text:
Collaborative Writing with Gobby

First
Ranszy001 (discuss • contribs) 16:32, 26 May 2016 (UTC)]]

 * 1) The facilitator will log in and create a document containing these instructions (only the first part).
 * 2) It will guide participants to connect to the session and choose colors that are easy to distinguish, choosing three to five colors 'primary' and asking them to choose shades of these colors that are easy to distinguish, but in a balanced way (eg in a group 10, if the colors are green, yellow and red, there should be 5 red, 4 green and yellow).
 * 3) Henceforth will guide the session through internal chat Gobby, except to deal with discipline problems.
 * 4) He asked to generate three to five ideas on the theme of collaborative writing project.
 * 5) He asked that these proposals are polished until each is supported by at least 2 participants.
 * 6) He asked that the chat is used to create consensus, calling for proposals are eliminated one by one, until the group has consolidated behind one or all except one have been eliminated. (If consensus is difficult feedback can be used to remove intercalated with discución proposals.)
 * 7) The instructor will ask the author of the proposal chosen the extended to a small paragraph, with the help of anyone who wants to contribute, but providing this assistance THROUGH the chat except for trivial issues (score changes, correcting spelling errors, etc. ..).
 * 8) They now ask that we all make a sketch of the text (as an abstract or plan, a way to do this is to write a paragraph that prayer plans to write this sentence will become the topic sentence of the paragraph).
 * 9) Finally it is up to all turn that sketch into a complete text. A simple way to divide tasks is to ask everyone to choose a paragraph and develop. Another is that turns going to expand the text from beginning to end are taken. (These are two possible ways to do this, if the group generates its own way, even better.)
 * 10) Upon completion of this part of the script the facilitator will remind them to record a local copy before exiting the session. The record one in particular, should keep same folder on the server.

Second

 * 1) The facilitator asked to form based on the colors, i.e, those who chose different shades of the same color are now the same computer equipment. (You do not need to be perfectly balanced equipment sizes.)
 * 2) Now we will show the projector and create a session. The first of each team to succeed in creating a session moderator will be the leader and his team. The other members must now connect to that session. If controversy over who think first is generated, the facilitator should seek consensus with confidence (without hesitation or extend it), because this is a very significant part of the activity (one way, if there are two first generate the session, is stay with one of them, but name another moderator).
 * 3) Now it is up to the teams generate substantially different versions of the text generated in the first half.
 * 4) The session facilitator will be used by team leaders to generate ideas for variants. (These can come from other team members, but only the leader was connected to the session the instructor, though everyone can see the document you are working on the projector.) This step should not be long, but if you must have a conclusion satisfactory for the team, to motivate them to write. You can vary the final, principles, styles ... Anyway, there are many interesting ways to do it.
 * 5) Now issues variants sessions cortapegan leaders and proceeds to write the variants with the methodology of the first part (theme -> paragraph -> Sketch -> Text).
 * 6) The leader raises the text generated session instructor.
 * 7) The final versions are stored on the server. (It is important to show such actions in the spotlight, so participants are acquiring good practice.)
 * 8) The final versions by the corresponding equipment are read.

Third

 * 1) The facilitator will guide the whole group to put html markup text created in the 1st half. These marks are used:: , , , , ,
 * 2) It is explained to the group the English meaning of the name of the label as a mnemonic aid.
 * 3) Now each team will do the same with its version.
 * 4) the final versions to the session facilitator will rise and hence to the server.

Four

 * 1) The facilitator will guide the group in creating a file type CSS (stylesheet) for the text created by the whole group.
 * 2) *A sheet of simple style is created. It may include:
 * 3) *#Size and font type.
 * 4) *#Color de fondo y de la fuente.
 * 5) *#Size and font of the titles and subtitles.
 * 6) *#It will show how to include the style sheet in the HTML document inside the  section
 * 7) Mostrará como incluir una imagen, creada con tuxpaint, mediante la etiqueta.
 * 8) It will show how to align the image and titles in the stylesheet.
 * 9) The Groups now create their own style sheets in the meetings of its leaders. (It can be recycled sheet created in the session facilitator, in fact, be emphasized that recycle code is a good practice.)
 * 10) Opcionalmente can add images to your text and change the style sheet to align.
 * 11) A Suggest that the texts can be signed by the authors, but in no way be binding (or for groups or for individuals) signing.
 * 12) A Up all final versions to the session facilitator.
 * 13) Now The facilitator will guide the group in creating an index, introducing the  with the parameters   and   (the latter used for the index include subsections).
 * 14) It will be displayed as use  together. (This will be done even if no text contains subsections.)
 * 15) You can use images instead of text in the index (this is a more than formal creative activity).
 * 16) Will be added to the index sheet created for the original text style.
 * 17) Shall be specified in the stylesheet, colors leagues consulted and not consulted.
 * 18) A button or text will be created to return to the index and will be included in the other pages.
 * 19) The Facilitator now will raise the final folder to your  and all texts and stylesheets to the server.
 * 20) The Group will review the work of all to find errors in the text or markings. (This is an essential practice in the collective elaboration, it is said that given enough eyeballs all bugs are trivial.)
 * 21) A Show the group how to put links to the newly created site on a social network or blog.
 * 22) Each team to repeat this step will be required, preferably putting the league on another site and ligand directly to your own text or index, to disseminate their work and solicit feedback.

title: Collaborative Writing with Gobby


license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: File:Angles.20120511.pdf


text: File:Zonnewagen.png

title: File:Zonnewagen.png


title: File:Procesverslag123.pdf


text:
Physics (A-level)/Modelling the universe

Measures of distance
There several measures of distance that are used when describing the universe. These are used because the SI unit, meter, is inefficient when talking about such large distances. You will need to understand how each distance is determined.

Astronomical Unit (AU)
An astronomical unit is the average distance between the Earth and the Sun. It measures to approximately 1.5x1011m This unit is not often used when discussing any interstellar objects due to it's relatively small magnitude.

Light-year (ly)
A light-year is the distance traveled by an electromagnetic wave through free space in one year. It measures to approximately 1x1016m. It can be worked out based from the equation distance=speed*time, using the values of the speed of light in a vacuum and the amount of seconds in a year.

Parsec (pc)
A parsec is the distance from from which 1AU would subtend to 1 second of arc. It measures to approximately 3.3 ly.

Formation of a star
You will need to know the steps that happen in the formation of a star
 * All stars start as a cloud of dust and gas consisting of mostly hydrogen. This is called a nebula. Over time the force of gravity attracts these particles together to form progressively larger chunks. These chunks gain a stronger gravitational field strength and attract more matter to itself.
 * As this process continues it eventually forms a protostar which is the very early beginnings of a star and continues to pull matter towards it.
 * As more matter is attracted to the protostar and joins onto it, the matter loses gravitational Ep which causes a rise in temperature. This in turn will initiate fusion of the hydrogen atoms, releasing energy.
 * The fusion reaction sends energy outwards which prevents further gravitational collapse. At this point, it is said to now be a Main Sequence Star

Probable evolution of a star
There are multiple possible fates of a star, generally depending on the star's mass. For a star the size of our sun: For a star much larger than our sun:
 * Once all the hydrogen has been used up in the fusion reaction at the star's core, fusion stops. This causes the core to collapse due to the gravitational forces.
 * This transfer of Ep heats up the hydrogen on outer layers causing it to fuse to helium.
 * The outer part of the star expands which also cools it to create a Red Giant
 * When the core reaches about 108K, helium starts to fuse to create carbon, releasing energy.
 * Eventually the outer layers drift away from the stars core and it is left as a dense White Dwarf. The core of this white dwarf is so dense that matter becomes degenerate. At this point fusion has stopped and the white dwarf is left to cool for ever.
 * The temperature and pressure in the core is high enough to fuse hydrogen via the CNO cycle, which is a fusion process in which carbon, nitrogen and oxygen take part to form helium.
 * A more massive star will use up all it's hydrogen faster and so will have a shorter lifespan.
 * If the star is around 10 times the size of our sun, it will become a Super Red Giant once the hydrogen has been used up. The core is now hot and dense enough to start the fusion of carbon.
 * Once the carbon is used up, the core collapses and starts the next fusion process. This continues until the core consists entirely of iron
 * After this, the core will collapse again and cause a huge explosion called a supernova. All of the material surrounding the core is shot away by the huge shock wave. At this point, energy levels are so high that neutrons combine with other nuclei to form varying elements, some larger than iron
 * After the supernova, a small core remains. This is called a Neutron Star. A neutron star has a density similar to nuclear matter.
 * If the star is more than twice the mass of our sun, then a black hole will be produced. This happens when the density is so great that light cannot escape it's gravitational pull.

