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Petersburg (Paperback)

by Andrei Bely (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Review
" ... a translation that captures Bely's idiosyncratic language and the rhythm of his prose, and without doing violence to English, conveys not only the literal meaning of the Russian but also its echoes and implications." The New York Review of Books "This translation of Petersburg finally makes it possible to recognize Andrei Bely's great novel of 1913 as a crucial Russian instance of European modernist fiction." Inquiry "All people who go in for the B's - Beckett, Brecht, Bunuel - better get hold of Bely. He came first, and he's still the best." Washington Post Book World " ... a jewel-cutter's showcase." Kirkus Review " ... the most important, most influential and most perfectly realized Russian novel written in the 20th century." Simon Karlinsky

Product Description

"... a translation that captures Bely's idiosyncratic language and the rhythm of his prose, and without doing violence to English, conveys not only the literal meaning of the Russian but also its echoes and implications." -- The New York Review of Books

"This translation of Petersburg finally makes it possible to recognize Andrei Bely's great novel of 1913 as a crucial Russian instance of European modernist fiction." -- Inquiry

"All people who go in for the B's -- Beckett, Brecht, Buñuel -- better get hold of Bely. He came first, and he's still the best." -- Washington Post Book World

"... a jewel-cutter's showcase." -- Kirkus Reviews

"... the most important, most influential and most perfectly realized Russian novel written in the 20th century." -- Simon Karlinsky

Here is the long-awaited, authoritative, unabridged translation of Petersburg, the Chef d'oeuvre of Symbolist writer Andrei Bely. Nabokov has ranked Petersburg beside Joyce's Ulysses, Kafka's Metamorphosis, and Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu as one of the four great works of prose fiction of the twentieth century.



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Product Details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Indiana University Press (January 1, 1979)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0253202191
  • ISBN-13: 978-0253202192
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #39,599 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #31 in  Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Russian
    #34 in  Books > Literature & Fiction > Classics > Russian

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90% buy the item featured on this page:
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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest masterpieces of 20th-century prose, August 3, 1999
By A Customer
According to Vladimir Nabokov, this work rates with Joyce's Ulysses and Kafka's Transformations. I'll take this one over its competition. One of the most well-read works of Russia's Silver Age, I recommend it not only as literature but also as cultural history. PLEASE, find an edition of the Maguire and Malmstad translation, it's much more lucid. Bely is difficult enough even if you read Russian; you need all the help in translation you can get. The notes are copious but, if read attentively, help place the book in the cultural context in which it was written.
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20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the less than ideal translation, July 25, 2005
Nabokov, the translator's introduction triumphantly proclaims, thought Petersburg one the three best books ever written, beside Joyce's Ulysses and Kafka's Metamorphosis. Nabokov, they do not emphasize quite as proudly, was also a native Russian, so he might have had this book a little easier.
Truly, this is a masterpiece, even if a little hard to translate. Imagine Ulysses, barely possible to read as it is, translated into another language, and you might come close to the difficulties in navigating through Bely's symbolist playground complete with 50+ pages of endnotes. However, unless you plan on learning Russian sometime very soon, that is no excuse for skipping this novel--certainly the lack of a successful English translation is the only thing that keeps it from joining the ranks of other great Russian novels. The fragile tale of an enchanting yet troubled city and the dancing psyches that inhabit it is well worth any difficulties in translation.
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22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Astounding, March 14, 2000
I have been obliged to read this book for two different classes, but please don't dismiss it out of hand as "academic." Although brilliantly inventive (suggesting that ideas are more "real" than reality, that objects themselves can assume their own lives in the mind's eye, using the city itself as a character) the real importance of this book is the humanity. It is funny, familiar, and achingly beautiful. It's a coming of age tale, a dying of age tale, a commentary on revolution, change, and family. Also, it gets better if you read it again: I wouldn't be at this site or writing this review if I hadn't mauled my copy with multiple readings and incessant scribbling in the margins. Buy the Malmstead edition; the Penguin's just so-so. Buy it! Don't make me come over there!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A book to be read twice--at least
Like most of the great works of Modernist literature ("Ulysses," Proust's "...Temps Perdus," "Mrs. Dalloway") this is a book written to be re-read. Read more
Published on August 23, 2006 by Brian A. Oard

4.0 out of 5 stars Other Translations?
I have to believe there is a better translation out there. I've only seen one other though, so I suppose I can merely HOPE there is another. Read more
Published on April 20, 2006 by Spencer Tad

4.0 out of 5 stars You've gotta respect it
In any discussion of Bely's PETERSBURG there eventually arises the question of whether or not it's one of the 20th century's greatest novels. Read more
Published on March 14, 2006 by Ombret

1.0 out of 5 stars If you loved "Ulysses" and its prequel
If that's your taste, you'll be entertained by this book. For better or worse, it's in the same class.
Published on February 19, 2005 by R. Gambel

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece.
One of the great modern novels, as revolutionary in its way as Ulysses or At Swim Two Birds, it dazzles with humor, allusion, wit, imagery... Read more
Published on February 10, 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Play of Symbols and Desires
Andrei Bely's "Petersburg" is rightly praised as a masterpiece. Knowing Bely's symbolist background, I had exepected the shimmering interlacing of symbols. Read more
Published on October 29, 2002

3.0 out of 5 stars Between Banality and Chaos
I cannot subscribe to the notion that this is one of the best novels of the 20th century. Without the 62 pages of notes, it would be at best baffling, at worst incomprehensible to... Read more
Published on October 20, 2001 by Wiltrud Goldschmidt

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliantly original and enchanting novel.
Marvelous imagery, style, and humour..Bely's art transmutes an (intentionally) simple and rather banal story into flashing gold.
Published on January 24, 2001

2.0 out of 5 stars Hate to Say It: I Didn't find Bely's "Masterpiece" Any Good
I'm sorry, but I apparently disagree with Nabokov. While an interesting read, "Petersburg" is confusing to the point of absurdity (not in a good way) and ultimately not... Read more
Published on June 17, 2000 by Scott Eckert

5.0 out of 5 stars absolutely brilliant
Without doubt the most brilliant novel of the century. To my surprise Bely (a.k.a. Bugayev) outstripped Joyce on invention. Read more
Published on October 20, 1998

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