The Simpleton (novel)
| Author | Alexei Pisemsky |
|---|---|
| Original title | Тюфяк |
| Country | Russia |
| Language | Russian |
|
Publication date
|
1850 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback & Hardback) |
The Simpleton (Тюфя′к, Tyufyak - also: The Muff) is the debut novel by Alexei Pisemsky, written in the late 1840 and first published in 1850 by Moskvityanin. The novel has brought its author critical acclaim and popularity.
In his autobiography Pisemsky wrote: "In 1846 I completed a large novel called Boyarschina. In 1847 I sent it to Otechestvennye Zapiski and it was banned by the censors. By this time, while in the country, I've written another novel, Tyufyak, but, defeated already in my aspirations, decided against sending it [to the publishers] and resumed my state service." Here Pisemsky has got the date wrong: Boyarshina was sent to OZ in 1848 and, as the Soviet scholar M.P.Eremin noted, "there are reasons to believe that The Simpleton' rough copy was ready in 1848, too."
In the Stellovsky Publishers's (Saint Petersburg, 1861) edition the novel came out as dated "29 April 1850". On April 21, the author wrote to Alexander Ostrovsky: "I send you, my dear Alexander Nikolayevich, my book for you to decide what to do with it. I gave it the title "The Family Dramas" (Семейные драмы), but should it appear to be incompatible either with the censorial demands or the magazine's general mood, please change it to whatever you like: "Bashmetyev", "The Muff", whatever. I send you only the first part of it, but rest assured, the second one is ready, just needs some polishing done."
Pisemsky was working upon the second part through the summer of 1850. He formulated the novel's general idea in his April 21 letter to Ostrovsky:
What I wanted to do by describing the ordinary lives of the ordinary people was highlight the dramas we all of us encounter, dramas which every person get through in his own special way. Social issues I did not touch, restricting myself to family relations. As for characters, the major one is Bashmetyev; on the one hand, a sophisticated man, on the other – apathetic, unsociable and having a limited, formal education. He encounters real life for the first time when returning home after the graduation and instead of developing him, real life starts tormenting him. Having got nothing by way of guiding light, he starts making horrible blunders which result in this mad marriage of his, in part one. As for other characters, they, I presume, explain themselves fairly well.
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