Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse (Oxford World's Classics)

Book Description

Eugene Onegin is the master work of the poet whom Russians regard as the fountainhead of their literature. Set in 1820s imperial Russia, Pushkin's novel in verse follows the emotions and destiny of three men - Onegin the bored fop, Lensky the minor elegiast, and a stylized Pushkin himself - and the fates and affections of three women - Tatyana the provincial beauty, her sister Olga, and Pushkin's mercurial Muse. Engaging, full of suspense, and varied in tone, it also portrays a large cast of other characters and offers the reader many literary, philosophical, and autobiographical digressions, often in a highly satirical vein. Eugene Onegin was Pushkin's own favourite work, and it shows him attempting to transform himself from a romantic poet into a realistic novelist. This new translation seeks to retain both the literal sense and the poetic music of the original, and capture the poem's spontaneity and wit. The introduction examines several ways of reading the novel, and text is richly annotated.

Customer Reviews:

A Pure Delight.......2007-08-04

James Falen's stunning translation of Eugene Onegin is a paragon of grace and subtlety. Despite the formidable challenge of converting Russian verse into English, this edition conveys Pushkin's fluidity of language, varied spirit and love for the human heart with precision and artistry. Indeed, as I breezed through this staggering work of genius, I kept marveling at the beauty of an English translation made possible, of course, only through Falen's understanding of the writer's intentions.

So the translation is a technical tour de force: the diction, style and tone are sublime. But the novel itself is also, through frequent transitions between bliss and morbidity, lively dialogue, fast-moving action and devilish wit, a fully-riveting tale. Many American readers, when encountering such Russian literature, might dismiss it as hoary or pessimistic, but this would be facile. Pushkin holds darkness and sadness in relief to a soaring, more soulful encomium of life, and in doing so, presents us with humanity's casual, and often unintentional, profundity.

My Titles
Shadow Fields
Snooker Glen

Really really good.......2007-07-19

The translator deserves a nobel prize for rendering the Russian into an English poetry which stands on its own as first class literature.

