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Fyodor Sologub (1863–1927)

Author of The Petty Demon

65+ Works 746 Members 8 Reviews 7 Favorited

About the Author

Sologub was a member of the symbolist movement, particularly in its early decadent phase. A schoolteacher and school official for many years, he began to publish in the 1890s. His first novel was Bad Dreams (1896), a depiction of a hero struggling against provincial surroundings. He attracted wide show more attention with his second novel, The Petty Demon (1907), in which another provincial town, brilliantly satirized, is the background for the brutish Peredonov's descent into paranoia. This novel, standing at the transition from realist to modernist fiction, has been widely translated and was for a long time the only Sologub work available to Soviet readers. The trilogy The Created Legend (1907--13) is an ambitious attempt to lay out in narrative form Sologub's highly integrated, quasi-mythological worldview: very controversial, it was not judged successful. Sologub also won recognition as a major Silver Age lyric poet, with verse notable for its economy and lyricism. Like much of his prose, it reflects Sologub's pessimistic, dualistic philosophy, which inverts traditional symbols of good and evil. However---moving in its simplicity, power, and authenticity---it is far more successful. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Series

Works by Fyodor Sologub

The Petty Demon (1905) — Author — 502 copies
The Created Legend (1914) 44 copies
De prikkel des doods (1977) 20 copies
Die wrede, zoete koorts (1977) 15 copies
Bad Dreams (1896) 15 copies
Queen Ortruda (1979) 9 copies
To the Stars and Other Stories (Russian Library) (2022) — Author — 8 copies
Smoke and ashes (1979) 7 copies
Le luce e le ombre. (2002) 5 copies
Hide and Seek 5 copies
Neizdannoe i nesobrannoe (1989) 2 copies
Rasskazy : (1909 - 1921) (1992) 2 copies
Turandina 2 copies
Червяк 1 copy
El trasgo 1 copy
Sjene 1 copy
Dvenadcatʹ dram (2000) 1 copy
Kücük Seytan (2020) 1 copy
Die Teufelsschaukel (2002) 1 copy
Zhalo smerti (2018) 1 copy
Melkij bes (2021) 1 copy
Short Fiction (2022) 1 copy

Associated Works

Masterpieces of Fantasy and Wonder (1989) — Contributor — 328 copies
A World of Great Stories (1947) 260 copies
100 Creepy Little Creature Stories (1994) — Contributor — 183 copies
The Penguin Book of International Gay Writing (1995) — Contributor — 176 copies
Great Russian Short Stories (Dover Thrift Editions) (2003) — Contributor — 137 copies
The Penguin book of Russian poetry (2015) — Contributor — 90 copies
Russian Poets (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets) (2009) — Contributor — 64 copies
Angels of Darkness: Tales of Troubled and Troubling Women (1995) — Contributor — 27 copies
A Treasury of Russian Life and Humor (1943) — Contributor — 11 copies
Black Magic Omnibus Volume 2 (1976) — Contributor — 8 copies
Noël russe (1997) — Contributor — 4 copies
世界名作選〈1〉 (日本少国民文庫) (1998) — Contributor — 3 copies
10分で読める名作 六年生 (2007) — Contributor — 2 copies
Russland das große Lesebuch (2017) — Contributor — 2 copies
ロシア怪談集 (河出文庫) — Contributor — 1 copy
植物 (書物の王国) (1998) — Contributor — 1 copy
王侯 (書物の王国) (1998) — Contributor — 1 copy
ロシア短篇24 (現代の世界文学) (1987) — Contributor — 1 copy
近代ロシア詩集 — Contributor — 1 copy

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Fyodor Sologub in Fans of Russian authors (February 2023)

Reviews

Its not your typical classic Russian Novel. And it most certainly is NOT Dostoevsky but that's okay. "The Petty Demon" is an entertaining and revealing romp through the realities of rural Russian life at the beginning of the 20th century. Sologub mixes humor, sensuality, and horror in what one reviewer called "the high water mark of Russian Decadent prose".

Thanks to numerous edits, censoring, and translations, the text can be a bit choppy at times but the fascinating description of the main character's mental decline keeps the reader engaged.

If you're up for a well-written, none-too-serious, and entertaining read, this is a book for you. Not to mention, you will learn about "nedotykomka".
… (more)
 
Flagged
colligan | 4 other reviews | Feb 16, 2023 |
Very enjoyable tale of provincial madness, marred only by a too-rigid adherence to Gogol's 'character goes around to visit other characters, hilarity ensues' mode. And that passes soon enough.
 
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stillatim | 4 other reviews | Oct 23, 2020 |
Sottoscrivo il commento di Razgul. Non avrei potuto aggiungere nulla. Se non che sarò eternamente grato a chi me lo ha fatto scoprire ;-)
 
Flagged
downisthenewup | 4 other reviews | Aug 17, 2017 |
Very well written (translated) short story about a woman and her child. I found it real and surreal.
 
Flagged
vanjr | 1 other review | Oct 4, 2015 |

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Statistics

Works
65
Also by
37
Members
746
Popularity
#34,063
Rating
3.9
Reviews
8
ISBNs
117
Languages
14
Favorited
7

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