, and he throws in some "perversions" his forebears chose to omit from their works.(**) Of a distinctly curious cast is the secondary plot line that is interwoven with Peredonov's sad epic of ambition, stupidity and madness: Lyudmila's affair with the schoolboy. Instead of clarioning the expected notes of disapproval and outrage, the initially objective narrator becomes a bit flustered as Lyudmila slowly gains influence over the boy and the relationship crosses bounds that may have some readers squirming, while his prose changes in tone and intensity. These passages contain the only real feelings in the text aside from the greed, ambition and envy that otherwise saturate it.

Not surprisingly, a great furor was generated by The Little Demon, and apparently no small amount of this furor expressed itself as ad hominem attacks on the author. But the book quickly went through several editions. I am most curious to know if it had some direct influence on writers like Andrei Bely and, if so, what was the nature of the influence.

As pessimistic as this text is, the black nihilism of some Soviet works is quite absent; and as hopeless as it may be, the indescribable emotional state of the later Beckett is still far distant. Mankind had yet to plunge into the bottomless depths of the 20th century, which may well have been the worst century in its sad history.


(*) Well, maybe for humorous effect, because as hopeless as this text is, it is oftentimes downright funny. On the other hand, when reading about an egotistical and limitless windbag like Donald Trump in a novel one might suspect that an exaggeration was being made for laughs; and a leading Republican contender for the Presidency of the United States of America who flatly asserts that the pyramids in Egypt were built as granaries by Joseph could well have been a character in a Vonnegut novel. Reality is still stranger than fiction.

(**) Assuming they had ever even imagined them. Peredonov's particular idiosyncrasy of this type was henceforth referred to in Russia by his name.

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mix of kitchen-sink Zolaism and the sharp-penned spite of Schedrin sums up this black-hearted comic novel from the land of kvass and borscht.

[Adriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cartea asta e o votcă tare. După primele pahare devii extrem de vesel, jovial, exuberant. Apoi, pe măsură ce bei, amuţeşti, se face din ce în ce mai întuneric, contururile devin alungite, strâmbe, de parcă ai privi totul printr-o lentilă defectă. Apoi ţi se taie filmul şi te trezeşti a doua zi năuc, mahmur şi neştiind cum ai ajuns acasă...

L-am comparat pe autor cu al nostru Caragiale, dar există o mare diferenţă între ei: în timp ce caricaturile caragialiene sunt realizate cu peniţă fină, mucalit��, Sologub foloseşte de-a dreptul bidineaua. Totul e mult mai brutal, mai direct, scos de-a dreptul din întunecimile inconştientului uman, încât ajungi să te întrebi cu groază: "chiar aşa? chiar ăştia suntem? unde-i binele şi frumosul care ar trebui să caracterizeze umanitatea?"... Dar, până la urmă, cartea e o satiră, şi încă una al dracului de bună, aşadar e de înţeles de ce valorile umane îşi fac prea puţin apariţia aici.

În concluzie: poftiţi de serviţi! Recomand a fi băută repede (scriitura o permite) şi cu gheaţă pentru puţină diluare (altfel va părea, poate, prea amară unora). Şi da, se poate lăsa cu dureri de cap :)

[Sergio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Con la morte di di Fiodor Dostoevskij nel 1881, Ivan Turgenev nel 1883 e gli ultimi anni di vita di Lev Tolstoj, in Russia la vena del realismo, eccezion fatta per Anton Cechov, era conclusa e ad essa si contrappose il decadentismo e successivamente il simbolismo della quale vena poetica e narrativa Fedor Sologub ( nome d’arte di Fedor Kuzmic Teternikov) sembra essere il miglior interprete.

Il suo romanzo “Il Diavolo Meschino” pubblicato nel 1907 ebbe grande successo e anche a me è molto piaciuto: protagonista del romanzo è Peredonov un insegnante del ginnasio affetto da un disturbo di personalità progressivamente ingravescente a causa della quale vede nemici e pericoli di morte dappertutto e nel progressivo peggioramento, legato a una mancata promozione a ispettore scolastico, ruolo a cui tiene moltissimo ma che non si avvera mai perché la raccomandazione di una anziana principessa su cui lui fa conto si basa sul raggiro della sua amante che in questo modo cerca di farsi da lui sposare. Il peggioramento della paranoia porterà il protagonista a atti sempre più meschini e destabilizzanti, allucinazioni e malvagità gratuite.