The literary works in Eugene Onegin.......2005-06-22

Eugene Onegin of Alexander Pushkin, 19th century Russian author who often has been considered his country's greatest poet and the founder of modern Russian literature, presents different kinds of characters whose personal traits have a great relation with the period's social structure. Their different and remarkable personalities are worked up so profoundly that it is possible to see the reflections of the characters in the literary works which they read throughout their developing and changing lives. Therefore, this gives the reader an excellent insight into the thoughts and beliefs regarding their different behaviours which can also be associated with the deep effects of the time's social life. Throughout the novel, Pushkin illustrates his characters via the three main figures; Eugene Onegin, Vladimir Lensky and Tatyana.
Pushkin starts to portray his main character, Eugene Onegin, at the very beginning of the novel by describing him since his childhood. Even in his descriptions of Onegin's childhood, Pushkin tries to express how extraordinary and different Eugene is although he seems as if he is an ideal figure of 19th century Russian society even from the very beginning of his life. That's why Pushkin remarks; " He was sweet natured, and yet wild," (Chapter 1, III). Then Pushkin goes on describing his main character with his youth by suggesting that he starts to be in with the social requirements of his time by following the Romantic fashion, taking care oof his appearance in a delicate way in terms of his clothes an hair, learning to speak and write in French, and becoming more and more witty and sweet. The Russian society he is living in has such a context that everything is based on affectation, dishonesty, jealousy and ostentation. In such a social context, one has to be intellectual, educated, cunning and witty enough to maintain his/her existence among those kinds of people. The thing Onegin does is just to be one of the successful player of that game by knowing about every theme and learning affectation and to hide his feelings. Yet, he is still different form the others in his youth's readings. To point out this difference, Pushkin suggests that "He cursed Theocritus and Homer, in Adam Smith was his diploma;" ( Chapter 1, VII). Theocritus, who is Hellenistic Greek poet, and Homer are prominent figures of classical period. And as already known, there is a great interest in classical works and a great respect for the ancients in 18th and 19th centuries. It is an indispensable feature for a 19th century cultivated person to read and adore classical works. However, Onegin, different form the others, prefers to read works of Adam Smith, instead of Homer and Theocritus. Adam Smith is Scottish political economist and philosopher of 18th century. He shows how self-interest guides the most efficient use of resources in a nation's economy, with public welfare coming as a by-product (www.britannica.com). 18th century Europe is in favor of clarity, simplicity, science and rational thinking as opposed to sentimentality of 19th century Romantic period. Therefore, Onegin's interest in Adam Smith makes him quite different from 19th century Russian people. This shows us that Onegin, in his youth, is more interested in political and rational thinking than the fancies and emotions of the Romantic age. Although he has a different taste of reading, he definitely leads a fashionable, comfortable life which is in quite in harmony with the lifestyles the other people around him. He is flirting with married women and successfully manages to make friendships with their husbands; it is possible to see Parisian taste in the furnishings of his room; he never rejects to join balls; and thus he is a "child of luxury and delight" (Chapter 1, XXXVI) as Pushkin remarks. But this does not leave Onegin satisfied. Pushkin suggests it with these lines; "He was bored with social noise" and "infidelity proved cloying and friends and friendship, soul-destroying" (Chapter 1, XXXVII). While describing his characters' and the changes in their lives; Pushkin, as apparently seen, is constantly criticizing the social defects of the period such as fake friendships. Because of his boredom, Eugene retreats himself and starts to live in idleness. In this idleness, he look for satisfaction from reading. But he does not manage to get rid of his boredom. Therefore, he gives up reading just like the habits of his past life. Even during the time when he is living in his uncle's house in the countryside upon his uncle's death, he can't escape from being a slave of boredom and idleness. That he is not appealed to reading romances and poetry accounts for his disbelief in real love, marriage and happiness. It is possible to see this in his first meeting with Tatyana after her letter for him when he says to her; "...wedlock for us would be abhorrent./ I'd love you, but inside a day, with custom, love would fade away;" (Chapter 4, XIV). As can be seen apparently, there is a remarkable parallelism between his thoughts and his readings. His thoughts are far from sentimentality of the time's romances and poetry. His views about a universal feeling called love give an impression of excessive strictness, a clear-cut and so-called "rationality" that refuses its permanency too pessimistically, almost in a prejudiced way. It should be discussed whether his views stem from his readings or his readings lead him to think this way. But things are not always as it seems. After Onegin has left the country house upon Lensky's death, Tatyana visits the house and finds a few books by "Don Juan's and the Giaour's creator" (Chapter 7, XXII); that is by Lord George Gordon Byron (1788-1824). Lord Byron creates the concept of the "Byronic hero"- a defiant, melancholy young man, brooding on some unforgivable event in his past. In this sense, Onegin can be associated with a Byronic hero, burned out and unhappy with life. And his rejection of Tatyana's love can be accepted as the unforgivable event in his pastwhich condemns him to an unhappy life forever; just like Pushkin remarks almost in a criticizing tone; "Onegin...with no past, no work, no wife;/ had