REVIEWS

‘The Adventures of Augie March‘ by Saul Bellow

*cover of a first edition of ‘The Adventures of Augie March‘ first published in September 1953 AD

‘The Adventures of Augie March‘, published in 1953 by Saul Bellow, is one of the finest American novels written by one of the most influential and enduring American authors. The novel is narrated in the first person by its protagonist Augie March as he navigates developing notions of personal identity, ambition, philosophy and survival in a complex and cynical modern world. At the outset of the novel, Augie lives with his family in Chicago during the Great Depression, where he encounters an eclectic spread of characters that impact his development from a youth into a man. Notable examples of these characters include Grandma Lausch; a surrogate matriarch of his family, and Augie’s brother Simon; an ambitious, unrelenting older brother. Another is William Einhorn, Augie’s crippled yet brilliant mentor. He is an example of a character who remains ever present throughout and who, whilst flawed, is a a momentous figure in Augie’s life. His experience mirrors Bellow’s own to a large extent; the novel is semi-autobiographical.

As the novel progresses and Augie changes, his descriptions and portrayals of characters he knows and the new ones he meets become different, signs of his personal development manifest themselves. Augie’s first-person narrative is exuberant and conversational. It merges intellectual and highly intelligent language with slang, a reflection of the different environments that have shaped him. The disparities between the places and people Augie encounters during his development is vast and the hybrid nature of his language mirrors his attempts to come to terms with his own identity, his ambition, his intellect and his efforts to survive. His brilliant extended sentences full of vitality and momentum are suggestive of the fact that Augie’s life is an adventure, his existence does not follow a set path, rather, he feels the freedom to wander, mentally and physically.

Adding to the rich texture of the book are the ironic and humorous aspects of Augie’s narration. He often conveys very important and consequential events with a timbre which suggests a certain dispassion driven by a tremendous appreciation of the humour in life. Never at any stage does the novel lose its life, its vigour. This is in large part due to Augie’s tendency to acknowledge irony, something which speaks to the depth and versatility of his character. The novel flows sinuously because Augie’s wanderings never conclude and very few things resolve themselves, allowing for a narrative freedom not often found in novels of the time.

The time frame in which ‘The Adventures of Augie March’ takes place is really quite broad. It begins in the midst of the Great Depression and concludes in the late 1940s, a period in American history in which there was great instability, both economic and social. Augie’s restlessness and constant motion between different circumstances echoes a broader sense of uncertainty felt by many young Americans at the time. In the novel, it is made clear that America is a land of opportunity but also of diaspora and freedom, which has both positive and negative consequences.

*photograph of an eagle catching prey

Augie’s identity as an American is coupled with his family’s Jewish religion. In the same way that he resists being labelled or fixed in the way he lives his life, Augie does not allow himself to be expounded by inherited spirituality or morality. His cogitations on faith and familial identity are reflective of many immigrant communities at the time who were in the process of assimilating into a new society and who were forced to constantly adapt and find a new sense of self. Bellow does not separate or isolate Jewish existence from the rest of American life, instead, he ensures that it is seen as part of the rich cultural fabric of the country.

Throughout the novel, Augie maintains his personal right to dictate his own existence. He is certainly influenced by others, but none succeed in imposing their own beliefs on what he should be or go onto become. Augie acknowledges the fact that this approach may lead to failure, but he puts far greater weight on individual freedom, authenticity and a true appreciation of who he really is.

Descriptions in the novel are not limited to those detailing the major characters. As Augie travels from one place to another, magnificent cityscapes are conveyed, together with descriptions of animals and nature. Perhaps the most memorable example of this is when Augie must contend with Caligula, an eagle belonging to his lover, Thea, who he travels to Mexico with. They task themselves with training the animal to hunt lizards and it is in these chapters when one can most appreciate the descriptive power of Bellow’s prose. He sought to create not just characters but scenes which exemplified the brilliance and intensity of the human condition as he observed it, as derived from his own experience and learning.

In 1976, Bellow was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his ‘human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture’. This aspect of his writing style was learnt and developed during his education at the University of Chicago, where he studied literature, sociology and anthropology. I think his ability to incorporate these human studies in his writing is what set him apart from the vast majority of his contemporaries. And whilst other novels of his such as ‘Henderson the Rain King’ (1959), ‘Herzog’ (1964) or ‘Humboldt’s Gift’ (1975) may be perceived to be more mature in their content and style than ‘The Adventures of Augie March’ because they were published later on in Bellow’s career, for me there is an irresistible youthful vigour to the prose in ‘Augie March’ which sets it apart from the rest of his work, even the short stories he published at a similar time.

*photograph taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt of Saul Bellow in Italy, 1984 AD

The swift and elegant prose that Bellow characterised as his signature style in the novel is extravagant and rhythmic, utterly captivating and revealing. Each chapter offers the reader a new avenue of thought down which they can venture. Comparable to ‘The Brothers Karamazov‘ by Fyodor Dostoevsky in the vividness of its narrative and its influence on literary culture, they both succeed in capturing all the strangeness, diversity and brilliance of their characters and settings. ‘The Adventures of Augie March‘ was published after the comparatively unsuccessful works ‘Dangling Man’ (1944) and ‘The Victim’ (1947). In it, Bellow proved to the literary world that he was not just a mammoth literary mind but an author who had an appreciation of spheres of thought and knowledge beyond literature.

‘The Adventures of Augie March’ changed the rulebook which governed what a modern novel could be. Augie March is a character through with Bellow was able to convey the intricacies of modern American existence, on a deep personal level and more broadly, in a wider cultural context.

09/04/24 revised 09/02/26

‘The Brothers Karamazov‘ by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Many people have heard of Fyodor Dostoevsky, many have heard of or read ‘Crime and Punishment‘, but perhaps fewer have heard of or read ‘The Brothers Karamazov‘. This should not be the case. Whilst ‘Crime and Punishment‘ may be Dostoevsky’s most influential work when it comes to psychological interpretation in fiction and how society deals with issues such as justice, morality and mental illness, ‘The Brothers Karamazov‘ should be seen as Dostoevsky’s ‘literary’ masterpiece.

*photograph taken by Constantin Shapiro of Dostoevsky in 1879 AD, two years before his death

The novel, published in a literary journal between 1879 and 1880, tells the story of a sentimental and lustful father, Fyodor Pavlovic (a buffoon as he is frequently referred to throughout the novel), and his three sons; Dmitri, a sensualist, a man governed by his impulses, much like his father; Ivan, an intellectual, very smart yet reserved; and Aloysha, a young man who loves humankind, is selfless and mature for his age and who is steadfast in his religious practices. The novel follows the murder of Fyodor Pavlovic and the trial that ensues. In this sense, the novel is a murder mystery. The reader is made to question whether any of Fyodor Pavlovic’s sons, considering his abominable and immoral behaviour, could have murdered him. The character Smerdyakov is another central character in the novel. He is the epileptic and illegitimate servant of Fyodor Pavlovic who takes upon a major role in the novel as it progresses. From the outset, Alyosha emerges as the figure who represents goodness and purity of heart. The actions and words of his father serve to sharply contrast his own morality and kindness.

The dysfunctional nature of the family’s relationship is conveyed at the beginning of the novel, particularly the tension and jealousy between Dmitri and his father for financial and romantic reasons. This is why when Fyodor Pavlovic is murdered and Dmitri is found on the scene, he is accused of his father’s murder. Discussions that take place between the novel’s main protagonists comprise a large part of the novel. In these, particularly those between the siblings, meaty philosophical debates take place, perhaps most prominently those on the nature of good and evil.

The culmination of all of this familial drama happens toward the end of the novel in a courtroom trial where the majority of the evidence can suggest no other murderer than Dmitri. This is despite Ivan’s role in having inspired Smerdyakov to commit the murder, which the reader learns is an act of vengeance.

When viewed in its totality, the language of the novel is disparate. The different ways in which characters speak and behave represents the cultural divisions of Russia as Dostoevsky perceived them at the time. Alyosha’s temperance and silently searching demeanour is in sharp contrast to his father and brothers who, for the most part, are much more impulsively outspoken in their rationals and ideologies. Characters like Dmitri and Ivan often espouse half-truths and confess to thoughts and feelings which when compounded over the course of the novel contradict one another and are inconsistent. They express their philosophies in a chaotic fashion, often in the form of sermons or jokes, exposing their flaws and making the reader feel more vehemently the novel’s humanity.

*‘Refusal of the Confession‘ by Ilya Efimovich Repin, 1885 AD

In addition to this, the novel has a profound freedom which primarily stems from the absence of a single authoritative voice, a central protagonist who might otherwise reinforce the views of the reader. This technique is used in novels often referred to as ‘polyphonic’; where individual protagonists compete to dominate the narrative but no one succeeds in having an overarching impact. Some of the most famous of the novel’s chapters are those in which rhetoric is most prominent. Most notable are those in which Ivan’s voice is first and foremost. In these, his language is remarkable; there is a controlled and precise nature to it which carries a hefty emotional punch, especially when one appreciates the place of emotional anguish from which his words are spoken.

All of this is to say that the quality of this novel and its emotional power is conveyed by the various themes and messages weaved throughout it. The vividness with which Dostoevsky portrays the characters and scenes serves to enhance these philosophies and ideological aspects.

‘The Brothers Karamazov‘ was written in the final years of Dostoevsky’s life, right at the end of his career. It came out of a Russia deeply divided, caught in a schism between those who held onto their traditional beliefs influenced by faith and those who sought to adopt a more modern view of society, who expressed skepticism of what they viewed as ‘old’ and stale familial ideals. The novel is heavily influenced by the rise of secular philosophy, a greater adoption of Western European values and an unrest at all levels of society. The Karamazov family represent a society on the precipice, whose story is emblematic of the feebleness of patriarchal norms and the fracturing of inherited morality. Dmitri, Ivan and Alyosha must, in the face of their father’s moral dilapidation, come to terms with a new way of thinking and living, which they must construct on their own.