Olber's paradox
Olber's paradox discusses that if the universe is of infinite size and static, then the sky would be completely white with light. This would be due to an infinite amount of stars in every direction.


text: File:Untitled collage.jpg

title: File:Untitled collage.jpg


text:
Book Reviews/Buddha’s Little Finger

Buddha’s Little Finger is a novel written in 1996 by Russian author Victor Pelevin. Combining Russian pop and high culture with Buddhist aesthetics and philosophy, the novel highlights the mutable, meaningless nature of reality for both its hero and for Russia throughout history.

Explaination of the Novel's Title
In Russian, the title of the novel is Чапаев и Пустота (Chapaev i Pustota), which in Russian can be read as either Chapaev and his sidekick Pustota, or, literally Chapaev and Void. This title carries more significance for a Russian speaking audience than an English speaking one, as the character of Chapaev is already established in the canon of Russian popular culture. The novel first appeared to an English speaking audience as The Clay Machine Gun, a reference to the appearence of Chapaev's mysterious weapon that is revealed towards the end of the book. The title Buddha's Little Finger also refers to this weapon.

Author's Background
Victor Pelevin (b. 22 November 1961 in Moscow) is a novelist and writer of short stories. He has a degree in engineering, but became addicted to writing in his mid twenties. His first short story was published in 1989, and since then he has published more than seventeen novels and short stories. (Wikipedia) His ironic and philosophical novels use the chaos of post-Soviet Russia as both an inspiration and a backdrop to their plots. Buddhist philosophy is often a central element in Pelevin’s novels. Pelevin has studied Buddhism in South Korea and travelled in China and Japan. About Buddhism, Pelevin says, “I only study and practice my mind for which the Dharma of Buddha is the best tool I know: and it is exactly what the word Buddhism means to me. And I also totally accept the moral teaching of Buddhism because it is the necessary condition of being able to practice your mind. But it is not too different from the moral teachings of other traditions.” (Interview with Leo Kropywiansky) Pelevin currently lives in New York City.

Selected Works
 * Omon Ra / Омон Ра (1992)
 * The Life of Insects / Жизнь насекомых (1993)
 * Buddha's Little Finger (aka Clay Machine-Gun) / Чапаев и Пустота (Chapayev and Void) (1996)
 * Babylon (aka Generation Π, Homo Zapiens) / Generation "П" (1999)
 * Numbers (as part of the book DTP(NN) - The Dialectics of the Transition Period (from Nowhere to No Place)) / Числа (часть книги ДПП(NN) - Диалектика Переходного Периода (из Ниоткуда в Никуда)) (2004)
 * The Sacred Book of the Werewolf / Священная Книга Оборотня (2005)
 * The Helmet of Horror / Шлем ужаса (2005)
 * Empire V / Ампир В (2006)
 * t (2009)
 * S.N.U.F.F. (2011).

Essays and Short Stories

 * Hermit and Sixfinger / Затворник и Шестипалый (1990)
 * Prince of Central Planning / Принц Госплана (1992)
 * The Yellow Arrow / Желтая стрела (1993)
 * Blue Lantern and Other Stories (1991)
 * P5: Farewell songs of the political pygmies of Pindostan / П5: прощальные песни политических пигмеев Пиндостана (2008)
 * Pineapple Water for the Fair Lady / Ананасная вода для прекрасной дамы (2010)
 * 4 by Pelevin' (2001)

Plot
The novel is written as a first-person narrative of Pyotr Voyd and the book is set in two different times - after the October revolution and in modern Russia. In the post-revolutionary period Pyotr is a poet who has fled from St.Petersurg to Moscow and who takes up the identity of a Soviet political commissar and meets a strange man named Vasily Chapaev who is some sort of an army commander. He spends his days drinking samogon, taking drugs and talking about the meaning of life with Chapaev. Every night (according to his post-revolutionary life) Pyotr has nightmares about him being locked up in a psychiatric hospital because of his beliefs of being a poet from the beginning of the century. He shares the room in the hospital with three other men, each with their own individual form of fake identity. The reader does not know which of Pyotr's identities is the real one and whether there is such a thing as a real identity at all.

Principle Characters

1919

Pyotr Voyd- The hero of the novel, we first meet him in civil war era Saint Petersburg, circa 1919. In the 1919 plotline, Voyd is an amnesiac war hero serving in the legendary army Vasily Chapaev. In the 1991 plot, however, he is a patient commited to a mental institution with severe and persistent schizophrenia, the main feature of which is the delusion that he is a Red officer in the Russian civil war.

Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev- Red Army commander

Anna- Chapaev's formidable machine-gunner sidekick

Dmitri Furmonov-regimental commissar, an official of the Communist Party in charge of political indoctrination and the enforcement of party loyalty, and real-life author of the socialist-realist mythmaking novel on Chapaev

Grigory Kotovsky- a cocaine addict and disciple of Chapaev

1991

Timur Timurovich- The psychologist of the patients at the hospital

Semyon Serdyuk- is an inmate of the 17th psychiatric hospital who shares the room with Pyotr.

Vladimir Volodin-is a Russian gangster (so-called "new russian") and Pyotr's fellow inmate.

Maria- Maria or Simply Maria (a male character) is another roommate of Pyotr's in the psychiatric hospital.

Major Themes
identity in crisis

the individual versus the state

East versus West

The nature of reality

Publication History
Originally published in 1996 in Russian as Чапаев и Пустота (Chapaev i Pustota) or, Chapaev and the Void. The first English translation of the novel was released in Great Britain by publishers Faber and Faber under the title The Clay Machine Gun. The novel continues to appear under that title outside the United States. The first U.S. edition of the novel was published by Penguin in 1999 with a new translation by Andrew Bromfield. Bromfield’s translation changed the title to Buddha’s Little Finger.

Literary Context and Significance
Elements of Buddha's Little Finger place it as a direct descendant of Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. Both authors use the device of parallel plotlines to create an over all meaningful, artful work. Both works share the the theme of the reality of the individual vs. the reality of the state, with the madhouse being an important location of discourse around this theme. About The Master and Margarita and Bulgakov's influence on him, Pelevin says, "The effect of this book was really fantastic. There’s an expression “out of this world.” This book was totally out of the Soviet world. The evil magic of any totalitarian regime is based on its presumed capability to embrace and explain all the phenomena, their entire totality, because explanation is control. Hence the term totalitarian. So if there’s a book that takes you out of this totality of things explained and understood, it liberates you because it breaks the continuity of explanation and thus dispels the charms. It allows you to look in a different direction for a moment, but this moment is enough to understand that everything you saw before was a hallucination (though what you see in this different direction might well be another hallucination)." (From and interview with Leo Kropywiansky)

Buddha’s Little Finger has been read as belonging in the context of Russian post- modernism. Russian post modernism began to develop in the second half of the nineteen sixties with such works as Venedikt Erofeev’s Moscow to the End of the Line. Russian post modernism was an underground form of expression, as its subject matter and described perception of reality (or lack thereof) was subversive of official state ideologies. (Lipovetsky pg. 42) According to literary critic Mark Lipovetsky, post modernism in Russia has two main tasks- the production of images which have no relation to reality, and the unmasking of the absence of any profound reality whatsoever. From the beginning of Buddha’s Little Finger, Pelevin barrages the reader with artifacts of Russian pop culture, an assault similar to overload of information experienced in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. “The artist Il'ia Kabakov... has stated that while in Western conceptualism one 'thing' is substituted with another 'thing' or even with the verbal description of a 'thing', that is, its idea, in Russian conceptualism a 'thing' is substituted not with another 'thing' and not with its description (possessing some definite meaning), but with nothingness (stress added by the editor of this page). Kabakov explains that this effect is a product of the total devalorization of reality generated by the Soviet overproduction of simulacra - that is, ideological images that replace reality and eventually lose any meaning.” (Lipovetsky pg. 33) In Buddha’s Little Finger, Pelevin’s use of parallel plotlines compares the devalorization of reality in in revolutionary Russia with the contemporary devalorization experienced in the nineties.

Significant References to Russian History and Culture
Reds and Whites-The two main sides of the Russian Civil War (October 1917 – October 1922) were the Bolshevik Red Army and the anti-Communist White Army.

