What do you think?
Rate this book
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
In this powerful and brutal short story, Leskov demonstrates the enduring truth of the Shakespearean archetype joltingly displaced to the heartland of Russia. Chastened and stifled by her marriage of convenience to a man twice her age, the young Katerina Lvovna goes yawning about the house, missing the barefoot freedom of her childhood, until she meets the feckless steward Sergei Filipych. Sergei proceeds to seduce Katerina, as he has done half the women in the town, not realizing that her passion, once freed, will attach to him so fiercely that Katerina will do anything to keep hold of him. Journalist and prose writer Nikolai Leskov is known for his powerful characterizations and the quintessentially Russian atmosphere of his stories.
88 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1865
About the author
Nikolai Leskov
519 books190 followersalso:
Николай Лесков
Nikolaj S. Leskow
Nikolai Leskov
Nikolai Lesskow
Nikolaj Semënovič Leskov
Nikolaĭ Semenovich Leskov
Nikolai Ljeskow
Н. С. Лѣсков-Стебницкий
Микола Лєсков
Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (Russian: Николай Семёнович Лесков; 16 February 1831 — 5 March 1895) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, playwright, and journalist who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique writing style and innovative experiments in form, and held in high esteem by Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky among others, Leskov is credited with creating a comprehensive picture of contemporary Russian society using mostly short literary forms. His major works include Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (1865) (which was later made into an opera by Shostakovich), The Cathedral Clergy (1872), The Enchanted Wanderer (1873), and "The Tale of Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea" (1881).
Leskov was born at his parent's estate in Oryol Gubernia in 1831. He received his formal education at the Oryol Lyceum. In 1847 Leskov joined the Oryol criminal court office, later transferring to Kiev where he worked as a clerk, attended university lectures, mixed with local people, and took part in various student circles. In 1857 Leskov quit his job as a clerk and went to work for the private trading company Scott & Wilkins owned by Alexander Scott, his aunt's English husband. He spent several years traveling throughout Russia on company business. It was in these early years that Leskov learned local dialects and became keenly interested in the customs and ways of the different ethnic and regional groups of Russian peoples. His experiences during these travels provided him with material and inspiration for his future as a writer of fiction.
Leskov's literary career began in the early 1860s with the publication of his short story "The Extinguished Flame" (1862), and his novellas Musk-Ox (May 1863) and The Life of a Peasant Woman (September, 1863). His first novel No Way Out was published under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky in 1864. From the mid 1860s to the mid 1880s Leskov published a wide range of works, including journalism, sketches, short stories, and novels. Leskov's major works, many of which continue to be published in modern versions, were written during this time. A number of his later works were banned because of their satirical treatment of the Russian Orthodox Church and its functionaries. In his last years Leskov suffered from angina pectoris and asthma. He died on 5 March 1895. He was interred in the Volkovo Cemetery in Saint Petersburg, in the section reserved for literary figures.
Николай Лесков
Nikolaj S. Leskow
Nikolai Leskov
Nikolai Lesskow
Nikolaj Semënovič Leskov
Nikolaĭ Semenovich Leskov
Nikolai Ljeskow
Н. С. Лѣсков-Стебницкий
Микола Лєсков
Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (Russian: Николай Семёнович Лесков; 16 February 1831 — 5 March 1895) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, playwright, and journalist who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique writing style and innovative experiments in form, and held in high esteem by Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky among others, Leskov is credited with creating a comprehensive picture of contemporary Russian society using mostly short literary forms. His major works include Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (1865) (which was later made into an opera by Shostakovich), The Cathedral Clergy (1872), The Enchanted Wanderer (1873), and "The Tale of Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea" (1881).
Leskov was born at his parent's estate in Oryol Gubernia in 1831. He received his formal education at the Oryol Lyceum. In 1847 Leskov joined the Oryol criminal court office, later transferring to Kiev where he worked as a clerk, attended university lectures, mixed with local people, and took part in various student circles. In 1857 Leskov quit his job as a clerk and went to work for the private trading company Scott & Wilkins owned by Alexander Scott, his aunt's English husband. He spent several years traveling throughout Russia on company business. It was in these early years that Leskov learned local dialects and became keenly interested in the customs and ways of the different ethnic and regional groups of Russian peoples. His experiences during these travels provided him with material and inspiration for his future as a writer of fiction.
Leskov's literary career began in the early 1860s with the publication of his short story "The Extinguished Flame" (1862), and his novellas Musk-Ox (May 1863) and The Life of a Peasant Woman (September, 1863). His first novel No Way Out was published under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky in 1864. From the mid 1860s to the mid 1880s Leskov published a wide range of works, including journalism, sketches, short stories, and novels. Leskov's major works, many of which continue to be published in modern versions, were written during this time. A number of his later works were banned because of their satirical treatment of the Russian Orthodox Church and its functionaries. In his last years Leskov suffered from angina pectoris and asthma. He died on 5 March 1895. He was interred in the Volkovo Cemetery in Saint Petersburg, in the section reserved for literary figures.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 334 reviews
January 9, 2023
The fresh, white blossoms kept falling, falling from the leafy apple tree, and then at last stopped falling. And meanwhile the brief summer night had passed, the moon concealed itself behind the rounded roofs of the tall granaries and gave the earth a sidelong look, growing paler and paler, then spitting was heard, followed by angry hissing, and two or three tomcats fell nosily scrabbling off the roof down a pile of planks that had been placed against it.
When Ivan Turgenev in 1859 pusblished A Hamlet of the Shchigrovsky District(one of the Sketches from a Hunter's Album), 19th century literary Russia was under the spell of Shakespeare, discussing the universality of his drama’s, exploring if his archetypes could be transposed to other countries and societies, if the morality of his tales could be considered valid regardless of time and place and class issues. Likely such questions were on Nikolaj Leskov’s mind too when he chose to mirror Turgenev’s Shakespearean title in his own A Lady Macbeth from the District of Mtsensk in 1865 - perhaps his best-known story.
Thinking of Macbeth and the role of his lady in the play, one scene particularly comes to my mind: ’Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, Oh, Oh!’ And as one can tell from the title of Leskov’s novella, readers might not be surprised to find blood on the little elegant hands of the protagonist, the young merchant’s wife Katerina Lvovna Izmailova.
Unlike Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth however, Leskov’s provincial lady (Mtsensk is a small town near to Oryol, Leskov’s place of birth) will not murder out of greed for power, but out of greed for love.
Trapped in a tedious, loveless marriage of convenience with an old man, childless, having nothing to occupy herself with and indifferent to reading Katerina Lvovna loses all scruples and moral restraint once she has experienced the sweetness of love in the arms of the gallant farmhand Sergei. Fondling his curls with tenderness, once she starts believing in the luring promise of love and freedom, in a state of idyllic delusion shrewdly nourished by her shallow lover and complicit, passion pushes her to horrible acts to safeguard what she has been craving for and denied so far. Unlike Katerina, Sergei however isn’t driven by passion or love, but by the pursuit of wealth and improvement of his position.
As this is a 19th century tale our adulterous anti-heroine obviously isn’t going to get away from this situation unharmed and where there are echoes of Emma Bovary’s ennui and flight into adultery, the wrecking forces unleashed by passion in A lady Macbeth of the district of Mtsensk not only reach a dimension beyond good and evil but the intensity of the darkness and destruction that Katerina Lvovna brings upon herself is of an entirely different order, which makes our poor Emma look rather lame in comparison to Leskov’s fiery and tragic antiheroine.
Besides the slipping into murder as a solution, there are other parallels with Shakespeare’s ominous lady. Katerina too suffers from hallucinations (taking on the form of a giant tom-cat in her bed) but unlike Sharespeare’s Lady, as much as this might be also the result of the unexpressed guilt Katerina Lvovna feels for the things she has done, her conscience doesn’t seem really disturbed, as it isn’t ambition and the blind pursuit of power that brings her to her odious acts, but loving with ferocity and obsession. Leskov subtly evokes that it is the hitherto absence of love in her life which turns her into a ruthless and cold criminal ending up in a spiral of violence and with blood on her hands, once Sergei has roused that need to love and to be loved in her.
Told with a great sense for atmosphere, rich in imagery and symbols and replete with dramatic twists (making ideal operatic material, as showcased by the eponymous opera by Dimitri Shostakovich based on the novella), Leskov skilfully works on the reader’s emotions with regard to his (anti)heroine, shifting from repulsion about her woeful acts to inspiring sympathy for her by the end. A powerful tale of love, death, violence, lust and murder that for me was in the same league as my favourite novella by Pushkin so far, The Queen of Spades.
Can we so deeply long for something or someone that we are no longer able to perceive possible restraints or obstacles as real? If so, Leskov seems to suggest, it will be a rude awakening.
(Illustrations by Ignasi Blanch)
When Ivan Turgenev in 1859 pusblished A Hamlet of the Shchigrovsky District(one of the Sketches from a Hunter's Album), 19th century literary Russia was under the spell of Shakespeare, discussing the universality of his drama’s, exploring if his archetypes could be transposed to other countries and societies, if the morality of his tales could be considered valid regardless of time and place and class issues. Likely such questions were on Nikolaj Leskov’s mind too when he chose to mirror Turgenev’s Shakespearean title in his own A Lady Macbeth from the District of Mtsensk in 1865 - perhaps his best-known story.
Thinking of Macbeth and the role of his lady in the play, one scene particularly comes to my mind: ’Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, Oh, Oh!’ And as one can tell from the title of Leskov’s novella, readers might not be surprised to find blood on the little elegant hands of the protagonist, the young merchant’s wife Katerina Lvovna Izmailova.
Unlike Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth however, Leskov’s provincial lady (Mtsensk is a small town near to Oryol, Leskov’s place of birth) will not murder out of greed for power, but out of greed for love.
