Sanine
Artzybashev, Mikhail Petrovich, 1878-1927
English
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Below is a summary of Sanine
SANINE
BY MICHAEL ARTZIBASHEF
TRANSLATED BY
PERCY PINKERTON
WITH A PREFACE BY
GILBERT CANNAN
_SOME PRESS NOTICES OF_
_SANINE_
"_It has a treble interest. It discusses sex-problems with unusual
candour ... it gives a vivid picture of Russian life ... and it
reflects the welter of thoughts and aspirations which are common to the
whole contemporary Western world_."
NEW STATESMAN.
"_A book which deals with powerful human passions in no lethargic way.
It may horrify by its brutality, and its assault on ordinary morality
may well be considered startling: yet it counts for something that M.
Artzibashef does not display the common fear of life_."
STANDARD.
"_It is of the greatest interest psychologically, as an outstanding
product of a despairing epoch in Russian history_."
DAILY CHRONICLE.
"_The artistry of the novel, brutal, direct, detached, courageous,
desperately poignant, is not to be disputed_."
EVENING STANDARD.
"_The strength of the book is undeniable_"
SUNDAY TIMES.
"_This is a strong and fascinating story depicting the unfettered life
of a young Russian ... the background of society and Russian scenery is
excellent_."
MANCHESTER COURIER.
PREFACE
_"Sanine" is a thoroughly uncomfortable book, but it has a fierce
energy which has carried it in a very short space of time into almost
every country in Europe and at last into this country, where books,
like everything else, are expected to be comfortable. It has roused
fury both in Russia and in Germany, but, being rather a furious effort
itself, it has thriven on that, and reached an enormous success. That
is not necessarily testimony of a book's value or even of its power. On
the other hand, no book becomes international merely by its capacity
for shocking moral prejudices, or by its ability to titillate the
curiosity of the senses. Every nation has its own writers who can shock
and titillate. But not every nation has the torment of its existence
coming to such a crisis that books like "Sanine" can spring to life in
it. This book was written in the despair which seized the Intelligenzia
of Russia after the last abortive revolution, when the Constitution
which was no constitution was wrung out of the grand dukes. Even
suppose the revolution had succeeded, the intellectuals must have asked
themselves, even suppose they had mastered the grand dukes and captured
the army, would they have done more than altered the machinery of
government, reduced the quantity of political injustice, amended the
principles of taxation, and possibly changed the colours of the postage
stamps? Could they have made society less oppressive to the life of the
individual? Like all intellectuals, M. Artzibashef is fascinated by the
brutality of human life, and filled with hatred of his own disgust at
it. As with all artists, it is necessary for him to shake free of his
own disgust, or there will be an end of his art. Intellectual and an
artist, less artist for being intellectual, responding to the
despairing mood of those around him, it became clear to him that
political agitation had failed and must fail because it has a vision of
government and no vision of human life. Society is factitious. The
intellectual asks why. The artist never asks these absurd questions.
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