Parallelamente al racconto delle ossessioni e manie di persecuzione sempre più incoerenti e gratuitamente malvage di Peredonov il romanzo narra anche l’amore idilliaco e sottilmente sensuale tra il giovanissimo ginnasiale Sasa e Liudmilla che si vedono di nascosto e tra giochi più o meno innocenti e passeggiate solitarie sentono un sentimento nuovo per la loro giovanissima età farsi strada nel loro animo insieme alla lenta ma inesorabile scoperta dell'eros ancora sentito come peccaminoso eppure tanto più desiderato quanto più respinto.

In conclusione un libro diverso dai precedenti successi dei grandi dell’ottocento russo ma ugualmente efficace nella narrazione sia della interiorità malata e irrimediabilmente perdente del protagonista che si rifugia nella pazzia quanto degli atteggiamenti inadeguati dei personaggi secondari apparentemente sani ma che mostrano invece l'appartenenza a una società borghese malata e alla deriva. E da lì a pochi anni infatti la Rivoluzione d’Ottobre cancellerà ogni cosa.

[Hosius Mr · Rating 4 out of 5]

تعریف این کتاب رو زیاد شنیده بودم و بعد از خوندنش متوجه شدم که این تعریف ها الکی نبوده! (هرچند که زمان زیادی طول کشید تا به پایان برسونمش)
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اولین چیزی که هنگام خواندن این کتاب توجه رو جلب میکنه جزئیات بسیار زیادی هست که نویسنده به اون پرداخته، جزئیاتی که شاید از نظر خیلی ها ضروری نباشه. بنابراین اگه از اون دسته آدم هایی هستید که دوست دارید فضا و شخصیت ها رو خودتون تخیل کنید، باید بدونید که نویسنده زیاد این امکان رو به شما نمیده و در خیلی جاها مثل اینه که در حال تماشای فیلم هستید!
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داستان با محوریت شخص به اسم پردوناف آغاز میشه، معلمی که در تلاشه تا جایگاه شغلی خودش رو ارتقا بده و پیشرفت کنه و برای این پیشرفت حاضره دست به هر کاری بزنه! دیگران هم گاهی سعی دارن از موقعیت اون به عنوان یک معلم سو استفاده کنن.
پردوناف نوعی شرارت و بدذاتی در درون خودش داره که هر چقدر در داستان جلو میریم بیشتر و بیشتر میشه، تا جایی که به صورت کامل اونو در بر میگیره!
اما این شرارت فقط معطوف به اون نیست، وقتی با شخصیت های جدید آشنا میشیم میفمیم که هر کدوم از آنها در رفتارشون نوعی شرارت دارن و تلاش میکنن تا به اهداف خودشون برسن و کار خودشون رو پیش ببرن. نویسنده میخواد این مفهوم رو برسونه که در واقع هر کدوم از ما میتونیم یک شیطان کوچک باشیم!
در همین راستا نویسنده در ابتدای کتاب توضیحاتی رو نوشته که به درک بیشتر از متن کمک میکنه، در انتهای کتاب هم شاهد بخش ضمیمه و قسمت هایی هستیم که بعدا به کتاب اضافه شدن یا تغییر پیدا کردن.
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متن کتاب پر از نماد هست و اشارات زیادی هم به سایر نویسندگان روس داره
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ترجمه کتاب بسیار خوب و روان بود، اما امان از دست این اسم های روسی!

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes ! finally an author with balls, who is describing the human society exactly the way it is. I think a lot of modern authors should read stuff like this, and understand that compared to this novel from Sologub, their work is just dull masturbation.
There is a lot of dialogue, the book has a very rapid pace. However, everything is where it is supposed to be, no piece of dialogue is too much. every phrase has been given a lot of thought.
There is comic, there is laughter but boy, that is actually some sort of sad grin.
Do we feel sorry for Peredonov? Talking from the doctor‘s point of view, the guy had paranoid schizofrenia which got worse along the book. Sologub presents phantastically the aggravation of the disease. The way Peredonov deals with the playing cards is priceless.

Boy I loved the characters. So human, so raw, most of them so normal in their bitterness/badness/envy/hatred...