Trapped in a tedious, loveless marriage of convenience with an old man, childless, having nothing to occupy herself with and indifferent to reading Katerina Lvovna loses all scruples and moral restraint once she has experienced the sweetness of love in the arms of the gallant farmhand Sergei. Fondling his curls with tenderness, once she starts believing in the luring promise of love and freedom, in a state of idyllic delusion shrewdly nourished by her shallow lover and complicit, passion pushes her to horrible acts to safeguard what she has been craving for and denied so far. Unlike Katerina, Sergei however isn’t driven by passion or love, but by the pursuit of wealth and improvement of his position.
As this is a 19th century tale our adulterous anti-heroine obviously isn’t going to get away from this situation unharmed and where there are echoes of Emma Bovary’s ennui and flight into adultery, the wrecking forces unleashed by passion in A lady Macbeth of the district of Mtsensk not only reach a dimension beyond good and evil but the intensity of the darkness and destruction that Katerina Lvovna brings upon herself is of an entirely different order, which makes our poor Emma look rather lame in comparison to Leskov’s fiery and tragic antiheroine.
Besides the slipping into murder as a solution, there are other parallels with Shakespeare’s ominous lady. Katerina too suffers from hallucinations (taking on the form of a giant tom-cat in her bed) but unlike Sharespeare’s Lady, as much as this might be also the result of the unexpressed guilt Katerina Lvovna feels for the things she has done, her conscience doesn’t seem really disturbed, as it isn’t ambition and the blind pursuit of power that brings her to her odious acts, but loving with ferocity and obsession. Leskov subtly evokes that it is the hitherto absence of love in her life which turns her into a ruthless and cold criminal ending up in a spiral of violence and with blood on her hands, once Sergei has roused that need to love and to be loved in her.
Told with a great sense for atmosphere, rich in imagery and symbols and replete with dramatic twists (making ideal operatic material, as showcased by the eponymous opera by Dimitri Shostakovich based on the novella), Leskov skilfully works on the reader’s emotions with regard to his (anti)heroine, shifting from repulsion about her woeful acts to inspiring sympathy for her by the end. A powerful tale of love, death, violence, lust and murder that for me was in the same league as my favourite novella by Pushkin so far, The Queen of Spades.
Can we so deeply long for something or someone that we are no longer able to perceive possible restraints or obstacles as real? If so, Leskov seems to suggest, it will be a rude awakening.
(Illustrations by Ignasi Blanch)
Read
May 14, 2023
Murder. Bloody Murder.
How powerful and intense is Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk? When I closed the book, I had the distinct feeling I just read one of those 300-page Russian novels compressed into a mere 45 pages.
Oh, yes, this 1865 Nikolai Leskov tale contains 15 chapters of rapid-fire action. Do the math - each chapter is only about 3 pages long. This to say, not a lot of frills, no room for idle chatter - the tempo of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk a constant prestissimo, literary counterpart of Antonio Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Spoiler Alert: in order to do this novella a measure of justice, I allude to chapters at the beginning, middle and end.
The great Russian author frames his tale thusly: prosperous merchant landowner, fifty-something Zinovy Ismailov lost his wife of twenty years. Most disappointingly, the couple had no children.
Zinovy desperately wants an heir and sends a matchmaker to propose to Katerina Lvovna, age twenty-three, a young lady of pleasing appearance with her lively black eyes and very black, almost blue-black hair. Katerina has no choice; she’s from a dirt poor family.
For five long years, Katerina endures the boredom of her life with strict husband Zinovy, a joyless, isolated, day to day existence, her only freedom moving from room to room, forever gazing out the windows at her husband’s estate. And to add more torment, Boris, Zinovy’s ancient father, is also present in the house, a cantankerous curmudgeon habitually blaming poor Katerina for not blessing Zinovy with a child, most unjust since Katerina would actually welcome a child to take the edge off her boredom. Also, as we discover later in the story, the issue lies with Zinovy not Katerina.
Poor, poor Katerina. And to think, during her girlhood, she spent her hours in freedom, passionately and enthusiastically running through fields, swimming and splashing in the river, taking delight in simply being alive.
But then the drama: damage at a distant Ismailov mill forces Zinovy to leave town in order to oversee repairs. Shortly thereafter, one fine, sunny day, all alone, sitting at a window, Katerina feels compelled to venture outside among the estate’s peasant-slaves.
She meets strong, dark, handsome lady's man Sergei, a new farmhand. Events quickly move apace – Sergei comes into Katerina’s bedroom, Katerina’s heart erupts like a long dormant volcano, the couple make passionate love and continue their steamy, romantic affair every day for a week until grouchy old Boris catches wind of what’s been happening.
Boris whips Sergei and locks the peasant Romeo in the cellar. Katerina begs Boris to release Sergei but Boris refuses and threatens to beat her as well.
Surprise, old man! Her heart now awakened and inflamed, Katerina is no longer the little, passive, obedient wife Boris takes her to be. Net, net - no beating for Katerina. Katerina makes her move: she seasons Boris' evening meal of mushrooms with poison. The next morning, after a night of excruciating pain, ancient Boris dies "just as the rats died in his storehouses." The old geezer is buried without anyone on the estate or in town giving his death a second thought.
The new, transformed Katerina assumes full charge of the estate: strutting around the house, giving orders, even having Sergei, her lover, recover from his wounds in her husband's bed. Ah, such unorthodox happenings in 1865! Katerina does give each servant money to look the other way, but still. The tale (and murders) continue but allow me to pause here to spotlight four important points:
1. One scalding hot afternoon, Katerina closes the shutters and rests in bed with Sergei. In a sort of daze, bathed in sweat, she feels it's time to wake up but she can't; she begins to caress a cat between her and Sergei, a cat rubbing itself against her, a gray, fat cat with whiskers like a village headman, a cat that "thrusts his blunt snout into her resilient breast and sings a soft song, as if telling her of love." Katerina wonders about this cat then wakes with a start.
What to make of this dream? Of course, many are the symbolic associations with cats: some negative (darkness, pending misfortune, witchcraft, evil)), some positive (sensuality, intuition, rebirth). And to have this fat, gray cat sing Katerina a song (Leskov doesn't say what song) and stroke her with prominent whiskers. Aaaaah!!
2. That night, Katerina has a harrowing, bone-chilling nightmare: the cat returns, only this time the cat has the face of her old, now dead father-in-law Boris. Boris the cat speaks to Katerina, about the little treat she prepared for him, about his return from the cemetery, about his eyes all rotted out. Katerina looks closely; she can see "in place of eyes there are two fiery circles spinning, spinning in opposite directions!"
One good thing about this nightmare: Katerina wakes with a scream, so awake she can hear husband Zinovy downstairs, his return following a long absence. Thus alerted, Katerina rouses Sergei and devises a plan.
Such a nightmare! However, as we continue reading, by means of the intensity, the flames of her obsessive love, it appears Katerina possesses the extraordinary power to burn off any memory of her feline nightmare.
3. Marxism casts its long shadow, as if the primal force of Katerina's obsessive love, her rebellion against all those years of boredom, her resentment at being from a poor family, her bitterness at having no say as to a husband, her being relegated to passive wife status, a little nonentity brought to a rich man's house for the sole purpose of giving him a child, an heir, adds powder to the keg of historical dynamite that sets off the 1917 Russian Revolution. POW!
Likewise with Sergei. a handsome lover (think of a young Omar Sharif) who knows his status as peasant-slave farmhand locks him into living (you call this living?) a life with no more freedom and beauty than a farm animal. POW! Gotta revolution! 52 years later, around 1917, for millions of Russian peasant-slaves, the term Bolshevik and name of Vladimir Lenin acquire almost sacred, supercharged meaning.
4. "A most cheerless picture: a handful of people, torn away from the world and deprived of any shadow of hope for a better future, sinking into the cold black mud of the dirt road. Everything around them is horribly ugly: the endless mud, the gray sky, the leafless, wet broom, and in its splayed branches a ruffled crow." The concluding chapters of the novella contain the ring of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and The Gulag Archipelago. My goodness, such suffering.
If you would dearly love to read a hefty 19th century classic Russian novel but never seem to be able to find the time, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is your book. Set aside 90 minutes, settle in, join Katerina as she sits at her window - and then undergoes a complete rebirth thanks to a heart aflame.
A special thanks to Goodreads friend Ilse for writing her fine review that alerted me to this Nikolai Leskov masterpiece.
Russian author Nikolai Leskov, 1831-1895
"In our parts such characters sometimes turn up that, however many years ago you met them, you can never recall them without an inner trembling. To the number of such characters belongs the merchant's wife Katerina Lvovna Izmailova, who once played out a terrible drama, after which our gentlefolk, in someone's lucky phrase, started calling her "the Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk." ---- Nikolai Leskov, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
July 4, 2022
It’s an age-old mundane story. Boy meets girl. He’s poor, she’s a bit higher on the social ladder, trapped in a loveless marriage. Boy and girl start a passionate affair wrought with vulgarity. Then they go on a stone-cold murder spree for lust and financial gain.
I really start to think that there was no market for anything even remotely non-depressingly bleak in classic Russian literature. Nikolai Leskov is of that school of thought, apparently, and although lesser known than the “greats” he gives even Dostoyevsky a run for his money here. You see, Dostoyevsky in his bleakness tries to telegraph his beliefs in the universal truths as he sees them, but Leskov in this short novella (which is known to many through the lens of the opera by Shostakovich) just lays the bleak ugliness bare, with no preaching or moralizing or handholding — he leaves the conclusions up to the reader.
Katerina Lvovna is unhappily married to a much older merchant - a marriage of convenience - and is bored out of her mind. It’s mentioned a few times that she’s not a reader, so there nothing to occupy the mindnumbingly dull hours of the day except sudden overpowering lust for a vulgar young clerk Sergei known for his good looks and shameless womanizing.
The road from cuckolding to stone-cold remorseless murders turns out to be very short.