nothing to employ his life" (Chapter 8, XII). And when he realizes that he is in love with Tatyana after seeing her in a ball as a wife of a prince, he starts reading different kinds of authors such as Gibbon, Rousseau, Manzoni, Chamfort, Madame de Stael, Bichat, Tissot and Bayle. Pushkin describes the situation with these lines; "One more he turned to book, unchoosing,/ devouring Gibbon and Rousseau..." (Chapter 8, XXXV). When looked at the authors he has read, it is possible to see that each of them is from different literary fields. For example, Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) is an 18th century British historian; Manzoni (1785-1873) is an Italian poet and novelist; Bayle is a skeptic especially about human knowledge, Jean Jacques Rousseau is both a political thinker and the creator of the modern genre of autobiography (www.britannica.com). So it is not quite possible to determine the definite effects of those writers on his views and behaviours. But it is possible to infer that along with his love for Tatyana, the idleness and the boredom of his previous life leaves its place for love and at the same time pain and sorrow. Although he suffers from his love for Tatyana, now he has something that makes his life more meaningful. So he starts reading again as he finally manages to get rid of his boredom and idleness.
Vladimir Lensky is entirely different from Eugene although they are close friends. Pushkin describes their friendship with these lines; "So verse and prose, they came together,/ no ice an flame, no storm weather and granite, were so far apart." (Chapter 2, XIII). Lensky is portrayed as a young, stereotypical poet. He is still ambitious and hopeful about the future, quite different from Onegin's world view. Pushkin describes him with these words; "Vladimir Lensky, whose creator was Gottingen...He brought back all the fruits of learning from German realms of mist and steam" (Chapter 2, VI). So we see that his background comjes from German. He reads Goethe and Schiller. It is impossible not to see the effects of these writers on the personality of Lensky. Goethe is 18th century German poet, novelist, playwright, courtier and natural philosopher. In his first novel, Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers (The Sorrow of Young Werther), he creates the prototype pf the Romantic hero. Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) is a German poet, philosopher, historian and dramatist. He is greatly influenced by Rousseau and Goethe (www.britannica.com). It is possible to infer that there are remarkable traces of his readings and German cultural background in Lensky's world view. Like Goethe's romantic hero, Werther's love for beautiful Charlotte, he is in deep love with Olga. As Pushkin remarks, he brings back "freedom's enthusiastic dream, a spirit strange, a spirit burning, an eloquence of fevered strength" (Chapter 2, VI). He is completely a traditional young poet who is burning with the flames of youth and who is a stereotypical romantic lover that can dare to die for his beloved's honour , which is suddenly lost in a dance.
Pushkin portrays Tatyana starting from her childhood just like Onegin's portrait. In her childhood, Tatyana is shy as a savage, silent, tearful, and "wild as a forest deer". As Pushkin suggests, "Reflection was her friend and pleasure," (Chapter 2, XXVI). That's why she has nothing to do with dolls in her childhood and later with needles and fashion like typical country women of the times whose only interests are gossiping, fashion and invitations. In this sense, she is also different from the people around her just like Eugene Onegin. However, although they are different personalities in their own social environment, they are different from each other, too. Tatyana is a completely romantic character full of passion and youth. She likes waking up early and watch the dawn; therefore, we can infer that she loves nature, which is a typical quality of Romantic poets such as William Wordsworth. She likes reading Rousseau and Richardson, Sophie Cuttin, Madame de Krudener and Madame de Stael. Richardson (1689-1701) is an English novelist. He is a verbose and sentimental story teller. Moreover, he emphasizes, in his works, psychological insights into women. While she is in a passionate love for Onegin, she relates him with the main characters of Richardson's novels. One of them is, for example, Grandison, the hero of History of Sir Charles Grandison (1754). Sir Charles, in the novel, is designed to redefine the virtues of the hero as both Christian and sentimental. So, this gives an idea about Tatyana's ideal lover. The other writer she likes reading is Rousseau. He is the first writer to attend closely to childhood and to the formation of his own sexuality. Later, he is adopted by the French Revolution as the martyr of virtue and by Romanticism as the hero of feeling. The most personal, and initially a source of embarrassment, is his epistolary novel Julie or The New Eloisa (1761). This is a story of passion redeemed by virtue. It is possible to infer that Tatyana sees Julie de Wolmar's passion closer to hers. Sophie Cuttin and Madame de Krudener are the French writers once read in Russia as French influence is great on Russian culture at that period. While she is in a passionate love with Onegin, she reads these witers' works and associates herself with the characters of these literary works. This is a sign of her naivety an her innocent and honest feelings unlike the other women of the society who are described best with Pushkin's own words; "Our terror is their (those women's) consolation" (Chapter 3, XXII). Unlike Onegin's rational thinking, Tatyana has a much more romantic, spiritual and sentimental world view so much so that she believes in "olden days in dreams and cards and their prediction" (Chapter 5, V). So as to interpret her dreams, she even reads Martin Zedaka, an interpreter of dreams. After her marriage, she gradually becomes like the ladies around her whom once she has detested; and from then on, Pushkin does not give any information about the books she reads. Most probably, she gives up reading just like Onegin as her life becomes dull and idle.

