The Devil (The Art of the Novella series) [Paperback]

Leo Tolstoy (Author), Louise Maude (Translator), Alymer Maude (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2004 | Series: The Art of the Novella

"I am acting badly," thought Yevgeny, "But what's one to do? Anyhow it is not for long."

Leo Tolstoy is known for epic novels that brilliantly dissect society, but the novella The Devil may be the most personally revealing—and startling—fiction he ever wrote. He thought it so scandalous, in fact, that he hid the manuscript in the upholstery of a chair in his office so his wife wouldn't find it, and he would never allow it to be published in his lifetime.

Perhaps that's because the gripping tale of an aristocratic landowner slowly overcome with unrelenting sexual desire for one of the peasants on his estate was strikingly similar to an affair Tolstoy himself had. Regardless, the tale—presented here with the two separate endings Tolstoy couldn't decide between—is a scintillating study of sexual attraction and human obsession.

The Art of The Novella Series

Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I wanted them all, even those I'd already read."
—Ron Rosenbaum, The New York Observer

"Small wonders."
—Time Out London

"[F]irst-rate…astutely selected and attractively packaged…indisputably great works."
—Adam Begley, The New York Observer

"I’ve always been haunted by Bartleby, the proto-slacker. But it’s the handsomely minimalist cover of the Melville House edition that gets me here, one of many in the small publisher’s fine 'Art of the Novella' series."
—The New Yorker

"The Art of the Novella series is sort of an anti-Kindle. What these singular, distinctive titles celebrate is book-ness. They're slim enough to be portable but showy enough to be conspicuously consumed—tiny little objects that demand to be loved for the commodities they are."
—KQED (NPR San Francisco)

"Some like it short, and if you're one of them, Melville House, an independent publisher based in Brooklyn, has a line of books for you... elegant-looking paperback editions ...a good read in a small package."
—The Wall Street Journal

About the Author

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born into the Russian aristocracy in 1828. After a licentious youth, he joined the army to serve in the Crimean War. It proved the inspiration for some of his greatest writing, including War and Peace. After the war Tolstoy married Sofia Behrs and returned to the family estate, where he fathered 13 children, ran a school for young peasants, and wrote Anna Karenina. In 1879, Tolstoy underwent a spiritual crisis, and denounced the Orthodox Church, private property, and the demands of the flesh. His extreme asceticism caused decades-long tension with his wife. In 1910, after an argument with her, he died while fleeing the estate.

Aylmer and Louise Maude are among the most respected translators of Tolstoy’s works into English and a favorite of the author himself. A close friend of Tolstoy’s, Aylmer Maude was chosen by the great writer to produce his official English language biography.

Product Details

• Paperback: 100 pages
• Publisher: Melville House (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974607835
• ISBN-13: 978-0974607832
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.3 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #500,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a beautifully written tale, March 28, 2010

By 

Israel Drazin (Boca Raton, Florida) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Devil (The Art of the Novella series) (Paperback)

The devil in this diminutive drama is the gnawing need of an otherwise good husband to have sex with another man's wife or it is, at least from the good husband's perspective, the adulterous wife herself. Eugene Irtenev was a good son and brother. When his father died he took over his father's estate and scrupulously paid his father's debts, supported his mother and gave his brother his fair share of the property. Eugene recognized that he had a need for sex, only for health reasons, of course. He developed a relationship with the beautiful wife of a peasant who was frequently away from home, which he piously discontinued when he decided to marry another woman. Eugene's wife was ideal in every way, except for beauty. She treated him exceptionally well. Eugene did all in his power to avoid his prior consort even though she gave birth to a male child who was probably his. But then he saw her again and wanted her again with all his being.
Tolstoy describes the "horrors" of his "torment" very well and how he repeatedly tried to overcome it and what happened to him, his wife and the wife of the other man. He offers two alternative endings to his story and readers can choose which of the two they like best.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Melville House Press makes a great little book in The Devil, March 26, 2008

By 

D. Lewis "bigold" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Devil (The Art of the Novella series) (Paperback)

I read this while also reading the tail end of Tolstoy's War & Peace and so have this juxtaposition in mind.

The folks at Melville House Press have produced a beautiful little book in The Devil. Here, Tolstoy paints the characters just as vividly, but with an appropriately singular--relentless--focus. You are with the protagonist, Yvegeny, throughout his struggles with fidelity and like him, the poor fellow, have nothing to distract you from Stepanida's dark eyes.

In the Melville House edition, you'll have both of Tolstoy's endings which are very different and yet land with the same two final paragraphs, and the cover has end flaps that serve as bookmarks--assuming you can put the book down. I see myself eating Melville House Press' entire Art of the Novella series, book by book.