La luce e le ombre

by Fyodor Sologub, Tatiana Verdieri (Translator)

Divenuto famoso con "Il demone meschino", pubblicato nel 1907, lo scrittore di San Pietroburgo cadde in disgrazia con la Rivoluzione del 1917, considerato autore decadente e perverso e messo al bando. Dall'esperienza di miseria dell'infanzia e poi dal chiuso mondo della provincia provengono ambienti e personaggi della sua narrativa.

Genres: Russia, Short Stories, Russian Literature, Fiction, Literature, Weird Fiction

143 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

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

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

i can't believe i just gave this as many stars as i gave proust2, but me and this book have come a long way. for the first few stories, i was unimpressed. maybe it's just because greg gave it five stars and i wanted to be all cool or whatever, but i found it less mellifluous right after proust. which is totally unfair. but it's pretty clunkily written in parts, and maybe this is just a translation thing, or maybe whatever i read directly after proust was bound to suffer by comparison. but i thought it was repetitious to no great literary end, and some of the endings seemed abrupt, to say the least. but then i got to "in the crowd" and that's where it all came together. i have been wanting someone to suggest something that would terrify me for ages now. and this did. and i'm not even claustrophobic, generally. i would rather not be around...others...but i'm not afraid of crowds. but this story is so disgusting and scary and powerfully written (also the longest in the collection) and then of course i read the introduction only to learn that it is based on actual events. man, these russians are killing me. so after that story (to which i give a wholehearted 5 stars), i started loving the stories more and more. and then i reread some of the ones i was lukewarm about, to find my opinion changed. so - sologub is rescued from obscurity by greg, and if this weren't his library book, i would totally keep it and tell him i lost it -oops-, but i suppose i should give it back to him to return to library. dammit.

come to my blog!

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fedor Sologub's books being out of print is a crime. At least if the others are anywhere near as good as this collection of short stories. They are so good, I don't know how to explain how good they are. If Russia's other 19th century Fydor could be thought of as say David Foster Wallace (i.e., awesome, dense and wordy), then this other Fedor can be thought of as a really creepy and gothic version Raymond Carver (maybe equally great in the short story department, but sparse and concise). Maybe that analogy doesn't do justice to any of the writers though.

Everyone who reads this review should try to find this book and read it. I don't know if maybe I'm just so infatuated with the name Sologub that I can see him as doing no wrong, but I don't think that is it. I have nothing else to say about it, I don't want to ruin a thing. This is like Magnetic Field(s) good, and if you have read that then you know what the fuck I'm talking about. (me gushing like this means that this book will never live up to my praise, oh well).

And on a side note, I think I might start my own religion around the holy trinity of Fydor's (Fedor's). The third, of course, being Fedor Emelianenko, the MMA fighter who beats the shit out of people while looking incredibly depressed and bored. This might be a bleak religion.

[Armin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unglückliche Zusammenstellung ähnlich strukturierter Selbstmordgeschichten. Jede für sich drei Sterne, in dieser Konstellation absolut tödlich.

[Shadowdenizen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did a "Horror-Fueled Christmas" this year. (It seemed appropriate for 2020.) :)

And this volume was one I picked up some time ago (pre-pandemic, even!) in a used bookstore on a whim, and has been sitting patiently in my "To-Be-Read" pile.

And wow! To say I am blown away is an understatement; while not a doorstop of a volume (it's only ~200 pages?), the punch of each of these stores is immediate and visceral. (Additionally, while not being fluent in Russian, I can only say that the translation is seemingly spot-on, as the stories seem to flow fluidly.)

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of these stories are exceptional, especially the nightmarish "In the Crowd." The later tales, though, apparently written after Sologub found God, are tepid and depressing. Not depressing in content, but depressing because they showcase a brilliant writer sinking into mediocrity.

[Scott Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories by Fyodor Sologub, who I would best describe as a cross between O'Henry and Kafka.

[leedsdevil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories by Fyodor Sologub, who I would best describe as a cross between O'Henry and Kafka.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of short stories ranging from gothic, to fairy tale, to psychological thrillers. I was hooked from the first few pages. Each story is completely different so you are never bored. Sologub is truly a hidden gem and I'm left wanting more.