Chapaev, Anka, and Petka- Pyotr’s friend and guru is based off the myth of Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev (February 9, 1887 – September 5, 1919), who was a real commander of the Red Army in the Russian Civil War. In 1924 Dmitri Furmonov, who in real life was not the head of the weavers but a commissar in Chapaev’s division, wrote a novel entitled Chapaev, which was made into a film in 1934. The film is a classic of Soviet cinema, and is well known in Russian popular culture. The film features Chapaev, his machine-gunner Anka, and his aide-de-camp Petka, all of whom are based off of historical figures and are reimagined by Pelevin in Buddha’s Little Finger. In Russian pop culture there is a whole sub genre of Chapaev jokes that feature the threesome.

 * Chapaev, Petka and Anka, in hiding from the Whites, are crawling across a field, first Anka, then Petka and Chapaev last. Petka says to Anka, “Your mother must have been a dancer – your legs are so fine!” Chapaev responds, “And your father, Petka, must have been a plowman: you are leaving such a deep furrow!” (Anectdotoff)

 * The guide of the Museum of the October Revolution demonstrates to visitors the skeleton of the Civil War hero V.I.Chapaev. “And what is that small skeleton behind him?” “That is V.I.Chapaev in childhood,” explains the guide. (Anectdotoff)

 * Chapaev is sitting at a table and eating cabbage soup. Petka storms into the room, frightened: “Vasily Ivanovich! Inflation is advancing!” “Don’t panic,” said Chapaev. “Tell Anka to shoot it out with a machine gun.” (Anectdotoff) - Knowing the nature of Anna’s machine gun, this joke can be seen as particularly relevant and funny in the context of Buddha’s Little Finger.

Just Maria-In the 1990’s the Mexican telenovela Simply Maria, or Just Maria was enormously popular in Russia, and was followed by over 140 million viewers (Stanley). After the collapse of the Soviet Union, soap operas were one of the Western imports that poured into Russia. “Russian intellectuals deplore this as yet another example of how the West, and particularly North America and the United States, is smothering the Slavic identity with its heedless exportation of pornography, game shows, comic books, rock music and above all, soap operas.” (Stanley)

New Russians- After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a new class of wealthy business people emerged from those who were able to take advantage of rapid privatization. These “new Russians” are regarded in popular culture as nouveau-riche in a vulgar, criminal way, and are often associated with the gross economic and class divides that developed in the nineties. (Wikipedia)

Study Questions

 * In Buddha's Little Finger, is Victor Pelevin writing about a uniquely Russian experience of the world, or does this novel appeal to a wider foreign audience?

 * Buddha's Little Finger has been called "a work of pop-literature". Does this date the novel, or do you think it will withstand the test of time and remain relevant in the Russian post-Soviet canon?

 * How does this novel portray Russian identity in crisis? As Pyotr is jolted from 1919 to 1991, his struggles with identity can also be read in the social upheaval of the parallel plot lines. Can Pyotr be read as a metaphor for Russia?

 * What is Pelevin trying to convey in comparing 1919 and 1991 through parellel plot lines?

 * How does Pelevin imagine Russia's relationship to the East? How is this different with its relationship to the West? Does Pelevin priveledge one over the other?

 * Does the physical/historical world shape the consciousness of the individual? If so how and if not, why not?

title: Book Reviews/Buddha’s Little Finger


text:
Book Reviews/Notes from Underground

Introduction to Notes From Underground
Notes From Underground is one of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's most well renowned novels. It is thought to be one of the first existentialist Russian works. The novella is the disorganized memoir of an unknown narrator, who is referred to by critics as the Underground Man. His narration is disjointed and unreliable, and is colored by a general sense of disdain. Notes From Underground is split into two major parts, and synthesizes philosophical and fictional prose; with Part I containing virtually no plot whatsoever, merely the Underground Man’s generalized chaotic pondering and descriptions of his surroundings. Part I manages to provide a glimpse into the Underground Man’s diseased psyche. Part II tells of the Underground Man’s ventures above ground, and illustrates that he is incapable of forming meaningful relationships with others. His interactions with other people congruently bring him joy and tear him down, which is why he chooses to remain underground. The reoccurring themes in Dostoyevsky’s Notes From Underground, such as hopelessness, self-consciousness, and his grotesque Gogol-esque style of prose, proved to hold much literary influence on 20th century Russian writers, exemplified in novels such as We, Envy, and Master and Margarita.

The Novel's Title
Notes From Underground, (original Russian Записки из подполья, Zapiski iz podpol'ya) can also be transliterated into English as Notes From the Underground or Letters of the Underworld. The novella is entitled Notes From Underground, as it is the memoir of a disturbed man, who has spent his entire life ‘underground,’ and thus has no place in proper society. The novella is simply Dostoyevsky’s Underground Man recanting why he remains underground, and will not resurface. Dostoyevsky’s disjointed and jumpy first person style of prose enhanced the sense of chaos inherent in the novella, as it is relative of one taking notes, which can be jumbled or misinterpreted. By the conclusion of Notes From Underground the Underground Man has starkly retreated from society and further underground, into himself, where he can be alone with his overly conscious thoughts.