This book made me think a lot at Bulgakov‘s „Master and the Margarete“. The cat is present in both books. Plus a whole system of institutions.

Did you also think at Hieronymus Bosch?

Thank you Adriana for your great recommandation.

[Ali Book World · Rating 5 out of 5]

فوق‌العاده بود.
شاید بعدا براش ریویوو بنویسم، چون واقعا الان نمیدونم چی بگم که حق مطلب رو ادا کنه. خیلی سخته.

[AiK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Разнообразный мир человеческого зла, ограниченности, пошлости и глупости, энциклопедия провинциальных нравов и типажей. Впрочем, роман не утратил своей злободневности, например, когда люди видят смысл жизни в карьерном росте не по талантам и трудолюбию, а по протекции, или жаждут женитьбы по расчету, пусть и выдуманному. Городишко живет сплетнями, злословием, травлей. Все такое мелкое, пустое и ничтожное. Странно, что никто не замечает безумия Передонова, как будто все слепы и глухи. Роман очень «цветочно-растительный», у некоторых персонажей есть соответствующие флоральные параллели и двойники, красоту которых мы, современные городские жители, оценить вполне не в состоянии.

[Domenico Fina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peredònov è un insegnante che aspira come unica meta alla promozione ad ispettore scolastico, è un uomo gretto, il termine giusto potrebbe essere: pusillanime. Abita in una città dal cielo sempre grigio che sembra aver condizionato nell'animo i suoi cittadini, vive con una donna, Varvàra, che non vuole sposare fino a quando lei non gli avrà fatto ottenere la promozione agognata. Varvàra fingerà d'aver scritto una lettera molto influente e gli farà credere che la promozione non tarderà ad arrivare; ma non arriva. Passa il tempo e Peredònov diventa ancor più diffidente verso tutti; comincia a questo punto un giro di incontri con procuratori, capo di polizia, preside del ginnasio in cui non farà altro che rendersi ancor più ridicolo; questa parte centrale del libro ricorda Le anime morte di Gogol, ma se lì gli uomini erano ridotti ad un "cumulo di riflessi condizionati", qui va ancora peggio, i visi degli uomini sono "paralizzati dall'ebetudine". Non è difficile immaginare come con le sue opinioni sempre sbagliate Peredònov possa farsi del male da solo. Per lui l'uomo deve mangiare prima della donna, la donna mangerà i rimasugli lasciati dall'appetito dell'uomo, l'uomo lo fa esclusivamente per lei, per la donna che deve restare leggera. Vorrebbe introdurre la pena di morte, ma solo per i contadini (ovvio), vorrebbe scrivere una costituzione che non preveda parlamento, i giovani sono solo maleducati, i polacchi sono un popolo di stupidi, dice, ma nel suo studio ha appeso il ritratto del poeta polacco Mickiewicz (ritratto che presto sostituirà con quello del russo Puskin perché il polacco è un rivoluzionario e non sta bene per un uomo in carriera). È convinto che ognuno debba farsi il segno della croce in chiesa ma soprattutto quando si viene osservati. Tiene certi libri in bella vista per far vedere che è un uomo di libere opinioni, ma non li legge, non ha tempo e non ha nemmeno opinioni, né la voglia di pensare per farsele. Eppure è convinto di non meritare questa città di gente cattiva, invidiosa e vorrebbe andar via. Ricordo un passo del libro in cui si dice che Peredònov non sapeva guardare in alto, non lo aveva mai fatto, non era uno spirituale, ma non sapeva nemmeno guardare in basso, intendendo con questo l'avere i piedi per terra. Era un fantoccio in balìa di fregole impazzite. Uno dei personaggi più orribilmente normali della letteratura.








[Chuck LoPresti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Symbolism is a word that is so variably applied that it has almost become worthless. There's the academic and IMO masturbatory symbolism of Jarry, the complex transcendent system of metaphysical signification that is present in Scriabin and Bely, the hazy expansive undefined-ness of Maeterlink and so on but Sologub, in this work is none of these. His symbolism instead is something of an aloof determinant that has no saving grace or final answer but it does promote a deep understanding of the terms and conditions that result in human interaction. Nobody calls Knut Hamsun a symbolist in term of decadence - but moreso in his comparison of nature and man in an attempt to posit a phenomenology of experience as being at the same time within and above man.

