Sanine

Few Russian novels caused as much scandal as this one when it appeared in 1907. Written in the disillusioned years after the failed 1905 revolution, Mikhail Artsybashev’s story follows Vladimir Sanine, a young man who has thrown off religion, duty, and conventional morality in favor of a frank pursuit of pleasure and personal freedom. Around him, friends and family wrestle with idealism, despair, and desire, and several are destroyed by the collision. Denounced as pornographic and banned in several countries, the book became a byword for a generation’s retreat from politics into individualism and the senses. Percy Pinkerton’s English translation is offered here as free PDF and EPUB editions.