Abstract: THE complex and many-sided genius of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov (1831-1895), who might well be considered die most original storyteller, in Russian literature, has not yet come into its own among English-speaking peoples. His racy, colorful language, diough the delight of Russian readers, is almost die despair of translators ; and of die more than thirtysix volumes of his purely literary works (not to speak of his voluminous correspondence and journalistic writings) fewer dian half a, dozen are as yet available in English. Probably no Russian writer of his stature ever had a broader and more intimate knowledge of Russian life and die Russian people. He knew Russia too well at first hand to be either a good radical or a thoroughgoing reactionary, and as a result die radicals of his own day called him a reactionary and die reactionaries had him dismissed from a Government job for supposedly being a radical. Several of his works, including his greatest satire, were never allowed to be printed under die tsarist censorship and have been published only since the Soviet Revolution. On die other hand, die religious element in his writings seems to have made him, like Dostoyevsky, an awkward subject for Soviet scholars to handle. No complete edition of his works has been published in Soviet Russia, and the number
Publication Year: 1951
Publication Date: 1951-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 1
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