This story is told in a very matter-of-fact voice, quasi-neutrally, with no overwrought tones or moralizing that are so prominent in the works of the more famous Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy — the authors that for many readers embody the classic period of Russian literature. And that approach works in a chilling sobering way. The ugliness of life and souls sometimes just *is*, and great passions lead to pathetic ends, and you are left in the end of story going, ‘Well then...’
Horrible people do horrible things under the guise of all-consuming obsession added to sociopathy, portrayed in a very effective manner, complex despite its seeming simplicity. Leskov unsettlingly well understands his characters and paints the darkness of the whole thing incredibly well. Evil is mundane when you get to the bottom of it.
I hated everyone in this story and loved everything about how it was done - the tone, the atmosphere, the feeling of utmost cynicism that comes from seeing people as pretty horrible creatures.
4 stars.
—————
The full text of the novella in Pevear/Volokhonsky translation (a decent one, I read it side-by-side with the original) is on the The Hudson Review site here: https://hudsonreview.com/2013/02/the-...
——————
Recommended by: Nastya
“In the evening, Boris Timofeich ate a bit of buckwheat kasha with mushrooms and got heartburn; then suddenly there was pain in the pit of his stomach; he was seized with terrible vomiting, and towards morning he died, just as the rats died in his storehouses, Katerina Lvovna having always prepared a special food for them with her own hands, using a dangerous white powder entrusted to her keeping.”
I really start to think that there was no market for anything even remotely non-depressingly bleak in classic Russian literature. Nikolai Leskov is of that school of thought, apparently, and although lesser known than the “greats” he gives even Dostoyevsky a run for his money here. You see, Dostoyevsky in his bleakness tries to telegraph his beliefs in the universal truths as he sees them, but Leskov in this short novella (which is known to many through the lens of the opera by Shostakovich) just lays the bleak ugliness bare, with no preaching or moralizing or handholding — he leaves the conclusions up to the reader.
Katerina Lvovna is unhappily married to a much older merchant - a marriage of convenience - and is bored out of her mind. It’s mentioned a few times that she’s not a reader, so there nothing to occupy the mindnumbingly dull hours of the day except sudden overpowering lust for a vulgar young clerk Sergei known for his good looks and shameless womanizing.
The road from cuckolding to stone-cold remorseless murders turns out to be very short.
“Katerina Lvovna was not a lover of reading, and besides there were no books in their house except for the lives of the Kievan saints. Katerina Lvovna lived a boring life in the rich house of her father-in-law during the five years of her marriage to her unaffectionate husband; but, as often happens, no one paid the slightest attention to this boredom of hers.”
This story is told in a very matter-of-fact voice, quasi-neutrally, with no overwrought tones or moralizing that are so prominent in the works of the more famous Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy — the authors that for many readers embody the classic period of Russian literature. And that approach works in a chilling sobering way. The ugliness of life and souls sometimes just *is*, and great passions lead to pathetic ends, and you are left in the end of story going, ‘Well then...’
Horrible people do horrible things under the guise of all-consuming obsession added to sociopathy, portrayed in a very effective manner, complex despite its seeming simplicity. Leskov unsettlingly well understands his characters and paints the darkness of the whole thing incredibly well. Evil is mundane when you get to the bottom of it.
I hated everyone in this story and loved everything about how it was done - the tone, the atmosphere, the feeling of utmost cynicism that comes from seeing people as pretty horrible creatures.
4 stars.
—————
The full text of the novella in Pevear/Volokhonsky translation (a decent one, I read it side-by-side with the original) is on the The Hudson Review site here: https://hudsonreview.com/2013/02/the-...
——————
Recommended by: Nastya
July 27, 2017
Αν κάτι παρακινεί την Κατερίνα Λβόβνα να ενεργήσει με τον τρόπο που περιγράφεται στο έργο αυτό πρέπει να είναι σίγουρα η πλήξη. Στην οπερατική εκδοχή της (υπάρχουν δύο για την ακρίβεια), από τον Shostakovich, υπάρχει στο ξεκίνημα του έργου ένα τραγούδι που λέει η ηρωίδα και αφορά ακριβώς αυτό το ζήτημα:
"Το μερμήγκι σέρνει το αχυράκι του
το μικρό σπουργίτι υφαίνει τη φωλιά του
οι εργάτες κουβαλάνε το αλεύρι
και μονάχα εγώ δεν έχω τίποτα να κάνω
μέσα στη μοναξιά και τη μελαγχολία
μόνο για μένα το φως της μέρας είναι στυφό,
την γυναίκα ενός εμπόρου".
Η Κατερίνα διαλέγει έναν βάναυσο τρόπο για να βρει τον δρόμο που θα την οδηγήσει στην ελευθερία, είναι έρμαιο των παθών της και μοιάζει να μην διαθέτει συνείδηση. Τα σχεδόν μεταφυσικά όνειρα και λοιπά περιστατικά που αναφέρονται μέσα στη νουβέλα μοιάζουν ως εξωτερίκευση αυτής ακριβώς της καταπιεσμένης ενοχής.
Σπουδαίο έργο. Τόσο σύντομο αλλά τόσο μεστό, συμπυκνώνει μια εκδοχή της πραγματικότητας όπου με αργά, σταθερά και καθοδικά βήματα περιγράφεται η ζωή μιας καταπιεσμένης γυναίκας, μιας μέγαιρας, μιας υποδειγματικής Λαίδης Μάκβεθ, και αποδεικνύει ότι κανένας δεν γεννιέται τέρας, ωστόσο μπορεί να γίνει στην πορεία.
*** Επίσης ακριβώς λόγω της συντομίας του κειμένου, μπόρεσα να εντοπίσω μια λέξη ψάχνοντας στα τυφλά μέσα στις λέξεις του πρωτοτύπου (δεν ξέρω ρώσικα και δεν μπορώ καν να αναγνωρίσω την δομή μιας απλής πρότασης, τα γράμματα του κυριλλικού αλφαβήτου μου φαίνονται απλώς σαν ακατανόητα σημάδια) μια λέξη που πάντα με παραξένευε να την βλέπω στις ελληνικές μεταφράσεις των ρώσικων κειμένων: "Πατερούλης". Είναι μια λέξη που δεν απευθύνεται αυστηρά από το παιδί στον γονιό, αλλά από κάθε νέο προς κάποιον γηραιότερο και υποθέτω πως εκφράζει κάτι ανάμεσα σε φιλία και σεβασμό. Στα ρώσικα λοιπόν η λέξη είναι тятенька και από όσο κατάφερα να καταλάβω προφέρεται κάπως σαν "τγιάτενκα".
Ιδού λοιπόν από εμένα, με πολλή αγάπη η άχρηστη πληροφορία της ημέρας!
"Το μερμήγκι σέρνει το αχυράκι του
το μικρό σπουργίτι υφαίνει τη φωλιά του
οι εργάτες κουβαλάνε το αλεύρι
και μονάχα εγώ δεν έχω τίποτα να κάνω
μέσα στη μοναξιά και τη μελαγχολία
μόνο για μένα το φως της μέρας είναι στυφό,
την γυναίκα ενός εμπόρου".
Η Κατερίνα διαλέγει έναν βάναυσο τρόπο για να βρει τον δρόμο που θα την οδηγήσει στην ελευθερία, είναι έρμαιο των παθών της και μοιάζει να μην διαθέτει συνείδηση. Τα σχεδόν μεταφυσικά όνειρα και λοιπά περιστατικά που αναφέρονται μέσα στη νουβέλα μοιάζουν ως εξωτερίκευση αυτής ακριβώς της καταπιεσμένης ενοχής.
Σπουδαίο έργο. Τόσο σύντομο αλλά τόσο μεστό, συμπυκνώνει μια εκδοχή της πραγματικότητας όπου με αργά, σταθερά και καθοδικά βήματα περιγράφεται η ζωή μιας καταπιεσμένης γυναίκας, μιας μέγαιρας, μιας υποδειγματικής Λαίδης Μάκβεθ, και αποδεικνύει ότι κανένας δεν γεννιέται τέρας, ωστόσο μπορεί να γίνει στην πορεία.
*** Επίσης ακριβώς λόγω της συντομίας του κειμένου, μπόρεσα να εντοπίσω μια λέξη ψάχνοντας στα τυφλά μέσα στις λέξεις του πρωτοτύπου (δεν ξέρω ρώσικα και δεν μπορώ καν να αναγνωρίσω την δομή μιας απλής πρότασης, τα γράμματα του κυριλλικού αλφαβήτου μου φαίνονται απλώς σαν ακατανόητα σημάδια) μια λέξη που πάντα με παραξένευε να την βλέπω στις ελληνικές μεταφράσεις των ρώσικων κειμένων: "Πατερούλης". Είναι μια λέξη που δεν απευθύνεται αυστηρά από το παιδί στον γονιό, αλλά από κάθε νέο προς κάποιον γηραιότερο και υποθέτω πως εκφράζει κάτι ανάμεσα σε φιλία και σεβασμό. Στα ρώσικα λοιπόν η λέξη είναι тятенька και από όσο κατάφερα να καταλάβω προφέρεται κάπως σαν "τγιάτενκα".
Ιδού λοιπόν από εμένα, με πολλή αγάπη η άχρηστη πληροφορία της ημέρας!
November 13, 2017
It was powerful and horrible. Didn't like it, the choices of the characters were horrible for everyone involved and, frankly speaking, unsatisfying. Deeply unsettling. A cautionary tale? Maybe.
The genius of the author is unquestionable. Still, the subject is madly horrific. Basically, what the author has given us a glimpse of, is a total disrepect for human lives inherent to some people. Had these people undewent a psychiatric review, they would have blipped as 'born killers' with human identity disorders. When I read this, I felt this novel was really the worst possible service to humanity due to gruesomeness of the subject.
The genius of the author is unquestionable. Still, the subject is madly horrific. Basically, what the author has given us a glimpse of, is a total disrepect for human lives inherent to some people. Had these people undewent a psychiatric review, they would have blipped as 'born killers' with human identity disorders. When I read this, I felt this novel was really the worst possible service to humanity due to gruesomeness of the subject.
