The Symphonies

Intermodal art was central to Russian Symbolism, but Bely’s four Symphonies resist easy definition. Rhythmic, motivic, visionary, commingling mundane matter with elevated spirit and shot through with satire, they relay Bely’s sense of symphonic music as a linkage of levels and moods. Jonathan Stone’s exquisite translation suspends the reader between the real and the more real. -- Caryl Emerson, author of The Cambridge Introduction to Russian Literature
The richly saturated prose of Bely’s innovative Symphonies demands an effective translation. Jonathan Stone has made a scrupulous, powerful version that conveys the work’s mythological complexity and the hypnotic effect of its verbal and musical texture. An essential book for study of the Symbolists. -- Sibelan Forrester, translator of The Russian Folktale
Those who read Stone’s introduction and translation with care will come away with an understanding that will enable them to appreciate what Bely is undertaking in the Symphonies, even as they work through the profusion of imagery and the fragmentary structure of these writings. There are very few works that compete with this volume in any way. -- Barry Scherr, Dartmouth College
[A] Symbolist masterpiece by the writer whose work Vladimir Nabokov ranked among Russia’s greatest literary achievements . . . Otherworldly tales of haunting beauty and a welcome addition to the canon of classic Russian literature in English. * Kirkus Reviews, starred review *
The four works are all worthwhile in their own right but are, of course, interesting both for showing us the Bely the Symbolist in full flight but also showing us the writer of Петербург (Petersburg) in his early days. -- John Alvey * The Modern Novel *
Stone’s translation reads convincingly throughout, giving as good a sense as is probably achievable in English of what Bely was trying to do. It’s a tremendous achievement. -- Steve Dodson * Language Hat *
Encountering The Symphonies in Jonathan Stone’s sensitive renderings, one is struck anew by their daring innovation, which seems as fresh today as it did more than a century ago. As this handsome new edition demonstrates, Bely has outlived the fashions of later years: his works remain 'turned towards the future', their exuberance and brisk pace still urging readers on. -- Bryan Karetnyk * Times Literary Supplement *
[A] sensitive and resourceful translation by Jonathan Stone . . . Collectively, The Symphonies offer a glimpse into the cradle of Bely’s art: less fully achieved than his mature novels, but closer to a common source in the author’s twisted and escapist imagination . . . as a record of Bely’s transformation from writer of precious verse to writer of disquieting prose, they possess a palpable energy and excitement and commitment. -- Jacob Emery * Reading in Translation *
Belyi’s particular aspirations entailed the harmonization of empirical, rational,
evocative, and mystical aspects of symbolization, and in this respect the work of
translation is similar: the demands of denotation and suggestion, content and form, idea and feeling, and presence and potential bear simultaneously on the project and must all be coordinated with minimal loss and maximal effect. With this daunting task, on these challenging texts, Stone succeeds brilliantly. -- Timothy Langen * Slavic Review *