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Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Hesperus Classics) Paperback – November 1, 2003

by Nikolai Leskov (Author), Gilbert Adair (Foreword)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 13 ratings
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In this powerful and brutal short story, Leskov demonstrates the enduring truth of the Shakespearean archetype joltingly displaced to the heartland of Russia. Chastened and stifled by her marriage of convenience to a man twice her age, the young Katerina Lvovna goes yawning about the house, missing the barefoot freedom of her childhood, until she meets the feckless steward Sergei Filipych. Sergei proceeds to seduce Katerina, as he has done half the women in the town, not realizing that her passion, once freed, will attach to him so fiercely that Katerina will do anything to keep hold of him. Journalist and prose writer Nikolai Leskov is known for his powerful characterizations and the quintessentially Russian atmosphere of his stories.
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  1. Print length
    88 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Hesperus Press
  4. Publication date
    November 1, 2003
  5. Dimensions
    5 x 0.3 x 7.6 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1843910683
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1843910688
  8. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
13 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Alysson Oliveira
5.0 out of 5 stars A great work from a little known writer
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2006
Thinking of the Russian literature produced in the XIX Century, Nikolai Leskov is one of the least known writers -- however he produced great works, like this "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk". Starting with the Shakespearean allusion, the author created his own version of one of the most famous female characters from the theater.

This lady Macbeth is Katerina Lvovna, married to a man twice her age, unhappy and idle. Until the day she meets her servant Sergei Filipych, a lady's man who seduces her and leads the woman to do the most unthinkable things for love and money.

Idleness has produce great marital betrayals in literature -- "Anna Karieninna", "Madame Bovary", "Cousin Basilio" -- and the same happens here. What defers Leskov's literature from most dealing with the theme is that he doesn't judge or psychologizes his characters. Actually, he was a journalist and this gave him the background of being a very matter-of-fact writer. His story focus on action rather than on thoughts, and he is able to make everything believable and never shallow.

Katerina is a fascinating character, although we don't learn much about what is going in her mind. What we see is she being led by her desires albeit we can't understand much of it. She seems to be tired of her shallow existence and her boring husband, but these are just suppositions -- yet, very strong ones.

Hesperus edition brings two very informative introductions. The first written by Gilbert Adair gives the background of the novel, and a little about Leskov. The second one is written by Robert Chandler, who translated the book. The text gives information about the process of translating this specific novel and has some spoilers, therefore it is recommended to read it only after finishing the story.
8 people found this helpful
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Lost John
4.0 out of 5 stars A shocking tale beguilingly told
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2013
Katerina Lvovna is a childless, bored housewife, left alone day upon day in the manor house of her much older, merchant husband. With gates, iron locks and guard dogs, the house is, for Katerina, effectively a prison. After five years of this barren life, and with her husband away from home for a week or more, she becomes the target of a recently arrived young steward. Young Sergei already has a reputation as a womanizer and a deceiver, but Katerina ignores this and willfully throws herself into a tempestuous love affair. The inevitable follows (inevitable, that is, in a 19th century novella), and Katerina and Sergei are soon plunged into ever deepening trouble.

This was an early work by Leskov, and the story swings along at a brisk pace, reading as if narrated by a worldly-wise peasant observer. Multiple homicides and ultimate self-destruction are not characteristic of Leskov's later stories, but his folksy way of telling a story, his trademark interest in the ordinary people of the region in which he grew up, also in the Russian Orthodox Church and its ways, and the schismatic Old Believers, are already in place. So is his game of causing the simpler of his folk to sometimes choose the wrong word as they speak, or to use made-up words - e.g. romanticness - though this feature is not as far developed in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk as it became in some of Leskov's later stories.

The translator of this volume, Robert Chandler, is well-known for his reliable translations of several classic Russian writers; also for his helpful introductions and notes, both of which are found in this volume too. Besides translator, Chandler serves the reader well as interpreter, a slightly different function.

This Hesperus edition has potential as a good first introduction to Leskov's work, especially perhaps for those who have encountered Shostakovich's opera of the same name and are curious about the original story. If encouraged to seek out more by Leskov, do look up The Steel Flea, sometimes known as Lefty, which is the ultimate example of Leskov's malapropisms and wordplay and can be found in Russian Short Stories from Pushkin to Buida, edited (but not in the case of the Steel Flea translated) by Robert Chandler, or in the newer The Enchanted Wanderer and Other Stories by Nikolai Leskov translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. The latter also includes Pevear and Volokhonsky's translation of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. I have read the two Lady Macbeth of Mtsensks side by side and find it impossible to say that one translation is overall better than the other. Pevear and Volokhonsky's might be better if you know a little Russian and something of the culture, Chandler's if you don't.
2 people found this helpful
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L. Young
5.0 out of 5 stars A Long Neglected Masterpiece
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2005
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is the masterpiece of the now mostly forgotten Nikolai Leskov. This novella is a powerful story of obsession and violence, which shocked readers in it's day, and still has the power to shock today. Shostakovich chose the story for an opera because of it's dynamic storyline. The young and beautiful Katerina Lvovna has married a merchant twice her age, in order to rescue herself from poverty. Bored and stifled in the marriage she becomes enmeshed in a steamy affair with Sergei,a steward of her husband. Obsessed with the feckless steward, Katerina will stop at nothing to keep him. Her obsession leads to murder, and prison in Siberia where once again her obsession with Sergei leads to a desperate act. Frank in it's depiction of unbridled sexuality and violence, the novella is as fresh today as when it was written. This short book is definitely worth the time of any serious reader of literary fiction.
8 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

bokazsombor
5.0 out of 5 stars A true Russian classic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 5, 2021
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The review title says it all
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Chris B
4.0 out of 5 stars An ambitious woman from a poor family marries an older wealthier man in town
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 10, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is a very interesting story planting a Shakespeare character (Lady Macbeth) into a small village. An ambitious woman from a poor family marries an older wealthier man in town. With no outlets and nothing to pass the time, she starts an affair with one of the workers at the mill and discovers her unscupulous, ambitious nature.

It's an interesting character study and written in a way (at least in the English translation that this is) that captures the dismalness of her situation, the town life and what happens afterwards.

If you are reading it because of the opera, you will notice differences - a lot coming from the fact that the book is centred around one person's experience. The town appears much more claustrophobic and small compared to what you read in this book, since the book centres purely on Katerina's life, which is mainly confined within the four walls of her house.

An interesting and very short read (62 pages).
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DAVID GEORGE LEEDHAM
5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 7, 2017
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Excellent book. Very absorbing. I had previously watched the film 'Lady Macbeth' and was interested in the plot differences between the two but no spoilers!
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zoomy
5.0 out of 5 stars great for bookmarking
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2015
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Well designed paperback with fold over covers, great for bookmarking. Easily readable type. Leskov's famous story, made into an opera by Shostakovich can you go wrong ?
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Gnl
5.0 out of 5 stars A very satisfied customer.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 26, 2017
Verified Purchase
Many thanks Rob!
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