September 28, 2019
Ανατρέχοντας στην πηγή…
Για όσους έχουν δει την συγκλονιστική ταινία του Αντρέι Βάιντα “Αχόρταγη για ηδονή” υπάρχει επιτακτική ανάγκη να διαβάσουν το μικρό αριστουργηματικό διήγημα του Λέσκοφ “Λαίδη Μάκβεθ”…
Χωρίς να αγγίζει την οξυδερκή αλλά και διεισδυτική ματιά του Βάιντα, το μικρό αυτό διήγημα αναδεικνύει την καταπιεσμένη γυναίκα η οποία μέσα από την ίδια την κοινωνία αλλά και τον παράφορο έρωτα της για τον νεαρό Σεργκέι μεταμορφώνεται σε κάτι διαβολικό…
Χωρίς λυρισμούς και γλωσσικά στολίδια, ο Λέσκοφ φτιάχνει μια σκοτεινή ιστορία αναδομώντας έναν σαιξπηρικό χαρακτήρα ενώ παράλληλα είναι αυστηρός στην κρίση του χωρίς ωστόσο να καταφεύγει σε διδακτισμούς…
5/5
Για όσους έχουν δει την συγκλονιστική ταινία του Αντρέι Βάιντα “Αχόρταγη για ηδονή” υπάρχει επιτακτική ανάγκη να διαβάσουν το μικρό αριστουργηματικό διήγημα του Λέσκοφ “Λαίδη Μάκβεθ”…
Χωρίς να αγγίζει την οξυδερκή αλλά και διεισδυτική ματιά του Βάιντα, το μικρό αυτό διήγημα αναδεικνύει την καταπιεσμένη γυναίκα η οποία μέσα από την ίδια την κοινωνία αλλά και τον παράφορο έρωτα της για τον νεαρό Σεργκέι μεταμορφώνεται σε κάτι διαβολικό…
Χωρίς λυρισμούς και γλωσσικά στολίδια, ο Λέσκοφ φτιάχνει μια σκοτεινή ιστορία αναδομώντας έναν σαιξπηρικό χαρακτήρα ενώ παράλληλα είναι αυστηρός στην κρίση του χωρίς ωστόσο να καταφεύγει σε διδακτισμούς…
5/5
November 26, 2022
This short story is too dark a tale that I believe I couldn't, in all fairness, see the author's mastery behind it. This is a story of passion, committing heinous crimes in the name of passion, and finally paying the penalty for her crimes and sins.
True to the titular name, the main character Katerina Lvovna, a wealthy merchant's wife, resembles Lady Macbeth of Shakespeare in her criminal intentions. But I thought she also resembles Madam Bovary in her amour. With her lover who is her accomplice, she commits three murders without any remorse so that they could live a happy, comfortable life together. But crimes and sins don't go unpunished. And she was spotted in the third act. Having been found guilty, both are sent for penal servitude in Siberia. However, Katerina's greater punishment is not this. Her greater punishment is to see her lover turn cold and indifferent towards her and drift away from her towards other pretty paths. The one man for whom she had debased herself, abandons her. But there is "Lady Macbeth" still living in her.
This short story was quite a difficult read for me. I couldn't stomach the various crimes which are described inartistically. This could possibly be a flaw in the translation, but those unpolished expressions made me quail in horror. The whole emotion I felt was one of disgust and I didn't feel one iota of sympathy for the woman. Perhaps, Leskov wanted none for her. I don't know. I couldn't fathom what Leskov want to convey to the readers through this story. I'm sure there was an underlying dark irony which, due to my sensitiveness, was lost on me. This review is NOT on the merit of one of Leskov's most appreciated works but on a more personal scale of my own reading experience.
More of my reviews can be found at http://piyangiejay.com/
True to the titular name, the main character Katerina Lvovna, a wealthy merchant's wife, resembles Lady Macbeth of Shakespeare in her criminal intentions. But I thought she also resembles Madam Bovary in her amour. With her lover who is her accomplice, she commits three murders without any remorse so that they could live a happy, comfortable life together. But crimes and sins don't go unpunished. And she was spotted in the third act. Having been found guilty, both are sent for penal servitude in Siberia. However, Katerina's greater punishment is not this. Her greater punishment is to see her lover turn cold and indifferent towards her and drift away from her towards other pretty paths. The one man for whom she had debased herself, abandons her. But there is "Lady Macbeth" still living in her.
This short story was quite a difficult read for me. I couldn't stomach the various crimes which are described inartistically. This could possibly be a flaw in the translation, but those unpolished expressions made me quail in horror. The whole emotion I felt was one of disgust and I didn't feel one iota of sympathy for the woman. Perhaps, Leskov wanted none for her. I don't know. I couldn't fathom what Leskov want to convey to the readers through this story. I'm sure there was an underlying dark irony which, due to my sensitiveness, was lost on me. This review is NOT on the merit of one of Leskov's most appreciated works but on a more personal scale of my own reading experience.
More of my reviews can be found at http://piyangiejay.com/
December 18, 2021
" Fazem mal em não ler Leskov, é um verdadeiro escritor."
Liev Tolstói
Lidas as primeiras páginas pensei que tinha comprado gato por lebre, parecia-me uma histórinha com pouco tempero incapaz de fazer justiça à fama que tem.
Porém, rapidamente a meada começou a desenrolar-se a um ritmo desvairado e o assombro não parou até ao final.
Lady MacBeth do Distrito de Mtzensk, é um livro primoroso com uma história tenebrosa e personagens pavorosas. Lê-se de um fôlego e é melhor não fazer juízos de valor ou procurar motivação ou justificação para o que vai acontecendo, somente embarcar nesta montanha russa e preparar-se para apanhar um murro no estômago a cada página.
Achei que o sr. Leskov foi muito machista (para não dizer misógino) com o desfecho. Sem spoilar, havia ali um terceiro elemento que merecia igual tratamento. Quem já leu, diga-me o que pensa.
Posto isto, para quem gosta de russos e para quem leu MacBeth de Shakespeare e gostou, esta é uma leitura indispensável.
Liev Tolstói
Lidas as primeiras páginas pensei que tinha comprado gato por lebre, parecia-me uma histórinha com pouco tempero incapaz de fazer justiça à fama que tem.
Porém, rapidamente a meada começou a desenrolar-se a um ritmo desvairado e o assombro não parou até ao final.
Lady MacBeth do Distrito de Mtzensk, é um livro primoroso com uma história tenebrosa e personagens pavorosas. Lê-se de um fôlego e é melhor não fazer juízos de valor ou procurar motivação ou justificação para o que vai acontecendo, somente embarcar nesta montanha russa e preparar-se para apanhar um murro no estômago a cada página.
Achei que o sr. Leskov foi muito machista (para não dizer misógino) com o desfecho. Sem spoilar, havia ali um terceiro elemento que merecia igual tratamento. Quem já leu, diga-me o que pensa.
Posto isto, para quem gosta de russos e para quem leu MacBeth de Shakespeare e gostou, esta é uma leitura indispensável.
December 13, 2017
Κάτι μεταξύ παραμυθιού και δράματος, μια πολύ σύντομη ιστορία που θυμίζει έντονα Shakespeare, εξ ου και ο τίτλος, όχι μόνο σε περιεχόμενο αλλά και σε ποιότητα.
February 18, 2013
Another beautiful book from the Hesperus Press. I so wax lyrical about the beauty of these editions I almost feel i should be earning commission but seriously, they are lovely. They are a press which focuses on making accessible, either through new translations or simply a new edition, what they state are 'unjustly neglected' or simply little known works by otherwise well-known authors. They are always small works, in this case the story itself is only 58 pages long, and this one is written by a writer, Nikolai Leskov, totally unknown to me prior to my reading this for the first time back in 2004.
The title is a misleading one I feel as whenever I read Macbeth there is no getting away from the realization that at least at the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth is the driving force of evil. She goads and encourages and flatters and belittles her weak spouse until he does her bidding and it is only as she comes to see how she has lost control of her husband, that he is literally beyond her in evil (perhaps with the slaughter of Macduff's family), that her madness and regret sweep her into the deep tragedy we encounter at the close of the play.
In Leskov's story, Katerina, the seemingly eponymous heroine, is a character of deep tragedy from the start. Her loveless marriage and stifling boredom
'A boredom so profound that it makes even the thought of hanging yourself seem like fun'
draws her into the dangerous orbit of her steward
'His insolent and handsome face was framed by dark stubble and curls as black as pitch'.
Now i am not sure what the male equivalent of a cock tease is but Sergei is definitely one. He is vicious and manipulative and confident in his sexuality and, like so many powerful predators, he can cleverly shrink back into the shadows and indeed present himself as the played upon and the manipulated, the one who cowers under Katerina's shadow.(It is pointedly mentioned by Leskov that at their trial he elicits sympathy, she receives none) Sergei is the Lady Macbeth in this story, but it is his goading and disingenuous pronouncements of undying affection which rule and lead.
The final denoument brings not a sense of justice or relief or just deserts suffered but a waste and an over-riding sense of sadness which weighs down. Leskov writes wonderfully. It is the understated or the unexplicit nature of his announcing the oncoming evil which is amazingly powerful just because of its understatement.
So Boris Timofeyevich decided: his decision, however was never to be put into effect
or again
Leskov has created not, as some would have it, a monster but a character of horrendously skewed adoration. Katerina is blind to Sergei and this blinds her in so many other ways. It introduces the destructive force of paranoia and rank jealousy. At one point in the introduction the writer Gilbert Adair compares her to the hard as nails vicious 'double-crossing dames' of noir fiction and yet I do not see this. Sergei is that, Katerina, though in no way innocent or unjustly punished, is the foil, the wielded knife or pressed down pillow, Sergei is the wielder and his betrayal is monstrously cruel.
