It is a cliché that all drunk people think that they are wonderful company, that, in the moment, they see in their rambling, slurred, and often nonsensical conversation the brilliant holding forth of a world class orator. Unfortunately for me I have never suffered from this delusion. Whenever I get drunk I am fully aware of myself, fully conscious of the torrents of bullshit pouring from my mouth, I just don’t seem to be able to stop the flow. Something happens when I drink, some kind of mechanism in my brain gives way; and so the writhing mass of thoughts that harangue me when sober, the near unbearable, seemingly limitless, and constantly overlapping, multitude of thoughts, that I liken to a big tub of live eels, are given expression. I share…in the most baffling manner possible. Can you imagine what it is like to be on the receiving end of that? Well, you don’t have to. You can read Andrei Bely’s Petersburg instead.“Petersburg does not exist. It merely seems to exist.”It is often noted that Bely’s novel has not achieved the status that it deserves, that it is, to use a vulgar popular phrase, criminally underrated. There are, of course, numerous reasons for that. First of all, it is said that until very recently the book suffered, in English, from less than stellar translations, although that doesn’t appear to have done Dostoevsky’s reputation any harm. It is also the case, and I think this is far more pertinent, that it lacks a kind of universality; it is, at least in part, a paean to the city of Petersburg itself, and if you have never been, or have no real interest in the place, then a good part of the book’s charm will be lost on you. Likewise, there are references to historical events that are particular to Russia, and references and allusions are made, sometimes without any explanation, to famous Russian writers [Pushkin, for example] and works of literature. However, more than any of these things, the most alienating aspect of the work is the authorial voice.Much like me when I’ve had too many cocktails, the narrator appears to be trying to talk about six subjects all at once; he is mentally unsettled, starting sentences and not finishing them, randomly throwing out jokes and puns [which are never very funny], repeating himself, and lapsing into poetic quotations and often complex but largely unintelligible philosophy and spiritualism. While many make comparisons to Gogol’s epically silly characters, I would say that if the authorial voice has a literary forebear it would be Rogozhin from The Idiot, a man suffering from a nervous ailment; indeed, it is as though he has seized control of Crime & Punishment and tried to rewrite it as a comedy. Of course, this voice, and by extension Petersburg itself, is occasionally tiresome. Sometimes the story just will not proceed; and I don’t, I must admit, exhibit a lot of tolerance where puns and wordplay are concerned. Yet, these minor quibbles aside, it’s a strangely beautiful and engrossing book, and certainly rewarding for a patient reader.I don’t want to give the impression that Petersburg is a mess, not even a beautiful and engrossing mess, because there was obviously a precise method to Bely’s apparent madness [indeed, after the book’s first publication in 1913, he continued to revise it – so it is clear that he took it very seriously]. Take the repetition: it is not the recourse of an inarticulate writer, but, rather, it is frequently used for poetic effect. Bely was, I believe, a poet, and his circular prose, and the emphasis placed upon certain phrases, reminded me very much of Homer.“O Russian people, Russian people! Do not let the the crowds of slippery shadows come over from the islands!” [p.30]“O Russian people, Russian people!Do not let the crowds of fitful shadows come over from the island.” [p.36]Sometimes these phrases have a comic purpose, like when it is repeatedly said of Sergei Likhutin that “he was in charge of provisions somewhere out there.” Here Bely emphasises Sergei’s unimportance to his wife with the vague somewhere, as though it is Sofia, rather than the author, who doesn’t know, nor care, where he goes; at other times these phrases stress certain personal characteristics or states of mind. I mentioned Homer previously, but I was also strongly reminded, despite Bely writing much earlier than both, of Thomas Bernhard and Imre Kertesz, who I had previously thought of as being primarily influenced by Dostoevsky and Kafka and various philosophers, including Wittgenstein. Bernhard and Kertesz were/are quite open about their favourite writers and books, and I don’t recall either ever mentioning Bely, but the similarities are clear, especially in relation to Kertesz’s Fiasco and Kaddish for an Unborn Child and Bernhard’s Correction. In all of these novels there is a process of refining, or correcting of thought and idea taking place, whereby an idea, or phrase, is altered slightly with each subsequent appearance in the text [as the O Russian people quote above shows], and an obsessive attention to seemingly banal detail.Furthermore, the chaotic, unstable authorial voice is, I’m sure, meant to reflect, to mirror, both the mind-set of his characters, and the nature of the times. The plot of the novel, at the most basic level, is that a young philosophy student, Nikolai Abluekhov, has been given a ticking bomb, and is tasked with assassinating a senior government official, who turns out to be his father. So there is, on a local level so to speak, obviously much emotional turmoil. Moreover, the novel is set in the year 1905, a time following the defeat in the Russo-Japanese war, and just before the Russian revolution. It was, historians tell me, a time of social and political unrest; for example, on the 9th of January 1905 a peaceful workers demonstration was fired upon by Cossack units and the police. The spooked and unhinged narrator is, then, in perfect harmony with his subject, the times and his characters; in fact, he acts almost as another character himself. Make no mistake, Petersburg is an almost unfathomably layered, complex piece of work – seemingly a mess, but actually perfectly ordered.[Petersburg in the early 1900’s]Most reviewers of Bely’s novel tend to refer to its reputation as a symbolist masterpiece, often throwing out this term symbolist and quickly moving on. Ah, I know your game, people! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not sneering at anyone; I get you, I feel your pain. Symbolism is hard enough to decipher at the best of times, but when one is concerned with a Russian novel written 100 years ago, the task will be particularly difficult. As great as I undoubtedly am, even I cannot possibly pick up on, or explain, everything. There are, however, certain symbols that are more prominent than others and some that suggest more obvious interpretations. For example, I’ve already written about how chaos and order are important themes, and the text is strewn with references to zigzags and spheres; to my mind, the zigzags are disorder, and the spheres, it doesn’t seem a stretch to suppose, are order [amongst other things, I might add]. There are also repeated mentions of certain colours, particularly yellow, red, and grey. I’m not too sure about yellow and grey [although they may represent illness, perhaps] but red seems fairly clear, it being a colour that is popularly associated with Russia itself [the Russian word for red, красный, means beautiful, by the way], and is, of course, also the colour of blood.It ought to be clear by now that there isn’t a great deal to get your teeth into on a human level. Certainly the characters aren’t alive in the way that Dostoevsky’s and Tolstoy’s are; I just cannot envisage anyone coming away from the book feeling as though they have made some kind of personal connection with, say, Nikolai or his father Apollon. It would, quite frankly, be absurd. However, there is some human interest. The father-son dynamic, the intellectual and emotional clashes between different generations, is one that the great Russians appeared to be particularly fond of, it having been explored, for example, in more than one of Dostoevsky’s novels and Turgenev’s Father & Sons. I don’t think Bely brings much to the table in this regard, certainly nothing that hadn’t been dealt with more successfully elsewhere, but it’s nice to have it, and, in any case, one gets the feeling that he was deliberately winking at those other novels, anyway; it was, I think, all part of his extraordinary game.
http://bookcents.blogspot.com/2010/11...What an amazing, strange, wonderful, funny, frustrating, magical book. Needless to say, I highly recommend it. So what have you heard about Petersburg? Vladimir Nabokov declared it one of the most important works of the twentieth century, but he also stated no good English translation was available. I have no idea whether or not the 2009 Pushkin Press edition that I read, with translation by John Elsworth, corrects that deficiency. Even if the language only hints at what the original Russian achieves, it is a wonderful read on the surface as well as for deeper import. One example I can point to “on the surface” is the repetition of words, phrases and sentences providing a rhythm to the work that begs for it to be read out loud. This rhythm mimics the corkscrew-like plotline, circling back on itself while at the same time moving forward.Petersburg is often likened to Joyce’s Ulysses and I find myself puzzled at that comparison. Many techniques in the style and wordplay are the same, to be sure. In addition, both books focus on a short time period with a city as a major character, but the main thing in common is that one or a dozen posts can’t sum up what it feels like to read the work. I’ll take a brief stab at a few of things I found interesting.With a non-linear plot, jerky character development, and recurring motifs I found myself constantly asking “what is this novel all about?” The setting provides one clue, taking place in October 1905 Petersburg at the beginning of an unsuccessful revolution. There are many “revolutions” in addition to the obvious political friction taking place during the course of the novel. There is a strong generational conflict that reminded me of Turgenev’s Fathers and Children at times. Marital strife surfaces often as we see the possible dissolution of at least two families. Even with all the strife, the similarities and ties between characters stand out more than the differences. Actions and thoughts recur and migrate across characters, providing literal and symbolic patterns to help understand the individuals as well as the society. Bely looks at how everyone fits together in the “human myriapod” as well as what happens when they don’t engage harmoniously. The collective provides a life...a sound, a consciousness...of its own.I’ve posted several excerpts that provide examples of the dual nature of characters and events, things described literally and symbolically for surreal effect. One recurring motif throughout Petersburg is that of expansion, whether of body parts (literally and figuratively), sensory diffusion, childhood nightmares, or the looming explosion (or at least the threat of it). This motif and the question of what is the novel all about fit together in looking at the Prologue, where the narrator asks “What is this Russian empire of ours?” He starts by pointing at a map and specifically at Petersburg, a two-dimensional dot. Throughout the book the meaning of Petersburg and of the Russian empire are expanded into greater meaning. The surreal and otherworldly descriptions of Petersburg append themselves to its very existence, a city whose existence mirrors the opening question. The statue of Peter comes to life (to some extent) worming its way into the consciousness of the city’s inhabitants and becomes an apocalyptic figure guarding the city from attack. The setting also plays into this question of what is the Russian empire, occurring after the disastrous loss of the war with Japan and as workers’ strikes begin. Petersburg itself stands as a symbol of Peter the Great’s imposed modernization while the appearance of Mongols in the city and bureaucracy (described by their dress) highlights the East vs. West struggle to define the empire. Possibly to signal which side Bely thinks will triumph, the young Nikolai discards Kant (Europe) in favor of Skovoroda ("Russia", in particular the East).