Major Themes
Egoism Egoism, or the sense of self is a reoccurring and pervasive theme throughout the entirety of Notes From Underground. Dostoyevsky narrates the novel through The Underground Man, whose enhanced sense of self is at once his greatest strength and most powerful weakness. Despite the fact that his ego prevents him from functioning in proper society the Underground Man revels in his enhanced sense of consciousness, stating, “But gentleman, whoever can pride himself on his diseases and even swagger over them? ... Though after all, everyone does do that; people do pride themselves on their diseases, and I do, may be, more than anyone (pg 5, Notes, Dostoyevsky).” The Underground Man uses his ego, which he equates to an illness as a way of drawing parallels between himself and others. He is a fully conscious man, therefore inherently superior to those that blunder foolishly throughout life such as Zverkov. In Notes From Underground, his memoir, the Underground Man places himself upon a pedestal, therefore giving himself the power to emotionally abuse and manipulate those such as Liza, whom he tears apart, stating that her dreams of escaping prostitution are ridiculous and naïve. Dostoyevsky, in fact was disturbed by the idea of ego and its spread from the West into Russian society, James P. Scanlan states, “In the 1860s Dostoevsky's interest in the phenomenon of egoism was powerfully fed by his conviction that a narrow focus on the ego or self--something he considered endemic in Western civilization--was a plague that increasingly threatened Russia. We know from many sources that he regarded the spread of egoism in his homeland as a direct consequence of the Westernization of Russia and a prime moral, even mortal, danger (idehist.uu.se, Scanlan).” Therefore, his usage of the Underground Man as a parody and defamation of the Russian ideal of egoism and the novel nihilistic philosophies that accompanied it seems fit, as Dostoyevsky’s protagonist serves as a scathing critique of a system of beliefs that Dostoyevsky found appalling and lackluster. Existentialism Existentialism or, “the notion that the full life can only be realized and a significant identity achieved through an irrational commitment to a belief outside the self, an act which is a leap of faith rather than any considered decision based upon rational analysis…( records.viu.ca, Johnson),” is also thrust into the forefront of Notes From Underground. The Underground Man’s actions are solely based on his irrational, and erratic viewpoint, dictated by his enhanced sense of consciousness. Due to his enhanced sense of ego, it is improbable that any social situation he is involved in, does not include the other party scathingly critiquing his character, and attempting outright to wrong him. This is exemplified in the Underground Man’s encounter with the nameless Officer in Part I of Notes, where he is convinced that the Officer pushed him out of the way, in a crowded street purely out of spite. The Underground Man then goes out of his way spending several years plotting to right the wrong that the officer committed, and gain revenge. Furthermore, the Underground Man is recanting the actions in Notes From Underground in order to gain a more thorough understanding of himself, and his consciousness in relation to his actions. Yelizaveta Rapoport states, “He is struggling to understand his life, to make sense of his existence, and to comprehend the true nature of his being. Jean-Paul Sartre, a pioneer of existentialism, wrote in his work “Existentialism and Human Emotions that, ‘man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world and defines himself afterwards’ (345). The ‘underground man’ is doing just that, he’s struggling to define himself after encountering existence in his world. His journal entries illustrate his depression, his disparity, and his loss. He is all alone, and his only hope to truly see himself, to truly understand his own presence in the universe is through introspection. The ‘underground man’ is struggling to develop an understanding of the nature of his being, and the nature of the universe around him. He is a cardinal symbol of existentialist philosophy (international.ucla.edu, Rapoport).” Nihilism Notes From Underground is thought to be an elaborate parody of Nietzsche and his nihilist school of thought. [This cannot be so as Nietzsche's first book was published in 1872, 8 years after the publication of Notes from Underground, in 1864. When Dostovevsky's novella was published, Nietzsche was only 20 and could not have been known to the Russian author]. He creates an utterly pathetic character, and uses him in undermining every belief that the nihilists hold dear. Joseph Frank states, “This parody however, does not consist merely in rejecting Nihilism and setting up a competing version of ‘human nature’ in its place. Rather since parody is ridicule by imitation, Dostoyevsky assimilates the major doctrines of Russian nihilism into the life of his Underground Man; and by revealing the hopeless dilemmas in which he lands himself as a result; Dostoyevsky intends to undermine these doctrines from within (4, Frank).” The Underground Man’s inability to function within society, to form friendships, or to communicate with others, all are irritated by the nihilistic outlook that feeds into the Underground Man’s enhanced ego. The Underground Man rejects all moral and religious beliefs and replaces them with a new, corrupt conduct of behavior, where every action is premeditated, and all people are inherently evil and out to spurn him. He then applies his behaviors to others, and as they do not, and never will adhere to his beliefs, is forced to retreat further underground, further within himself and his consciousness. Free Will Dostoyevsky also addresses free will and the 19th century movement of Rational Egoism through his protagonist. Rational Egoism is the belief that free will is fictitious, every action one takes is predetermined by the complexities of society or ones own self. The Underground Man seems against the ideal of Rational Egoism as he spends the entirety of the novella trying to exert control over his ego and self. The Underground Man is rendered an elaborate satire of the Rational Egoist, trying to gain freedom while having none. Bernard J. Paris states, “One reason why the Underground Man wants freedom so much is that he possesses so little of it. His behavior is involuntary, he is aware of the inevitability of his reactions and feels them to be expressions of natural law. His hatred of the laws of nature is in part, hatred of his own compulsions, which he longs to escape (46, Paris).” Literary critics however, argue that Dostoyevsky uses the Underground Man to oppose Rational Egoism. For he is a character crafted from parodies and satires, he vehemently believes in his freedom of self, and is in strict opposition of Rational Egoism. The Underground Man’s ridiculous behaviors can be seen as open expressions of self and free will. The Underground Man merely acts irrationally and inappropriately because he has the ability to. His actions never yield positive results, but they enhance his consciousness, self, and ego. “For one thing, the Underground Man often appears to reject Rational Egoism directly and unambivalently, with no suggestion of violating some prior intellectual commitment. Moreover, discursive arguments are discernable in the Underground Man’s feverish monologue, and they are invariably directed against Rational Egoism, never in favor of it (551, The Case, Scanlan).” Though there are still many debates regarding whether the Underground Man supports or invalidates the beliefs that Rational Egoists supported, it is clear that Rational Egoism, and the ideas of free will and what constitutes it are overarching, important themes throughout Dostoyevsky’s text. Christian Motifs and Symbolism Dostoyevsky was raised in a highly devout Russian family, and thus holds a great knowledge of Christian doctrine. Though he went through periods of agnosticism, religion remained a constant factor in Dostoyevsky’s personal life, as well as in his text. Notes From Underground utilizes religious symbolism through the supporting characters, primarily Liza, the saintly, naïve prostitute, and Apollon the Underground Man’s disgruntled manservant. Literary critics equate Liza to a Mary Magdalene allegory, with her consistent acceptance of the Underground Man’s abusive behaviors, and her ability to love him despite his incredibly flawed interior. Aurora Choi from Middlebury elaborates, “Liza, Dostoevsky's first attempt at portraying a saintly prostitute, makes her appearance in "Notes from Underground," a short story published in 1864. The Underground Man, the narrator of the story, visits the brothel where she works and sleeps with her. In their ensuing conversation, he learns that she is a 20 year-old runaway from Riga who must earn her living as a prostitute in St. Petersburg (2:6). She is already in debt to the madam, so cannot freely leave the brothel. Her only hope is a medical student who knows nothing of her occupation and sends her a love letter (2:7). After the Underground Man's abusive tirade, she turns the other cheek, refusing to lash back out at him (2:7). She visits him in his home, and after another tirade, she forgives him yet again and sleeps with him (2:9) out of love rather than profit. In a moment of cruelty, he pays her for her services, and she departs, never to be seen again (2:10) (middlebury.edu, Choi)” Liza’s purity, even in the face of her profession, makes her the perfect foil to the Underground Man, who Dostoyevsky has crafted to display all that is wrong with humanity. One can also equate Liza’s relationship with the Underground Man to be another form of Dostoyevsky’s undermining nihilist beliefs. For, nihilism goes hand and hand with atheism, and the Underground Man cannot predict the actions of Liza or Apollon, due to the fact that they are religious allegories, and as a nihilist the Underground Man cannot comprehend religion. Apollon, who consistently holds the Underground Man’s disdain, is thought to be a Gogolian lord of death, lurking within the shadows of the Underground Man’s crumbling estate. Robert Louis Jackson states, “The episode in which the Underground Man confronts Apollon the servant is central in defining the true nature of the Underground Man’s universe and his place in it. Here the servant is master – and master, servant. Apollon is not a symbol of the god of sunlight, but a kind of plebian god of death, a rat exterminator who also reads psalms over the dead (73, Jackson).” Apollon who clearly holds no respect for the Underground Man, goes out of his way to make the Underground Man more unhappy, and thereby force him to retreat deeper into his Underground world. Apollon, is almost reminiscent of a devil, another type of religious character that Dostoyevsky enjoys employing in his novels. The Artistic Dominant The Russian literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin believed Notes From Underground to be an archetypal, new type of prose, with a narrator whose consciousness was the sole construct of his character. He came up with the term artistic dominant, explaining, “Self consciousness, as the artistic dominant governing the construction of a character cannot lie alongside other features of his image; it absorbs these other features into itself as its own material and deprives them of any power to define and finalize the hero (50, Bakhtin).” Through utilizing the Underground Man as the artistic dominant, Dostoyevsky creates a new form of philosophical and fictional writing, where the idea of ‘truth’ is foreign, and only the Underground Man’s pure consciousness exists. The reader is ensnared in the Underground Man’s twisted logic and forced into his dark, dismal, nihilist world. This usage of the Underground Man allows Dostoyevsky the privilege of not fleshing out his other characters, and narrowing his focus to the Underground Man, and his corrupted nature.

Composition History
Dostoyevsky was imprisoned in 1860, exiled and committed to four years of hard labour in a prison camp in Omsk, Siberia. When incarcerated Dostoyevsky learned of the gap in communication between the literate upper classes and poorly educated lower classes. The citizens of lower birth disliked all members of the literati, believing that they were overly Europeanized and selfish, despite their concerted efforts to aid the lower classes. This devastated Dostoyevsky, who believed that through attempting to educated those of low birth he was aiding them and gaining their trust. By the end of his stay in Omsk, Dostoyevsky had come to the conclusion that the only way to regain societal harmony was to cast away European ideals and lifestyle, and return to a completely holistic Russian form of existence. After being released from Omsk, Dostoyevsky took two trips abroad, visiting England, Italy, Switzerland, France and Germany. He was exposed to many new European schools of thought, including nihilism. These new, distinctly European philosophies upset Dostoyevsky, who still believed in the rejection of European ideologies in lieu of classic Russian beliefs. Dostoyevsky also published Notes From Underground during a bleak period. His wife had recently died, and his literary journal had failed. His personal life and career were failing. The inherent bitterness in Notes From Underground reflected this, with even Dostoyevsky remarking on how angry his protagonist sounded. Note From Underground was published in 1864, and met with great criticism in Russia, as the novel portrayed Utopian Socialist ideals in a negative light. Notes From Underground did not gain popularity until it was released in the West, where, ironically, it was given great accolades and praises. In 1866, two years after releasing Notes from Underground, Dostoyevsky published his most renowned work, Crime and Punishment, which became a literary sensation. Perhaps, since Dostoyevsky had renewed successes in his private and personal lives, Crime and Punishment did not hold the innate senses of angst and bitterness that Notes From Underground did, and the novels barely resonated with one another. Notes From Underground is considered to be written in the early period of Dostoyevsky's career, prior to his maturation into a more capable, effective writer.

Literary Significance
Notes From Underground is written as a memoir of a nameless man, and is thought to be the first existentialist Russian novel, as well as a biting critique of the, new nihilist beliefs that were pervasive in 19th century Russian society. Upon its release Notes From Underground was rejected by Soviet literary critics due to its negative views on Utopian Socialism, an important ideal of Socialist Russia. Dostoyevsky was influenced by Nikolai Gogol’s Dead Souls, and the novel grotesque, bleak style of narration that Gogol employed. The world of the Underground Man is bleak, it is always snowing, and the descriptions of the characters the Underground Man encounters are twisted, making them into caricatures. This is reminiscent of Gogol’s characterization of the citizens that his protagonist, Chichikov encounters. Robert Louis Jackson describes the world the Underground Man inhabits as, “a Gogolian world where everything has the conventional and abstract character of a stage, where ‘all is deception (70, Jackson).’” Dostoyevsky’s novella is also a satire, a parody of nihilist thoughts and beliefs. Dostoyevsky was strongly against the nihilist movement of thought, and used his novel as a way to undercut the nihilist belief system. These socialist radicals, such as Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky, believed that man was inherently good, which completely differed from Dostoyevsky’s view, as he believed that man was inherently evil, and had to go out of his way to be good. Joseph Frank points out, “Chernyshevsky and the radicals believed that man was innately good and amenable to reason, and that, once enlightened to his true interests, reason and science would ultimately enable him to construct a perfect society. Dostoyevsky, on the other hand, believed that man was innately evil, irrational, capricious, and destructive; not reason but only faith in Christ could ever succeed in helping him master the chaos of his impulses (1, Frank).” Dostoyevsky’s religious beliefs are evident throughout Notes From Underground, though the Underground Man is an atheist; he is surrounded by religious allegories, such as the pure, untarnished Liza, who serves as a Mary Magdalene figure, and his servant Apollon, who serves as a type of devil. Notes From Underground, and its existentialist themes of the individual versus the collective influenced many 20th century dystopian works, such as Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We. The idea of the anti-hero and the main character as a ‘loser’ who is incapable of functioning, yet finds himself superior to others was paralleled in Yuri Olesha’s Envy, another 20th century Russian novel. Mikhail Belakov’s Master and Margarita also holds Dostoyevskian influences, as it also parodies nihilistic beliefs and addresses existentialism through its bevy of characters. Dostoyevsky’s Notes From Underground continues to hold a great deal of importance; as the first existential novel any novel with existentialist themes therefore takes Dostoyevskian influence.

Study Questions
1. Why do you think that Dostoyevsky chooses not to reveal the identity of his narrator? Does it add additional meaning to the content of his story? 2. Does the Underground Man support or deny the idea of Rational Egoism? Is he symbolic of free will, and the treacherous lengths one will go to gain it? 3. If Dostoyevsky had not gone through the trials and tribulations he endured in 1864 (i.e. his wife dying and the premature failings of his career)do you think he would have produced Notes From Underground? Why? 4. Why is the mere idea of existing so important to the Underground Man? Think of his encounters with the Unnamed Officer and Zverkov, why does The Underground Man continuously go out of his way to throw his existence and ideals in the paths of other people? 5. In the context of parodying nihilism is Notes From Underground a successful novel, or is the sense of satire too deep, and too subtle? Personally, in terms of plot and context do you consider Notes From Underground to be a successful novel? Is Notes From Underground even a novel, or did Dostoyevsky create a discourse on nihilist and existentialist philosophies?

title: Book Reviews/Notes from Underground


text:
User:Koavf/Todo

B •  D  •  C  •  M  •  MW  •  N  •  P  •  Q  •  S  •  Species  •  T  •  Voy

 * en: 24,000 / de: 36,000

 * Getting your degree online: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22404989
 * Learning bass guitar with Joseph Patrick Moore
 * Curate philosophy courses on non-violence
 * Create spaces for teaching with Wikimedia projects
 * Add inter-project links
 * Real-time for chess and Spanish
 * Template:Administering Wikiversity horizontal
 * Category:Wikiversity maintenance
 * User:Koavf/The Perfect Cup of Tea
 * Time capsules course
 * https://qz.com/1437623/600-free-online-courses-you-can-take-from-universities-worldwide/
 * https://freelearninglist.org/

title: User:Koavf/Todo


text: File:Deadsoulscover.jpg

title: File:Deadsoulscover.jpg


text:
Book Reviews/Envy

Introduction to Envy
Written by Yuri Olesha and first published in 1927, in newly established Soviet Union. The 1920s brought great change for Russia as Tsar’s regime was thrown out and Communism was brought in. However, during the 20s, the Soviet Union went back to a quasi-capitalist system under the New Economic Policy. The New Economic Policy allowed citizens to own small businesses, one of the themes Olesha addresses in the novel. Through Andrei Babichev, Olesha portrays the new man created as a result of the New Economic Policy and places him in contrast with the older society. This is a period of confusion and hypocrisy, as a Communist society adopts Capitalistic policies. To show this confusion, Olesha presents a bleak depiction of society in this deeply psychological work.

The Novel's Title
The title is a reflection of the primary and most blatant theme, envy. Envy is embodied in many different forms. Ivan and Kavalerov are Dostoyevskian characters who are envious of more successful characters, such as Andrei. Ivan and Kavalerov’s mental states are overwhelmed with envy and motivate their actions throughout the novel. Envy can also refer to how the people of the “old era” envy the “new man.”

Plot
The main character, Nikolai Kavalerov, wakes up in the apartment of Andrei Babichev, who took Kavalerov home after finding him passed out in a gutter. Andrei explains that he has extra space because his young understudy, Volodya, is out of town. As a wealthy and high ranking businessman, Andrei allows Kavalerov to sleep on his couch in exchange for busy work to help his starting business. This business is the Two Bits, a store with the aspiration of making the kitchen efficient to free women from excessive manual labor. While working for him, Kavalerov begins to resent Andrei for his gluttony and condescending tone. One day, a short man in a bowler stands outside Andrei’s balcony and tells him he has finally created something that will ruin Andrei. Kavalerov sees this same man later, standing outside a girl’s balcony asking her to return. That night, Kavalerov overhears Andrei talking with a girl on the phone. From what he hears, Kavalerov realizes this is the girl he saw on the balcony earlier that day. He comes to find that the short man is Ivan Babichev, Andrei’s brother, and the girl is Valya, Ivan’s daughter. Kavalerov hears that Valya has left her father and comes under the impression that Andrei is attempting to draw her away from Ivan for either Volodya, or himself. After being ignored by Andrei at an airshow, Kavalerov leaves the apartment. Before leaving for good though, he writes a letter criticizing Andrei and proclaiming that he will win over Valya and Volodya. He returns to the apartment to leave the letter, but encounters Volodya. After a brief confrontation, Kavalerov leaves and decides to take the letter with him. However, Kavalerov realizes he mistakenly took the wrong letter with him. He returns to the apartment to apologize, but is kicked out. Drunk, Kavalerov wanders the street where he finds Ivan. Ivan and Kavalerov wander the streets of Moscow drunk together as Ivan tells stories. Ivan recounts a tale in which his supper machine, Ophelia, supposedly killed Andrei at the opening of his Two Bits. The reader later finds this story to be false after Andrei is seen later in the story. Together Ivan and Kavalerov decide the only way to get back at society is to kill the man they are envious of, Andrei. The two develop a plan to kill Andrei with Ophelia at Volodya’s soccer game, but the plan backfires as Ophelia kills Ivan instead of Andrei. Kavalerov accepts his fate, and returns to his apartment complex to live with a widow in poverty. The novel ends with a plot twist as Ivan returns to live with Kavalerov and the widow.

Main Characters
Nikolai Kavalerov

Nikolai Kavalerov is the central focus of the novel as well as the narrator of Part 1. He is a young man of 28 years old. Kavalerov's life is by no means bright and cheerful. He craves to matter in life and desires to have a meaningful existance. However, he is outcast from society and left to wander the streets in a drunken haze. This is his condition at the start of the novel as he is taken in off the street by Andrei Babichev, a middle aged businessman. During his stay at Babichev's, Kavalerov becomes increasingly envious of Babichev's success and position in society to the point where he thoroughly hates Babichev. As the novel progresses, his narration provides a deep psychological profile into his warped state of mind.

Andrei Babichev

Andrei Petrovich Babichev is a middle aged man who runs a sausage business called Two Bits. He is rather bland and uninteresting, yet he is still successful and respected in society. Through Kavalerov's narration, a grotesque description of Babichev's physical appearence is given. He is over weight and a slob. He also represents the "new man" that emerged out of the New Economic Policy. Despite living in a supposed communist society, he runs a private sausage making business caller Two Bits and is successful. He is also envied and despised by both his brother Ivan and Kavalerov.

Ivan Babichev

Ivan Babichev is Andrei's brother and Valya's father. He has created a machine named Ophelia, which he believes to be the perfect being, yet he, like Kavalerov, is outcast from society and resorts to drunkenly wandering the streets in a similar fashion. He despises his brother Andrei and even plans to use his creation Ophelia to murder him. Ivan is further contrasted with his brother because he represents the old way. Society under the New Economic Policy now values small business owners like Andrei far more than Ivan.

Valya

Valya is a young girl of 16 and is Ivan's daughter. She is the ideal new era woman and as a result, Andrei Babichev hopes to marry her off to Volodya, who represents the ideal new era man. Andrei's intentions for Valya are strongly opposed by both Kavalerov and Ivan. Kavalerov even says that he intends on taking her away from Andrei so that he can marry her himself.

Volodya

Volodya is a young man who periodicly stays at Andrei Babichev's house and has easily won Babichev's favor. He is athletic, plays soccer very well, and represents the model young Soviet citizen of the era. Because of this, it is Andrei's intention to have him marry Valya. Unlike Kavalerov, he is admired by society and never has to deal with any of the hardships of rejection and destitution.

Ophelia

The novel does not reveal what Ophelia exactly is until well into the second part. She is a machine that is the end product of Ivan Babichev's attempt to create the perfect being. Ivan's ultimate intention is to have her kill his brother, Andrei.

Major Themes
Alienation

Alienation in Envy pertains to the characters Nikolai Kavalerov and Ivan Babichev. We see this primarily through Kavalerov at first as he is the narrator of Part One. He constantly feels rejected by society and is never able to fit in. Before he was taken in by Babichev, he was thoroughly alone, drunk in a street gutter, and after he gets kicked out of Babichev's house, he goes back to the same existence, only this time alongside Ivan.

Desire to have meaning

Throughout he novel, Kavalerov desires to to have his existance on this earth matter. This can be summed up perfectly in his quote, "In our country the roads to glory are obstructed by barriers... A talented man must either abate or dare to raise the barrier with a big scandal. I, for example, would like to argue. I like to show the strength of my personality. I want my own glory. We're afraid to give a man attention. I want more attention." He despises those like Babichev and Volodya who have a meaningful position in society, and is so distraught from his own state of being that his mental state even begins to deteriorate.

This is also shown in Ivan Babichev as well. Being down and out in a similar fashion to Kavalerov, he too desires to matter in life. This can be seen in his creating of Ophelia. Ivan had this idea of creating the absolute perfect being, and as a result, he ended up with this machine. Ophelia was his attempt to do something extraordinary that would place him above the likes of individuals like his brother Andrei.

Freewill

The idea of freewill is another common theme throughout the novel. Kavalerov, in his alienated and dejected state, feels constrained by the society in which he lives. This society, as he sees it, elevates the status of bland, uninteresting, generic people like Babichev, and Kavalerov cannot stand it. In his monologues, he discusses using freewill as a means to overcome this constraints. For example, he says on page 18, "If only to pick up and do it like this: to kill yourself. Suicide without any motive. Out of mischief. To show that everyone has the right to dispose of himself." Kavalerov's emphasis is not on whether he uses free will in a positive way. He will have no benefit in committing suicide if he intends to act accordingly, but it will still be an act of freewill just the same. If he were to do so, suicide will show that he, not society nor anyone else, is truly the one in control of his existence, and that he has the ability to end such existence if he so pleases.

Reality

With the contrast of events in Part One and Part Two, Olesha never makes if both, neither, or one of the two is actuality. This becomes apparent at the start of Part Two as the narration changes from first to third person. Events start to get stranger and more bizarre starting when Kavalerov meets Ivan while talking in front of a street mirror. Events become stranger still after Ivan is killed by Ophelia, but somehow miraculously is alive again at the ending. It makes the reader wonder if any of this is actually happening or whether it is just a distortion of Kavalerov's warped psychological state of mind. However, this also leads the reader to question the reality of the Part One. If Kavalerov is descending into madness, how can his narration be taken as concrete fact? In the end, it remains inconclusive what is reality and what is imagination.

Envy

As the title suggests, Envy is a crucial component of the novel. On the most obvious level, it is the emotion felt by Kavalerov and Ivan with regards to Andrei Babichev. The both see him as this bland, generic, uninteresting man, yet they thoroughly envy his success. They both become overwhelmed by this envy to the point where it engulfs their entire state of mind. Everything they think about is their resentment of Andrei. However, Kavalerov and Ivan only stand as examples of a much larger force of envy. As Kavalerov explains, "You, without realizing it yourself, are the bearer of a historic mission, You, so to say, are a clot. You are a clot of the envy of the dying epoch. The dying epoch envies what is coming to place." This refers to how the old ways envy the new. Both Kavalerov and Ivan desire to be distinguishable and to do something extraordinary. Ivan even goes so far as to try and build the most perfect being by creating Ophelia, but in this new society, he is rejected just as Kavalerov. Andrei, on the other hand, is bland and generic, yet he is a wealthy and successful businessman. Neither Kavalerov nor Ivan can understand how such a man could have such a high status, and as a result, they both detest and envy him.

Gender

Gender is represented indiscreetly in Envy through the “new man” and “new woman.” Throughout the novel, the qualities the “new man” and “new woman” will discuss are mentioned and represented through symbolism like the Two Bits. In his book, Olesha’s Envy, Rimgaila Salys notes ways gender is discreetly represented. He describes Anichka as the castrating mother and Ophelia as the feminine machine that kills its male creator with a phallic needle.

Composition History
Olesha wrote Envy in only six months. However, he claimed to have worked on parts of the novel, like the intro, for as many as five years. According to interviews, Olesha had no master plan for Envy’s direction, but rather let it shape itself. This lack of direction is apparent through the variations in Envy’s many manuscripts. Earlier versions of Envy included characters like an American sniper named David Williams and a poet called Clemet. Kavalerov emerged from a different character, Zvezdalov. In other versions of Envy, Kavalerov was a murderer. Other plot variations included Kostya Belov, a NEP man who competes with Andrei Babichev for the love of a woman. The novel is believed to be structured around Ivan Babichev, as he is the character who changes the least through the manuscripts.

Publication History
Envy was first published in Russian in 1927 in the literary magazine Red Virgin Soil. Envy was first published as a complete work in 1928 by Russian publisher Zemly i Fabrika. The novel was published eight years later, in English, by Hogarth Press.

Literary Significance
The renown Russian novelist and literary critic Vladimir Nabokov claimed that Olesha’s Envy is one of the greatest works produced within the Soviet Union. In talking about the books significance, Elizabeth Klosty Beaujour in her book The Invisible Land: A Study of the Artistic Imagination of Iurii Olesha states, “Envy is one of Olesha’s most successful works because, in his youthful confidence, Olesha maintains the distance between himself and his characters which is the sign of true artistic control.” In the novel, every character is unique in their own right and individually flawed. On top of this, Olesha keeps his distance by avoiding to sympathize any one specific character. At the time it was written, the magazine Pravda said (about Envy), “This work without a doubt places Olesha among the ranks of the best contemporary writers. Splendid mastery of style, subtle psychological analysis, vivid description of negative types-all this holds the reader’s attention from beginning to end.” He has praised for favoring neither capitalism nor communism while pointing out the flaws within both systems. As a result, some view the work as a critique of communism, some view it as a critique of capitalism, and others just view it as a work of art.

Adaptations
In 1929 there was a stage adaptation of Envy entitled A Conspiracy of Feelings

Study Questions
1. In the novel Envy, does there seem to more of a saterical critique of the individual characters or society itself? In which do the main problems seem to manifest themselves?

2. "Here we're afraid of paying attention to anyone. I want a lot of attention" (Olesha 26-7). Compare this quote (and Nikolai's behavior over the course of the book) to the Underground man and his similar need for validation. Do you think they are alike in this regard?

3 How, if at all, does Olesha incorporate the writing techniques of his predecessors, such as Dostoevsky or Pushkin?

4 What is the role of machines in the novel? How are the portrayed and what do they represent?

5. Acording to Nabokov Envy is the best novel of the Soviet era. Knowing Nabokov's thoughts on other Russian writers what does Nabokov see in this novel?

6. How does envy compare to We in terms of themes? Do you think they are trying to say something similar to or different from one another?

7. Why does Babichev ask Kavalerov about Jocasta? Why is Ophelia called Ophelia other than the reason given by Ivan?

8. How do you interpret the shift in point of view (from first-person to third-person narration) between parts one and two of the novel Envy?

9. From part 1 do you like Andrei as a character and feel he is helping Nikolai because he wants to do the right thing? Do you like Nikolai? How does this change from part 1 to part 2?

title: Book Reviews/Envy


text:
Book Reviews/A Hero of Our Time

Introduction to A Hero of Our Time
A Hero of Our Time is a novel written by Mikhail Lermontov during the romantic period of Russian Literature. The novel was published in 1840 and compiles stories of a Byronic hero, Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin, through travellers’ notes, tales and Pechorin’s personal journals. One of the most remarkable traits of the novel is that it is structured as a loosely connected string of short stories instead of chapters, which gives it an epic-like feel. Powerful scenery and stimulating stories all center around a remarkable main character who is "of lasting appeal to readers of all countries and centuries" (Nabokov). All three characteristics combine to create a novel that is incredibly influential and a masterpiece of Russian Romantic prose.

The Novel's Title
In the author’s introduction to A Hero of Our Time, Mikhail Lermontov discusses and reveals to the reader his motivations for creating the novel’s main character, Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin. Lermontov’s explanation also enlightens the reader to the irony of the novel’s title by criticizing those readers who have an “unfortunate faith […] in the literal meaning of words” (1). Lermontov describes Pechorin as “a composite of all the vices of our generation in the fullness of their development” (2). By titling this book to imply that this man is a hero, while at the same time acknowledging that he does not possess one heroic quality, Lermontov has embedded irony into the novel’s title and established an ironic tone that will remain present throughout the novel. The word "hero" in Russian can also signify "character," adding to Lermontov's intentional ambiguity.

Plot
The novel is composed of five parts that serve as five short stories to reveal the character of Pechorin, the novel’s focus. The novel is a frame narrative, told by three different narrators at various points. Through his journals, Pechorin narrates most of the story.

Bela: This story opens with one of the novel’s three narrators, an unnamed traveler documenting his journey. This traveler encounters an old army captain, Maxim Maximych, who then becomes the next narrator. Maxim tells the traveler a story of Grigory Pechorin, a fellow soldier and the novel’s third narrator. Maxim’s story paints Pechorin as manipulative due to his ability to charm. Pechorin meets a beautiful young woman, Bela, who becomes the object of his fixation. Pechorin is made aware of Bela’s brother’s, Azamat’s, fixation on the horse of a fellow wedding guest. Pechorin convinces Azamat that he will steal the horse for Azamat in exchange for Bela. Pechorin’s plan is successful. Bela and Pechorin live together, and Bela comes to appreciate, and even love Pechorin. However, Bela’s devotion to him causes Pechorin’s “insatiable heart” to wander. Bela is later kidnapped and murdered by the owner of the horse, Kazbich, Pechorin stole. After Bela’s death, Pechorin is reassigned to Georgia.

Maxim Maximych: Maxim Maximych and the unnamed narrator hear that Pechorin is nearby, and Maxim immediately tries to see him. When Pechorin arrives, he is cold toward Maxymich, which insults him because he thought they were friends. Upon leaving, Pechorin gives his old journals to Maximych, who is still hurt by Pechorin’s cool demeanor. Maximych, insulted, gives the journals to the unnamed narrator, who then publishes them. The rest of the novel is told from Pechorin’s perspective.

Taman: Upon arriving in the coastal city of Taman, Pechorin finds a room for the night from a blind orphan boy. Pechorin later witnesses the boy and a young girl meet with a man named Yanko, and from witnessing the event, Pechorin is able to deduce that they were involved in a smuggling operation. The next day, Pechorin asks about the previous night’s situation and is rebuffed by everyone he speaks to. That night, the young girl lures him out to the water and attempts to drown him. When he leaves the beach, Pechorin hears Yanko telling the boy he is taking the operation elsewhere due to Pechorin’s meddling. Pechorin is disappointed in himself for ruining the situation and he leaves Taman the next day.

Princess Mary: Pechorin stays with his old friend Grushnitski at Pyatigorsk. Pechorin is introduced to the Princesses Ligovsky and Mary, and is immediately attracted to Mary. Grushnitski is also infatuated with Princess Mary, and reveals his feelings to Pechorin. Grushnitski is made aware of Pechorin’s feelings regarding Mary and feels that Pechorin is trying to make him appear foolish in front of her. However, Vera, a past lover of Pechorin’s, has arrived in town. Pechorin kisses her, but then writes that he refuses to become enslaved to any woman because of love and that he prefers to spend time with women who do not have wills of their own. Pechorin also learns that Princess Mary despises him. However, Pechorin then dances with her at a ball and earns her and her mother’s gratitude. In his journal, Pechorin describes the system he uses to manipulate those around him. He admits that he is never fulfilled by women and as a result of this lack of fulfillment he cannot attempt romance or experience passion. Pechorin then utilizes his strategy to manipulate Mary into falling in love with him, while he also attempts to maintain a relationship with Vera. Mary confesses her love to Pechorin. Grushnitski challenges Pechorin to a duel, but decides to rig Pechorin's gun so it will contain no bullet for the duel. At the time of the duel Grushnitski is overcome by guilt but does not admit his plan. He fires at Pechorin and misses, perhaps purposely. Pechorin asks him "has your conscience nothing to say to you?" Grushnitski says nothing. When Pechorin is about to shoot, he calls for his second to load his gun, against the protestations of Grushnitski's second. Pechorin shoots and kills Grushnitski, who falls off the cliff edge where the two held the duel. Pechorin says "Finita la commedia!" to his second before leaving the scene. Soon after, Vera leaves town, upsetting Pechorin who leaves soon after, denying marriage to Mary.

The Fatalist: Pechorin engages in a game of Russian roulette with a single shot pistol, to emphasize his belief that there is no such thing as predestination. However, after his friend shoots the gun and does not die, Pechorin’s beliefs are altered and he decides that predestination does, in fact, exist. However, Pechorin’s friend who survived the game of Russian roulette is killed later that night. The novel ends with Pechorin’s ruminations on the condition of fate.

Character Descriptions
Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin: The novel’s main character. Says he has a system in which he can manipulate people. He has never been fulfilled in his relationships with women. He dies in the second chapter while in Georgia, but his journals recount his journeys for the rest of the book.

Unnamed Narrator: A traveling soldier who is interested in Pechorin’s life. He is the initial narrator of the novel and gains Pechorin’s journals after Pechorin dies.

Maxim Maximych: Captain in the army who narrates his encounter with Pechorin to the unnamed traveller. Being charmed by Pechorin, Maksim sends for him when they are at two, close military bases, but is distressed when Pechorin is seemingly uninterested with him.

Bela: A Caucasus princess who is given to Pechorin by her brother, Azamat in exchange for a steed. She eventually falls in love with Pechorin, but is killed by the owner of the horse she was traded for.

Vera: Pechorin’s old lover. She is still in love with him even after their time apart, but is married to another man.

Princess Mary: A princess who Pechorin is infatuated with. He purposely annoys her to attract her attention, but manipulates her to fall in love with him.

Grushnitsky: Portrayed as a pretentious impostor to military prowess. Competes with Pechorin for the love of Princess Mary. Tries to expose Pechorin as a coward in a duel after meddling with the pistols, but is killed by Pechorin.

Major Themes
A Hero of Our Time is a text filled with symbols, motifs, and themes pertaining to Russian identity. Several important themes, motifs, and symbols embedded in the text include the universality of Russian literature, isolation, fate and free will, deformation and the grotesque, the concept of the 'superfluous man,' appearances, and the important role of women and horses in the novel.

The Universality of Russian Literature In order for readers to fully appreciate the novel, Lermontov made it so that his readers must also be appreciative of literature from various nations by embedding frequent foreign allusions. He sprinkles French quotes throughout the novel without translating them into Russian. One such reason for the constant references to other cultures and societies could be Lermontov's assertion of the versatility of Russians. The narrator alludes to this intention when he says "I could not help being struck by the capacity of the Russian to adjust himself to the customs of that people among which he happens to be living. I do not know whether this trait of the mind deserves blame or praise, but it attests to his incredible flexibility" (28). Pechorin is an embodiment of this concept of "flexibility." He refuses to allow himself to be tied down to any place or person throughout the text.

Isolation Pechorin views life not as a struggle for connection, but as a struggle for power over others. This blindly driven focus on power is what also fuels Pechorin's isolation from society. His constant traveling physically isolates him from those around him, and his attitude on life results in his emotional isolation as well. Pechorin's belief that relationships are based on power also creates an indelible tie with society, because it implies that in order for him to feel satisfied, he must wield influence over society. In the absence of a network of inferiors, Pechorin will never find satisfaction. His hatred of others, yet dependence upon them makes his life a paradox, and creates a miserable cycle.