She carries out appalling crimes Interestingly she is compared, unfavourably to Madame Bovary: now call me contrary but the weird thing is, i have far more sympathy and sadness for Katerina Lvovna Izmailova then I ever feel for Emma Bovary.
The title is a misleading one I feel as whenever I read Macbeth there is no getting away from the realization that at least at the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth is the driving force of evil. She goads and encourages and flatters and belittles her weak spouse until he does her bidding and it is only as she comes to see how she has lost control of her husband, that he is literally beyond her in evil (perhaps with the slaughter of Macduff's family), that her madness and regret sweep her into the deep tragedy we encounter at the close of the play.
In Leskov's story, Katerina, the seemingly eponymous heroine, is a character of deep tragedy from the start. Her loveless marriage and stifling boredom
'A boredom so profound that it makes even the thought of hanging yourself seem like fun'
draws her into the dangerous orbit of her steward
'His insolent and handsome face was framed by dark stubble and curls as black as pitch'.
Now i am not sure what the male equivalent of a cock tease is but Sergei is definitely one. He is vicious and manipulative and confident in his sexuality and, like so many powerful predators, he can cleverly shrink back into the shadows and indeed present himself as the played upon and the manipulated, the one who cowers under Katerina's shadow.(It is pointedly mentioned by Leskov that at their trial he elicits sympathy, she receives none) Sergei is the Lady Macbeth in this story, but it is his goading and disingenuous pronouncements of undying affection which rule and lead.
The final denoument brings not a sense of justice or relief or just deserts suffered but a waste and an over-riding sense of sadness which weighs down. Leskov writes wonderfully. It is the understated or the unexplicit nature of his announcing the oncoming evil which is amazingly powerful just because of its understatement.
So Boris Timofeyevich decided: his decision, however was never to be put into effect
or again
Leskov has created not, as some would have it, a monster but a character of horrendously skewed adoration. Katerina is blind to Sergei and this blinds her in so many other ways. It introduces the destructive force of paranoia and rank jealousy. At one point in the introduction the writer Gilbert Adair compares her to the hard as nails vicious 'double-crossing dames' of noir fiction and yet I do not see this. Sergei is that, Katerina, though in no way innocent or unjustly punished, is the foil, the wielded knife or pressed down pillow, Sergei is the wielder and his betrayal is monstrously cruel.
She carries out appalling crimes Interestingly she is compared, unfavourably to Madame Bovary: now call me contrary but the weird thing is, i have far more sympathy and sadness for Katerina Lvovna Izmailova then I ever feel for Emma Bovary.
May 13, 2021
In this tiny page count (just 55 pages) we get one of the most complex and compelling portraits of woman's lust, obsession and unravelling. The way she sinks deeper and deeper into her compulsion, the way she justifies her actions. The ways murders start as an impersonal act and she gets closer and closer to her victims after that.
And she always believable, I've read countless stories about a woman killing her children to start new relationships.
And Leskov never judges, she is still a human to him, she is no Cathy Ames from East of Eden and I utterly prefer this kind of evil to devil incarnate. The more human evil is, the horrifying.
And atmosphere is incredible, the desolation you feel, the madness is in the air. For example the scene with herself, her lover and her husband was full of suspense and anxiety. What a deliciously dark story!
And she always believable, I've read countless stories about a woman killing her children to start new relationships.
And Leskov never judges, she is still a human to him, she is no Cathy Ames from East of Eden and I utterly prefer this kind of evil to devil incarnate. The more human evil is, the horrifying.
And atmosphere is incredible, the desolation you feel, the madness is in the air. For example the scene with herself, her lover and her husband was full of suspense and anxiety. What a deliciously dark story!
May 31, 2021
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District is an 1865 novella by Nikolai Leskov, a Russian novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist. It tells the story of a young bride who seems to have too much time on her hands and becomes bored. She becomes entangled in an affair with a young laborer and ends up murdering her father-in-law to cover it up. One thing leads to another and she does the same to her husband. As the story continues she murders a young nephew.
And as if that's not enough murder there's still one more while she's also committing suicide. This is a story of an unhappy life. I am part of a book group that discussed this novel, and some present thought this woman was a victim of her cultural and social surroundings. I have mixed feelings. I suppose anybody who commits murder could be argued to be a victim of their surroundings, but it's still a bad thing to do. Thus I don't feel much sympathy for the woman.
Dmitri Shostakovich wrote a 1934 opera based on this story which with the use of music accentuates the emotions involved that would motivate so much murder. But as presented in this novella I didn't detect much description of emotions. It came across more as a cold description of actions taken in the style of a newspaper article.
And as if that's not enough murder there's still one more while she's also committing suicide. This is a story of an unhappy life. I am part of a book group that discussed this novel, and some present thought this woman was a victim of her cultural and social surroundings. I have mixed feelings. I suppose anybody who commits murder could be argued to be a victim of their surroundings, but it's still a bad thing to do. Thus I don't feel much sympathy for the woman.
Dmitri Shostakovich wrote a 1934 opera based on this story which with the use of music accentuates the emotions involved that would motivate so much murder. But as presented in this novella I didn't detect much description of emotions. It came across more as a cold description of actions taken in the style of a newspaper article.
August 21, 2016
okuyanus yayınlarının ex-libris serisi aslında biraz kıyıda köşede kalmış türkçeye çevrilmemiş ama zamanının önemli biraz daha gotik kitaplarını biraraya getiren bir seri. yazar Nikolai Leskov da 19. yy rus yazarlarının en az tanınanlarından. kıyıda köşede kalmış da olsa dilin sadeliği gerçek ve gerçeküstünün birbirine geçişleri -[konu biraz sıradan gelebilir; karı koca ilişkleri - ihanet-çıkar-para-kötülük vs.-] bence dikkate değer. zaten kısacık bir kitap kocaa Rus külliyatında bir Leskov u da tanımadan geçmeyelim derim.
January 31, 2018
No fancy pancy, no thousand adjectives and psychologic mambojambo. That is left to us. The book is well written, the story could be real. Mr Leskow leaves it to us to think about the psychology of his characters.
- had Katharina a latent psychiatric disease?
- is it her fault or is the society's? was it all because she wanted a better life for herself in a world where this was impossible if being a woman and poor?
- is it a parabole - love makes us do crazy shit?
- who do you hate more - Katharina or Sergey? I think that Mr.Leskow thought of his main female character quite fondly...
- is Katharina a strong character?
Note to self - I have to read Tess D´Urberville again, and Madam Bovary again...
This book was written in 1865 !!!!!!!!
I read it in german, there is an old german style, the same way Buddenbrooks was written...so I could not help thinking at how different the two female main characters are - Katharina - calculated and strong willed, Tony Buddenbrook, weak, aiming to please, accepting her destiny as a "stupid goose". I would not have called Katharina a stupid goose, might end up poisoned.
- had Katharina a latent psychiatric disease?
- is it her fault or is the society's? was it all because she wanted a better life for herself in a world where this was impossible if being a woman and poor?
- is it a parabole - love makes us do crazy shit?
- who do you hate more - Katharina or Sergey? I think that Mr.Leskow thought of his main female character quite fondly...
- is Katharina a strong character?
Note to self - I have to read Tess D´Urberville again, and Madam Bovary again...
This book was written in 1865 !!!!!!!!
I read it in german, there is an old german style, the same way Buddenbrooks was written...so I could not help thinking at how different the two female main characters are - Katharina - calculated and strong willed, Tony Buddenbrook, weak, aiming to please, accepting her destiny as a "stupid goose". I would not have called Katharina a stupid goose, might end up poisoned.
June 27, 2023
Tra i primi componimenti narrativi di successo di Nikolai Semenovic Leskov [1831-1895] spicca “Una Lady Macbeth del distretto di Mcensk” scritto nel 1865: protagonista Katerina L’vovna, “una ragazza povera senza la possibilità di scegliersi un fidanzato” che per questo accetta di sposare il ricco mercante vedovo e senza figli, l’ormai cinquantenne Zinovij Ismajlov proprietario terriero e allevatore; tra i due coniugi non viene a crearsi un sentimento di affetti né nascono figli e la giovane moglie, maltrattata psicologicamente dal marito e spesso lasciata sola anche per molti giorni perché l’uomo è impegnato nei suoi commerci, viene presa da profonda noia e tristezza, vive una vita priva di sentimenti e di novità e in questo stato d’animo apatico e passivo basta un piccolo capriccio, un’idea bizzarra, per portare sconvolgimento dei sensi e dell’animo…
A questo componimento breve di Leskov che riecheggia in forma romanzata la nota tragedia di Shakespeare, nulla manca per piacere e impressionare il lettore per la presenza di tutti quei sentimenti che infiammano l’animo romantico che c’è in ognuno di noi: amore, odio, passione, gelosia, delitto, tutti questi ingredienti letterari sapientemente e con mano sicura mescolati dall’autore ne fanno un’opera di piacevolissimo intrattenimento letterario.
A questo componimento breve di Leskov che riecheggia in forma romanzata la nota tragedia di Shakespeare, nulla manca per piacere e impressionare il lettore per la presenza di tutti quei sentimenti che infiammano l’animo romantico che c’è in ognuno di noi: amore, odio, passione, gelosia, delitto, tutti questi ingredienti letterari sapientemente e con mano sicura mescolati dall’autore ne fanno un’opera di piacevolissimo intrattenimento letterario.
August 6, 2014
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is a short novella set in Russian province in the second half of 19th century. The subject matter is pretty powerful: passion, adultery, murder and betrayal. Yet, for all that, the book is very unsentimental and true to life. It is full of dark humour and the characters are very real and believable. It is a shame that it does not seem particularly well-known in the West, for it is, in my opinion, one of the best works in Russian literature.