Sologub's writing works much the same way. He is a brilliant satirist and social critic who's work, IMO bears more in common with Gombrowicz (Ferdydurke) and Witkacy (Insatiability) than it does with Gogol or Bely. Social criticism is never too far from the root concern in almost all forms of symbolism. Like Pere Ubu - this work mocks a teacher with amazingly effective results. Although where Jarry elevated Ubu to king status - Sologub repeatedly stomps Peredonov into the muck of the most loathsome failure of an existence. It's also something of a picaresque story in that it features serializes attempts of a man to negotiate society with punishingly similar results. Where Don Quixote teaches the reader to love a fool in the same way Rabelais encouraged readers to love themselves through the acceptance of Gargatua and Pantagruel, Sologub entertains in a different way - much more like Bulghakov and Ensor whos distaste for crowds resulted in humorous observation and scathing rejection.

Sologub invites readers to gaze upon his creations with understanding at a distance much like a scoutmaster might govern interactions with wildlife that is most beautiful when viewed with caution and reverence. Many of Sologub's short works are more focus on natural symbolism and operate in a crepuscular haze that recalls Nerval - but the haze clears as the Little Demon unfolds into one of the best social satires I've had the pleasure to experience. Something like Walser's unattached but penetrating observance is present here - but where Walser's themes seem to start at the microscopic level, revealing transcendence as they progress - Sologub's prose works in the opposite direction where the details boiled down from the social interactions operated as conclusion.

[wutheringhheights_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una delle ultime uscite di Fazi editore e una delle migliori dell'anno.
"Peredonov, il demone meschino" di Fyodor Sologub è stato una sorpresa. Il motivo principale è che vi ho riscontrato una prosa molto moderna che ha catturato subito la mia attenzione. In secondo luogo ho trovato magistrale la descrizione dell'ambiente, violento e disonesto, in cui vive questo protagonista che si odia - ma che fa anche un poco pena.
Incredibilmente divertente agli inizi, il romanzo racconta la vita in una città della provincia russa. Peredonov è un insegnante di ginnasio, ignorante e ossessionato dalla possibilità di fare carriera. E' un uomo meschino, debole, molto superstizioso, e simili a lui sono la sua compagna Varvara e l'amico Volodin. Sologub è magistrale nel raccontare l'intima sofferenza e la cattiveria di Peredonov, ma anche dei suoi rapporti con gli altri e di come questi lo vedono e lo percepiscono.
Man mano che il romanzo va avanti il cerchio dei personaggi si allarga e compaiono altri uomini e altre donne che, ben più lucidi, riescono a comprendere la differenza tra loro stessi e Peredonov. E prendono le distanze da lui.
La spirale di corruzione interiore, più che materiale, è rappresentata attraverso il protagonista principale ma anche tramite altri personaggi secondari, ottimamente disegnati. Sembra di assistere, leggendo, ad una parabola discendente che provoca inquietudine ma da cui è impossibile staccare lo sguardo.
L'ho trovato un romanzo pregevole, divertente e drammatico, originale, molto diverso da qualsiasi romanzo russo io abbia letto fino ad ora.

[Maria Roxana · Rating 4 out of 5]

”Demonul meschin”, cartea în care mizeria umană a fost ridicată la rang de artă.

[Dmitry Berkut · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dark, intricate, and finely crafted psychological novel that captivates with its atmosphere of provincial stagnation and the slow decay of human souls. Through the character of Peredonov, a petty and spiteful teacher, Sologub masterfully illustrates how fears, envy, and madness grow rampant in a closed-off world, poisoning everything around them. This novel is a merciless look at the emptiness of petty philistine life, framed by exaggerated details and symbolism that often resemble a nightmarish dream. Gloom and paranoia. Timeless.

[Stil de scriitor · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐
Mi-a placut foarte mult cartea si ma bucur ca am mai descoperit un clasic rus. Pana sa dau peste acest roman, nu auzisem de Sologub. Despre ce este vorba in carte? Greu de zis. Despre om, despre diavolul lui interior si despre dorinta lui de a face rau. Despre personaje caraghioase, penibile, ridicole si despre tot felul de situatii la fel de caraghioase. Descrierile au fost extraordinare, la fel si modul de construcție al personajelor. Psihologia personajelor este un element cheie al romanului, putand sa identificam tot felul de tipologii umane. De ce i-am dat 4.5? Pentru ca mi-as fi dorit o acțiune mai lineara. Dar recomand calduros.

