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Роман без вранья
«Роман без вранья» — знаменитый роман Анатолия Мариенгофа, в котором он рассказал о своей дружбе с Сергеем Есениным. К тому времени, когда создавался роман, образ центрального героя, Есенина, уже был идеализирован в сознании почитателей его таланта. Мариенгофу было важно сохранить живые черты дорогого человека. «Роман без вранья» — не просто мемуарная проза, богатая деталями и подробностями. Из мелочей быта, из разнообразных событий, значительных и незначительных, из когда-то прозвучавших слов и совершенных поступков складывается образ прожитой сообща жизни. «Роман без вранья» — это роман о поэтах, о времени, о борьбе со смертью и забвением.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1926
2 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
Anatoly Mariengof
20 books20 followersAnatoly Borisovich Marienhof or Mariengof (Russian: Анатолий Борисович Мариенгоф; 6 July (24 June O.S.) 1897 – 24 June 1962) was a Russian poet, novelist and playwright. He was one of the leading figures of Imaginism. Now he is mostly remembered for his memoirs that depict Russian literary life of the 1920s and his friendship with Sergei Yesenin.
Anatoly Marienhof was born into a Livonian nobleman's family in Nizhny Novgorod. Upon graduating from gymnasium in 1914, he was drafted and served during the First World War on Eastern Front.
Marienhof's literary career started in 1918 when he participated in the Imaginists' manifesto "Deklaraciia", published in Voronezh. The manifesto was signed also by Sergei Yesenin and other Moscow poets. Together they started a new poetic flow called Imaginism. Marienhof participated in all Imaginist actions and publications. He himself published a dozen books of poetry in 1920—1928. He became a close friend of Yesenin with whom he shared a flat during some months. Marienhof is the dedicatee of some of Yesenin's major works, including the large poem Sorokoust, the drama Pugachov and the tract on poetics Maria's Keys'.
Marienhof gained further renown with his controversial fiction: "The Novel without Lies" (1926) and "The Cynics" (1928). The former presented his fictionalized (although still largely accurate) recollections of his friendship with Sergei Yesenin; the latter was a story of the life of young intellectuals during the revolution and the War communism. Both were met with sharp criticism in the Soviet press. "The Cynics" was published in Berlin (Petropolis), and not in the Soviet Union until 1988.
After the publication of his last novel, "Shaved Man", in 1930 in Berlin and parts of his historical novel "Ekaterina" (1936), Marienhof was reduced to writing for theatre and later for radio without any hope of being published again. Yesenin's works were edited in the USSR for a long period of time to omit the dedications to Marienhof.
In his later years, after Joseph Stalin's death, Marienhof wrote mostly memoirs; they were published several decades after his death in 1962.
Anatoly Marienhof was born into a Livonian nobleman's family in Nizhny Novgorod. Upon graduating from gymnasium in 1914, he was drafted and served during the First World War on Eastern Front.
Marienhof's literary career started in 1918 when he participated in the Imaginists' manifesto "Deklaraciia", published in Voronezh. The manifesto was signed also by Sergei Yesenin and other Moscow poets. Together they started a new poetic flow called Imaginism. Marienhof participated in all Imaginist actions and publications. He himself published a dozen books of poetry in 1920—1928. He became a close friend of Yesenin with whom he shared a flat during some months. Marienhof is the dedicatee of some of Yesenin's major works, including the large poem Sorokoust, the drama Pugachov and the tract on poetics Maria's Keys'.
Marienhof gained further renown with his controversial fiction: "The Novel without Lies" (1926) and "The Cynics" (1928). The former presented his fictionalized (although still largely accurate) recollections of his friendship with Sergei Yesenin; the latter was a story of the life of young intellectuals during the revolution and the War communism. Both were met with sharp criticism in the Soviet press. "The Cynics" was published in Berlin (Petropolis), and not in the Soviet Union until 1988.
After the publication of his last novel, "Shaved Man", in 1930 in Berlin and parts of his historical novel "Ekaterina" (1936), Marienhof was reduced to writing for theatre and later for radio without any hope of being published again. Yesenin's works were edited in the USSR for a long period of time to omit the dedications to Marienhof.
