Alexander Pushkin: Eugene Onegin

Landmarks of World Literature

by A.D.P. Briggs

This is a lively and readable guide to Alexander Pushkin's novel in verse Eugene Onegin, a landmark of European Romanticism, and arguably the best of all Russian poetry. Professor Briggs addresses the question of how such remarkable poetry can have been composed about a rather banal plot, and considers the form of the work and its poetic techniques in detail. He offers fresh interpretations of the characters and events of the poem, and sets it against its European background. He discusses its influence - notably Tchaikovsky's operatic version - and points to its life-affirming philosophy and spirit of joyfulness. The book includes a chronological chart and a guide to further reading.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published November 27, 1992

About the author

See also Anthony Briggs

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novel in verse. Excellent for a literature class. A must for a student in Russian literature although it took me a long, long time to finally get to it since I am not a fan of verse literature. It is a difficult, challenging read. It is the first classic of Russian literature from a historical perspective. What makes that interesting is it was published in the 1820's and it is the first. That makes Russian literature as a genre less than 200 years old. As a genre, it got very good, very fast and Pushkin is credited with launching the genre.