Zavist'. Roman, s risunkami Natana Al'tman [Envy. A novel, with drawings by Nathan Altman].

OLESHA, Iurii Karlovich.

Published by Moscow-Leningrad, "Zemlia Fabrika, [1928]., 1928

About this Item

8vo, pp. 144, with two full-page illustrations by Nathan Altman printed on a green background and highlighted in pink; a very good copy, uncut, a few pages opened roughly, in the original illustrated wrappers by Altman, slightly skewed; in a folding cloth box.First edition of this famous short satirical novel which 'catapulted Olesha into the first rank of Soviet writers' (Terras). It was fêted by both Soviet and émigré critics and established the young writer's reputation almost overnight. Olesha later adapted it as a play, Zagovor chuvstv (The Conspiracy of Feelings) in 1929.'Envy deals with the conflict between new Soviet men, dedicated yet practical, and ineffectual dreamers who have preserved vestiges of an outmoded bourgeois mentality. Each side is represented by two generations, the fortyish and the young. The conflict is staged with masterful ambiguity. While "Soviet man" is obviously winning, his success is viewed through the eyes of the envious losers, with whom the reader may very well identify, and his positive image is undercut by cleverly planted subliminal detail. Even today Envy remains the most "modernist" of all Russian novels' (Cambridge History of Russian Literature). Language: Russian. Seller Inventory # F1760

Bibliographic Details

Title: Zavist'. Roman, s risunkami Natana Al'tman [...

Publisher: Moscow-Leningrad, "Zemlia Fabrika, [1928].

Publication Date: 1928

Binding: Soft cover

Edition: First Edition.