St. Petersburg is a strange book, set during the first socialist revolutions in Russia in 1905, written in 1916 with the Tsars losing their grip on power, and revised in 1922, after the Bolshevik revolution had succeeded. It covers a period of about 24 hours, in which Nikolai Ableukhov, an anarchist and reactionary revolutionary, attempts to plant a bomb in his father's study. His father, Apollon, is a dignitary of the old guard, representing old Russia to Nikolai and his group. The bomb, in an old sardine tin, is planted early in the novel, and ticks away in the background as Apollon and Nikolai attend a society function and travel the streets of their home city.

St. Petersburg is often cited as a pioneer of modernist fiction. Although it covers similar territory to Dostoevsky's 'The Devils', its reliance on different narrative viewpoints and psychological slants set it apart. At times it borders on horror, as a lovesick and disturbed Nikolai stalks his love wearing a mask and cape, like a ghoul on the misty streets. Although clearly political, it is as much a 'father and son' novel as one about revolution, with Nikolai's reactionary politics and Apollon's fustiness presented as both a cause of, and metaphor for, Russia on the brink of revolution. This very human approach, combined with a genuine spookiness touched with comic absurdity, made for a fascinating and unique book. It was a very enjoyable read, but just disturbing enough to be uncomfortable. A book I enjoyed a lot.

Nabokov called it "One of the four great masterpieces of twentieth-century prose," along with The Metamorphosis, Ulysses, and Remembrance of Things Past. ( )

Fun avant-garde reading that starts off quite odd [introducing parallelepiped to my vocabulary]and ends up as a strange suspenseful revolutionary pageturner. This makes me wish his Symphonies would get translated to English... ( )