Vladimir Odoevsky (1803–1869)

Although Vladimir Odoevsky was a prominent author in his own time, even dubbed the "Russian Hoffmann" given his interest to write about the fantastic, Odoevsky is now quite forgotten. This is a pity, because his short stories and novellas are well worth reading, and Odoevsky is seen as one of the earliest writers of science-fiction. In his novel Year 4338 a description can be found which suggests an application of blogging as we recently know it. Odoevsky combined a body of technical knowledge with a rich imagination to write science-fiction about 25 years before Jules Verne and 60 years before H.G. Wells.

The recent revival of interest in Vladimir Odoevsky is mostly the work of one man, Neil Cornwell. As the bibliography shows (p. 131), Cornwell has written several books and articles about Odoevsky, including a biography, in 1986, and translated several volumes of short stories by the Russian author. Cornwall has also written new introductions to a new edition of stories published earlier, as well as the introduction to Two days in the life of the terrestrial globe, and other stories, published in 2012 by One World Classics.

The Romantic period is often characterized for writing about the passion, and the most often described passion is love. However, in the title story, Odoevsky focuses on the sentiment of fear, and panic, as attendents of an aristocratic ball fear the imminent destruction of the Earth by an asteroid on a collision course.

Odoevsky and Ludwig von Beethoven were contemporaries, and in "Beethoven's last quartett" we find a description of Beethoven in his final days, as the opening of the story announces that it was the Spring of 1827 (Beethoven died 26 March 1827). It is a passionate story about the genius of the composer, blending in admiration and anecdote.

Some of the stories bear characteristics of the Gothic genre, for example "Opere del Cavaliere Giambattista Piranesi", a Hoffmanesque tale, and "Imbroglio" which approaches the early crime fiction. in these stories many of the stock elements of the genre are presents, such as Italianate scenery, monks, etc, but in Odoevsky are much more realistic that in Vernon Lee or other proponents of the genre. Perhaps Odoevsky has real experience travelling to Italy.

Cornwall has apparently attempted to create a collection that offers a representative choice of the work of Odoevsky. "The Little Town in the Snuffbox" is a children's story that is very ingenious, and with a clear didactic purpose, as at the end the author admonishes young readers / listeners: "But you will understand it all even better when you come to study mechanics." (p. 37).

"The Black Glove" seems to be the most typical Russian tale, and a sharp criticism of Russian life at the time.… (more)