The Silver Dove
By: Andrey Biely [i.e. B. N. Bugaev] ; translated from the Russian and with an introd. by George Reavey ; pref. by Harrison E. Salisbury.
Publisher: Grove Press : distributed by Random House; Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated
Published: 1974
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng; rus
Translated from: rus
Translation of: Серебряный голубь
Number of pages: 419
Subjects: Soviet Union -- Fiction
Description: The Silver Dove, published four years before Bely's masterpiece Petersburg, is considered the first modern Russian novel. Breaking with Russian realism, and a pioneering Symbolist work, its vividly drawn characters, elemental landscapes, and rich style make it accessible to the Western reader. Dissatisfied with the life of the intelligentsia, the poet Daryalsky joins a rural mystic sect, the Silver Doves. The locals, in particular the peasant woman Matryona, are fascinated by the dashing stranger. Daryalsky is in turn taken in by the Doves' intimacy with the mystical and spiritual--and by Matryona. Under the influence of Kudeyarov, the ruthless cult leader, Daryalsky is used in a bid to produce a sacred child. But in time the poet disappoints the Doves and must face their suspicions and jealousies--and his own inevitable dire fate.
Notes: Translation of Serebri͡a︡nyĭ golubʹ.