The novel’s religious language echoes these sentiments. Religious figures like Zosima preach experiential ways of thinking, the fabric of which is somewhat loose and separate from grand, superseding pronunciations of what faith is; they do not really exist in the novel. The teachings Zosima espouses are grounded in ethical ways of thinking and this approach seems to reject doctrine, prioritising love instead. Whilst Alyosha is a headstrong figure, perhaps the most so in the novel, even he expresses doubts about his devotion, a tentativeness readily felt by the reader.

The endurance of the novel stems from the fact that very few of the questions it raises are conclusively resolved. The continual repetition of dissonant and conflicting language makes the reasoning behind the main themes fracture, increasingly so as the novel approaches its end. Dostoevsky does not put too much deliberate emphasis on contextual or societal factors because he wants their tensions to manifest themselves naturally and passively, without excessive force. This further reinforces the notion that meaning is difficult to obtain; it is navigated by speech and formed by history, forever changing.

To conclude, there is very little is to be certain about in ‘The Brothers Karamazov’. The struggle for truth and meaning is palpable. The characters subject themselves to endless attempts to reason and make sense of things; through confession, accusation and brotherly love. Those who do not suffer and show a lack of effort are portrayed as incomplete and without sincerity. One of the only things to be sure about after having finished the novel is that the literary landscape of the past century would not be the same were it not for Dostoevsky.

11/04/24 revised 09/02/26

‘The Sound and the Fury‘ by William Faulkner

*cover of a first edition of ‘The Sound and the Fury’ first published in 1929 AD

With its own unique stream of consciousness narrative style, used for the majority of the novel, ‘The Sound and the Fury‘ deals with themes such as time, memory and decline.

The novel, published in 1929, follows a once prominent Compson family and their struggle to stay relevant; their attempts to prevent the dissolution of their reputation and societal significance. There is throughout a large part of the novel an ambiguity, the significance of which the reader only comes to realise until the narrative comes to its end, if at all. The central message that Faulkner wishes to convey is not done so through a single narrative thread, but multiple, swapping the first-person narrative between individual members of the Compson family. Time shifts with the characters too, which the reader must try to make sense of as they progress.

The opening section is narrated by Benjy Compson, a neurodivergent man who perceives the world around him in shapes and sounds, and who does not understand moral questions such as right or wrong nor concepts like time. His comprehension of causality and the sequence of events is significantly hindered by his cognitive disability. As a result of this, unconventional use of sentence structure and punctuation are prevalent and much of the language is devoid of explanation. Tenses are blurred; past and present intermingle and coexist without the reader having realised a change has occurred. Sensations dominate over logic, and Faulkner forces the reader to perceive the world as Benjy does; as a torrent of unfiltered information with little coherence or order. Memories often loop, enhancing the reader’s sense of confusion and disillusionment. These language features, used to convey Benjy’s experience, mirror the lack of order and coherence in the Compson family. One gets the impression that even if Benjy could convey his feelings, the majority of his family would not listen or attempt to communicate with him.

The following sections are given to Quentin and Jensen, in which the language style changes again, conveying other forms of familial disintegration. Quentin’s narrative is fervent and impassioned, bordering on obsessive. He inwardly holds notions of honour and Southern purity very close to his heart; he has an inflamed passion for ideals which no longer have meaning or significance. His phrases are rather coagulated and tangled, emphasising his tendency toward a love of his own mind and the ideas he has formulated within it. Jason’s section is somewhat different as his prose is pointed and blunt, which gives the reader the impression that he harbours feelings of resentment and bitterness toward people and things. His character feels empty and stony-hearted, distinctly absent of deep feeling or love for others. An individual formed by notions of cynicism and nihilistic thought. It is undeniable that Jensen feels the economic pressures of the time, as his family does, and that this severely influences his outlook on life. Needless to say, the manipulation of language emerges as a very prominent theme in the book.

*‘In Memoriam Karl Liebknecht‘ by Kathe Kollwitz, 1920 AD

As a family, the Compsons are symbolic of a generation of American Southerners who felt defeated and dejected by the economic and socio-political situation of the time and were possessed by nostalgic memories of better times. A refusal to adapt to a new world in the Compson’s case, is because they choose to cling onto old values, of aristocracy, racial prejudice and masculine dominance in family life. The absence of any authoritative male figure in the novel reinforces the lack of direction; the family is absent of a figure who might seek to move things forward to prevent disaster. Without anyone to fill this role, there is such little endeavour to move forward that the characters, even those at the head of the family, are unable to give a reliable or coherent account of their own lives. Faulkner seeks to convey a mindset dominated by unhelpful thoughts, resulting in little to no proactive behaviour, only self-disillusion and decay.