Eugene Onegin Summary/Comment.......2004-10-20

The book narrates beautifully the tragic love story between Tatyana and the cold, indifferent Eugene Onegin. It portrays the disenchantments, pain and suffering often caused by a one-way love, here represented by Tatyana's devotion and care for Onegin. Through Pushkin's rich descriptions, the intensity of the girl's passion is conveyed to the reader, as well as the pain and misery of his rejection and indifference to her confessions.

The next best thing to Russian.......2003-12-06

James Falen has offered his version of the Russian classic, and has captured both the meaning and the verse. The stanzas flow effortlessly in Falen's hands, it may very well be the best translation yet. Of course, Nabokov is not around to cast his judgement on it. He panned every other translation that had been printed and penned his own in prose, so as not to stray too far from original meaning. But, even he said it was no more than a crib, as what Puskin had achieved in Eugene Onegin was a restructuring of the Russian language, giving it a beauty few had thought it possessed.

Orlando Figes similarly noted that Onegin was the first truly Russian lyrical novel. Pushkin had forsaken the standard French and sought to find the words expressive enough to convey the contradictory nature of the Russian soul. The novel in verse ebbs and flows as Pushkin takes you from St. Petersburg to Moscow to the Russian countryside, weaving a charming tale with many fascinating asides. The texture is so rich and the characters so enduring that this lyrical novel has attained mythological status in Russian literature. No understanding of the subject is complete without having read Eugene Onegin.

Customer Reviews:

Nabokov and Pushkin.......2007-05-13

At the end of his writing career, Vladimir Nabokov predicted he'd be remembered for two things: Lolita and his translation of Alexander Pushkin's Russian classic Eugene Onegin. He was half right. When it was published almost a half century ago, Nabokov's literal translation was taken to task. Edmund Wilson (a friend of Nabokov's) drove the hardest, instigating a famous literary duel. Intellectuals fled the scene and from higher ground watched these two giants go at it.

Wilson maintained that Nabokov's translation was an unreadable mixture of obscure words and sloppy un-metrical adventurism that betrayed Pushkin's poetry, and he squabbled over Nabokov's Russian-to-English equivalents. For his part, Nabokov--usually one to ignore critical appraisals of his work, good or bad--defended his translation's difficulty by claiming that, percentage-wise, most of the words he used were easy to read. He added, more seriously, that a measure of obscurity was necessary. To the English reader, Pushkin would essentially be a new poet. And new poets, the good ones, remodel their language, they show original ways of looking at things, sometimes they present new thoughts. Why then should a translation of such a poet be entirely relaxed and familiar? So what if the reader has to open a dictionary? And Nabokov assured Wilson, who was then only learning to speak Russian, that his Russian-to-English equivalents were correct. (Nabokov, who prided himself on being able to pack everything he owned in a single afternoon, just in case he had to change countries, was trilingual from childhood, and he composed novels, poems and plays in both Russian and English.)

In Nabokov's opinion, Pushkin was Russia's Shakespeare, and Eugene Onegin was Pushkin's Hamlet. The English-speaking world simply had to be introduced to the poem, the right way. Since Nabokov hated all the existing English translations of Eugene Onegin, without exception, and he had himself translated pieces of it in his free time, his wife Vera suggested that he just go ahead and do the whole thing right and publish. But he was uneasy. Translating for sport was one thing, publishing another. To him, translating poetry meant perverting ingenuity. Pushkin's original Russian would be worn thin by the changing of hands, especially if the poem's rhyme scheme and meter were attempted. So he devised a compromise that he thought fair. He would create a translation that focused on the mot juste. He went for what can be called cognitive accuracy. That is to say, he scrapped the poem's rhymes, meter, and music for a mountainous and sometimes overbearing Webster's Dictionary. If his best English equivalents ruined the poetics, even the grammar of the line, so be it. There were worse offenses, in his opinion. He wouldn't tolerate the inventions of translators--a rhyme, a turn of phrase, any sentiment forced into the true poet's mouth. So Nabokov was left with what many will consider a raw and sometimes clumsy Eugene Onegin.

