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"Small wonders"
--T"ime Out London
"
"I wanted them all, even those I'd already read."
--Ron Rosenbaum, "The New York Observer
"
--T"ime Out London
"
"I wanted them all, even those I'd already read."
--Ron Rosenbaum, "The New York Observer
"
Product Description
"I am acting badly," thought Yevgeny, "But what's one to do? Anyhow it is not for long."
Leo Tolstoy is known for epic novels that brilliantly dissect society, but the novella The Devil may be the most personally revealing—and startling—fiction he ever wrote. He thought it so scandalous, in fact, that he hid the manuscript in the upholstery of a chair in his office so his wife wouldn't find it, and he would never allow it to be published in his lifetime.
Perhaps that's because the gripping tale of an aristocratic landowner slowly overcome with unrelenting sexual desire for one of the peasants on his estate was strikingly similar to an affair Tolstoy himself had. Regardless, the tale—presented here with the two separate endings Tolstoy couldn't decide between—is a scintillating study of sexual attraction and human obsession.
The Art of The Novella Series
Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time.
Leo Tolstoy is known for epic novels that brilliantly dissect society, but the novella The Devil may be the most personally revealing—and startling—fiction he ever wrote. He thought it so scandalous, in fact, that he hid the manuscript in the upholstery of a chair in his office so his wife wouldn't find it, and he would never allow it to be published in his lifetime.
Perhaps that's because the gripping tale of an aristocratic landowner slowly overcome with unrelenting sexual desire for one of the peasants on his estate was strikingly similar to an affair Tolstoy himself had. Regardless, the tale—presented here with the two separate endings Tolstoy couldn't decide between—is a scintillating study of sexual attraction and human obsession.
The Art of The Novella Series
Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time.
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2 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
This is a beautifully written tale
29 Mar 2010
Format:Paperback
The devil in this diminutive drama is the gnawing need of an otherwise good husband to have sex with another man's wife or it is, at least from the good husband's perspective, the adulterous wife herself. Eugene Irtenev was a good son and brother. When his father died he took over his father's estate and scrupulously paid his father's debts, supported his mother and gave his brother his fair share of the property. Eugene recognized that he had a need for sex, only for health reasons, of course. He developed a relationship with the beautiful wife of a peasant who was frequently away from home, which he piously discontinued when he decided to marry another woman. Eugene's wife was ideal in every way, except for beauty. She treated him exceptionally well. Eugene did all in his power to avoid his prior consort even though she gave birth to a male child who was probably his. But then he saw her again and wanted her again with all his being.
Tolstoy describes the "horrors" of his "torment" very well and how he repeatedly tried to overcome it and what happened to him, his wife and the wife of the other man. He offers two alternative endings to his story and readers can choose which of the two they like best.
Tolstoy describes the "horrors" of his "torment" very well and how he repeatedly tried to overcome it and what happened to him, his wife and the wife of the other man. He offers two alternative endings to his story and readers can choose which of the two they like best.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Melville House Press makes a great little book in The Devil
26 Mar 2008
Format:Paperback
I read this while also reading the tail end of Tolstoy's War & Peace and so have this juxtaposition in mind.
The folks at Melville House Press have produced a beautiful little book in The Devil. Here, Tolstoy paints the characters just as vividly, but with an appropriately singular--relentless--focus. You are with the protagonist, Yvegeny, throughout his struggles with fidelity and like him, the poor fellow, have nothing to distract you from Stepanida's dark eyes.
In the Melville House edition, you'll have both of Tolstoy's endings which are very different and yet land with the same two final paragraphs, and the cover has end flaps that serve as bookmarks--assuming you can put the book down. I see myself eating Melville House Press' entire Art of the Novella series, book by book.
The folks at Melville House Press have produced a beautiful little book in The Devil. Here, Tolstoy paints the characters just as vividly, but with an appropriately singular--relentless--focus. You are with the protagonist, Yvegeny, throughout his struggles with fidelity and like him, the poor fellow, have nothing to distract you from Stepanida's dark eyes.
In the Melville House edition, you'll have both of Tolstoy's endings which are very different and yet land with the same two final paragraphs, and the cover has end flaps that serve as bookmarks--assuming you can put the book down. I see myself eating Melville House Press' entire Art of the Novella series, book by book.
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