A more conventional third-person narrative is present in the final part of the novel. None of the disorder previously mentioned has gone away, rather, at this stage in the book, Faulkner seeks to frame it. Whilst order and stability returns in a grammatical sense, it is made clear that the Compsons are in the same mental and spiritual place as they have always been. Dilsey, one of the most headstrong characters, shows a tremendous ability to quietly endure the turmoil, but that is all she can do; endure and survive. She, nor any other member of the family, have the ability to do anything else beyond this. Whilst everything remains unchanged, the family does not stand still. They are not cathartic. Instead, they persist as they always continually have, pursuing a life in the same fractured way, committing the same injustices.

What makes ‘The Sound and the Fury’ so special, influential and enduring is its intelligent use of form. The novel itself is fundamentally shaped by not just the experiences but the memories of its characters. The reader is made to feel how they suffer and obsess over things. Their situation is not so much explained as felt by the reader, through enduring moments of silence and a monotonous sense of repetition which does not fade.

*photograph of William Faulkner taken by J.R Cofield in 1947 AD

In summary, loss is the overarching theme of ‘The Sound and the Fury’; loss of everything from time, to certainty and even the ability to communicate. The protagonists find that the stories and rules by which they lived by in the past are no longer applicable nor have the same meaning they once did. The tragedy is that they have found nothing to replace them with, no fresh ideology by which they might choose to live. All that keeps them going is nostalgia and relentless persistence. The reader is given the impression that by the end of the novel, all that remains is consciousness, both collective and individual, with a perpetual search to find a voice.

13/04/24 revised 09/02/26

‘The Catcher in the Rye‘ by J.D Salinger

*vintage 1951 edition of ‘The Catcher in the Rye’

‘The Catcher in the Rye‘, published in 1951, is a novel whose protagonist and first-person narrator, Holden Claufield, maintains a casual and altogether careless tone throughout, but who disguises a deep, dark and very serious inner solitude that does not fade at any point. The narration itself is very conversational and is influenced greatly by Claufield’s tendency toward repetition, exaggeration and informal language. These language features are suggestive of the way he lives and manages to survive.

Resistance is the most prominent aspect of Claufield’s mentality. He strongly opposes being dictated to or having authority imposed upon him. These attitudes align with his personal avoidance of polished expression and his fondness for using the same phrases to convey how he feels, such as: ‘and all’ and ‘it killed me’. It becomes clear as the novel progresses that his hatred of formality and doctrine does not suggest indolence or righteousness, but speak instead to an emotional defensiveness he has adopted due to years of suffering. Holden uses language as a device to separate himself from that which makes him anxious and uncomfortable, mentally as well as physically. The prevalence of the contradictions in his world view are understandable and convey a lack of self-appreciation, from someone who has clearly not yet fully developed. Relentless is his mockery of others whilst at the same time displaying an inability to come to terms with adulthood or the loss of protection that comes with making this transition. These are inconsistencies which are not smoothed over or covered up for heroic effect. They do not resolve themselves over the course of the book, and Salinger makes absolutely clear the vulnerabilities of his protagonist. Claufield does not develop or grow in any profound way over the course of the novel, something Salinger makes no effort to force; to do so would run contrary to his literary intentions.

Furthermore, when the novel was published, in the aftermath of World War II, American society was working collectively to bring about a sense of normality and success in an attempt to recover from the impact of conflict. The alienation Claufield feels and his acute awareness of ‘phoniness’, one which borders on obsession, is reflective of a generation of young Americans who were anxious about conforming to and being shaped by a society increasingly dominated by the influence of institutions and which put a greater emphasis on intellectual ability and work ethic as opposed to strength of feeling and genuineness. The anxieties Holden feels regarding his status in society are aknowledged by Salinger, who does not commit to portraying his protagonist in any singular way. He is certainly no revolutionary thinker but his concerns are not to be seen as baseless. As such, his character is very subjective and his views are open to interpretation.

*artistic interpretation of ‘The Catcher in the Rye‘ by J.D Salinger

The novel’s central emotional aspect is, in a very imposing way, grief. In particular, grief that cannot be expressed or defined. The trauma experienced by Holden manifests itself as a fixation on childhood innocence and vulnerability. This is not so much a moral ideology as a very human response to severe emotional damage and a lack of connection. Holden’s outlook is blurred by events which occurred before the novel even began. One of these is the death of Allie, a character who has a tremendous presence in the novel and who clearly holds a great place in Holden’s heart. The impact of painful memory on language is palpable despite any explicit mention of it. It is the absence of recollections of suffering which emphasise the impact such memories have on the protagonist, more so than their inclusion or any confessions might have had.

There are no definitive psychological explanations for Holden’s condition, no sense of emotional resolution or cleanliness. Holden does not seek redemption and he does not attain it; he is deeply troubled and it is difficult to see him recovering from his wounds, particularly given the lack of support for him. One of the few comforts that can be drawn from the novel is that Holden tells his story from a place of relative emotional stability and whilst the chances of recovery feel very thin, they do not seem impossible. The very fact that Holden speaks should be considered a positive thing. He survives because he has a voice of his own, one which, despite wild inconsistencies and evasions, is able to resist the pressures of a very new culture which demands his premature accession to adulthood, one which he proves he is not ready for.