Robert Frost once quipped that poetry is exactly what does not come across in translation. That said, the translator of poetry, against all odds, has two general approaches. One, like Nabokov, find and use the most appropriate equivalents possible and in so doing, leave the poetry out; or two, create new poetry in the translation's language by using inexact equivalents to fit the rhyme and meter. It's up to you as a reader to decide what you're looking for. What do you consider the essence of poetry? Pick Nabokov for word equivalent accuracy--the best that's available, the best we're likely to get. Pick someone else for poetry. But, in a way, you can have both...

With that in mind, I suggest you read both Nabokov and James E. Falen's translations. Being a contemporary, conscientious writer, Falen's work benefits from the range of previous translations, especially Nabokov's. But Falen retains Pushkin's poetic stuff, the rhyme scheme, the metrics, and his translation is a pleasure, especially to recite. For extra fun, read Nabokov's awkward rendering aloud, right after. Shock your friends.

Still, if he lived to see it, Nabokov would have likely called Falen's translation "piped-in background music" like he did all the others. Would he be right? Well, Falen couldn't avoid betraying Pushkin's Russian; it would be, as Nabokov phrased it, mathematically impossible not to. And, to be sure, Falen's own quill is noticeable in places--his translation reads beautifully for a reason. However, it can and will be claimed that Nabokov does Pushkin just as big a disservice. After all, how can Nabokov harp on about inauthentic and "piped in" music, and how it stains Pushkin's reputation, when the music he pipes in under the name of Pushkin is so hard on the ear? Just because Nabokov ignores Pushkin's music, doesn't mean his translation makes no sound. Who, then, is right?

No matter how hard and ably they try, translators are always wrong. Two different languages are just too different. It is necessary, then, that English readers without Russian make a leap of faith. They're hands are tied, so they must ultimately place their trust in the translator's method. Or reputation. By reputation, of course, English readers--and Pushkin for that matter--can't improve upon the writer of Lolita. His writing expertise aside, if you've ever experienced Nabokov's Lectures on Literature, you know how painstaking and intelligent a reader he was. Most comforting of all, Nabokov spent more time researching and translating Eugene Onegin than writing any three of his fictions combined. And this research was added to an already lifelong love of Pushkin, whom he first translated as a boy (his aristocratic family kept a library). His commentary to the poem--sold in a separate edition--is witty, massive, and laughably too informative for the common reader. But at times it's also vividly written. Where the translation is purposefully short on poetry, the commentary picks up the slack. If you venture to read it all, you'll know what Pushkin was up to, at all times. It's Nabokov's penance, really, for making messes of the original Russian.

The whole of the work convinces me that Nabokov's translation methods are correct, or at least noble, if for no other reason than its baffling modesty. Ironically, the most elegant prose stylist of the Twentieth-Century sought to make his translation clunkier with every revision. But as ugly as it is, it's possible, with time and patience, or a perverse sensibility, to actually enjoy Nabokov's "humble pony" on its own artistic merit. It owns a certain haggard beauty, a kind of bare-bones poetry. Besides, in an age when a word-spiral on a page or a flipbook at the end of a novel is considered poetic, why can't we make room for Nabokov's translation as poetry? You could tell your guests, when they sample it from your bookshelf and then gasp at the lines, that it is poetically fastidious.