[Hanieh · Rating 5 out of 5]

شیطان کوچکی که رد پایش را در آثار زیادی می توان یافت.
پردوناف که در رویای رسیدن به مقام بازرس از طریق ازدواج با یکی از آشنایان شاهزاده به نام واروارا است، برای رسیدن به این موقعیت، اخلاقیات را زیر پا می گذارد و به هر خواسته ای تن می دهد، غافل از اینکه تمام این وعده ها دسیسه ی واروارا بوده تا بتواند با او ازوداج کند. پردوناف معلمی با شخصیت سادیستی که از عذاب دادن دانش آموزان خود لذت می برد، گمان می کند که همه افکار شومی نسبت به او داشته و قصد نابودی او را دارند و خود را لایق بالاترین جایگاه ها حتی به قیمت له کردن اطرافیانش می داند. این اثر هجویه ای از جامعه قرن نوزدهم روسیه است که تناقضات آدمی را به بهترین شکل به تصویر کشیده و به نوعی بهترین رمان روسی مکتب سمبولیسم است.
برای من تا حد زیادی شبیه به شیاطین داستایفسکی بود، همان رذالت ها، دسیسه ها، فسادها و... اما نمی توانم یکی بدانمشان. چرا که شیطان می تواند به شکل های متفاوتی ظاهر شود!

[Andrew]

Let's talk about decadence.

This is one of the most abused adjectives in the English language. “Sooo decadent,” Karen, mother of three moans over a chocolate lava cake at a chain restaurant in a Missouri exurb as she frets about how it will test the waistline of her Lane Bryant slacks.

Well, let me tell you, Sologub has different ideas.

Like dressing a schoolboy as a geisha and throwing him into a beauty contest for three sisters, or throwing your garbage across the walls of your house just because it vaguely amuses you when you're hammered.

Equal to anything Wilde, Mirbeau, or Huysmans were doing around the same time.

[El · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sorry to say I hadn't heard of this book before; or if I had, I didn't recognize it when I saw it on a friend's bookshelf after a few hours of drinking wine. "Wasss dat -hiccup- book?" So in the charming way I have, I of course asked to borrow it. That was a few months ago. It took me a while to clear time in my reading schedule for this one, and then I started thinking I'd breeze through it, but found very early on this was not going to be a quick read.

This is supposedly the funniest Russian novel. Ever. I'm always intrigued by comments like that, but at the end of the day I totally suck at reading books called the "funniest". I'm so busy looking for the humor that sometimes when I'm disappointed when the humor happens. It's almost anticlimactic.

But I'm also a fan of Russian novels, semi-obscure the better. So I trudged on.

In this novel we have Peredonov, a truly messed up human being of a schoolteacher. He is a nasty, nasty guy, which of course makes him delicious to read. A GR friend's review mentioned similarities to Ignatius K. Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces which probably would have been a kiss of death for me had I read that before I started this book. I don't care for novels that make me want to laugh at the awful things the character has to endure, it just feels mean-spirited. The difference here, I felt, was that Peredonov is also certifiable, which actually made his actions somewhat interesting to me, instead of just being a caricature of himself. He's an actual antihero instead of just a literary whipping post.

There's a lot going on behind scenes, of course, because this is a Russian novel and that's what Russian novels are all about. Aside from Peredonov's antics, there's also Sasha and Lyudmila, and their strange and strained relationship. However, maybe I'm being too sensitive, but I feel that the reader is meant to laugh at Sasha specifically, an androgynous young man who ultimately wears dresses, and that made me feel sad. But then again, I'm always the first to say that humor doesn't always translate well for me on the page, so I have no qualms assuming that I just read more into it than I should have. Me and my overthinking!

I'm not unhappy I read this at all, I'm glad to have stumbled upon an unfamiliar title and to be able to add it to my Russian bookshelf. But above all I'm happiest that I can finally return this book to its rightful home, and hopefully more wine will be involved in order to do it.