*photograph of J.D Salinger in 1988 in which he attempts to strike the camera of photographer Paul Adao

‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is a novel which remains relevant due to its appreciation and understanding of emotional vulnerability and confusion, particularly during adolescence. The spiky nature of the novel’s prose is used to reinforce its main themes and the dissonant mental state of its protagonist. Salinger’s willingness to consistently use unconventional language techniques which align with this mindset is a brave yet absolutely necessary decision which pays off. Elegance and fluency would feel out of place were that the approach he chose. Moreover, the way in which the instantaneous cogitations of Claufield are conveyed with a sense of immediacy in the present tense is a truly remarkable feat, even more so when one considers the complex emotions being conveyed. It is a novel which asks the reader to listen and consider, not to make hasty judgements of character, but appreciate the effects of pain and not condemn those who experience such feelings as immature. Salinger insists throughout that sincerity is a brittle thing in a chaotic and challenging world.

13/04/24 revised 09/02/26

‘The Master and Margarita’ by Mikhail Bulgakov

*first edition of ‘The Master and Margarita’ first published in 1967

‘The Master and Margarita’ is a profoundly philosophical and superbly imaginative novel which, when it was published, fought against state censorship and suppression. It is wonderfully funny and resists emptiness, emotional or spiritual, in all forms.

There are three characters who dictate the flow of the novel. The first is Satan, who exists as Woland, a magnificently stylish entity who comes to Moscow to wreak havoc and cause absolute chaos. Then there is the Master, a writer who suffers greatly in love; and Margarita, a woman who has the ability to transcend reality unlike any other mortal figure. The narrative swaps between the events occurring in a 1930s Moscow and one which retells the story of Pontius Pilate, the sixth Procurator of Judaea, and his handling of the case of Yeshua Ha Nostri, a man who he eventually sends to be crucified. Whilst this may sound like a completely absurd and ridiculous structure for a novel to be governed by, Bulgakov’s masterful prose makes the third-person narrative supremely entertaining and rich in texture.

The chapters which focus on Moscow are satirical in the truest sense of the word. The bureaucratic and literary members of Soviet Russia are exposed by Woland and his crew; a devilishly wicked bunch consisting of the pince-nez wearing trickster Koroviev; Azazello, a single-fanged red-head with a small stature and predatory eye who mostly handles the dirty work, and Behemoth, a big black cat who walks and talks, and who is perpetually cracking jokes. These figures’ mission is to lay bare the moral barrenness, hypocrisy and general cowardice of people who are deeply flawed. They disappear, traumatise and publicly humiliate these people, few of which suffer tremendously, but who the reader is made to suppose receive their due. Everything that happens is theatrical, but there is always maintained an underlying sense of sadness and anger. This is mainly because Bulgakov implies that society has developed into an entity in where there is a distinct absence of truth and meaning, where mediocre individuals are rewarded for their conformity. Despite the more serious undertones, Bulgakov encourages the reader to opt for laughter and ridicule as a way of appreciating these realities.

*‘The Tiger Hunt’ by Peter Paul Rubens

The chaos of these parts of the novel is balanced by the love story of the Master and Margarita. The latter is a character who exhibits qualities of loyalty and emotional vehemence, one who shows a willingness to adapt and embrace strangeness for the sake of love and happiness. The chapters in which she attends Satan’s ball and flies across Moscow are a truly remarkable literary feat, their vividness is unrivalled in modern Russian literature. The Master is a character who is deeply fractured, he is someone who has felt the full effects of state censorship and repression. His fear and disillusionment are palpable at the beginning of the novel. Despite his struggles, he maintains his faith in truth and chooses life over desolation, making him a heroic figure.

In addition to this narrative is another which takes place in Jerusalem. Its timbre is far more subtle and earnest compared to the chapters it is scattered in amongst. Bulgakov’s Pontius Pilate is one who shows timidity in his decision making and a weak morality which contributes to his tragic status in the novel. It is in his chapters in particular when deep questions are asked; of moral responsibility, of what constitutes truth, and on the nature of forgiveness. Much of the spiritual substance and content of the novel is manifest in Pilate’s story.

‘The Master and Margarita’ is a novel which succeeds in striking a balance between directly opposite concepts. There is both absolute seriousness and hilarious comedy, very real events and obviously fantastical ones, faith in traditions and direct satire of those who exhibit an openness to them. Bulgakov’s resistance stems from his wild imagination and his ability to concentrate it into fixed narratives. The novel is about escapism, but is also very real, but Bulgakov does not emphasise this discrepancy. He is also hopeful, and encourages the preservation of infatuation, art and mercy through adverse circumstances. These are the elements that makes the novel truly remarkable.

*photograph of Mikhail Bulgakov taken in the early 1920s AD

The novel concludes as the Master and Margarita are granted ‘peace’ as opposed to ‘light’ for eternity. It is strongly implied that their endurance and purity of heart has earned them this gift.