March 22, 2022
এই বইটি মূলত মুজতবা আলী এর অনুবাদ বই। এই মানুষটি মূল রুশ ভাষা থেকে বইটি অনুবাদ করেছেন! বইটি হচ্ছে Nikolai Leskov এর Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District। অসাধারন এক ট্র্যাজিক কাহিনী। নামেই বোঝা যাচ্ছে করুণ হিংস্র দুঃখবিষাদময় গল্প হবে। নায়িকার অন্ধ হিংস্র কিন্তু তীব্র প্রেম মুগ্ধ করার মত ছিল।
March 12, 2015
Full of passion, jealousy and obsession, this short story is highly interesting and enjoyable. Leskov's description of the emotional and moral dilemma, as well as the erotic frenzy, of the heroine is exceptional and realistic.
March 29, 2022
Katerina Lvovna lived a boring life in the rich house of her father-in-law during the five years of her marriage to her unaffectionate husband; but, as often happens, no one paid the slightest attention to this boredom of hers.
Deliciously graphic and bleak, I have enjoyed the Shostakovich opera for years but despite being familiar with plot found myself delighted with the wry execution. I am back at work and aside from lamenting my latest Covid infection it is the death of our espresso machine which has dampened the last few days. I find myself lacking context today, that said I fear it will be decades when I don't reflect on Lvovna's woolen stockings and the cost such required.
Deliciously graphic and bleak, I have enjoyed the Shostakovich opera for years but despite being familiar with plot found myself delighted with the wry execution. I am back at work and aside from lamenting my latest Covid infection it is the death of our espresso machine which has dampened the last few days. I find myself lacking context today, that said I fear it will be decades when I don't reflect on Lvovna's woolen stockings and the cost such required.
December 11, 2018
Nella sperduta provincia una giovane moglie prova quella noia russa, la noia delle case dei mercanti, che dicono che faccia venir voglia di stringersi una corda al collo. Si potrebbe pensare a Emma Bovary, però a Katerina non piace leggere e all’arsenico preferisce il veleno per i topi. Una Lady Macbeth spietata, dalle mani bianchissime e accuratamente pulite, molto attenta a cancellare tutte le tracce di sangue. In questo caso non ci sono le tre streghe bensì un enorme gatto fantasma; non c’è una foresta che si muove ma una casa che vibra tutta – muri, pavimenti, finestre - sotto una valanga di colpi assordanti, come per un sortilegio.
La povera ragazza si trasforma in una donna fredda e calcolatrice, ma capace nel contempo di provare una passione irrefrenabile, non curandosi del giudizio degli altri, come succede dopo una notte d’amore all’aperto. Così com’era, con le sottogonne bianche e la camiciola a maniche corte, attraversò il silenzio mortale di quel grande cortile da mercanti. Sergej la seguì portando il tappeto e la blusa che lei per monelleria aveva lasciato cadere a terra.
Una storia di urla e bisbigli, di delitti a piedi scalzi e di amori notturni sotto un melo, con i cuscini usati per riposare oppure per soffocare, presi dall’ansia di libertà e abbandonati alla degradazione, sognando la felicità tra un incubo e l’altro.
La povera ragazza si trasforma in una donna fredda e calcolatrice, ma capace nel contempo di provare una passione irrefrenabile, non curandosi del giudizio degli altri, come succede dopo una notte d’amore all’aperto. Così com’era, con le sottogonne bianche e la camiciola a maniche corte, attraversò il silenzio mortale di quel grande cortile da mercanti. Sergej la seguì portando il tappeto e la blusa che lei per monelleria aveva lasciato cadere a terra.
Una storia di urla e bisbigli, di delitti a piedi scalzi e di amori notturni sotto un melo, con i cuscini usati per riposare oppure per soffocare, presi dall’ansia di libertà e abbandonati alla degradazione, sognando la felicità tra un incubo e l’altro.
September 6, 2016
Nasty, brutish and short. I liked it a lot.
April 1, 2020
(lido em 2014)
Já tinha lido vários livros sobre a temática do adultério, como por exemplo, entre outros, «O Primo Basílio», «Effi Briest», «Anna Karenina», «Madame Bovary».
E quando pensava que sobre esta temática nada mais me surpreenderia,eis que aparece este livro de 90 páginas, «Lady Macbeth de Mtsensk»
Tal como a Luísa de Eça, também Katerina sofre de um imensurável tédio, é casada com um homem mais velho que se ausenta em trabalho e não tem filhos. Arranja um amante.
As semelhanças entre Luísa e Katerina terminam aqui.
Obsessivamente apaixonada, Katerina não olha a meios para atingir os fins:
«Como nós nos divertíamos, nos sentávamos nas longas noites de Outono, e acompanhávamos as pessoas com morte atroz, para fora deste mundo.»
Uma mulher com tais características, posteriormente rejeitada, é capaz da mais inimaginável e sinistra atitude.
O final petrificou-me.
Excerto:
«Nesses infernais sons, despedaçadores de almas, que completam todo o horror desse quadro, ressoam os conselhos da mulher do bíblico Job: Amaldiçoa o dia do teu nascimento e morre.
Quem não quer ouvir bem essas palavras, quem a ideia da morte, nessa triste situação, não seduz mas assusta, então terá de se empenhar em abafar essas vozes uivantes com algo ainda mais hediondo. Um homem simples compreende isso lindamente: ele põe então em liberdade toda sua simplicidade feroz, começa a fazer estupidezes e a escarnecer de si próprio, das pessoas e dos sentimentos. Já não sendo particularmente meigo, torna-se então, nessa situação, extremamente mau.
Já tinha lido vários livros sobre a temática do adultério, como por exemplo, entre outros, «O Primo Basílio», «Effi Briest», «Anna Karenina», «Madame Bovary».
E quando pensava que sobre esta temática nada mais me surpreenderia,eis que aparece este livro de 90 páginas, «Lady Macbeth de Mtsensk»
Tal como a Luísa de Eça, também Katerina sofre de um imensurável tédio, é casada com um homem mais velho que se ausenta em trabalho e não tem filhos. Arranja um amante.
As semelhanças entre Luísa e Katerina terminam aqui.
Obsessivamente apaixonada, Katerina não olha a meios para atingir os fins:
«Como nós nos divertíamos, nos sentávamos nas longas noites de Outono, e acompanhávamos as pessoas com morte atroz, para fora deste mundo.»
Uma mulher com tais características, posteriormente rejeitada, é capaz da mais inimaginável e sinistra atitude.
O final petrificou-me.
Excerto:
«Nesses infernais sons, despedaçadores de almas, que completam todo o horror desse quadro, ressoam os conselhos da mulher do bíblico Job: Amaldiçoa o dia do teu nascimento e morre.
Quem não quer ouvir bem essas palavras, quem a ideia da morte, nessa triste situação, não seduz mas assusta, então terá de se empenhar em abafar essas vozes uivantes com algo ainda mais hediondo. Um homem simples compreende isso lindamente: ele põe então em liberdade toda sua simplicidade feroz, começa a fazer estupidezes e a escarnecer de si próprio, das pessoas e dos sentimentos. Já não sendo particularmente meigo, torna-se então, nessa situação, extremamente mau.
August 18, 2018
Βαθμολογία: 7/10
Αρκετά ενδιαφέρουσα και ιδιαίτερη νουβέλα, η οποία αποτυπώνει με ωμό και ρεαλιστικό τρόπο πως μια καταπιεσμένη γυναίκα με μίζερη και πληκτική ζωή, μπορεί να μετατραπεί σε κανονική μέγαιρα και να διαπράξει σκληρά εγκλήματα, για τα μάτια ενός άντρα, θέλοντας παράλληλα να ζήσει ένα έντονο πάθος και να ξεφύγει από τη μιζέρια και την πλήξη. Είναι μια νουβέλα που δείχνει τα χρόνια της, αλλά έχει πράγματα να προσφέρει και στον σύγχρονο αναγνώστη. Η γραφή μου φάνηκε αρκετά καλή, αλλά γενικά δεν μου έκανε κλικ. Επίσης, δεν μπορώ να πω ότι δέθηκα ιδιαίτερα με τους χαρακτήρες ή ακόμα και την πλοκή, διάβασα δηλαδή μια καλή ιστορία, αλλά δεν ένιωσα κάτι το ιδιαίτερο. Βέβαια το τέλος μου φάνηκε πολύ καλό και κατάμαυρο. Είναι μια καλή ιστορία που αξίζει να διαβάσει κανείς.
Αρκετά ενδιαφέρουσα και ιδιαίτερη νουβέλα, η οποία αποτυπώνει με ωμό και ρεαλιστικό τρόπο πως μια καταπιεσμένη γυναίκα με μίζερη και πληκτική ζωή, μπορεί να μετατραπεί σε κανονική μέγαιρα και να διαπράξει σκληρά εγκλήματα, για τα μάτια ενός άντρα, θέλοντας παράλληλα να ζήσει ένα έντονο πάθος και να ξεφύγει από τη μιζέρια και την πλήξη. Είναι μια νουβέλα που δείχνει τα χρόνια της, αλλά έχει πράγματα να προσφέρει και στον σύγχρονο αναγνώστη. Η γραφή μου φάνηκε αρκετά καλή, αλλά γενικά δεν μου έκανε κλικ. Επίσης, δεν μπορώ να πω ότι δέθηκα ιδιαίτερα με τους χαρακτήρες ή ακόμα και την πλοκή, διάβασα δηλαδή μια καλή ιστορία, αλλά δεν ένιωσα κάτι το ιδιαίτερο. Βέβαια το τέλος μου φάνηκε πολύ καλό και κατάμαυρο. Είναι μια καλή ιστορία που αξίζει να διαβάσει κανείς.
November 15, 2018
"No te afanes acumulando riquezas, no te obsesiones con ellas" (Proverbios 23,4).
