Diary of a Superfluous Man

A ótima tradução de Samuel Junqueira para “Diário de um homem supérfluo”, do escritor russo Ivan Turguêniev, ajuda a entender que o adjetivo vai além de uma pessoa dispensável. É também alguém deslocado, impotente diante de um estado autoritário. E esse é o caso de Tchulkatúrin, um jovem à beira da morte que reflete num diário uma profunda desilusão amorosa e desencanto com as frustrações da vida.
“Diário de um homem supérfluo” foi Publicado em 1850 e estava inédito no Brasil até ser lançado pela editora 34. Além de traduzir, Samuel Junqueira também assina as notas de rodapé e o posfácio que contextualiza essa ótima novela.

The very simple story of a man lying on his deathbed, and recalling mostly the incidents in his life that have to do with a young woman he loved, but did not love him back. He is isolated, awkward, and “superfluous”, treated by life as “an unexpected and uninvited guest”, and endures stinging humiliation again and again from the woman and the man she loves instead. Turgenev knew about failure in love first-hand, and the scenes he renders, including a duel, are pretty good. However, the story is too short and not developed enough to really give it a higher rating. You might try Lermontov’s “A Hero of Our Times” instead.

This is a moving novella. The premise is that the diarist is on his deathbed and resolves to write about his life to prove that he is superfluous. He doesn't make it far before he gets to the issue that really bothers him--a love affair from earlier in his life. As he recounts the story over a series of diary entries, his present condition casts a pall over the tale, and he comes off as maudlin rather than tragic.

This is my first work by Turgenev, and I found it to be an interesting psychological study. The novella plays on the concept of the deathbed confession or the "unfinished business" that many people who are dying need to resolve. It's a quick read, and there aren't a ton of characters to confuse (as can sometimes happen in show more Russian novels). I recommend it very much. show less

St. Barts 2013 #8 - Very short novella involving the recollections of a young man as he prepares to die of illness, all centering on one dramatic (for him) instance of unrequited love. A rather timid, uninteresting man to begin with, this unexpected one-sided romance ends poorly for him and likely begins his slide into ill-health way before his time. Turgenev certainly can capture all of those emotions one feels when blind-sided by love. A quick read and a good one.

A dying man, Chulkaturin, reflects on his life, without love and importance of any kind. The more he tried to love and be loved, the more he alienated himself from society in general.

The Diary of a Superfluous Man (1850) is about a "Superfluous Man", a recurring Russian literary meme about upper class nihilistic men who resort to gambling, dueling and women to give meaning to an otherwise disconnected and alienated existence. The story starts of slow but eventually take on a strong narrative direction dealing with "love" lost. Some great imagery and insights on the human condition. I think the 19thC Russian "Superfluous Man" archetypal character is not well known to most English readers, but this is a good introduction (see Wikipedia for other stories), and I believe the origin of the term. Alexsandr Kuprin's masterpiece The Duel (1905) is another Superfluous Man story.

Martin Geeson's passionate narration for show more LibriVox deserves special attention. It's as good or better than professional and obviously a labor of love. The sort of antique sound quality I believe was done on purpose in-line with the novella's first person diary voice, and the occasional sound of an old typewriter adds to the atmosphere. I'm now a fan of Geeson and would listen to anything he narrated in the future.

--Review by Stephen Balbach, via CoolReading (c) 2008 cc-by-nd show less

A phenomenal look at the helpless antagonist and mediocrity.