‘The Master and Margarita’ is a very difficult novel to sum up simply because it is so many things at the same time. It is equal parts a tale of love, dark comedy, political protest and theological thought experiment. Needless to say, it is one of the most outstanding and truly spectacular novels of the twentieth century.

‘Don Quixote’ by Miguel De Cervantes

Many people refer to Miguel De Cervantes’ ‘Don Quixote’ as the first modern novel. It stands as both a mockery of heroic tales of chivalry and an exploration of truth and perception, both of oneself and of others. It not only marked a point of transition between a medieval literary landscape and a modern one, it dictated the shift. Its portrayal of psychological issues is also profoundly influential and has served as a blueprint for world literature ever since the publication of its final part in 1615. The narrative follows Alonso Quixano, a man who takes it upon himself to revitalise the profession of knight errantry. He begins by changing his name to ‘Don Quixote’ which he deems more suited to his new profession than his birth name. Don Quixote recruits a local man, Sancho Panza, to accompany him on his quest. The latter’s proverbial language contrasts with Don Quixote’s lofty and very archaic tone. His obsession with notions of medieval romance results in a state of complete and utter enchantment, totally possessed by the way of life he tries to live by in the novel. Quixote conducts himself ceremoniously and courteously in his interactions with strangers who he thinks he can come to the assistance of. Sancho Panza, the man Quixote recruits as his companion, has a very humorous and character, much like his master’s; his speech is riddled with proverbs and traditional folk tales of all kinds. He is most concerned with material things; his pay and any valuable objects he can pick up along the way. Don Quixote is not bothered by such things in the slightest. He is too occupied with ensuring he conducts himself with honour and integrity, thus proving to both himself and to others that he has good morals. He deems such things absolutely necessary character traits for a knight errant to possess. The greatest point of friction that exists in the novel is that between real circumstances cemented in truth and fictional narratives used in literature. Cervantes portrays his tale as a translation of an original Arabic manuscript by Cide Hamete Benengeli, a fictional historian of his own invention. This narrative choice is evidence of Cervante’s desire to emphasise his disdain for totally unreliable modern narratives which he seems to view as having had too much focus on presenting the protagonist as virtuous and heroic. This is notable because it is a message which seeks to undermine the reader’s trust in authorship and to make them think twice about the reliability of certain presentations of reality in stories. This is an element of ‘Don Quixote‘ which was ahead of its time and proves that Cervantes was a predictor of the course literature was destined to take in the centuries after the publication of his novel.

*portrait of Miguel De Cervantes, approx. 1600 AD

As already briefly touched upon, ‘Don Quixote’ is mainly preoccupied with that which constitutes the basic fabric of reality and how the lines can be blurred between truth and fantasy. A very famous example of this occurs early on in the novel when Don Quixote and Sancho Panza come across a cluster of windmills. Quixote launches an assault on the windmills because he perceives them to be giants. Sancho Panza implores his master to realise and see that they are not giants, but Quixote cannot be persuaded; he is convinced in his own perception of reality. It is an indulgence in his own ideals which makes Quixote take such action, which might be perceived that of a madman. However, Cervantes makes sure to not to simply give the impression that Quixote’s mental fabrications are ridiculous. Instead, he uses this scenario as a way to introduce the notion that Quixote’s actions stem from a fervent desire to find a sense of meaning and purpose in life. There are other scenarios throughout the book in which Quixote transforms reality in a similar way. He perceives inns as castles and ordinary strangers as beautiful princesses. The reader is made to appreciate the fact that these visual metamorphoses are efforts by Quixote to stamp attractive ideas of nobility and order onto a world he feels disillusioned with and has become disconnected from. He seeks an inner coherence, something akin to that which he feels when he reads the tales of chivalry he so loves and admires. In this sense, the central question the novel poses is whether reality is dictated by individual perception or whether it is fixed and set in stone. It is a regular occurrence for other characters to partake in Quixote’s fantasies, either to exploit him or to indulge him. This illustrates the idea that ‘reason’ or ‘sanity’ are concepts brokered and hammered out by society over time. As the novel develops, particularly in the second half, the division once distinguishable between fanciful invention and actuality is no longer there, reinforcing Cervantes’ free and reflexive approach to storytelling.

‘Don Quixote‘ by Pablo Picasso (1955 AD)

The developing relationship between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza is one of the novel’s greatest and most interesting facets. The differences between their characters is central to this progression. Panza, throughout their adventures, favours a practical approach that sometimes borders on expedience. Don Quixote however, because he is governed by his ideals and sense of self, endeavours to act on a higher level, for the greater good. At the outset of their adventure, Panza is solely motivated by Quixote’s promise of material gain, he gives the strong impression of an individual with a weak morals who does not share in Quixote’s vision to make the world a better place. Subtly though, this dynamic changes as the two characters begin to influence each other in increasingly meaningful ways. Panza begins to engage with Quixote’s visionary outlook, whilst at the same time, Quixote treats his loyal servant with greater care and affection, contradicting the view of many he encounters that he is the kind of madman unable to exhibit emotion. Neither characters’ identity is fixed or unwavering. They change in many ways over the course of the novel in line with their growing companionship and sense of brotherly affection. As the novel nears its end, the reader appreciates the ways in which the two have come to compliment one another; Panza moderates Quixote’s insatiable aspiration, Quixote encourages Panza to think on a different level, countering his common sense approach to things.

