A Double Life (Russian Library) - Softcover

Pavlova, Karolina

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0231190794 ISBN 13: 9780231190794

Verlag: Columbia University Press, 2019

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Críticas

Published in the revolutionary year of 1848, A Double Life traces the awakening of a young noblewoman who by day submits to the prose of high society matchmaking, while at night she is a poet in her dreams of true love. Before Kate Chopin and Virginia Woolf, there was Karolina Pavlova. -- Hilde Hoogenboom, Arizona State University Pavlova's A Double Life is a landmark of nineteenth-century Russian literature. With its multilayered account of a young society woman's mysterious transformation into a poet, the novella explores a host of social, spiritual, and aesthetic questions. Indispensable, particularly in this revised edition of Barbara Heldt's translation. -- Thomas Hodge, Wellesley College Karolina Pavlova's 1848 novel made a splash when it first appeared, and for good reason. It is interesting in form, mixing prose and poetry, and full of sharply ironic insights about Russian society of the day, especially the lives of young women. This beautiful new edition of Barbara Heldt's translation offers the chance to appreciate a work of nineteenth-century Russian literature that deserves attention, the writing of a remarkable poet and author. -- Sibelan Forrester, Swarthmore College Rich with wit, Pavlova's only novel is a masterful sendup of high society. * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *

Reseña del editor

An unsung classic of nineteenth-century Russian literature, Karolina Pavlova's A Double Life alternates prose and poetry to offer a wry picture of Russian aristocratic society and vivid dreams of escaping its strictures. Pavlova combines rich narrative prose that details balls, tea parties, and horseback rides with poetic interludes that depict her protagonist's inner world-and biting irony that pervades a seemingly romantic description of a young woman who has everything. A Double Life tells the story of Cecily, who is being trapped into marriage by her well-meaning mother; her best friend, Olga; and Olga's mother, who means to clear the way for a wealthier suitor for her own daughter by marrying off Cecily first. Cecily's privileged upbringing makes her oblivious to the havoc that is being wreaked around her. Only in the seclusion of her bedroom is her imagination freed: each day of deception is followed by a night of dreams described in soaring verse. Pavlova subtly speaks against the limitations placed on women and especially women writers, which translator Barbara Heldt highlights in a critical introduction. Among the greatest works of literature by a Russian woman writer, A Double Life is worthy of a central place in the Russian canon.

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: Columbia University Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0231190794
• ISBN 13: 9780231190794
• Einband: Tapa blanda
• Anzahl der Seiten: 176