Yevgeny Onegin

Yevgeny Onegin Synopsis

Bored and aloof, tired of St Petersburg high society, Yevgeny Onegin goes to live on the country estate he has just inherited from his uncle. There he encounters Tatyana, who becomes hopelessly infatuated with him. From this story Pushkin creates his sublime masterpiece of love, death, duelling, rivalry, identity and the search for happiness; the lodestar for all of Russian literature. By turns playful, philosophical, sardonic and mournful, brimming with rich descriptions of Russian life, from drinking and dancing to crisp wintry landscapes, Yevgeny Onegin is a work of thrilling energy. Anthony Briggs's deft and vibrant new translation brilliantly conveys this vitality, capturing all the supple lightness and humour, as well as the depth, of Pushkin's luminous verse novel. Alexander Pushkin was born in 1799. He published his first poem when he was a teenager, and in 1820 his first long poem - Ruslan and Lyudmila - made him famous. His work, including the novel-in-verse Yevgeny Onegin, the poem The Bronze Horseman, the play Boris Godunov and the short story 'The Queen of Spades', has secured his place as one of the greatest writers, in any language, ever to have lived. He died aged just 37, having been wounded in a duel - Pushkin's 29th - by his brother-in-law. Anthony Briggs is one of the world's leading authorities on the work of Pushkin. He is the author of Alexander Pushkin: A Critical Study and editor of Alexander Pushkin: A Celebration of Russia's Best-Loved Writer. He is an acclaimed translator from Russian, whose translations include Tolstoy's War and Peace, The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Resurrection, as well as The Queen of Spades, a collection of Pushkin's writings published by Pushkin Press.