I should also note that this book was highly censored back in the day, being all sexual and about cross-dressing and stuff (the horror!); this edition included all the previously removed passages (which the back of the book tells me was a whopping 15% of the original text) - I recommend reading those sections too, even though it adds significantly to one's reading time.

[Kevin Tole · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book by another Russian I had yet to read. This book gradually gets madder and madder.

Not contemporary and pre-Stalin, Sologub was born just after the emancipation of the serfs and basically invented himself as a writer, indeed a writer thought by others (particularly Blok) to be immensely important. This, his most recognisable and available work, shows how good a writer he was. There is not one really likeable character. They are all mad in there own way.

The book charts the descent into craziness of a provincial school teacher. Along the way it portrays provincial pre-revolution life. No real attempt is given to flesh out any of these characters except for the mad Peredonov. Peredonov is as crazy as Gogol's Chichikov but far less calculating probably because he is a provincial. In fact it is the whole thing of provinciality that bleeds through this book, like Turgenev's Fathers and Sons throughout the period when they arrive back at the family home. Is there that great a difference (in any country) between provinciality now as there was then? Probably the differences were accentuated for Sologub. Now, we can travel easily to the capital. Then it was a matter of engineering an escape from the sheer monotony. And this is why Peredonov becomes obsessed with his putative inspectorate which leads him into marriage with the long term shack-up he's clearly been with for ages and everybody knows about but are willing to turn a blind eye. And this in turn leads him on the steady slope to bad craziness.

This book is a real gem - full of good quality writing. The introduction in the Penguin Classic edition, by Pamela Davidson, makes some excellent points and comparisons.

[Bahar Hf · Rating 5 out of 5]

کتاب فوق العاده حسابی، مقدمه ی به جا، پا نوشت های پژوهشی عالی، ترجمه روان و حتی بخش هایی که در چاپ های مختلف در روسیه اوایل قرن بیستم_ که احتمالا به خاطر خشونتهای سادیسمی (پردونافیسم) سانسور شده اند _ضمیمه شده.

مقدمه ی خانم دیویدسن درباره ی این کتاب سالاگوب به قدری دقیق و جالب بود که لذت خوندنش با لذت خوندن خود کتاب برابری داشت. متن انگلیسی این مقاله_مقدمه رو می تونید توی سایت آکادمیای خود خانم دیویدسن پیدا کنید به علاوه ی تعداد زیادی مقاله پژوهشی درباره ی ادبیات روسیه که حتی عنوانشون آدمو دیوونه می کنه😍
توصیه: این کتاب هم درباره ی نویسنده و هم مقدمه ای جدا داره، لطفا مقدمه رو وقتی کتاب رو تموم کردید بخونید، تاثیرش خیلی بیشتره:)


2013 - Introduction // Fyodor Sologub, The Little Demon, translated by Ronald ... https://www.academia.edu/27509345/201...

_داستان کوتاه سایه ها، از همین نویسنده توی مجموعه داستان کوتاه هنرمند دیوانه، ترجمه قاسم صنعوی، نشر دوستان، جلد اول، چاپ شده، این داستان اولین داستانی بود که پیش ازین کتاب منو با سالاگوب و قدرت قلمش آشنا کرد، متاسفانه توی این مجموعه، راجب نویسنده و زندگی نامه ش مطالب درستی ثبت نشده(چاپ سال ۱۳۹۵).

[Claudia]

Cosa ho appena finito di leggere?

Io non so cosa pensare di questo libro, tra il fastidio iniziale, il trash sconclusionato e le manie di persecuzione. Per quello credo che resterà senza stelline.
So invece cosa pensare dell’edizione: è un grande NO per l’articolo davanti ai cognomi femminili, per le poche note (otto note su un libro di 370 pagine), e, come qualcuno mi ha fatto notare, per il fatto che hanno cambiato il titolo.

Devo ancora capire se mi è piaciuto o se mi ha fatto schifo, se è geniale o sconvolgente.

[Meri · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Peredonov glared angrily at the salt"

If you can get your hands on this one, read it! One of the funniest novels ever written.

[Antonio Lombardi · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7V-1vro9rd/

[Eadweard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Sologub's combination of realism and symbolism, the way he split the book between Sasha and Lyudmila and their sensual escapades, and Peredonov's descent into madness. I also didn't expect it to be so funny.

