Lyudi

Mikhail Zoshchenko, 1895-1958, was a great Soviet humorist. His works give a unique picture of Russian life in the Soviet period - a picture which, though satirically distorted and camouflaged by deliberate ambiguities, presents a shrewd commentary on the times. Lyudi first appeared in 1924. It is a long short story about the loss of gross illusions, about despair and decay, the struggle for existence, the animal in man. The hero is an _migr_ of the Tsarist period, who returns to Russia after the Revolution, has his illusions duly shattered, and sinks into a scarcely human existence. He is a parody of two stock figures: 'the repentant nobleman' and 'the superfluous man'. The language is a splendid mixture of colloquial speech, official jargon, and inflated style. There is an English introduction, notes on the linguistic difficulties and select vocabulary, while the text is in Russian.