Do You like book Petersburg (1979)?
Petersburg, published in 1916 and set in 1905, is a work of genius, an obvious masterpiece. Modernist before modernism. But I might not be the right reader for modernism. I struggled to finish Ulysses, loving some of it, admiring much, and wondering when is he going to wrap up this little experiment through other parts of it. Petersburg is not the struggle to understand that Ulysses is but if your bias is to story you will get impatient with writing where the story is less important than voice, place, mood, thought. You will need to remind yourself that story isn’t the point so don’t get distracted at the slow pace of the unfolding plot. Whether Nikolai Abeukhov blows up his father with a terrorist’s bomb or reconciles with him is not the point—though their relationship and many other relationships, of character to character, people to causes, people to responsibilities, ideas to actions, principles to consequences, etc. are among the novel’s points.The author’s willingness to peak out from behind the curtain also makes it an early example of meta-fiction. It does succeed with its experiments and is funny in its play with literary conventions and in its social satire, beautiful in its descriptions of the city that Bely clearly loves, and surprisingly compassionate in its treatment of its many well-foibled characters.Petersburg is a great novel, better than this reader’s appreciation of it. I am too easily seduced by story, a naïve reader impatient for resolution, so didn’t fully value its accomplishments. However, unlike Ulysses, which I may browse again, I might very well re-read Petersburg, perhaps to higher appreciation.
—Rick
если "мы" замятина имеет смысл читать после пинчона для того, чтобы найти возможные точечные заимствования и влияния, то "петербург" белого весь может служить подлежащим ключом к "радуге" - там вся ткань пропитана будущим пинчоном: темы, образы, поэтика, архитектура, символы. не скажу, что он поможет понять "радугу", но дополнительные измерения от текстуального сопоставления двух романов приобретут оба. мне как читателю особенно отрадно было вновь ощутить родной язык как приключение - далеко не со всеми книгами на русском и русскими авторами это оказывается возможным.что касается легитимности допущения о влияния белого на пинчона, отметим, что первый англоперевод "петербурга" появился в 1959 г. набоков (ходил к нему на лекции пинчон или нет, остается не вполне ясным - но вполне непротиворечиво допустить, что все же ходил) считал "петербург" величайшим русским романом ХХ века, и тут я готов с ним согласиться. так что пинчон вполне мог читать "петербург" и "заболеть" им до того, что растворил его в "радуге". в общем, исследователям в очередной раз есть что делать: увлекательная выйдет, я вам скажу, диссертация, если кто-то прочтет "радугу" и "петербург" параллельно.
—Max Nemtsov
”Nikolai Apollonovich raised curious eyes toward the immense outline of the Horseman (a shadow had covered him); but now the metal lips were parted in an enigmatic smile.The storm clouds were rent asunder and, in the moonlight, clouds swirled like the green vapor from melted bronze. For a moment, everything flared: waters, roofs, granite. The face of the Horseman and the bronze laurel wreath flared. And a many-tonned arm extended imperiously. It seemed that the arm was about to move, and that metallic hooves at any moment would come crashing down upon the crag, and through all of Petersburg would resound.” The Bronze Horseman that Andrei Bely is referring to in this novel is of course the statue of Peter the Great which is the most recognizable structure that people will identify with St. Petersburg. I had a postcard of the Bronze Horseman that someone gave me when I was a kid. When I discovered that St. Petersburg was the center of cultural achievement I knew it was the place I most wanted to visit in Russia. They’ve changed the name several times: to Petrograd in 1914 and to Leningrad in 1924; as if you can change the soul of a city by changing the name. In 1991 it was changed back to Saint Petersburg although the name had never changed for me. Whenever I see a picture of Tsar Peter on his frisky horse I get a jolt that connects the middle aged me to the child me and I dream again of seeing Russia. Pushkin wrote a narrative poem about the statue and the influence of Pushkin on Bely is evident in the text. He runs and hears as if there were,Just behind him, the peals of thunder,Of the hard-ringing hoofs’ reminders, –A race the empty square across,Upon the pavement, fiercely tossed;And by the moon, that palled lighter,Having stretched his hand over roofs,The Brazen Horseman rides him after –On his steed of the ringing hoofs.And all the night the madman, poor,Where’er he might direct his steps,Aft him the Bronze Horseman, for sure,Keeps on the heavy-treading race.Alexander Pushkin Andrei Bely, a fortunate son of brilliant parents.Andrei Bely was a polymath, but his main interests were mathematics, music, literature, and philosophy. All figure prominently in the story. He describes the character Apollon Apollonovich, father of Nikolai, in mathematical terms. ”While dwelling in the center of the black, perfect, satin-lined cube, Apollon Apollonovich revelled at length in the quadrangular walls. Apollon Apollonovich was born for solitary confinement. Only his love for the plane geometry of the state had invested him in the polyhedrality of a responsible position.”Apollon goes on to describe his house.”He would have characterized even his own house with laconic brevity, as consisting, for him, of walls (forming squares and cubes) into which windows were cut, of parquetry, of tables. Beyond that were details.”Even with hallucinations math figures prominently. ”A man of all three dimensions had entered the room. He had leaned against the window and had become a contour (or, two-dimensional), had become a thin layer of soot of the sort you knock out of a lamp. Now this black soot had suddenly smoldered away into an ash that gleamed in the moonlight, and the ash was flying away. And there was no contour. The whole material substance had turned into a phonic substance that was jabbering away. But where? It seemed to Alexander Ivanovich that the jabbering had now started up inside him.”Nobody does crazy like the Russians. Nikolai’s has been approached by an anarchist group to kill a high ranking Tsarist official that just happens to be his father. The father and the son have issues, but as the novel progresses it becomes more evident how much they are exactly alike. The mother/wife ran off with an opera singer two years ago and probably whatever differences the two men had could have easily been smoothed over by her presence. They both miss her, but both are busy or at least distracted by their lives and most of their issues seem to be more about misunderstandings than any real hostility. Nikolai is given a bomb in a sardine tin that is set on a timer so it is already ticking. He loathes sardines which does not help his state of mind as this ticking tin also reeks of fish.To make matters worse he is in love with a married woman named Sofya Petrovna Likhutina who has spurned his advances. Her husband, a military officer, gets wind of Nikolai’s interest in his wife and after a failed suicide attempt that is pathetic/hilarious he decides his problem isn’t with himself, but with Nikolai. Immanuel Kant is doing his best to keep Nikolai sane.Nikolai has been reading Immanuel Kant, but despite the best efforts of the philosopher his mind is unwrapping, becoming untethered from logic.”In this room, not so very long ago, Nikolai Apollonovich had grown into a self-contained center, into a series of logical premises that flowed from the center and predetermined everything: the soul, thought and this very armchair. Not so very long ago he had been the sole center of the universe here. But ten days had gone by, and his self-awareness was now getting disgracefully stuck in the heaped-up pile of objects. Thus does a fly, freely running around the edge of a plate on its six legs, suddenly get hopelessly stuck by one leg and wing in sticky thick honey.”He begins dressing as a domino, pursuing Sofya, nothing like making a fool of yourself for a woman. I’ve even heard sometimes it works. He is dressed in scarlet which might indicate a lot of things. It might be that he already feels stained by what he intends to do to his father. ”The domino, stepping over the threshold, trailed its bloody satin across the parquetry. It was barely mirrored in the panels which shimmered in a crimson ripple of its own reflections, as if a little pool of blood were flowing from panel to panel.”Nikolai is recognized as the domino and as a result his father is passed over for a promotion. Humorous situations ensue as Nikolai attempts to get to the ticking tin to toss it in the river, but his harried life keeps getting in the way. I’m not going to tell Vladimir he is wrong.To be clear this is a masterpiece. You don’t have to believe me. It was regarded by Vladimir Nabokov as one of the four greatest "masterpieces of twentieth century prose", after Ulysses and The Metamorphosis, and before In Search of Lost Time. It was published in 1913 so it predates Ulysses, but because Petersburg was not translated into English until 1954 it gets shortchanged by Joyce’s masterpiece. For me this was a much more accessible book than Ulysses. I was lost at times, but not Joyce lost. The edition I read was the Indiana University Press version and it has these wonderful footnotes that at times I hungrily devoured and at other points simply ignored. I believe that sometimes you just have to let the story take you and ignore what you don’t quite grasp. This book has layers upon layers and if I were to read it again, I would write a totally different review merely by focusing on a myriad of other wonderful pieces of writing.
—Jeffrey Keeten
