Yuri Olesha (1899–1960)

I confess I had a bit of trouble following. Maybe some of the allegories for early Soviet bureaucracy were lost on me. I'd be curious to read it again in a different translation, but maybe not curious enough to do so.

I just read John Haskell's The Tramp in the latest A Public Space, which is a weirdly literal retelling of the Charlie Chaplin movie, but the mirrored trope of the vagrant picked up by the rich guy, allowed to live in his home, still lacks depth for me. Again, I feel I may lack the cultural context.… (more)

Here's a question for you: What do you get when you cross Dostoyevsky's underground man, Gogol's wicked satire, a Nabokovian gift for metaphor, and place them in early Soviet Russia?

Unfortunately, something less than the sum of its parts.

Envy is set in 1920s Soviet Russia, with a drunken loser, Kavalerov, living in the home of a porcine official sausage-maker, Babichev, who is beloved by all. Kavalerov hates Babichev's guts, and writes a letter full of bile against him. Soon after, there's some family drama with Babichev's brother, Ivan.

The language, aside from a few fantastic metaphors, is dull. The narrative is gormless, and largely exists to string together the better moments together. For a 'Modernist' work, it is not as metaphorical or colorful, like Petersburg. I'm not sure whether to ascribe it to undiscovered Soviet editorial mangling, or a subpar translation (the NYRB edition). A pity.… (more)

First published in 1927 at the wave of Soviet avant-garde fiction, it is a small wonder that this book got in print. Its surreal and playful style is a great precursor to Master and Margarita, which Bulgakov started to write in 1928. Olesha managed to write a deeply ironic and satiric piece that nevertheless won official critical acclaim - this alone is a testimony that the novel can be read on several different levels.

A masterpiece of Russian fiction that deserves to be listed among the major works of 20th century literature.… (more)