In his later years, after Joseph Stalin's death, Marienhof wrote mostly memoirs; they were published several decades after his death in 1962.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 29, 2022
Bijzondere en nietsontziende memoires over de surrealistische jaren na de Russische revolutie.
September 18, 2022
Человеческая тупость бессмертна, - сказал мой любимый Мариенгоф, и воистину это так, потому что no way in hell they were straight
June 4, 2013
Mariengof ed Esenin sono stati due tra i principali poeti russi della corrente dell'immaginismo. Soprattutto Esenin, in vita, ha goduto di una fama apprezzabile insieme ad una vita turbolenta. Il suo animo di esteta ben poco si confaceva ai dettami emergenti dalla Rivoluzione d'Ottobre (che fecero invece la fortuna di poeti come Mayakovsky).
Questo libro racconta gli anni passati insieme dai due poeti. Fu stampato pochi anni dopo la scomparsa di Esenin. Non pensate che sia un tributo, né che sia un omaggio al grande poeta russo (oggi ampiamente rivalutato). Questo è libro è un vero e proprio atto d'amore di Mariengof nei confronti di Esenin. Se ne potrebbe anche estrapolare una verità storica: come la Rivoluzione d'Ottobre soffocò un certo modo di intendere l'arte, in un certo senso sminuendola. Ma questo concetto sarà raffinato e romanzato da Mariengof ne I cinici. Qua la testimonianza benché romanzata, ma "senza bugie", è l'unica cosa che conta.
Viaggiavamo da Tichoreck a Pjatigorsk, quando sentiamo delle grida. Ci affacciamo al finestrino e cosa vediamo? Un puledrino che, con quanta forza ha addosso, galoppa dietro la locomotiva. Correva tanto forte che ci rendemmo subito conto che, chissà perché, doveva aver deciso di superarla. Continuò a correre così per un bel pezzo, poi si stancò e a una stazione lo presero. È un episodio che altri troveranno insignificante, ma che per me vuole dire moltissimo. Il cavallo d’acciaio che vince il cavallo vero. Per me quel puledrino era la tangibile, cara e morente immagine della campagna e del volto di Machno. L’una e l’altro, nella nostra rivoluzione, assomigliano terribilmente a quel puledrino, in quel loro misurare la forza viva contro una forza di ferro.
...In questi giorni sono molto triste, perché la storia sta attraversando un brutto periodo: uccide l’individuo come essere vivente, e non è questo il socialismo che sognavo, ma è preciso e premeditato come un’isola di S. Elena senza gloria e senza sogni. È un socialismo in cui chi è vivo ci sta stretto, e ci sta stretto chi costruisce un ponte verso un mondo invisibile, perché tagliano e fanno saltare questi ponti sotto i piedi delle generazioni future. Naturalmente chi sa vedere vedrà i ponti ormai coperti di muffa, ma dispiace pur sempre aver costruito una casa e che non ci abiti nessuno, aver intagliato una barca e che nessuno ci navighi».
Questo libro racconta gli anni passati insieme dai due poeti. Fu stampato pochi anni dopo la scomparsa di Esenin. Non pensate che sia un tributo, né che sia un omaggio al grande poeta russo (oggi ampiamente rivalutato). Questo è libro è un vero e proprio atto d'amore di Mariengof nei confronti di Esenin. Se ne potrebbe anche estrapolare una verità storica: come la Rivoluzione d'Ottobre soffocò un certo modo di intendere l'arte, in un certo senso sminuendola. Ma questo concetto sarà raffinato e romanzato da Mariengof ne I cinici. Qua la testimonianza benché romanzata, ma "senza bugie", è l'unica cosa che conta.
Viaggiavamo da Tichoreck a Pjatigorsk, quando sentiamo delle grida. Ci affacciamo al finestrino e cosa vediamo? Un puledrino che, con quanta forza ha addosso, galoppa dietro la locomotiva. Correva tanto forte che ci rendemmo subito conto che, chissà perché, doveva aver deciso di superarla. Continuò a correre così per un bel pezzo, poi si stancò e a una stazione lo presero. È un episodio che altri troveranno insignificante, ma che per me vuole dire moltissimo. Il cavallo d’acciaio che vince il cavallo vero. Per me quel puledrino era la tangibile, cara e morente immagine della campagna e del volto di Machno. L’una e l’altro, nella nostra rivoluzione, assomigliano terribilmente a quel puledrino, in quel loro misurare la forza viva contro una forza di ferro.