Cuando en un curso de Lengua y Cultura eslava que seguí hace un tiempo se mencionó a Nikolai Leskov confieso que quedé picado por la curiosidad, ese era un nombre que, hasta ese momento no lo había oído contarse entre los grandes autores rusos como Fiodor Dostoyevski, Lev Tolstoi, Ivan Turgenev, Mikhail Bulgakov, Ivan Goncharov, Nikolai Gogol, Aleksandr Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, Leonid Andreiev, Maksim Gorki, y otros. Pero vaya sorpresa la mía cuando investigando a ver que descubría sobre este autor me topé con que Tolstoi declaraba que el mismo "es un escritor del futuro". Admirado por Tolstoi, no tanto por Dostoyevski, en ese momento decidí que tenía que leer a Leskov.
Este es el primer título que leo del mismo y ciertamente no será el último. Quedé fascinado. Confieso que cuando me encontré con este libro, con un título más que curioso, quedé algo desconcertado. ¿Por qué Leskov llamaría a uno de sus personajes con el apelativo de "Lady Macbeth"? Si bien tenía mis sospechas, para lograr degustar la obra en toda su extensión y comprender a cabalidad el título, resolví, como paso previo a la lectura de esta obra, releer el Macbeth del incomparable William Shakespeare. Una vez releído ese maravilloso clásico y habiendo culminado la lectura de esta maravillosa obra de Leskov, estoy en condiciones de extraer todo cuanto encierra el título que designa a esta obra.
Empecemos por el principio. Si existe un sentimiento o quiera dárselo en llamar que domina todas las acciones de Macbeth esa es la ambición, que según la RAE consiste desear algo intensamente, por lo general algo que no se puede tener o que resulta sumamente difícil tener. No estoy tan de acuerdo, como ya lo sostuve en mi reseña de la pieza del bardo, que la ambición sea solo un rasgo característico de Lady Macbeth y que la misma es la que lleva a su esposo a cometer los crímenes que comete, sino más bien, sostengo que estando ya presente la ambición en Macbeth la acción de su esposa contribuyó a potenciar ese sentimiento hasta que, llevado por el mismo, éste cede a la tentación y se deja llevar por el deseo del poder. Algo similar puede decirse de los personajes centrales de esta obra de Leskov.
Tenemos aquí, primeramente, una situación nada inusual en otros tiempos y aún ahora. Un matrimonio formado por un hombre mayor y una mujer mucho menor, un matrimonio en donde no hay amor, un matrimonio en el que el tedio domina las situaciones, tanto que llevado al límite puede forzar el hartazgo. Es cuanto ocurre aquí. Katerina Lvovna (Lady Macbeth) desea amor, sentirse querida, amada, deseada y consentida, ambiciona poseer lo anterior y no lo obtiene de su esposo; antes bien, siente su matrimonio como una jaula que la mantiene presa. Tal como cuando a Macbeth se le presenta la ocasión de llevar a cabo el homicidio del rey Duncan, a Katerina Lvovna se le presenta la ocasión para obtener, al menos temporalmente, aquello que tanto anhela, aunque ello implique faltar a sus votos conyugales cayendo en brazos de otro hombre.
Lo que ambiciona Katerina es el amor que ya ha obtenido y no quiere dejarlo, pero sabe que no podría retenerlo. Así, un pasaje clave para todo lo que sucede luego radica en un diálogo que ésta mantiene con el amante
De este pasaje se desprende el despertar de los planes que luego ponen en ejecución. Considero que aquí el factor desencadenante de los acontecimientos es el amante. El amante es quien actúa aquí como Lady Macbeth en la pieza de Shakespeare azuzando el fuego de la ambición. Si en aquella pieza, Lady Macbeth incita a su esposo a cometer regicidio para acceder a la dignidad real, aquí es el amante quien incita a Katerina (aunque no abiertamente con en aquella pieza) a urdir alguna trama que les permita mantener su unión. Lady Macbeth actúa movida por su propia ambición azuzando la de su esposo; Serguei actúa en base a su propio interés azuzando la ambición de Katerina y aprovechándose del hastío que ésta experimentaba antes de iniciar su adúltera relación.
No considero que sea amor lo existente entre Katerina y Serguei, quizá sí lo sea de parte de ella pero no de parte de él y del devenir del libro apoya mi punto de vista. Tras analizar los elementos presentes en la obra pienso que Serguei vio en Katerina una posibilidad cierta de elevar su sitial en la sociedad ascendiendo de posición social frente a la posición baja que antes ocupara, lo suyo es más bien interés, ello queda claro con el asunto de la propiedad de la herencia. Aquí considero que podrían existir dos explicaciones para el inicio de esa relación que resulta ser determinante para todo cuanto ocurre después: 1) o Serguei vio la posibilidad cierta de obtener una mejora sustancial en sus condiciones de vida o 2) tomó como un desafío la conquista de esa mujer casada, a fin de observar hasta dónde llegaría su virtud (en este caso resulta inexistente). Esto me recordó a un cierto pasaje de Anna Karenina en que uno de los personajes comenta que muchos jóvenes toman como un desafío lleva al adulterio a una mujer casada. Expongo las dos posibilidades puesto que fueron las que se me ocurrieron durante la lectura, empero si debiera escoger me quedaría con la primera. Desde mi punto de vista sin lugar a dudas es el interés el que mueve a Serguei.
Siguiendo con este razonamiento, sería Serguei en esta obra el personaje que pudiera asimilarse a Lady Macbeth y no tanto Katerina. Existe, pues, una crucial diferencia entre Lady Macbeth y Katerina. La primera sucumbe al recargo de consciencia y a la culpa generada por las acciones que incitó, cumpliendo la máxima de Polibio ("No existe testigo más terrible ni acusador más severo que la propia consciencia"), de ahí el suicidio cometido por ésta cuando las alucinaciones generadas por la culpa y el recargo de consciencia ya no le permitieron continuar. Empero, Katerina mantiene su altivez hasta el momento en que se quita la vida, ello se percibe netamente en el desparpajo con el que confiesa los crímenes cometidos y la razón por la cual lo hace.
Dice la contratapa de este libro que esta "Lady Macbeth" no actúa llevada por una desmedida ambición sino por un amor apasionado". Me perdonará el editor pero eso no es amor, sino más bien podría tacharse de obsesión, aunque pudiera pensarse que sus sentimientos son genuinos. Dice además que, "quizá por ello, a pesar de sus crímenes el lector no puede evitar entender su sufrimiento", me perdonará el editor una vez más pero nada justifica tomar vidas como lo hace este personajes, así como no se justifican los crímenes cometidos por Macbeth y esposa. Un homicidio es siempre un homicidio, salvo que existan circunstancias especiales que lo priven del carácter ilegal, y sus sufrimientos únicamente son el resultado de sus decisiones equivocadas. Esto me recuerda en algo a Ron Williamson, cuya historia relata John Grisham en su excelente libro El inocente.
El sufrimiento de Katerina no fue ocasionado por un esposo que no le daba amor, no fue ocasionado por la vida, o por el destino o por cualquier cosa que no se ella misma. Su sufrimiento deriva de las decisiones que tomó y del camino que escogió emprender, uno debe ser lo suficientemente maduro para asumir las consecuencias de las decisiones que tomamos, de las acciones que realizamos e incluso de nuestras omisiones, ya que nuestro devenir depende de ellas. Aquí considero de suma pertinencia traer a colación un excelente poema de Amado Nervo titulado En paz:
Antes de finalizar quisiera destacar la excelente calidad de esta edición de Nórdica Libros con traducción de Marta Sánchez-Nieves e ilustraciones de Ignasi Blanch, desde el papel en que está impreso, el armado, la maquetación, las ilustraciones, todo conduce a un disfrute único que magnifica lo bello que esta obra tiene en sí misma.
Cada uno construye su camino, cada uno construye su destino. Quien se pierde lo hace por su propia mano. Katerina no me merece empatía alguna.
La calidad de la obra es altísima, tanto que Leskov se ha ganado mi admiración y mi respeto. Ya volveremos a vernos Nikolai Semionovich. La pulga de acero, espérame.
Lectura absolutamente recomendada. 5 estrellas sin duda alguna.
Cuando en un curso de Lengua y Cultura eslava que seguí hace un tiempo se mencionó a Nikolai Leskov confieso que quedé picado por la curiosidad, ese era un nombre que, hasta ese momento no lo había oído contarse entre los grandes autores rusos como Fiodor Dostoyevski, Lev Tolstoi, Ivan Turgenev, Mikhail Bulgakov, Ivan Goncharov, Nikolai Gogol, Aleksandr Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, Leonid Andreiev, Maksim Gorki, y otros. Pero vaya sorpresa la mía cuando investigando a ver que descubría sobre este autor me topé con que Tolstoi declaraba que el mismo "es un escritor del futuro". Admirado por Tolstoi, no tanto por Dostoyevski, en ese momento decidí que tenía que leer a Leskov.
Este es el primer título que leo del mismo y ciertamente no será el último. Quedé fascinado. Confieso que cuando me encontré con este libro, con un título más que curioso, quedé algo desconcertado. ¿Por qué Leskov llamaría a uno de sus personajes con el apelativo de "Lady Macbeth"? Si bien tenía mis sospechas, para lograr degustar la obra en toda su extensión y comprender a cabalidad el título, resolví, como paso previo a la lectura de esta obra, releer el Macbeth del incomparable William Shakespeare. Una vez releído ese maravilloso clásico y habiendo culminado la lectura de esta maravillosa obra de Leskov, estoy en condiciones de extraer todo cuanto encierra el título que designa a esta obra.
Empecemos por el principio. Si existe un sentimiento o quiera dárselo en llamar que domina todas las acciones de Macbeth esa es la ambición, que según la RAE consiste desear algo intensamente, por lo general algo que no se puede tener o que resulta sumamente difícil tener. No estoy tan de acuerdo, como ya lo sostuve en mi reseña de la pieza del bardo, que la ambición sea solo un rasgo característico de Lady Macbeth y que la misma es la que lleva a su esposo a cometer los crímenes que comete, sino más bien, sostengo que estando ya presente la ambición en Macbeth la acción de su esposa contribuyó a potenciar ese sentimiento hasta que, llevado por el mismo, éste cede a la tentación y se deja llevar por el deseo del poder. Algo similar puede decirse de los personajes centrales de esta obra de Leskov.