Never mention "literature" without reading this book!.......2003-03-29

I'm a Russian Language and Literature major in Yonsei Univ. in Korea. Having lived in Moscow for around 3 years, I'd heard there a lot about Pushkin and read many of his famous works. The most prestigious of his, however, must be "Onegin." It's a great mixture of verse and prose in its form. If possible, try to read this in Russian, as well. This long poetical prose was written for 8 years and the ending rhyme perfectly matches for the entire line until the very end. Compared to others, it is definitely a conspicuous and brilliant one. "Onegin" can be the author himself or yourself. The love between Onegin and TaTyana is neither the cheap kind of love that often appears in any books nor the tragic one that is intended to squeze your tears. As a literature, this book covers not only love between passionate youth, but also a large range of literary works in it, which can tell us about the contemporary literature current and its atmosphere. Calling Onegin "My friend", Pushkin, the author, shows the probability and likelihood of the work. Finally, I'm just sorry that the title has been changed into English. The original name must be "Yevgeni Onegin(¬¦¬Ó¬Ô¬Ö¬ß¬Ú¬Û ¬°¬ß¬Ö¬Ô¬Ú¬ß)." If you are a literature major or intersted in it, I'd like to recommand you read this. You can't help but loving the two lovers and may reread it, especially the two correspondences through a long period of time. Only with readng this book, you'll also learn a huge area of the contemporary literature of the 19th century from the books mentioned in "Onegin" that take part as its subtext. Enjoy yourself!

a good book.......2002-04-18

i like this book. it helps a lot. and looks good on the shelf to boot.

Great Expectations, Poor Results.......2001-07-27

Vladimir Nabokov is one of the great authors of the 20th century, both as a craftsman and stylist in the novel form. He even succeed in grand poetry (Pale Fire), so one would think that his literal translation of Oneigin would be a welcome publication. It's not. First, Nabokov strips Onegin of all poetics, which he admits is his intent. He believes the poem is better understood from a transliteral (almost interlinear) reading than from a poetic reconstruction. This attempt may please, and I stress "may," those who, unfamiliar with Russian, and who want such a bland diet of lackluster prose. But there are so many excellent translations of Onegin that are beautiful and captivating in themselves, I'm not sure there's much need for such a literal, word-for-word, transcription. Perhaps this book belongs on the shelf along with other translations of Onegin, but it's not one I'll return to in the near future.

Serendipity.......2000-04-28

You will find here an ingenous legacy...I mean the translation as a gift, and a bridge, a well done bridge between old Russia and America. Nabokov's creative translation is something more than ...being Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin for a while. This a not little chance to get a green card to the treasury of the russian country. This is simple a ticket to Russia for everybody, and of first class, which think that the more You read the more You are happy...until the last page.

Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse : The Bollingen Prize Translation in the Onegin Stanza, Extensively Revised

Average customer rating:

don't be intimidated by idea of novel in verse

Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse : The Bollingen Prize Translation in the Onegin Stanza, Extensively Revised
Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin , and Walter W. Arndt
Manufacturer: Ardis Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0875011063

Customer Reviews:

don't be intimidated by idea of novel in verse.......1998-05-31

I am not a poetry lover but I found this book to be delightful. It can be appreciated simply as a good read. This particular translation made it very accessible, very engaging. I was swept up by the period detail provided by the author. If you like books with dashing but jaded heroes and strong minded heroines this is for you.

Average customer rating:

GRD's opinion of Onegin
My own clever lines
How he do dat?!
Too Clever and Too Obscure
An Enjoyable Translation And More

Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse
Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin , and Douglas R. Hofstadter
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0465020941

Book Description

A wonderful translation of Pushkin's classic novel by the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Gdel, Escher, Bach

Fans of Hofstadter's Le Ton beau de Marot will be delighted to see his meticulous theories of translation put into practice in what seems destined to become the definitive English-language version of Eugene Onegin. It is sure to bring new and deserving readers to this neglected literary jewel.

Customer Reviews:

GRD's opinion of Onegin.......2007-05-28

Amazon recalled the book after it was not forwarded to our current address. It was ordered under my wife's name, but now I have my own account. If it had been sent by US Mail rather than by another courier,it would have been forwarded to our current address.
I read a copy from the library and found it be worth reading,for comparison with the Charles Johnston translation and for the author's citations and opinion of other translations.

My own clever lines.......2005-08-07

MY OWN CLEver words for enjoyment
Of this Onegin, let me share.
For Douglas 'twas more than employment
This short tale, so simple, so bare.
Doug took time for this rendition
He used well his famed erudition;
He polished his verse, the rhymes all matched,
Though some lines were long to be hatched.
Above all, Pushkin's quick clever
Wit shines through from his age to ours.
Such fun reading it was, I never
Felt I had wasted those hours.
All in all I think this book fine
And as Doug ends his lines, I mine.

