Project Gutenberg's Contemporary Russian Novelists, by Serge Persky

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Title: Contemporary Russian Novelists

Author: Serge Persky

Translator: Frederick Eisemann

Release Date: March 4, 2010 [EBook #31503]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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CONTEMPORARY
RUSSIAN NOVELISTS

Translated from the French of Serge Persky
By FREDERICK EISEMANN

JOHN W. LUCE AND COMPANY
BOSTON 1913

_Copyright, 1912_
BY C. DELAGRAVE

_Copyright, 1913_
BY L. E. BASSETT

To
THE MEMORY OF
F. N. S.

BY
THE TRANSLATOR

PREFACE

The principal aim of this book is to give the reader a good general
knowledge of Russian literature as it is to-day. The author, Serge
Persky, has subordinated purely critical material, because he wants
his readers to form their own judgments and criticize for
themselves. The element of literary criticism is not, however, by
any means entirely lacking.

In the original text, there is a thorough and exhaustive treatment
of the "great prophet" of Russian literature--Tolstoy--but the
translator has deemed it wise to omit this essay, because so much
has recently been written about this great man.

As the title of the book is "Contemporary Russian Novelists," the
essay on Anton Tchekoff, who is no longer living, does not rightly
belong here, but Tchekoff is such an important figure in modern
Russian literature and has attracted so little attention from
English writers that it seems advisable to retain the essay that
treats of his work.

Finally, let me express my sincerest thanks to Dr. G. H. Maynadier
of Harvard for his kind advice; to Miss Edna Wetzler for her
unfailing and valuable help, and to Miss Carrie Harper, who has gone
over this work with painstaking care.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. A Brief Survey of Russian Literature 1

II. Anton Tchekoff 40

III. Vladimir Korol