Tenemos aquí, primeramente, una situación nada inusual en otros tiempos y aún ahora. Un matrimonio formado por un hombre mayor y una mujer mucho menor, un matrimonio en donde no hay amor, un matrimonio en el que el tedio domina las situaciones, tanto que llevado al límite puede forzar el hartazgo. Es cuanto ocurre aquí. Katerina Lvovna (Lady Macbeth) desea amor, sentirse querida, amada, deseada y consentida, ambiciona poseer lo anterior y no lo obtiene de su esposo; antes bien, siente su matrimonio como una jaula que la mantiene presa. Tal como cuando a Macbeth se le presenta la ocasión de llevar a cabo el homicidio del rey Duncan, a Katerina Lvovna se le presenta la ocasión para obtener, al menos temporalmente, aquello que tanto anhela, aunque ello implique faltar a sus votos conyugales cayendo en brazos de otro hombre.
Lo que ambiciona Katerina es el amor que ya ha obtenido y no quiere dejarlo, pero sabe que no podría retenerlo. Así, un pasaje clave para todo lo que sucede luego radica en un diálogo que ésta mantiene con el amante
"- Habla, Seriozha, cuéntame tus penas.
- Pero ¿qué se puede contar? Pues, por ejemplo, primero que tu marido regresará, si Dios quiere, y hale, Serguei Filippych, largo de aquí, vete al patio con los músicos y ponte a mirar desde el cobertizo la vela que arde en el dormitorio de Katerina Lvovna y a ella ahuecando la cama de plumas y echándose a dormir con su legítimo Zinovi Borisych.
- ¡Eso no va a pasar!..."
De este pasaje se desprende el despertar de los planes que luego ponen en ejecución. Considero que aquí el factor desencadenante de los acontecimientos es el amante. El amante es quien actúa aquí como Lady Macbeth en la pieza de Shakespeare azuzando el fuego de la ambición. Si en aquella pieza, Lady Macbeth incita a su esposo a cometer regicidio para acceder a la dignidad real, aquí es el amante quien incita a Katerina (aunque no abiertamente con en aquella pieza) a urdir alguna trama que les permita mantener su unión. Lady Macbeth actúa movida por su propia ambición azuzando la de su esposo; Serguei actúa en base a su propio interés azuzando la ambición de Katerina y aprovechándose del hastío que ésta experimentaba antes de iniciar su adúltera relación.
No considero que sea amor lo existente entre Katerina y Serguei, quizá sí lo sea de parte de ella pero no de parte de él y del devenir del libro apoya mi punto de vista. Tras analizar los elementos presentes en la obra pienso que Serguei vio en Katerina una posibilidad cierta de elevar su sitial en la sociedad ascendiendo de posición social frente a la posición baja que antes ocupara, lo suyo es más bien interés, ello queda claro con el asunto de la propiedad de la herencia. Aquí considero que podrían existir dos explicaciones para el inicio de esa relación que resulta ser determinante para todo cuanto ocurre después: 1) o Serguei vio la posibilidad cierta de obtener una mejora sustancial en sus condiciones de vida o 2) tomó como un desafío la conquista de esa mujer casada, a fin de observar hasta dónde llegaría su virtud (en este caso resulta inexistente). Esto me recordó a un cierto pasaje de Anna Karenina en que uno de los personajes comenta que muchos jóvenes toman como un desafío lleva al adulterio a una mujer casada. Expongo las dos posibilidades puesto que fueron las que se me ocurrieron durante la lectura, empero si debiera escoger me quedaría con la primera. Desde mi punto de vista sin lugar a dudas es el interés el que mueve a Serguei.
Siguiendo con este razonamiento, sería Serguei en esta obra el personaje que pudiera asimilarse a Lady Macbeth y no tanto Katerina. Existe, pues, una crucial diferencia entre Lady Macbeth y Katerina. La primera sucumbe al recargo de consciencia y a la culpa generada por las acciones que incitó, cumpliendo la máxima de Polibio ("No existe testigo más terrible ni acusador más severo que la propia consciencia"), de ahí el suicidio cometido por ésta cuando las alucinaciones generadas por la culpa y el recargo de consciencia ya no le permitieron continuar. Empero, Katerina mantiene su altivez hasta el momento en que se quita la vida, ello se percibe netamente en el desparpajo con el que confiesa los crímenes cometidos y la razón por la cual lo hace.
Dice la contratapa de este libro que esta "Lady Macbeth" no actúa llevada por una desmedida ambición sino por un amor apasionado". Me perdonará el editor pero eso no es amor, sino más bien podría tacharse de obsesión, aunque pudiera pensarse que sus sentimientos son genuinos. Dice además que, "quizá por ello, a pesar de sus crímenes el lector no puede evitar entender su sufrimiento", me perdonará el editor una vez más pero nada justifica tomar vidas como lo hace este personajes, así como no se justifican los crímenes cometidos por Macbeth y esposa. Un homicidio es siempre un homicidio, salvo que existan circunstancias especiales que lo priven del carácter ilegal, y sus sufrimientos únicamente son el resultado de sus decisiones equivocadas. Esto me recuerda en algo a Ron Williamson, cuya historia relata John Grisham en su excelente libro El inocente.
El sufrimiento de Katerina no fue ocasionado por un esposo que no le daba amor, no fue ocasionado por la vida, o por el destino o por cualquier cosa que no se ella misma. Su sufrimiento deriva de las decisiones que tomó y del camino que escogió emprender, uno debe ser lo suficientemente maduro para asumir las consecuencias de las decisiones que tomamos, de las acciones que realizamos e incluso de nuestras omisiones, ya que nuestro devenir depende de ellas. Aquí considero de suma pertinencia traer a colación un excelente poema de Amado Nervo titulado En paz:
Muy cerca de mi ocaso, yo te bendigo, vida,
porque nunca me diste ni esperanza fallida,
ni trabajos injustos, ni pena inmerecida;
porque veo al final de mi rudo camino
que yo fui el arquitecto de mi propio destino;
Antes de finalizar quisiera destacar la excelente calidad de esta edición de Nórdica Libros con traducción de Marta Sánchez-Nieves e ilustraciones de Ignasi Blanch, desde el papel en que está impreso, el armado, la maquetación, las ilustraciones, todo conduce a un disfrute único que magnifica lo bello que esta obra tiene en sí misma.
Cada uno construye su camino, cada uno construye su destino. Quien se pierde lo hace por su propia mano. Katerina no me merece empatía alguna.
La calidad de la obra es altísima, tanto que Leskov se ha ganado mi admiración y mi respeto. Ya volveremos a vernos Nikolai Semionovich. La pulga de acero, espérame.
Lectura absolutamente recomendada. 5 estrellas sin duda alguna.
April 11, 2018
Historia truculenta y, aunque sencilla en apariencia, desbordante de pasión descontrolada y locura sin arrepentimientos.
Pendiente queda la ópera de Shostakóvich a ver cómo me muestra él a la intensa Katerina.
Pendiente queda la ópera de Shostakóvich a ver cómo me muestra él a la intensa Katerina.
September 29, 2019
Uma jovenzinha, casada com um velhinho, conhece um jovenzinho que é bonito e sedutor. Eis o mote para uma tragédiazinha de arrepiar; não foi o meu caso que para o finalzinho me aborreci e pelo meio me ri. Ainda me aguentei com tantos diminutivozinhos mas certas frases do narrador (na terceira pessoa): de repente, pimba! e uma semana depois, pumba!, impediram-me de levar isto muito a sério.
Lady Macbeth de Mtsensk é uma das obras mais conhecidas de Nikolai Leskov por ter servido de inspiração a uma ópera de Dimitri Chostakovich.
Lady Macbeth de Mtsensk é uma das obras mais conhecidas de Nikolai Leskov por ter servido de inspiração a uma ópera de Dimitri Chostakovich.
January 1, 2023
Wanting to adopt the spirit of Christmas, I started A Christmas Carol, failed to get into it, and started rereading "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" instead, which is the exact opposite of christmassy. The russian Lady Macbeth is Katerina Lwowna, the bored wife of an absent businessman, who falls for the charms of the farmhand Ssergej. Once her fierce passion is awakened, she will do anything to protect her paramour, and ends up killing... quite a few people.
This is a striking tale, told with an economy of words that fits the brutality of the story perfectly. Events happen in quick succession, so that it's virtually unputdownable. Having read many of Leskov's short stories, I find this one pretty un-Leskovian and find it rather strange that Leskov is best known for this work that resembles the rest so little. No humor or quirkiness to be found here, no tangents, and a rather small cast of characters. The storytelling aspect is minimal. That's not to say I didn't like it. I don’t usually read crime fiction, but there was something about Leskov's tone that made me want to read the rest of his stories back when I first read this one in 2020. (Still, I like his priests better.)
This is a striking tale, told with an economy of words that fits the brutality of the story perfectly. Events happen in quick succession, so that it's virtually unputdownable. Having read many of Leskov's short stories, I find this one pretty un-Leskovian and find it rather strange that Leskov is best known for this work that resembles the rest so little. No humor or quirkiness to be found here, no tangents, and a rather small cast of characters. The storytelling aspect is minimal. That's not to say I didn't like it. I don’t usually read crime fiction, but there was something about Leskov's tone that made me want to read the rest of his stories back when I first read this one in 2020. (Still, I like his priests better.)
August 6, 2017
Even better than I remember it to be! This story is packed with passion and crime, featuring the unforgettable character of Katerina. Brutal, fascinating, and simply excellent.
*read in Russian
*read in Russian
August 22, 2021
Bir kase çekirdek eşliğinde, kendi kendime kitabın gıybetini yaptım 🤭
Displaying 1 - 30 of 334 reviews