How he do dat?!.......2004-05-29

Well done, Hofstadter! I find your translation amusing and fun to read, much like the original Russian text. Definitely better, more alive, than the Penguin Classics translation. But I guess "na vkus i svet tovarishi net!"
Check out his book _Le Ton Beau du Marot_. Very good read, on translation.

Too Clever and Too Obscure.......2002-05-04

Sure, Pushkin had fun with his Russian, and why shouldn't a translator carry that playfulness into his translation. But damn, I found it way too distracting. The introduction by Hofstadter was very interesting and conveyed his love and dedication to this novel; my hopes were high for an enjoyable ride. But I found the novel too dificult to follow, and the clever translation distracting. Hofstadter himself recommends a translation by Falen, and I concur, finding it much easier to follow.

An Enjoyable Translation And More.......2001-07-30

Hofstadter's translation of the great Russian poem "Eugene Onegin" deserves credit on two counts. First, it is a modern, lyrical, jovial and admittedly singsong (due to the author's strict adherence to the original iambic tetrameter) translation of Pushkin's masterwork. It is a translation to be read aloud, to be shared with one you love. Second, in its preface it holds a concise statement of Hofstadter's extensive thoughts (see "Le Ton Beau De Marot") on the art, whimsy, folly and beauty of translation itself. It has been mentioned that Hofstadter looks down on Nabokov's "translation", but this is not entirely without cause. Nabokov's stodgy literal gloss of "Onegin", eschewing meter and rhyme, serves as a dictionary and a deathblow. Pushkin's poem is vibrant and alive in Russian; Hofstadter boldly suggests that we english-speakers may also experience this life denied by Nabokov. This book will teach you something about poetry, something about translation, and hopefully give you a feel for what Pushkin's Russia might have been like.

Average customer rating:

misguided translation? I think not
A truly misguided translation of a great work
An Insult to Poetry
An insult to poetry
Eugene Onegin

Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse
Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin , and Douglas R. Hofstadter
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0465020933

Amazon.com

The supreme poet of the Russian language, Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin has had a checkered existence in English. His prose, to be sure, has presented his translators with a less formidable set of hurdles. But Pushkin composed his masterpiece, Eugene Onegin, in a 14-line stanza of his own invention, with a slippery rhyme scheme and treacherously foursquare meter (i.e., iambic tetrameter, which tends to sound slightly singsong to English speakers). This has forced most of his translators--from Walter Arndt to James Falen to Charles Johnston--to shortchange form in favor of content. Vladimir Nabokov probably pushed this tendency as far as it could go, transforming Pushkin's poetry into perversely lumpy paragraphs (and enveloping the slim pickings of his translation in a jumbo-sized commentary). But nobody has managed to produce even a halfway-definitive version of Eugene Onegin.

Now Douglas Hofstadter, who's best known for Gödel, Escher, Bach, has taken a shot at it. Certainly he's no stranger to translation theory--his 1997 book, Le Ton Beau de Marot, was a brilliant and unbuttoned meditation on the translator's art, with numerous detours into the hinterlands of cognitive science. Theory and practice are two different matters, however, as Hofstadter is quick to admit: "The thought seemed quite ridiculous: me, with such sparse knowledge of Russian, hoping to clamber up this formidable Everest of translation, a book often said to be next to untranslatable, and square at the center of the inner circle of Russian literature!" Clamber he did, however--and the result is a charming if uneven version of the poem, more beholden to Cole Porter and Ogden Nash than the poet's 19th-century peers. Several of Hofstadter's slangier couplets might have Nabokov spinning in his grave: "Did thus our party boy exhaust / Himself at games, at zero cost?" Still, he manages some of Pushkin's loop-the-loops very nicely:

The air grew warm as days went flying,
And winter knew to call it quits.
Eugene gave up his versifying,
But not the ghost, and not his wits.
He's lent new life by buds aborning,
And first thing on some clear spring morning
He leaves his cloistered, small château
Where, marmot-like, he'd braved the snow.

