The Village of Stepanchikovo: And its Inhabitants: From the Notes of an Unknown (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Author), Ignat Avsey (Translator, Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1995 | Series: Penguin Classics

Summoned to the country estate of his wealthy uncle Colonel Yegor Rostanev, the young student Sergey Aleksandrovich finds himself thrown into a startling bedlam. For as he soon sees, his meek and kind-hearted uncle is wholly dominated by a pretentious and despotic pseudo-intellectual named Opiskin, a charlatan who has ingratiated himself with Yegor's mother and now holds the entire household under his thumb. Watching the absurd theatrics of this domestic tyrant over forty-eight explosive hours, Sergey grows increasingly furious - until at last, he feels compelled to act. A compelling comic exploration of petty tyranny, "The Village of Stepanchikovo" reveals a delight in life's wild absurdities that rivals even Gogol's. It also offers a fascinating insight into the genesis of the characters and situations of many of Dostoyevsky's great later novels, including "The Idiot", "Devils" and "The Brothers Karamazov".

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian

About the Author

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) was a Russian novelist, journalist, short-story writer whose psychological penetration into the human soul had a profound influence on the 20th century novel. Notes from the Underground was followed by Crime and Punishment, (1866) an account of an individual's fall and redemption, The Idiot, (1868) depicting a Christ-like figure, Prince Myshkin, and The Possessed, (1871) an exploration of philosophical nihilism. Translated with an introduction by Ignat Avsey

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics; Rev Sub edition (December 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140446583
• ISBN-13: 978-0140446586
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #536,361 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit disappointing, July 14, 2000

By 

"mikeu3" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Village of Stepanchikovo: And its Inhabitants: From the Notes of an Unknown (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

The Village of Stepanchikovo (sometimes translated as "The Friend of the Family"), a comic novel by Dostoevsky, is set during the first two days of the visit of the narrator, Sergey, to the estate of his uncle, Yegor Rostanev.  The affairs of the estate have largely been taken over by Foma Fomich Opiskin, an arrogant pseudo-intellectual who has ingratiated himself with Yegor's mother.  The main conflict of the novel, into which Sergey finds himself embroiled, centers around the attempts of Foma's mother and Yegor to marry Yegor off to a wealthy dimwit and drive out the governess, whom they suspect of being the object of Yegor's affections. 

The novel primarily emphasizes the characters of Yegor and Foma.  Yegor is one of Dostoevsky's stock "meek types" (in the same vein as Myshkin in The Idiot, Sonia in Crime and Punishment, and Alyosha in The Brothers Karamazov) and is quick to be self-effacing and lie down in awe before anyone even seeming to have more knowledge of the world than he.  This opens the door for Foma, who despite Yegor's status as head of the household takes every opportunity to insult Yegor and impose his own will--in an amusing example of his excesses, one Thursday he demands that everyone in the household pretend that it is actually Wednesday.  Foma, incidentally, is based partly on Nikolai Gogol, and as translator Ignat Avsey's annotations show, many of Foma's statements were inspired by the infamous Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends, in which Gogol exposed himself as a peasant-hating reactionary.

Considering how short it is (just under 200 pages), the plot of the work is fairly engaging, and I certainly found it a pleasant read.  However, I was disappointed that, despite its billing as Dostoevsky's longest comedic work, once I got past the first couple chapters I really didn't find the novel particularly funny.  Apparently Dostoevsky initially envisioned it as a play but made it into a novel for financial reasons.  I can see how it might be more entertaining as a play, as Foma and several other characters could be quite humorous.  As it stands, since it's narrated by Sergey, who is understandably indignant about the state of affairs at Stepanchikovo, Foma's tyranny over the estate comes across as pathetic, not amusing.  Dostoevsky was of course a genius and remains my favorite author, but it seems that in the genre of provincial comedy Gogol was his superior.  If you're interested in something by Dostoevsky with a lighter tone than his most famous works, I'd recommend The Gambler or Uncle's Dream over this novel.