Fate and Free Will Pechorin devotes his life to testing the theory of predestination. This becomes increasingly evident in the final chapter of the novel, "The Fatalist." Pechorin is painted as the master of free will when it serves him. He ascribes his actions to destiny when he wants to relieve himself of moral responsibility.

Deformation and the Grotesque Pechorin's aversion to those who suffer from physical ailments is seen in several situations throughout the novel. He writes in his journal that he hates cripples, yet later also refers to himself as a cripple. This contradiction in his thoughts suggest the possibility that Pechorin suffers from self-loathing.

The Superfluous Man Pechorin is the quintessential 'superfluous man.' His strengths have been turned against himself, transforming them into weaknesses, and they will ultimately contribute to his demise.

Appearance Those in the novel who are physically attractive, such as the beautiful young girl in "Taman" who attempts to drown and kill Pechorin, possess no human soul. This implies that a person's exterior is a false front or veneer hiding emptiness or ugly intentions. A person's true essence can be grasped from the observation of their intangible qualities because that is where the real, raw meaning lies.

Women and Horses Throughout the novel, connections are drawn between horses and women. In "Bela," Bela's eyes are compared to the eyes of the horse Azamat desires. Later, this same horse is described as "a regular gazelle," and a few pages later Bela is referred to as "shy as a wild gazelle." Pechorin also feels that the experience of riding a horse for him is not even comparable to feelings he experiences when with a woman; "When I returned home, I got on my horse and galloped off into the steppe. I love to gallop through the tall grass on a lively horse, against the wind of the wilder-ness...There is no feminine glance that I would not forget at the sight of mountains covered with curly foliage and lit up by the southern sun..." (436). In "Taman," women are compared with horses yet again when Pechorin says that the breeding of women is as important as the breeding of a horse.

Composition History
Lermontov began work on his novel in 1838 and published A Hero of Our Time serially. The complete novel was then published in 1840. The novel was inspired based on Lermontov's impression of the Caucasus. Unfortunately, according to Boris Eikenbaum (a Lermontov scholar), “neither of Lermontov’s personal letters nor mentions about him attest to anything [of interest] about the novel (Eikenbaum 46). A Hero of Our Time is though, “a cycle of tales collected around one dramatis persona (Eikenbaum 47).

Publication History
The novel was first published in Russia in 1840, and its success in Russia spawned endless translations into several different languages. Its English publication history can be seen here:

1. Sketches of Russian life in the Caucasus. By a Russe, many years resident amongst the various mountain tribes. London, Ingram, Cook and Co., 1853. 315 pp. "The illustrated family novellist" series, #2. (a liberal translation with changed names of the heroes; "Taman" not translated).

2. The hero of our days. Transl. by Theresa Pulszky. London, Hudgson, 1854. 232 pp. "The Parlour Library". Vol.112. ("Fatalist" not translated).

3. A hero of our own times. Now first transl. into English. London, Bogue, 1854. 231 pp., ill. (the first full translation of the novel by an anonymous translator).

4. A hero of our time. Transl. by R.I. Lipmann. London, Ward and Downey, 1886. XXVIII, 272 pp. ("Fatalist" not translated).

5. Taman. In: Tales from the Russian. Dubrovsky by Pushkin. New year's eve by Gregorowitch. Taman by Lermontoff. London, The Railway and general automatic library, 1891, pp. 229–251. 6. Russian reader: Lermontof's modern hero, with English translation and biographical sketch by Ivan Nestor-Schnurmann. Cambridge, Univ. press, 1899. XX, 403 pp. (a dual language edition; "Fatalist" not translated)

7. Maxim Maximich. — In: Wiener L. Anthology of Russian literature. T. 2, part 2. London—N.Y., 1903, pp. 157–164. (a reduced version of the "Maxim Maximich" chapter).

8. The heart of a Russian. Transl. by J.H. Wisdom and Marr Murray. London, Herbert and Daniel, 1912. VII, 335 pp. (also published in 1916 by Hodder and Stoughton, London—N.Y.—Toronto).

9. The duel. Excerpt from The hero of our own time. Transl. by T. Pulszky. — In: A Russian anthology in English. Ed. by C.E.B. Roberts. N. Y., 1917, pp. 124–137.

10. A traveling episode. — In: Little Russian masterpieces. Transl. by Z.A. Ragozin. Vol. 1. N.Y., Putnam, 1920, pp. 165–198. (an excerpt from the novel).

11. A hero of nowadays. Transl. by John Swinnerton Phillimore. London, Nelson, 1924.

12. Taman'. — In: Chamot A. Selected Russian short stories. Transl. by A.E. Chamot. London, 1925—1928, pp. 84—97.

13.A hero of our time. Transl. by Reginald Merton. Mirsky. London, Allan, 1928. 247 pp.

14.Fatalist. Story. Transl. by G.A. Miloradowitch. — In: Golden Book Magazine. Vol. 8. N.Y., 1928, pp. 491—493.

15. A hero of our own times. Transl. by Eden and Cedar Paul for the Lermontov centenary. London, Allen and Unwin, 1940. 283 pp. (also published by Oxford Univ. Press, London—N.Y., 1958).

16. Bela. Transl. by Z. Shoenberg and J. Domb. London, Harrap, 1945. 124 pp. (a dual language edition).

17. A hero of our time. Transl. by Martin Parker. Moscow, Foreign languages publ. house, 1947. 224 pp., ill. (republished in 1951 and 1956; also published by Collet's Holdings, London, 1957).

18. A hero of our time. A novel. Transl. by Vladimir Nabokov in collab. with Dmitri Nabokov. Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1958. XI, 216 pp. "Doubleday Anchor Books".

19. A Lermontov reader. Ed., transl., and with an introd. by Guy Daniels. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1965.

20. A hero of our time. Transl. with an introduction by Paul Foote. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1966.

21. Major poetical works. Transl., with an introduction and commentary by Anatoly Liberman. Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 1983.

22. Vadim. Transl. by Helena Goscilo. Ann Arbor: Ardis Publishers, 1984.

23. A hero of our time. Transl. with an introduction and notes by Natasha Randall; foreword by Neil Labute. New York: Penguin, 2009.

Pechorin is one of the most controversial figures in Russian literature. His character embodies many contradictions: moral, philosophical, and psychological. (Golstein, 115). He is a question mark of Russian Literature, a walking inconsistency whose psyche is slowly revealed throughout the five stories of the novel. Through this analysis of Pechorin in different situations, A Hero of Our Time took the role as the first novel in which interest in the psyche is manifested. (The Classic Russian Novel, 132). The gradual unveiling of Pechorin’s personality through the final three stories is the first time in Russian Literature where the complex inner life of a character is unveiled. (The Classic Russian Novel, 132). However, Pechorin’s psyche is not just a self-portrait; Lermontov makes the counter argument in his introduction to the second edition of A Hero of Our Time that Pechorin is a social portrait. This act of using an individual’s unique personality to portray the psychology of a larger group or generation and interest in character psychology is seen in the characters of future Russian novels, such as Bazarov in Fathers and Children by Ivan Turgenev and the underground man in Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky. By unveiling the inner psychological workings of Pechorin throughout A Hero of Our Time, Lermontov influences future characters in Russian literature.

Adaptations
1. 2011 - Alex McSweeney adapted the novel into an English-language play

2. 2006 - Aleksandr Kott created an English-language film adaptation

Study Questions
1. If you were to characterize Pechorin as a hero or an anti-hero, what would he be and why?

2. Are there any redeeming qualities to Pechorin?

3. What is the benefit from having three different narrators? What is the difference among these narrators and what is common?

4. How does the chronological setup of the book aid or detract from its impact on the reader?

5. Are women portrayed in a positive way or in a negative way? How?

6. Why does the unnamed narrator remained unnamed?

7. What characteristics shared between the three women make them the object of Pechorin's fascination?

8. Lermontov describes the scenery in his novel with great detail. What connection can be made between the scenery and the characters?

9. Why does Pechorin go after the man who killed Lieutenant Vulich?

10. Is A Hero of Our Time an epic? In what ways?

11. What is the significance of the final chapter The Fatalist?

12. What does the mermaid from the chapter Taman represent?

title: Book Reviews/A Hero of Our Time


text: File:ONYC 3.jpg

title: File:ONYC 3.jpg


text: File:Tatianaandonegin.jpg

title: File:Tatianaandonegin.jpg


text: Category:Articles containing Hindi language text


text: File:Eugene Onegin ENO 2011 Cast Credit Neil Libbert cropped (1).jpg


text: File:Tatianaillustration.jpg

title: File:Tatianaillustration.jpg


text: File:Original publication.jpeg

title: File:Original publication.jpeg