Clearly Hofstadter's take on the poem goes heavy on the sizzle and fails to capture much of Pushkin's elegant gravity. Still, it's a welcome addition to the ranks, a handsome present to the poet on the occasion of his 200th birthday--and, rather winningly, a linguistic labor of love. --William Davies

Book Description

In time for the bicentennial of Pushkin's birth, a wonderful new translation of his classic novel by Douglas R. Hofstadter, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Gdel, Escher, Bach and Le Ton beau de Marot

When Alexander Pushkin published his classic romantic novel of thwarted love and conflicting loyalties in 1833, readers found the entire work had been composed in a unique sonnet form with an intricate rhythmic and rhyming structure.

Not only is Douglas Hofstadter's new translation of Eugene Onegin written in Pushkin stanzas, but his preface, discussing Pushkin, his novel, its form and content, and the challenges of translation, is written in the same verse form. Hofstadter's version is, however, distinctly American and colloquial in style, and playful with punning and alliteration.

Customer Reviews:

misguided translation? I think not.......2003-07-10

Some of the reviews above as well as the NYT book review blasted the work for being bad poetry. I would agree that, yes, Hofstadter may not have the greatest ear for artistic language and the translation often sounds heavy-handed in English, whereas every single word in the original is light as a feather. As I recall, DF acknowledges the drawbacks of his version in his intro and praises some other work, notably Falen. Nevertheless, being fluent in both English and Russian, I think this translation is an incredible achievement. While the James Falen translation is usually better in language, what Hofstadter has done here - faithfully mimic every single beat of the rhyme - is enourmously difficult. It is by far the best way for a foreigner to see how the verses really sound in the original.

A truly misguided translation of a great work.......2000-10-17

Hofstadter is a brilliant man, with no ear for poetry. One aspect of human intelligence that computers have some hope of matching is pattern recognition. This, perhaps, has led computer scientist Hofstadter to value pattern (rhyme, meter) in poetry at the expense of sense and, above all, tone. Both in this translation and in his fascinating and infuriating "Le Ton Beau de Marot" he shows a near-complete obliviousness to the nuances of tone that words bring with them. Try the Falen translation instead.

An Insult to Poetry.......2000-09-10

My best advice to you (the prospective reader) would be to consult the complete New York Times Review before even thinking about buying this so-called translation. Mr. Hofstadter has wide-ranging interests, and his enthusiasm is laudable, but it is sadly not married to a disciplined or artistic sensibility. He has no ear for language; he thinks that poetry is merely a matter of sing-song rhythm and relentless rhyme; he has no sense of the magical qualities of certain words in certain combinations. This is an amateur's hack-job of a translation, made more egregious by the arrogance of the translator.

An insult to poetry.......2000-09-06

Mr. Hofstadter doesn't know the first thing about the art of poetry; and he seems to think that obvious rhymes and an unbending, irritating sing-song meter suffice to reflect Pushkin's peerless music. This is an amateur's hack-job of translation, including some of the most horrendous word usages I have ever seen in print.

Eugene Onegin.......2000-02-26

I would like to get the book's sammary for my project. Please send me it as soon as possible. Thank you very much.

Average customer rating:

Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse
Alexander Pushkin
Manufacturer: The Heritage Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GBTSSS

Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse (Bollingen Series, 72)

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Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse (Bollingen Series, 72)
Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin , and Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov
Manufacturer: Princeton Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Eugene Onegin

ASIN: 0691097445

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Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse
Alexander Pushkin
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486404234

Book Description

The most highly acclaimed of Pushkin’s works, this 1831 romance depicts a post-Napoleonic society in which a jaded young aristocrat rejects the love of a country maiden. Adapted by Tchaikovsky for his opera, this classic tale appears in an outstanding translation that reproduces the 14-line stanza format of the original. Includes 16 lithographs.

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Eugene Onegin

Manufacturer: The Viking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000FFX0S4

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Novel in verse. Eugene Onegin is an educated dandy in Petersburg society, an archetype for the "superfluous man" in Russian literature who suffers from melancholy and an aching but willful detachment from the conventional aristocratic lifestyle.

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Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse
Alexander Pushkin
Manufacturer: The Heritage Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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