...In questi giorni sono molto triste, perché la storia sta attraversando un brutto periodo: uccide l’individuo come essere vivente, e non è questo il socialismo che sognavo, ma è preciso e premeditato come un’isola di S. Elena senza gloria e senza sogni. È un socialismo in cui chi è vivo ci sta stretto, e ci sta stretto chi costruisce un ponte verso un mondo invisibile, perché tagliano e fanno saltare questi ponti sotto i piedi delle generazioni future. Naturalmente chi sa vedere vedrà i ponti ormai coperti di muffa, ma dispiace pur sempre aver costruito una casa e che non ci abiti nessuno, aver intagliato una barca e che nessuno ci navighi».
July 26, 2020
Сил нет как хорош Мариенгоф, даже писать ничего не стану. Рекомендуется всем.
August 24, 2023
In deze fragmentarische memoires vermomd als roman vertelt Mariëngof over zijn vriendschap met de legendarische dichter Jesenin in de jaren net na de Revolutie, tot aan diens dood eind 1925. Cynisch van toon, met een focus op sappige anekdotes vol armoede, literaire avonturen, dronkenschap, liefdesaffaires, reizen, vandalisme, ... Zoals bij ander werk van Mariëngof het geval is, is "Roman zonder leugens" door de grote culturele en historische afstand en de zeer specifieke context waarin alles zich afspeelt niet altijd even vlot leesbaar. Toch is dit verplichte kost voor wie van absurde Russische literatuur uit die periode houdt.
"Nu krijg ik steeds meer het idee dat reizen funest voor me is. Ik weet niet wat er met me zou gebeuren als ik plotseling de hele wereld door moest reizen."
"Geluk moet je vragen zoals een zwerfkindje uit Odessa om een fooi bedelt: - Burgeres, geef mij vijf kopeken. Anders spuug ik in uw aangezicht - ik heb syfilis."
"Nu krijg ik steeds meer het idee dat reizen funest voor me is. Ik weet niet wat er met me zou gebeuren als ik plotseling de hele wereld door moest reizen."
"Geluk moet je vragen zoals een zwerfkindje uit Odessa om een fooi bedelt: - Burgeres, geef mij vijf kopeken. Anders spuug ik in uw aangezicht - ik heb syfilis."
September 23, 2017
Сквозь страницы книги проглядывается Сергей Есенин как живой человек со своими достоинствами, изъянами и слабостями. Мариенгоф для меня – открытие. Манера повествования, подбор образов, словосочетания – хотелось по нескольку раз перечесть некоторые предложения, а какие-то запомнить)
October 4, 2023
This is an excellent memoir about Sergei Yesenin by his friend Anatoly Mariengof. If the words “Russian” and poet” haven’t already tipped you off, yes, it has a sad ending. Yesesin, after writing his last poem in his own blood, hung himself in a fancy hotel in St. Petersburg. Or, it’s equally possible the secret service murdered him. Such was Russia.
But about the book: this is a fine memoir of bohemia in the 1920s in Russia. Mariengof was a brilliant, dandyesque writer. As such, at first he considered Yesenin a hick from the provinces, but the quality of Yesenin’s poetry won him over. They hit it off. They publish. They romance girls. They starve, and sometimes they feast. It’s altogether compelling and romantic.
Mariengof owns a killer wit. In Russian, it must read wonderfully. In translation, sometimes it feels as if Oscar Wilde were translated into Russian, and back into English using Google Translate. Still, the sardonic and dry quality remains. It’s unique, or nearly so, in the way Mariengof can cast a cool, elegant eye on events and people and yet remain touching.
