Yevgeny Onegin - Paperback

by Alexander Pushkin (Author), Anthony Briggs (Translator)

THE GREATEST WORK OF MODERN RUSSIAN LITERATURE: A transcendent story of vanity and love, in a startlingly modern translation.

"What makes Onegin great is its timeless insight into the human heart: its vanities, its follies, its disasters." -- Guardian Arguably the jewel in the crown of Russia's greatest writer, Yevgeny Onegin is Alexander Pushkin's sublime masterpiece of love, death, dueling, rivalry, identity and the search for happiness.

The aristocratic Yevgeny Onegin has come into his inheritance, leaving the glamour of St Petersburg's social life to take up residence at his uncle's large country estate. Master of the nonchalant bow, the aristocratic and aloof Onegin is the very model of a social butterfly - a fickle dandy, liked by all for his quick wit and easy ways.

When the shy and passionate Tatyana becomes hopelessly infatuated with him, Onegin rejects her with brutal condescension. Swiftly moving on, he carelessly diverts himself by flirting with her sister, Olga, sowing the seeds for future disaster and heartbreak.

By turns playful, philosophical, sardonic and mournful, brimming with rich descriptions of Russian life, from drinking and dancing to crisp wintry landscapes, Yevgeny Onegin is a work of thrilling energy. This deft and vibrant translation by Anthony Briggs, acclaimed translator of Tolstoy's War and Peace, brilliantly conveys this vitality, capturing all the supple lightness and humour, as well as the depth, of Pushkin's luminous verse novel.

Author Biography

Alexander Pushkin was born in 1799. He published his first poem when he was a teenager, and in 1820 his first long poem - Ruslan and Lyudmila - made him famous. His work, including the novel-in-verse Yevgeny Onegin, the poem 'The Bronze Horseman' and the short story 'The Queen of Spades', has secured his place as one of the greatest writers, in any language, ever to have lived. He died aged just 37, having been wounded in a duel - Pushkin's 29th - by his brother-in-law.

Anthony Briggs is one of the world's leading authorities on the work of Pushkin. He is the author of Alexander Pushkin: A Critical Study and editor of Alexander Pushkin: A Celebration of Russia's Best-Loved Writer. He is an acclaimed translator from Russian, whose translations include Tolstoy's War and Peace and The Queen of Spades, a collection of Pushkin's writings published by Pushkin Press.