Sanine

by Mikhail Petrovich Artsybashev and Michael Artzibashev

Book Overview

"It evoked almost unprecedented discussions, like those at the time of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons. Some praised the novel far more than it deserved, others complained bitterly that it was a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1016137737
• ISBN13: 9781016137737
• Release Date: October 2022
• Publisher: Legare Street Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Existential angst in pre-revolutionary provincial Russia

Sanin is really a novel for students of Russian literature and there is a good introduction and afterword putting the work into its historical perspective. Russia, like much of Europe at the turn of the twentieth century was in state of suppressed social upheaval. There had been an abortive attempt at a revolution in 1905 followed by a both a Tsarist crackdown and simultaneous concessions. In this turmoil, students, workers and the intelligentsia were all feverishly debating and planning a new revolution and a new future for their country. Into a small provincial town after a long absence steps Sanin, a Nietzschean strong man who ruffles the feathers of students and military alike by pouring scorn on their beliefs and ideals and ridiculing all forms of social convention. Sanin believes quite simply that man should live for himself, for his natural desires and to do so without plans or principals. He is not intrinsically a troublesome man as he leaves people alone and does not try and force his own opinions. It is only when bothered that he is stirred to swift action. He saves his sister from suicide after she falls pregnant from a worthless cavalry officer and beats the man when he threatens to strike him for refusing to fight a duel. His polar opposite is the student Yuri, a familiar figure in Russian literature; a Hamlet-like individual, unable to act decisively and unable to formulate a coherent theory of life or find a meaningful role within it. This prevarication is his downfall. Like Yuri, most of the other characters around Sanin are tortured by existential angst with many of them either contemplating or committing suicide. The female characters seem to have been drawn from the Hollywood school of gender representation, serving merely as stereotypical objects of sexual temptation and submissive morality. Sanin caused a sensation on its publication in 1907, being considered immoral and pornographic. It is really a kind of superior pulp fiction and cannot be compared with the great works of Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Gogol or Chekhov. The fact that it has been largely forgotten today is a reflection of this fact. As with many Russian novels it is desolate, gloomy and pessimistic. After reading Sanin you may find yourself seeking company!

Breath of fresh air

What an enjoyable read! Although, past indiscretions aside, I could not relate to the amoral ideas, the 'revaluation of values' was refreshing. Despite an early, curious contemptuous barb at Nietzsche in the book, this is his 'Overman' or 'Superman'! I particularly enjoy the scene where Sanin is visited by his sister's subduer and his comrade. I love how Sanin has the courage to say what is exactly on his mind (this in a time when it was completely improper!) regardless of the consequences. It makes you realize how absurd human behavior is insofar as the truth being the last thing anyone is really interested in! You may not agree with the philosophy in this book. I did not always. However, the important thing is to not take literature like this as a destructive promulgation of immorality but rather an open mind to a different view!

Real Cool Book

I found Sanin, as you probably did, sort of by accident, but have enjoyed it as much as anything I've read for a while. Although the back cover uses the word "pornography" umpteen times, Sanin isn't explicit in the slightest, although it does address sexuality in a refreshingly straightforward way. It's wonderful at capturing the way that young bodies call to each other under the fashionable facades, and how the most elevated of thoughts can be hijacked by lust. Being Russian, it's also a novel of ideas, in this case the titular character's free spirited nihilism, the sort of anarchy of ideas that were released from the pandora's box of oppression, placing it in the tradition of Lermontov's Hero of our Time, or Dostoevsky's The Devils. It's also more ambigious than it might seem, allowing the reader to see exactly how destructive those ideas can become and letting us make our own judgement on the nominal "hero." (I think he's kind of a jerk myself, though there are plenty of teens and twenty year olds who would idolize him.) This is the kind of book that completely shames what passes for literature today. It's vigorous, full of ideas, well written, titilating without being sensationalistic, extremely ambitious and not overwhelmed with having "sympathetic" characters or being commercial or politically correct. Love him or hate him Sanin will blow your mind and there aren't many books of today that can say that!