Yama The Pit Aleksandr Kuprin 9781519384386 Books
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A novel about prostitution in Moscow. From the introduction It must not be thought, despite its locale, that Kuprin’s “Yama” is a picture of Russian prostitution solely; it is intrinsically universal. All that is necessary is to change the kopecks into cents, pennies, sous or pfennings; compute the versts into miles or metres; Jennka may be Eugenie or Jeannette; and for Yama, simply read Whitechapel, Montmartre, or the Barbary Coast. That is why “Yama” is a “tremendous, staggering, and truthful book— a terrific book.” It has been called notorious, lurid— even oleographic. So are, perhaps, the picaresques of Murillo, the pictorial satires of Hogarth, the bizarreries of Goya...
Yama The Pit Aleksandr Kuprin 9781519384386 Books
B.G. Guerney's translations from Russian are amazingly good. I admit that my knowledge of Russian is imperfect, but all a reader who has no Russian need do is compare B.G.G.'s translations of Turgenev's FATHERS AND SONS or Gogol's DEAD SOULS with other existing translations to see the qualitative difference. (Nabokov, the cruelest judge ever of translators from the Russian, praised Guerney's Gogol.)Unfortunately, his magnificent talent is wasted on Kuprin's lurid study of life in a 19th century Russian brothel. This is not a "classic" of Russian literature, unless you think, say, Nelson Algren is a "classic" of American literature.
Why the devil someone didn't commission Guerney to translate the major novels of Dostoevsky or Tolstoy is an unfathomable mystery to me.I suppose the status of Constance Garnett was unquestioned (probably partly for extra-literary reasons, though her translations are not as bad as some would claim), but Guerney's version of THE IDIOT is a book that I wish existed, in spite of Garnett, McDuff, and Peaver & friend.
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Yama The Pit Aleksandr Kuprin 9781519384386 Books Reviews
Alexander Kuprin dedicated this book to the motherhood and the youth. And even though it deals with unspeakable horrors of people living and acting worse than any beasts imaginable, it's at its heart about friendship, love, and devotion. These virtues, most often absent in the world of the riches, are found in what seems to be the deepest pit (yama) of social injustice.
I read this book in high school, lured in by Kuprin's other famous stories, such as "The Duel" (his first success, just as impressive as the later ones), "Gambrinus" or "The Bracelet of Garnets." Back then the emotional punch of "The Pit" pushed me to become a strong believer in women's rights, and helped me to form a solid idea of what a true man is as opposed to the dispeakable "men" portrayed by Kuprin's stinging prose.
Now, as an adult, I firmly believe that this book is a must read for any growing man, so that he learns how to be human in the highest sense of the word, as opposed to "respectable" and heartless "consumers" like so many showcased in this story.
NB why do the words "a novel of prostitution" appear in the title? It's not in the original and absolutely unnecessary. What should appear instead is "a novel of real life".
Written between 1909 and 1915 in three parts by the enfant terrible of Russian literature, Alexander Kuprin's Yama is an extraordinarily frank and in-depth look at the nature of prostitution that must certainly have been revolutionary for its time as it is no less powerful and relevant today. The novel recounts the lives of the prostitutes of a run-down outlying district of a large southern Russian town of Odessa, the district known as Yamaskaya, or, more commonly, Yama - The Pit.
Inevitably, the depiction of the impoverished circumstances of the lifestyle of the girls at Anna Markovna's house of ill repute - a lower quality 2-rouble establishment on Little Yamaskaya (the more upmarket brothels operating in Greater Yamaskaya) - is grim, sordid and degrading, but the novel looks realistically at the outlook maintained by the women and the lives that they have escaped from that permits them to endure the hardships of their profession. Some of the clients are indeed foul and the women are at the mercy of murderous pimps, but each of the girls although inclined to gossip and compete with each other, are determined to please as women, wishing to be seen or treated as special - a perhaps surprising notion, but one that is clearly accurately related to basic human nature.
That kind of perceptive observation is related, by extension through the clients from all walks of life that the women receive, out into society in general, reflecting other less savoury aspects of Russian life, attitudes and behaviour. Divided into three parts, it's expansive in this respect, considering the social and moral implications of prostitution, examining the case of one woman Liubka who leaves the brothel under the tutelage of a "benefactor", and that of another, Jennka, who succumbs to the psychological pressures and medical hazards of the prostitute, taking in along the way journalists, students and a baroness, all of them trying to form a moral view on the subject that they can reconcile with their own natures, as well as a travelling salesman who traffics the women from one part of the country to another and in the process even extending his business into a multinational operation.
Yama is an extensive and expansive look then at all aspects of the commerce of prostitution, the need for the profession and the morality of it as it relates to different parts of society, but it's no mere academic exercise. There is a remarkable degree of detail accurately observed in the psychology and behaviour of many of the characters, the whole subject vividly and colourfully depicted with precision and authenticity.
Such insight regarding a much-abused-purposely misunderstood subject; world class writing from Russia's Golden Age. I discovered the book quite by accident; am so happy I did.
Fine reflections of the era.
This novel about Russian houses of prostitution is sympathetic towards the women who work there. The translation by Bernard Guilbert Guerney is excellent.
Thank you
The interesting thing about Kuprin is the speed of his novels. Kuprin, both in Yama and in The Duel, spends about 2/3 of the novel setting up a scene, a situation, a reality for the reader. This can be slightly tedious if one is not willing to participate in the author's will. If you are slightly interested in going along with the story, and by that I mean putting in a bit of time and effort into reading the beginning, the this book will rivet you to it for the second half, draining all of your energy by the time you have finished. I was surprised myself when I read the book, considering I tend to be a bit estranged from Russian fiction, despite my continued enjoyment of the genre. The comments it has about the human condition are wonderful and grim at the same time, leaving the reader much to consider. That is a great thing I like about this book compared to the regular Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, that it gives you a scene and lets you determine the solution, meaning, thesis, etc. instead of pushing it down your throat in rather obvious manners like the aforementioned authors rather specific views on religion, not that those detract from the interest of those authors anyways.
Overall, if you are interested in Russian literature, I highly suggest this underrated and overlooked author.
B.G. Guerney's translations from Russian are amazingly good. I admit that my knowledge of Russian is imperfect, but all a reader who has no Russian need do is compare B.G.G.'s translations of Turgenev's FATHERS AND SONS or Gogol's DEAD SOULS with other existing translations to see the qualitative difference. (Nabokov, the cruelest judge ever of translators from the Russian, praised Guerney's Gogol.)
Unfortunately, his magnificent talent is wasted on Kuprin's lurid study of life in a 19th century Russian brothel. This is not a "classic" of Russian literature, unless you think, say, Nelson Algren is a "classic" of American literature.
Why the devil someone didn't commission Guerney to translate the major novels of Dostoevsky or Tolstoy is an unfathomable mystery to me.I suppose the status of Constance Garnett was unquestioned (probably partly for extra-literary reasons, though her translations are not as bad as some would claim), but Guerney's version of THE IDIOT is a book that I wish existed, in spite of Garnett, McDuff, and Peaver & friend.
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