Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse (World's Classics) [Paperback]

Alexander Pushkin (Author), James E. Falen (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 11, 1996 | Series: World's Classics

Eugene Onegin is the master work of the poet whom Russians regard as the fountainhead of their literature. Set in 1820s Russia, Pushkin's verse novel follows the fates of three men and three women. Engaging, full of suspense, and varied in tone, it also portrays a large cast of other characters and offers the reader many literary, philosophical, and autobiographical digressions, often in a highly satrical vein. Eugene Onegin was Pushkin's own favourite work, and this new translation conveys the literal sense and the poetic music of the original.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian

About the Author

In addition to Gödel, Escher, Bach, which won both the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award, Douglas R. Hofstadter is the author of several books, including Le Ton beau de Marot and Metamagical Themas. He is College Professor of Cognitive Science and Computer Science as well as the Director for the Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition at Indiana University in Bloomington.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (January 11, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192824910
• ISBN-13: 978-0192824912
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,556,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Falen's translation of Eugene Onegin is the best., August 22, 1998

By 

Ilya Leskov ([e-mail]) (Swarthmore, PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse (World's Classics) (Paperback)

James Falen's translation of this Russian classic is the best I have been able to find. Other translations by other Americans are nowhere near Falen's accuracy; on the other hand, Nabokov's rendition of the epic poem omits the most important part of Pushkin's masterpiece -- the iambic pentameter familiar to all Russians. James Falen combines the accuracy and the poetry to produce the best translation of Eugene Onegin available to an American reader.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My own clever lines, August 7, 2005

By 

Vincent Poirier (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Eugene Onegin: A Novel In Verse (Paperback)

MY OWN CLEver words for enjoyment
Of this Onegin, let me share.
For Douglas 'twas more than employment
This short tale, so simple, so bare.
Doug took time for this rendition
He used well his famed erudition;
He polished his verse, the rhymes all matched,
Though some lines were long to be hatched.
Above all, Pushkin's quick clever
Wit shines through from his age to ours.
Such fun reading it was, I never
Felt I had wasted those hours.
All in all I think this book fine
And as Doug ends his lines, I mine.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Enjoyable Translation And More, July 30, 2001

By 

Jeffrey Johnson (Davis, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eugene Onegin: A Novel In Verse (Paperback)

Hofstadter's translation of the great Russian poem "Eugene Onegin" deserves credit on two counts. First, it is a modern, lyrical, jovial and admittedly singsong (due to the author's strict adherence to the original iambic tetrameter) translation of Pushkin's masterwork. It is a translation to be read aloud, to be shared with one you love. Second, in its preface it holds a concise statement of Hofstadter's extensive thoughts (see "Le Ton Beau De Marot") on the art, whimsy, folly and beauty of translation itself. It has been mentioned that Hofstadter looks down on Nabokov's "translation", but this is not entirely without cause. Nabokov's stodgy literal gloss of "Onegin", eschewing meter and rhyme, serves as a dictionary and a deathblow. Pushkin's poem is vibrant and alive in Russian; Hofstadter boldly suggests that we english-speakers may also experience this life denied by Nabokov. This book will teach you something about poetry, something about translation, and hopefully give you a feel for what Pushkin's Russia might have been like.