The social and cultural aspects of an early 17th century Spain play an undeniably significant part in the novel’s formation. During this time, there was a well-established hierarchical system of power, tremendous economic hardship and a growing sense that the imperial system was failing. Gone were the times Don Quixote read about in his chivalric romances which he sought to reproduce himself. It was a world in which stories of manly heroism were abound, and deeply embedded in the fabric of European storytelling. The actions of these stories’ protagonists were pure, and so were the notions of moral goodness their authors sought to espouse. Cervantes parodies these tales and in doing so created his own blueprint for a new form of storytelling, one which preserved the excitement of adventure whilst incorporating deeper and more meaningful elements. In ‘Don Quixote’, Spain is not presented as a place where there exists castles inhabited by gallant knights and beautiful princesses. It is a country of businessmen, aristocrats, slaves and ordinary people. Cervantes observed the way in which literature needed to change, a pragmatic approach and one which did not shy away from emphasising the concerns people had to contend with in everyday life.

Alongside these societal features, Cervantes also includes religious substance in his novel. Catholicism was the preeminent movement in the country at the time; Cervantes gently interrogates and explores the movement in his novel. Certain circumstances Don Quixote finds himself in, such as the destruction of his library by a priest and barber, are suggestive of Cervantes’ concerns about censorship sponsored by the country’s most prominent and powerful figures. Cervantes himself was a man who suffered in captivity and so his reservations about systems and institutions of all kinds are understandable; whether they were social, literary or religious. Cervantes’ interpretation of his characters’ mental conditions is not overly harsh, he takes care to maintain a tone which shows an awareness that flaws are inevitable, and indeed necessary, in order to tell a story humanely, and to ensure that the reader appreciates the intricacies of the characters.

Whilst ‘Don Quixote’ is undeniably a burlesque, it ventures beyond this. Its demolition of romantic chivalric narratives does not undermine nor underplay its main protagonist’s desire for a different kind of life. Despite the humour and at times ridiculousness of Don Quixote’s behaviour, there coexists a powerful sense of pathos surrounding his situation and character. In the novel’s final stages when Quixote renounces knight-errantry and seemingly regains his sanity, the reader has mixed feelings about whether this is in fact a good thing. One may have spent the entirety of the novel wishing for this to happen, but when it does, one wonders whether having left his state of disillusionment, Don Quixote is better off for it. For his vitality stemmed from his passion to make things better through knight errantry. Now it has left him, does he still have purpose, a reason to continue living? Cervantes is not as blunt nor simple as to definitively indicate whether he believes Don Quixote’s powerful imagination to be a good or a bad thing. He does however seem to portray imagination, and by extension, inspiration as essential qualities to possess in order to live a vibrant life, whilst at the same time maintaining that they can be perilous forces if overstimulated. The novel served as a starting point, a formulae, for the way in which the modern novel approaches consciousness and narrative complexity. Its language is as vivid and eclectic today as it would have seemed to a medieval audience. The thematic content of the novel is diverse, making it a work both devastating and hilarious which sought to challenge the perception of reality in literature, not just in other novels, but in itself.

10/02/26

If one wishes to experience Russian literature in its fullest, one must not only read the novels, but the short stories. Throughout history, in particular the 19th and 20th centuries, there was an abundance of great Russian authors. Perhaps most notably was Lev Tolstoy, Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Bulgakov, Anton Chekhov, Nikolai Gogol, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Vladimir Nabokov. And whilst many of these authors are widely recognised for some of their larger works, there is a copious quantity of extremely high quality novellas and short stories that should not be overlooked; from the extremely funny and humorous ‘The Nose’ by Nikolai Gogol to the sad and melancholy ‘Vanka’ by Anton Chekhov. Here I would like to take the opportunity to talk about some of my personal favourites of the short story format and discuss what in my view makes them so special. 

‘The Nose‘ by Nikolai Gogol

‘The Nose‘ is a surreal and satirical short story by Nikolai Gogol published in 1836. It follows an extremely humorous sequence of events in the life of Major Kovalyov, the narrator, a St Petersburg official, who, upon waking, discovers that his nose has abandoned his face and embarked upon a life of its own, and that it has ascertained a rank and status superior to his own. Quite understandably, Mr Kovalyov is in a state of severe irritation and disbelief that his nose has left him, so he decides to go on a mission to find and reacquaint himself and his face with his rogue nose and in the process determine why and under what circumstances it chose to desert him. The story follows this course as the third-person narrator details the trials and tribulations that Mr Kovalyov must undergo to recover his nose. It is an articulate narrative which ends one morning when Mr Kovalyov wakes up to find his nose reattached to his face, whereupon he resumes his daily routine and normal habits.

