Classics Considered

This week I devoted an entire podcast episode to one of my favorite novels, Eugene Onegin .  Though I only mentioned it in passing, I also watched Onegin , the 1999 adaptation, after reading the book. Liv Tyler was brilliantly cast as the bookish Tatyana; this was just before she became famous for Arwen in The Lord of the Rings .  Ralph Fiennes is a good 10 years older than the title character, but he does a decent job at the Byronic Onegin.  Personally, I found the script to be underwhelming and disappointing - too pedestrian (and stylistically British) to really capture the essence of Pushkin's Russia ca. 1830.  It's too bad, given the cast. That said, I do like the script's translation of this scene from the book.  Tatyana, having professed her love in a letter, must sit through an awkward heart-to-heart from a disinterested Onegin.  While Tchaikovsky's opera infuses this scene with soaring melodies - leading you to think Onegin likes her after all - Fi...

For lovers of Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre , Eugene Onegin takes us back to Imperial Russia, where young Tatyana Larina falls for her brooding, Byronic neighbor. More than a romance, Alexander Pushkin's epic poem is a classic of Russian literature and history, as well as a glimpse into the 19th-century dueling culture which proved to be so fatal for him. Sources / Further Reading: Why the Russian aristocrats spoke French - Reddit discussion with academic sources Eugene Onegin - Translation by Henry Spalding (not my first recommendation, but it's free) Pushkin's African Background - Article by the British Library List of Alexander Pushkin's duels - By blogger Rina Tim Russian Ark (2002) - A creative documentary surveying 200 years of Russian culture.  I was able to watch this on loan from the library, and while it's a slow film (not gripping), the visuals are interesting. Opening quote read by MaryAnn (LibriVox)

Looking for your next great read?  This episode features six little-known classics and why I feel they should be famous.

After reading Eugene Onegin , it struck me that it shares several essential similarities with a more famous romantic classic, Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë). There's the Gothic side, for example.  Jane Eyre is considered to be "Gothic", and Eugene Onegin holds elements of it as well.  The letter-writing scene has a sense of gloom about it, but more eerie is the dream sequence, with its fantastical creatures and irony.  And Byronic heroes?  Enter Edward Rochester and Eugene Onegin.  Both are former socialites, now living out empty lives in empty ancestral houses.  Both despise the high society where they once distinguished themselves.  Both believe they've seen all there is to life and human nature.   (Spoilers alert)   Tatyana Larin and Jane Eyre are hardly less similar.  Tatyana is quiet and plain, keeping her feelings very much to herself.  So does Jane.  Jane expresses her feelings spontaneously, and so does Tatyana (thou...

Beowulf Unknown 3.5 out of 5 stars I feel almost guilty for rating this classic of classics so poorly, but I think it's a book you either love, loathe, or feel lukewarm about. Pros :  The historic setting, historic dialogue, underwater/cave battle, and Christian perspective.  Added 1/2 star for Beowulf 's influence on Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings . Cons :  Beowulf (the character) is much too flawless a fighter. He hardly seems human.  A more interesting character is Wiglaf, the underling whose courage outweighs his inexperience. The Queen of Spades Alexander Pushkin 2 out of 5 stars A very weird, Edgar Allan Poe-esque story about gambling and ghosts.  It's also super fast-paced, which doesn't help.  Interesting concept, however. A Tangled Tale Lewis Carroll 5 out of 5 stars One of the best books I've read in the last year.  This is a collection of math/logic puzzles, with continuing characters and storylines.  The dialogue is wonderfully witty ...

Last night I finished my first re-reading of Eugene Onegin (Alexander Pushkin).  The plan is to use a different translation for each re-read--this time I used Henry Spalding's, which you can find at Project Gutenberg .  While I didn't stumble across any words like zen , I found parts of the translation to read awkwardly, as if a thesaurus had been referenced once too often.  On the positive side, it is overall a very readable translation, and it rhymes. 4.5/5 stars for the Spalding translation. As for the re-read itself.  Much has been made of Tatyana's bookish dreams, but I'm convinced now that the poet Lensky is the only idealist, the only dreamer in the whole book.  His last thoughts were what really stood out to me this time.  I understood better where he was coming from, and I actually felt very sorry for him. (Spoiler alert) After the ball--where Onegin childishly vents his anger by flirting with Olga--Lensky's reaction goes from feeling h...

  "  Noise, laughter, bowing, hurrying mixed, Gallop, mazurka, waltzing—see! A pillar by, two aunts betwixt, Tania, observed by nobody, Looks upon all with absent gaze And hates the world's discordant ways. 'Tis noisome to her there: in thought Again her rural life she sought, The hamlet, the poor villagers, The little solitary nook Where shining runs the tiny brook, Her garden, and those books of hers, And the lime alley's twilight dim Where the first time she met with him . " Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin Edition:  Oxford World's Classics, paperback My overall rating :  5 out of 5 stars.  Bored by the dissipation and drama of his youthful life, Eugene Onegin withdraws from society to his inherited estate in the Russian countryside.  His only friend is Vladimir Lensky, a young, romantic poet who is engaged to Olga Larin.  Her older sister, Tatyana, is a plain, quiet introvert.  She takes more interest in books and the countryside than anythi...