Underneath all the high jinks, you inevitably feel the overwhelming tragedy and sadness of, not merely the loss of youth, but the greater, profound losses inflicted on a nation by a vicious and bloodthirsty regime. The impending doom of Yesinin, gradually more and more alcoholic and degraded, colors the gaiety with dread. But there’s the loss of a generation. A fine quality of this edition is that footnotes about the various characters appear in the margins, explaining who they were and how they died. And they all died badly: in camps. In prison. By suicide. Or simply vanished in some nameless basement.
And yet, it’s as Mikhail Bulgakov said: manuscripts don’t burn.
The authorities banned Mariengof’s memoir until the Soviet Union collapsed. But we have it. We can read it, and laugh with him, and feel with him. Along with this magnificent book, we have the poems Yesenin wrote and bled.
If you have a chance, you should read this memoir, Yesenin's work, and the shattering series of poems that Jim Harrison wrote, “Letters to Yesenin” inspired by the life and work of our man who was born today.
But about the book: this is a fine memoir of bohemia in the 1920s in Russia. Mariengof was a brilliant, dandyesque writer. As such, at first he considered Yesenin a hick from the provinces, but the quality of Yesenin’s poetry won him over. They hit it off. They publish. They romance girls. They starve, and sometimes they feast. It’s altogether compelling and romantic.
Mariengof owns a killer wit. In Russian, it must read wonderfully. In translation, sometimes it feels as if Oscar Wilde were translated into Russian, and back into English using Google Translate. Still, the sardonic and dry quality remains. It’s unique, or nearly so, in the way Mariengof can cast a cool, elegant eye on events and people and yet remain touching.
Underneath all the high jinks, you inevitably feel the overwhelming tragedy and sadness of, not merely the loss of youth, but the greater, profound losses inflicted on a nation by a vicious and bloodthirsty regime. The impending doom of Yesinin, gradually more and more alcoholic and degraded, colors the gaiety with dread. But there’s the loss of a generation. A fine quality of this edition is that footnotes about the various characters appear in the margins, explaining who they were and how they died. And they all died badly: in camps. In prison. By suicide. Or simply vanished in some nameless basement.
And yet, it’s as Mikhail Bulgakov said: manuscripts don’t burn.
The authorities banned Mariengof’s memoir until the Soviet Union collapsed. But we have it. We can read it, and laugh with him, and feel with him. Along with this magnificent book, we have the poems Yesenin wrote and bled.
If you have a chance, you should read this memoir, Yesenin's work, and the shattering series of poems that Jim Harrison wrote, “Letters to Yesenin” inspired by the life and work of our man who was born today.
April 3, 2018
Venäjä ~1920. Kuuluisuudesta elävät, kylpyammeessa yhdessä lämpimikseen nukkuvat kirjailijat.
*kirjailijan takkia ryöstetään*
"Ja kun jo kaiken toivoni menettäneenä vedän käsiäni takin hihoista, avukseni tulee tuo venäläisten rajaton rakkaus taiteeseen. Tarkasteltuaan aikansa kasvojani yksi joukkion jäsenistä kysyy:
– Kansalainen, mikä teidän nimenne mahtaa olla?
– Mariengof...
– Anatoli Mariengof?
– Anatoli Mariengof! toistan ylpeänä, yllättyneenä kuuluisuudestani.
– "Magdaleenan" kirjoittajako?
Tuona onnellisena ja yhtenä elämäni kiehtovimmista hetkistä olisin mielihyvin antanut heille takkini lisäksi housut, kiiltonahkakengät, silkkisukat ja nenäliinankin.
Mitä nyt yhdestä sateesta! Mitä siitä vaikka onkin sopimatonta palata kotiin pelkissä alushousuissa! Mitä siitä vaikka taloutemme meneekin sekaisin! Vähät minä mistään – kun kunnianhimoni, tuo ahne Falstaff, jota me kannamme sisällämme, sai niin herkulista ja täyteläistä purtavaa!"
*kirjailijan takkia ryöstetään*
"Ja kun jo kaiken toivoni menettäneenä vedän käsiäni takin hihoista, avukseni tulee tuo venäläisten rajaton rakkaus taiteeseen. Tarkasteltuaan aikansa kasvojani yksi joukkion jäsenistä kysyy:
– Kansalainen, mikä teidän nimenne mahtaa olla?