*‘The Nose‘ by Alberto Giacometti, 1947 AD

‘The Nose‘ represents Russia’s obsession with rank and status, it is a satire of Russian society in the 1800s. It would be a mistake to read ‘The Nose‘ whilst trying to make sense of the story literally, because to do so would be to no avail as it is a tale that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Instead, one should focus on appreciating the themes and devices that Gogol employs to understand what the stories’ greater meaning is.

Mr Kovalyov, the general in question, represents a sect of people who are fastidious and supremely concerned over their appearance, cleanliness and status; he is a character who conforms to a cultural obsession with maintaining a high level of hygiene. In this sense the reader is made to feel that a certain irony exists. Mr Kovalyov is so distressed having lost his nose, the piece of his physiognomy with which he smells, proving to himself that despite a deep personal awareness and vanity, a body part like the nose is still very important and altogether necessary for physical purposes and the execution of daily tasks.

Another of the observations Gogol makes is that St Petersburg, and Russia in general, regards outward appearance as more necessary and essential than a faithful and true personality. I should also note (as hinted earlier) that when the general sees his nose dressed in an attire signalling a superiority in rank to himself, he cannot help feeling embarrassed, inferior, and jealous, and he has no appreciation of the farcical nature of his condition. This is evidence of a lack of true personal awareness, despite extreme vanity. If one wishes to try and make sense of the situation, one must make a number of assumptions, such as what caused Mr Kovalyov’s nose to become reattached. Of course, there is no practical nor conclusive answer to such questions. But one of the major aspects of ‘The Nose’ is that its reality does not asked to be made sense of and that is quite simply because it does not need to be. The writing lends itself to this truth; the vigour and humour of Gogol’s writing is sufficient explanation in itself. Its quality lies in the fact that you may read and interpret the peculiarities of the story as you wish yet enjoy and appreciate its vitality all the same.

For all of these reasons, ‘The Nose‘ by Nikolai Gogol makes for some of the funniest and entertaining writing you could wish to treat your two eyes to.

I would like to finish this piece by relaying to the reader two views of Gogol himself:

That the nose is the most essential element of a human’s anatomy, and that he viewed himself as having had a very peculiarly shaped and abnormal one.     

*portrait of Nikolai Gogol painted by Fedor Moller in 1841 AD, this later engraving is attributed to Vasily Mate

16/04/24 revised 09/02/26  

‘The Story of the Horse‘ by Leo Tolstoy

‘Kholstomer‘ or ‘The Story of the Horse‘ by Leo Tolstoy is a short story, published in 1866, which sharply critiques human society through the perspectives of its protagonist, a horse known as Kholstomer. The animal’s conscious thoughts comprise the bulk of the story, one in which Tolstoy seeks to convey human society’s cruel prejudices and sheer absurdities. Kholstomer is an old gelding who suffers from many years of harsh abuse. Tolstoy questions traditional notions of social status, ownership and the hypocritical nature of human morality.

*painting by James Lynwood Palmer depicting ‘Gainsborough’, a famous racehorse, 1921 AD

The behaviour of humans is judged by Kholstomer throughout the book. His is the only perspective, an isolated first-person narration. The result of this is human concepts being presented as morally corrupt and reprehensible. Kholstomer expresses a lack of understanding over how human ownership of living things is so intertwined with a lack of kindness and understanding. Kholstomer is the medium through which Tolstoy highlights that which he views is unjust about human behaviour toward animals and living things. In doing so, he is able to avoid a human narrative in the first-person or in the third-person, which might otherwise have a sermonic or righteous tone and take the form of a lecture on goodness.

The life of Kholstomer is symbolic of the life of many humans, particularly the marginalised classes. His value is exploited in his younger years and he is reprehended when he becomes older. Throughout his existence, he is denied a sense of dignity and self-purpose, despite his relentless consistency in work. Surrounding him are humans without moral substance or integrity who display selfish attitudes regardless of their status in society. The most prominent example of this kind of person is Kholsomer’s owner. His example shows there is a strong implication that animals are more honest and integral than humans, who develop infatuations for concepts like possession and status.

Despite its simple nature, Tolstoy’s prose is lively and emotionally energetic. The fate of Kholstomer the horse, his silent persistence and ultimate death, is a powerful narrative, particularly as his experiences are conveyed first-hand. One feels that if his story were told in the third-person, by a human, it would not have nearly as much life or vigour. It is a tale both disturbing and tender-hearted, serving as an encapsulation of Tolstoy’s deep rooted beliefs and philosophies surrounding morality.

*photograph of Leo Tolstoy taken by Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky in 1908 AD

‘The Story of a Horse’ encourages the reader to think laterally about their own attachment to artificial concepts and their support of certain ideals. The story is a cross-examination of what true morality is, a narrative which scrutinises and at times ridicules societal norms and the negative consequences of them.

15/04/24  revised 10/02/26

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