All in all, The Village of Stepanchikovo is certainly not boring, and Avsey does a very good job with the translation, introduction, and notes, but unless you're really a fan either of Dostoevsky or of 19th century Russian provincial novels, I frankly don't see much of a reason to choose this particular work.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In the land of the blind, the one-eyed rules, February 14, 2001

By 

Guillermo Maynez (Mexico, Distrito Federal Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Village of Stepanchikovo: And its Inhabitants: From the Notes of an Unknown (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

This book is very different from the rest of Dostoevsky's production, primarily because it is a satire and not a tragedy. The narrator is Sergey, a young man who goes to visit his uncle at his isolated estate. The uncle is an extremely meek and impressionable man, who is dominated by a pretentious, ignorant and despotic pseudo-intellectual named Foma Fomitch, a master of sentimental blackmail. Foma is an arribist who has everybody in the estate under his capricious control, a situation which astonishes and irates Sergey. Hilariously absurd situations degenerate into the pathetic, as Sergey gets dismayed about everybody's inability to perceive Foma's stupidity and fakeness.

Nevertheless, despite the radically different mood of this novel, compared to Dostoevsky's rest, a fact remains: the Russian people seem to behave abnormally in any circumstance, and to be full of deep emotional contradictions and complexities. Read it for a different taste of Dostoevsky's literature.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Recommended only for die-hard Dostoevsky fans, September 29, 2002

By 

PseudoDionysius (Bloomington, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Village of Stepanchikovo: And its Inhabitants: From the Notes of an Unknown (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

This is the third book of Dostoyevsky I've read in the ongoing immersion experiment. Before starting, I strongly suggest that anyone interested in Dostoyevsky should read Joseph Frank's masterly five volume biography/literary criticism/russian cultural history immediately. I owe all of the background presented here to Frank's "Years of Ordeal" (why ... is it out of print?).

Thomas Mann had claimed that the dominating personality in the book, Foma Fomich Obispin, is "a comic creation of the first rank, irresistible, rivalling Shakespeare and Moliere." Now I read this book, and that was not at all my evaluation. Mann's comment obliges me to delve a little deeper into the text and circumstances.

Synopsis: Sergey, a young stugent, goes to visit his uncle's estate. He thereby stumbles into a total Bedlam; he sees that his extremely meek and kind-hearted uncle, Colonel Rostanev, is held in thrall both by his fatuous and vain mother and most of all by Foma the charlatan. There he learns that Foma had acted the buffoon for a now deceased general but now he relishes tormenting his benefactor, the Colonel, by playing the part of a morally righteous man. Foma's theatrics erode the patience of both Sergey and his uncle until it explodes with a surprising denouement.

Foma can be best described as a Gogolian Tartuffe in a Dickensian setting. The Gogolian parentage in Foma is apparent in his name (Obispin means a "slip of the pen"). He is also a parody of Gogol himself and his works. Like Moliere's Tartuffe, he is a moral charlatan, expounding lofty principles that he himself flouts. Dostoevsky was definitely familiar with some Dickens, and the generally one-dimensional cartoon-like nature of most characters gives an unmistakeably Dickensian feel.

No one will doubt that these are excellent ingredients, but is this '3' better than '1'+'1'+'1'? I don't think so. I'm not familiar enough with Gogol or Moliere's oeuvre to comment in detail, but at least in comparison to Dickens, the sum total seems to me watered down. I think Rostanev can be thought of as a more gullible Russian Pickwick (a bit forced), but comparison with the "Pickwick Papers" comes out to Dostoevsky's disadvantage. More damning is the fact that both Avsey, the translator who wrote a good introduction here, and Frank, in "The Years of Ordeal", more or less rate this book highly because it points to possibilities in Dostoevsky's future masterpieces. In other words, the work by itself cut off from possibilities is not as interesting. This is telling.

So why is it inferior to "Pickwick"? My opinion is this: escapism. Stepanchikovo is a little too idyllic, the people are by and large too simple, and there is something of a poised unwillingness to confront the nastier side of life. Shouldn't Dostoevsky have expounded on Nastenka's poverty and plight (or would this weaken the novel)? What about the psychology of Mizhinchikov who will blossom into an evil flower called Svidrigailov in "Crime and Punishment"? It is very unkind to suggest this, but considering the very trying circumstances in which this book was written - most notably marital dissatisfaction - perhaps Dostoevsky's wish for a more fulfilling life got the better of his superb psychological skills.

Some defence is necessary. The psychology of Tatyana is well-explored. A woman whose mind is so benighted in self-aggrandizing romance that when she finally emerges from poverty to newfound riches is unable to shake them off - this is classic Dostoevsky.

But in summary I would recommend this book only to the die-hard Dostoevsky fans. I notice nothing flagrant in the translation (NOTE: I know no Russian), so it is not the fault of the translator. So if you really want to see the middle stage in the evolution of a great author, you should read this. Otherwise, just go tackle "Crime and Punishment". In fact, EVERYONE should tackle "Crime and Punishment"!