[Елвира · Rating 5 out of 5]

Великолепно, брилянтно, омагьосващо, въздействащо, страхотно!
Голяма работа е Фьодор Сологуб, ей. Изкусен творец!

[UraniaEXLibris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mi ha presa dalla prima all'ultima pagina questo romanzo, di un Fedor meno noto del celebre Dostoevskij, ma ugualmente iconico.

L'autore trascina il lettore nella rocambolesca e grottesca vita di un professore ginnasiale sciatto e zotico che però ha un sorprendente pregio: tutte le donne vorrebbero sposarlo e lui, di una pretendente ha assoluto bisogno per realizzare i suoi obiettivi: elevarsi professionalmente e socialmente.

Tutta l'opera è pura follia. Dai toni cupi, a tratti quasi morbosi. Un climax che peggiora sempre di più e il demone che tormenta Peredonov stringe sempre di più i suoi artigli attorno alla sua gola, rendendolo paranoico, ossessionato, sospettoso.

In una società che si sta aprendo alle nuove ideologie e al nuovo secolo, Peredonov rimane un convinto zarista, ancora proiettato in una Russia medievale, allo sbando, come la sua vita. Siamo ben lontani dagli splendori di San Pietroburgo e di Mosca, invece possiamo qui leggere tra queste pagine un'ambientazione rurale, grezza. E per quanto Peredonov sia colto, siamo anche ben lontani dalla grazia e delicatezza del personaggio di Rodja. Ma per quanto squilibrato sia questo personaggio, il lettore non può fare a meno che andare avanti, lasciarsi coinvolgere nelle sue vicende e in una smorfia di disgusto mista a curiosità tifare per quel folle obiettivo.

Definito "il più perfetto romanzo russo" dopo quelli di Dostoevskij, il talento di Sologub trasuda fin dalle prime righe per esplodere in puro ingegno narrativo.

[La lettrice controcorrente · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peredonov, il demone meschino di Fëdor Sologub (Fazi editore) è un libro imperdibile. lo ammetto, non conoscevo questo autore (Un po' di tempo fa mi era stato consigliato proprio questo romanzo ma l'ho letto solamente ora).  Sono molto contenta  che Fazi abbia deciso di ripubblicare un autore ancora così poco conosciuto da noi, e forse poco apprezzato.

Sono tanti gli aggettivi  che si possono usare per descrivere Peredonov, il demone meschino. Impulsivamente non possono che venirmi mente tutti quelli negativi: Peredonov è un personaggio meschino,  scusate la ripetizione, morboso, irritante, sciocco, pigro, vile, reazionario, cattivo... che si muove in un quadro grottesco, in mezzo ad altri personaggi pervertiti e folli.  Niente e nessuno possono salvarsi da questo romanzo così diverso dai russi che ho letto in precedenza. E per questo mi ha conquistato in un modo completamente differente.

Il buio, l'ignoranza della vita in un paese di provincia in cui si spettegola, si giudica, ci si vende per avere una nomina, o una buona parola da qualcuno, non è descritto come in altri romanzi russi. Tutto il male che trasuda dalle pagine non ci viene descritto: lo percepiamo attraverso i comportamenti, deviati, dei personaggi.

La storia è in apparenza molto semplice: Peredonov è un insegnante al ginnasio.

RECENSIONE COMPLETA: www.lalettricecontrocorrente.it

[Anna Prejanò · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grandissimo e tremendo. Il Male è un paese di provincia dove i cani sghignazzano e gli uomini abbaiano, dove umano e animale si confondono non in un’estasi panica, ma, al contrario, in spregio all’armonia del cosmo; dove la Bellezza stessa è insultata nel corpo di una donna che insieme ad attraenti nudità mette in mostra le morsicature delle pulci. È la risposta russa al simbolismo e all’estetismo europei (il romanzo è del 1907).
Poi c’è il Male di Peredònov, uno psicotico afflitto da manie di persecuzione descritte con precisione clinica, come nella scena dell’accecamento delle figure nelle carte da gioco, e forza simbolica (le apparizioni del demone Inafferrabile, la Principessa centenaria, lo spione sotto la carta da parati, i ginnasiali-lupi mannari). Indimenticabile figura dell’abisso, quasi profetica della psicosi collettiva che di lì a poco avrebbe fatto storia.