亚历山大·谢尔盖耶维奇·普希金(一七九九——一八三七)是第一个具有世界影响的俄罗斯作家。他是俄国浪漫主义文学的主要代表和俄国现实主义文学的奠基人,被高尔基誉为“俄国文学之始祖”和“伟大的俄国人民诗人”。十九世纪俄国文学的高峰,就是从普希金开始的。

这位“俄罗斯诗歌的太阳”最重要的作品,就是诗体小说《叶甫盖尼·奥涅金》。它是俄国现实主义文学的奠基之作。

这部诗体作品,自然具有诗歌的抒情性;但它又是一部现实主义的作品,所以作者把它叫做“小说”。一八二三年动笔时,普希金的创作正从浪漫主义向现实主义转变。八年后,《叶甫盖尼·奥涅金》于一八三○年完成。它总结了作者一八三一年以前的全部创作经验,以后普希金就转入了散文写作。这种创作方法和文体的变化,和社会背景是有关的。《叶甫盖尼·奥涅金》前四章写于十二月党人起义之前,基调比较明朗;从第五章起,调子变得阴郁、低沉起来,故事也越来越向悲剧性的结尾发展。这些正是时代气氛的反映。

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Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) is, for Russians, their greatest writer; Eugene Onegin is his greatest work. Yet it remains little known outside Russia. Attempts to render Pushkin's Russian stanzas into verse have tried in vain to imitate the most inimitable features of the original, while masking many of its other glories. This prose version, for the first time, gives us a Eugene Onegin that is easy and enjoyable to read. Where previous versions lost the novel in the verse, Roger Clarke has discarded the verse to bring us the novel. And more than the novel: what shines through here are not only Puskin's touching story and subtle characterisation, but his incisive pictures of contemporary Russian life and landscapes, his social and literary comment, his humour, and indeed the essential poetry of the work. The addition of four captivating verse-tales from Pushkin's early maturity makes this book a must for anybody interested in Russian or European literature.