Poisoned Conscience

7 hrs. 10 min.

Romance & Prose

Language Russian

Author Alexander Amfiteatrov

Narrator Valeria Lebedeva

Description

Amphitheatrov, Alexander [1862–1923] — feuilleton writer and novelist. Newspaper clippings, a fragment of an accidentally overheard conversation, a scandal in Moscow’s aristocratic circles inspire him—serving as material for feuilletons, sometimes quite sharp. One such piece, “The Gentlemen Obmanovs,” that is, “The Romanovs,” led to A.’s exile to Minusinsk [1902]. The feuilleton character colors all of A.’s work. He writes poems, dramas, critical articles, and novels—about the actor Dalmátov and the proto-priest Avvakum, about Nero (“The Beast from the Abyss”), about daily life and morals at the end of the 19th century (the novels “Eighty-niners” and “Ninety-niners”), about the woman question and prostitution (“Viktoria Pavlovna” and “Marya Lusyova”)—always long-winded and almost always superficial. A. is drawn to public chronicles with a broad sweep of the era. In his work one also finds pieces from the period of serfdom (“The Princess”), from the life of theater (“The Twilight of the Idols”), on occult topics (the novel “Zhartsvet”). “Running through life,”—that’s how one of the critics characterizes A.’s work. Most of A.’s books compile old and new feuilletons. His boulevard methods contributed to his widespread popularity, especially among petty bourgeois circles. The portrait-like quality of his figures gives his writings an interest in curious social-historical documents.