– Mariengof...
– Anatoli Mariengof?
– Anatoli Mariengof! toistan ylpeänä, yllättyneenä kuuluisuudestani.
– "Magdaleenan" kirjoittajako?
Tuona onnellisena ja yhtenä elämäni kiehtovimmista hetkistä olisin mielihyvin antanut heille takkini lisäksi housut, kiiltonahkakengät, silkkisukat ja nenäliinankin.
Mitä nyt yhdestä sateesta! Mitä siitä vaikka onkin sopimatonta palata kotiin pelkissä alushousuissa! Mitä siitä vaikka taloutemme meneekin sekaisin! Vähät minä mistään – kun kunnianhimoni, tuo ahne Falstaff, jota me kannamme sisällämme, sai niin herkulista ja täyteläistä purtavaa!"
February 6, 2021
За то время, пока я читала, Есенин стал мне не безразличным. Я находила его своим близким другом, товарищем и когда его настало, я как-будто потеряла друга.
Мариенгоф прекрасно передаёт атмосферу Есенина и его жизни. То, каким он был по отношению к другим людям, девушкам, сифилису и тд. Он любил Россию, не мог уйти от Изадоры и сказать ей по- настоящему «adieu». Есенин был честным, открытым, талантливым человеком с превосходным чувством юмора.
Я люблю его и скучаю.
Мариенгоф прекрасно передаёт атмосферу Есенина и его жизни. То, каким он был по отношению к другим людям, девушкам, сифилису и тд. Он любил Россию, не мог уйти от Изадоры и сказать ей по- настоящему «adieu». Есенин был честным, открытым, талантливым человеком с превосходным чувством юмора.
Я люблю его и скучаю.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2025
Мариенгоф, конечно, без ножа режет. Думала кошки на душе будут меньше скрести от этого романа, чем от «Бритоголового человека», но нет, вполне одинаково.
Автор не говорит «мы были в отношениях с Есениным», он говорит «Есенин лежит ко мне затылком. Я стал мохрявить его волосы.» и «мы расстались с ним в ту пору, когда у нас начала ночевать Никритина» и…
Трогательно.
Автор не говорит «мы были в отношениях с Есениным», он говорит «Есенин лежит ко мне затылком. Я стал мохрявить его волосы.» и «мы расстались с ним в ту пору, когда у нас начала ночевать Никритина» и…
Трогательно.
August 6, 2019
Трудно писать о книге, которую наверное все и так читали. Лёгкое, точнее приятное, чтение, об известных людях и об эпохе, ну вот наверное и всё, что можно сказать. Интересные люди, время, место, ну и как результат хорошая книга. Ну и мастерское изложение.
January 25, 2018
Mariengof's only son Kirill committed suicide at the age of 17 for no apparent reason.— note in the margin
November 7, 2024
How could I not love it
December 22, 2014
An imagist memoir looking at the less than glamorous lives (1920s) of two struggling Russian poets and friends: the author and poet Mariengof and the now nationally revered poet Essenin. Essenin's descent into alcoholism toward the end of his short life is depicted in entertaining and sad vignettes provided by Mariengof's own interactions with the inspired and doomed poet. I love stories with destructive geniuses, so I might be a little biased in my rating of this memoir. Tragic, yes, with great anecdotes and stories from the era around the revolution and Russian civil war.
December 13, 2017
Интересные воспоминания об эпохе, которая для меня все равно остается загадкой. Не понимаю, как тогда люди жили, что-то творили и не сходили с ума.
Как хороший поэт, Мариенгоф написал книжку задорно, рассеяв тут и там оригинальные слова и приемчики. Особенно интересна творческая кухня бедных поэтов в свежеосовеченной России. То, что Есенин неприглядный, ничего, зато как живой.
Как хороший поэт, Мариенгоф написал книжку задорно, рассеяв тут и там оригинальные слова и приемчики. Особенно интересна творческая кухня бедных поэтов в свежеосовеченной России. То, что Есенин неприглядный, ничего, зато как живой.
December 29, 2015
And this is why Mariengof is not a well-known writer.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews