Novel With Cocaine
4 journalers for this copy...
First published 1934.
The true identity of M. Ageyev is a mystery yet to be solved by literary historians; although rumored to be a pseudonym for the obscure Russian writer Marc Levi, nothing concrete is known about him. Causing a minor scandal at the time, the book was denounced as decadent and pornographic, but has now acquired something close to cult status. Set in Moscow during 1916 to 1919, it is an unsettling example of drug literature — curiously disengaged from the political realities of the Revolution, yet sensitive to the more subtle changes in man’s inner life that accompany periods of massive upheaval.
The narrator is a young, glassy-eyed hedonist named Vadim Maslennikov. As his country plunges into war and unparalleled social transformation, Vadim turns to drugs, prostitutes, and narcotized inertia. Ageyev’s prose recalls Proust (for its use of emotional memory), De Quincey (for its startling descriptions of the effects of drugs) and, more predictably, the tough-minded vision of Dostoevsky. While the Revolution is conspicuous in its absence, Ageyev’s cold analysis of addiction and dependency resonates in unexpected ways with the events taking place just “offscreen.” What separates the compulsion of the addict from that of the communist or capitalist? This book is a dark and brilliantly paced work that exists outside the ideological poles of the period it represents. — Samuel Thomas in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
The true identity of M. Ageyev is a mystery yet to be solved by literary historians; although rumored to be a pseudonym for the obscure Russian writer Marc Levi, nothing concrete is known about him. Causing a minor scandal at the time, the book was denounced as decadent and pornographic, but has now acquired something close to cult status. Set in Moscow during 1916 to 1919, it is an unsettling example of drug literature — curiously disengaged from the political realities of the Revolution, yet sensitive to the more subtle changes in man’s inner life that accompany periods of massive upheaval.
The narrator is a young, glassy-eyed hedonist named Vadim Maslennikov. As his country plunges into war and unparalleled social transformation, Vadim turns to drugs, prostitutes, and narcotized inertia. Ageyev’s prose recalls Proust (for its use of emotional memory), De Quincey (for its startling descriptions of the effects of drugs) and, more predictably, the tough-minded vision of Dostoevsky. While the Revolution is conspicuous in its absence, Ageyev’s cold analysis of addiction and dependency resonates in unexpected ways with the events taking place just “offscreen.” What separates the compulsion of the addict from that of the communist or capitalist? This book is a dark and brilliantly paced work that exists outside the ideological poles of the period it represents. — Samuel Thomas in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
Thanks so much for your donation Vasha!
This book is now part of the 1001-library. If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the library bookshelf.
This book is now part of the 1001-library. If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the library bookshelf.
In transit.
Arrived, looking forward to reading it! Thank you Vasha for sending all the books!
Intresting, intense and a bit weird!
This book is now back on the 1001 library bookshelf and can be borrowed by PMing mariabokmal:)If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the library bookshelf.
Thanks for sending the book !
