>One of the four greatest novels according to Nabokov yet it receives absolutely ZERO recognition on Veeky Forums
So am I one of the very few anons who have actually read this? It'd be nice and make a change of pace to discuss something different for once instead of the same old authors.
is Nabokov right?
I love the dialogue and absolute autisticness of just about every character.
yo bely is fucking incredible,
sometimes.
half of the novel felt like a better turginev, so eh, but the other half is some of the most lucid writing...
so i don't know how i feel about it yet, there are many passages ive studied, like the comparison between sentances and broken bottles..
he's an author with breathtaking potential that he does meet and is fucking amazing when he does, but sometimes it feels like he descends into melodrama.
nabokov is hemmingway for commies
This is a fucking staple Veeky Forums book, where have you been?
I absolutely love Petersburg, I'm on my second reading but I was wondering if any other Bely's writings are just as good? It seems like they've only published Petersburg and MAYBE one other book by him in English but I don't know if he has a high demand for more from English publishers. I have no idea about Turginev but I'd compare Bely's writings a little to Laszlo Krazsnahorkai, the way every character worries about chaotic situation and end times reminds me a lot of his works.
What do you mean by lucid, and why do i get the feeling that you're using the word pejoratively?
I mean it kind of glows gently like the page is back-lit somehow
I've seen it mentioned in passing a few times but not enough for a genuine discussion.
And that is bad in what way?
I just woke up, maybe I ain't speak right yet.
What I mean by lucid is that Bely has an uncanny ability to make you live in his work, even though Petersburg isn't his city. As the reader you feel the icy hand of Russia, the looming distance, and get lost to the sediments of mist. His work has some of the most engaging shit I've ever read. When I say lucid I mean a high compliment.
Maybe you mean immersive instead of lucid?
It used to be talked about quite frequently before the reddit post.
Shame how some people absolutely insist on ruining this board by bringing in complete shitters with no taste.
>I just woke up
That's quite ironic then, no?;)
Aha, i thought the better turginev was the positive, and the lucid the negative. I get you now.
yea totally sorry i habitually shittalk turginev i just kinda assume everyone else sees him as a weak russian fitzgerald fairy boy like i do
Maybe, but not like a movie. Immersive in a dreamy way, like you're just becoming the page.
Hehehehehehe
Wasn't this unfinished?
Nabby also mentions a duo of soviet Russian poets that I've never heard
>like you're just becoming the page
Best feel
what are the other three?
One of them was Kafka's The Castle. Can't remember the other two.
Ulysses, a Kafka, In Search of Lost Time and Petersburg.
>according to Nabokov
there is your problem
ulysses and isolt
Petersburg is my favorite book and Bely is my favorite author. Everything he writes is fantastic though somewhat difficult to find in English. I recommend the John Elsworth edition of Petersburg as it is the original text that Bely didn't edit. His edition of the Silver Dove is lovely as well. Kotik Letaev, the Baptized Chinaman, and the Moscow Eccentric are fantastic reads too. His essays and short stories are top notch if you can find them as well.
I'm pretty sure I have the Elsworth translation since I'm reading the one by Pushkin Press.
It was Die Verwandlung and not Das Schloß
T&I?
>That scene where Likhutin is about to hang himself but suddenly worries the rope won't grip properly under his beard, so he goes to shave first
Fuck
That scene haunts me. It's so mundane, but so weighty. On the one hand, he's scared and wants to put it off (he doesn't really want to die, but his honour leaves him no choice); but on the other hand, once he shaves he's basically committed to doing it because he can't appear in public without his beard.
That and the scene where the bronze horseman comes to tea. I felt like I was tripping out while reading that.
I read it while visiting Petersburg so the scenes of foggy crowds moving through Nevsky Prospekt stayed with me very clearly. Maybe my recollection of the book is more favourable because I was happy at the time I was reading it. I could really tell that it would be a totally different experience in Russian, though - you can see that Bely is playing with language a lot and the translator has to try and express it in ways that can seem clunky.
where would you suggest one starts with Krazsnahorkai?
the turginev comparison for me runs heavy through fathers and sons and petersburg, the aristocrats and their nihilist sons, but ultimately i think bely is a much stronger writer who actually no what's up with people. my only problem is occasionally i find myself not caring about the family dynamics, but everytime he switches to looking at the mind of a character im hooked again. i love his portrayal of inner thoughts, meh on his dialogue on the most part, but some of it is sublime.
>nabokov is hemmingway for commies
one of the most bafflingly stupidest things I have read on this site, and I mainly frequent /r9k/ and /b/ .. I hope for the universes sake this was sarcasdonic bait
can i frame this the pseud is so strong
yes you got baited bb, sorry.
it's never summer in lit :/
xoxo
>weak russian fitzgerald fairy boy
what's wrong with that?
I have this and Red Cavalry on my kindle