Writing as Exorcism - The Personal Codes of Pushkin, Lermontov, and Gogol

"Sometimes it takes a poet to read a poet. In this inspired, idiosyncratic study, Ilya Kutik offers exemplary interpretations of three Russian writers, of the lessons of fatalism, and of the complexities of reading." --from the Introduction

A remarkable literary performance in its own right, this interpretive essay brings a highly original poetic sensibility to bear on the lives and works of three major Russian writers. It is Ilya Kutik's contention that many writers are tormented by secret fears and desires that only writing--in particular, the use of certain words and images--can exorcise. Making this biographical approach peculiarly his own--and susceptible to the nuances of comedy, tragedy, and critical equanimity--Kutik reads works of Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, and Nikolai Gogol, three Russian writers who were demonstrably subject to the whims, superstitions, and talismans that Kutik identifies. Exposing the conjunction of literary effort and private act in writings such as "The Queen of Spades," Dead Souls, and A Hero of Our Time, Kutik's work gives us a new way of understanding these masterpieces of Russian literature and their authors, and a new way of reading the mysteries of life and literature as mutually enriching.

"Bringing a poet's sense of structure and wordplay to the classics of Russian prose, Kutik has produced a work of stunning originality . . . even dissenters must appreciate the ingenuity and boldness of his interpretations." --Slavic and East European Journal

"The book's bold curiosity, creative verve, resourceful marshalling of disparate evidence, and modest good humor are infectious. These qualities remind the reader that literary scholarship can be--and should be--driven by the sheer exhilaration of discovery." --Slavic Review