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The Wrath of Dionysus: A Novel
"This outstanding edition of The Wrath of Dionysus marks the first appearance of (Nagrodskaia's) work in English. Let us hope her other novels quickly follow." ―The Midwest Book Review
" The Wrath of Dionysus is translated well and has just enough notes to explain what is not available to the late-twentieth-century reader. Louise Reynolds should be commended for bringing us this work by Evdokia Nagrodskaya, a writer unknown to English-speaking audiences and even to contemporary Russians." ―Lambda Book Report
"This novel has everything―love, romance, lust, travel, adventure. Yowee!" ―Richard Stites
". . . highly recommended for collections of Slavic literature as well as popular fiction." ―Library Journal
"A woman trying to balance career and family. Confusion over sexual identity and gender roles. Unwed motherhood. The themes of The Wrath of Dionysus sound so contemporary that it may surprise readers to find them in a Russian novel published more than 80 years ago." ―Publishers Weekly
Evdokia Nagrodskaia's novel The Wrath of Dionysus , with its theme of gender roles and sexual identity, became a sensational and controversial bestseller soon after it hit Russian bookstores in 1910. Long before postmodernism suggested that gender was a social construct rather than a biological absolute, Nagrodskaia's novel put this issue before middle-class Russian audiences hungry for popular fiction. A revealing historical glimpse at the pre-revolutionary Russian middle class, but also a good old-fashioned page-turner!
" The Wrath of Dionysus is translated well and has just enough notes to explain what is not available to the late-twentieth-century reader. Louise Reynolds should be commended for bringing us this work by Evdokia Nagrodskaya, a writer unknown to English-speaking audiences and even to contemporary Russians." ―Lambda Book Report
"This novel has everything―love, romance, lust, travel, adventure. Yowee!" ―Richard Stites
". . . highly recommended for collections of Slavic literature as well as popular fiction." ―Library Journal
"A woman trying to balance career and family. Confusion over sexual identity and gender roles. Unwed motherhood. The themes of The Wrath of Dionysus sound so contemporary that it may surprise readers to find them in a Russian novel published more than 80 years ago." ―Publishers Weekly
Evdokia Nagrodskaia's novel The Wrath of Dionysus , with its theme of gender roles and sexual identity, became a sensational and controversial bestseller soon after it hit Russian bookstores in 1910. Long before postmodernism suggested that gender was a social construct rather than a biological absolute, Nagrodskaia's novel put this issue before middle-class Russian audiences hungry for popular fiction. A revealing historical glimpse at the pre-revolutionary Russian middle class, but also a good old-fashioned page-turner!
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1910
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 25, 2018
A book ahead of its time for approaching gender roles from a different angle, showing that there is more nuance in gender roles than many people at the time believed.
November 30, 2018
An exciting fictional love story for those who call into question the social norms of gender and sexuality.
April 24, 2012
'The Wrath of Dionysus' tells the tale of a young Russian widow and artist who is compelled by her 'unfeminine' sexuality to pursue an affair whilst holidaying away from her fiance. The book explores the vast notion of love through its encounter with animalistic lust, homosexuality, companionship and parenthood. It also explores gender and sexuality as constructions, as our herione finds herself in a typically 'masculine' dilemna (as Latchinov tells her) but reacts to it with her 'feminine' morality.
As a novel, it's fantastic. Many of the main characters dissend dominant gender roles (though to varying degress and with differing levels of self-awareness (Tania, Stark, Katia, Lulu, Latchinov)) and so it becomes less and less the focus of the reader's attention. The narrative develops without drawing attention or provoking too much questioning of the characters' gender and/or sexual identity until Latchinov's final speech to Tania. It is an utterly compelling read. I've been referring to it as my very own Russian Hollyoaks.
The translation, however, is impersonal at best and clumsy at worst. Whlist surely an accurate translation, with notes to translate the beautiful historic and mythic references, it made no attempt to convey the time period in which it was written. The only linguistic indication of formailty, familiarity, romantic intention, class, etiquette and morality was through the mutations of character's names. This, for me, was insufficient, and ruined the book a little.
As a novel, it's fantastic. Many of the main characters dissend dominant gender roles (though to varying degress and with differing levels of self-awareness (Tania, Stark, Katia, Lulu, Latchinov)) and so it becomes less and less the focus of the reader's attention. The narrative develops without drawing attention or provoking too much questioning of the characters' gender and/or sexual identity until Latchinov's final speech to Tania. It is an utterly compelling read. I've been referring to it as my very own Russian Hollyoaks.
The translation, however, is impersonal at best and clumsy at worst. Whlist surely an accurate translation, with notes to translate the beautiful historic and mythic references, it made no attempt to convey the time period in which it was written. The only linguistic indication of formailty, familiarity, romantic intention, class, etiquette and morality was through the mutations of character's names. This, for me, was insufficient, and ruined the book a little.
May 19, 2017
I don't know why, but I loved this book. This is not usually the kind of book I would enjoy, something that deals quite a bit with romance (and that I needed to read it for a class), but I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I ever thought I would. Heck, I read it all in one day!
The story deals with a woman finding her place in society. This woman loves art, and everyone that knows her knows her true passion lies in art. But as she develops as a person, she finds herself caught between the man she loves, and the man who burns with passion for her. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll end the synopsis there.
I think the reason that I enjoyed this book comes from the fact that it reminds me of a few other books that I have enjoyed. But (more importantly), as someone who is obsessed with mythologies, I found myself just finding links to Greek mythology left and right (won't go into detail because I don't want to spoil anything). Those connections really engulfed me, and I found that I didn't want to put it down.
Normally, I find books necessary for a class to be something I barely remember after I read it. But...this one stuck. And I think it always will.
The story deals with a woman finding her place in society. This woman loves art, and everyone that knows her knows her true passion lies in art. But as she develops as a person, she finds herself caught between the man she loves, and the man who burns with passion for her. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll end the synopsis there.
I think the reason that I enjoyed this book comes from the fact that it reminds me of a few other books that I have enjoyed. But (more importantly), as someone who is obsessed with mythologies, I found myself just finding links to Greek mythology left and right (won't go into detail because I don't want to spoil anything). Those connections really engulfed me, and I found that I didn't want to put it down.
Normally, I find books necessary for a class to be something I barely remember after I read it. But...this one stuck. And I think it always will.
February 8, 2010
A very interesting book in theme, although the writing style was somewhat indelicate - hard to say if this was remnants of the original or just poor translation. The fluidity of the characters' sexuality and gender identity - very different from the typical Western binary presentation - was inspiring and something I will reflect on for a while. Certainly a memorable book, if not a wellspring of elegant prose.
July 4, 2010
Nagrodskaia was all the rage of pre-Revolutionary Russia. A century later, this tale of passion in the Chekhovian hinterlands among those wealthy enough to travel to Paris and Florence, unfortunately lacks either Chekhovian tragedy or comedy. It just goes to show that one century's breathless tale of erotic and illicit passion can become the next century's boilerplate for a telenovela. Paging Anna Karenina.
October 18, 2010
i liked the novel,& iam doing this as my thesis for M.phil.
so iam searching different views of this work.
feminist reading & the psycho analytical reding of this book .
but i didnn,t get any materials about the author/work.
can anybody help me? please........
so iam searching different views of this work.
feminist reading & the psycho analytical reding of this book .
but i didnn,t get any materials about the author/work.
can anybody help me? please........
August 16, 2019
Honestly? Not queer enough.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews