The Spirit of Madame de Genlis - Although written in 1881, Nikolai Leskov's sparkling 12 pages short-story sectioned off into 16 brief chapters has the feel of a modern day work of flash fiction.
The tale's teller is none other than Nikolai Leskov himself. Oh, yes, there's a clear giveaway: the first-person narrator alludes to how the main character, a widowed Russian princess, "liked my story "The Sealed Angel" which had been published shortly before."
For those lovers of great literature who relish tons of playfulness, a good dose of irony, some great descriptions - plus a very neat twist at the end, The Spirit of Madame de Genlis is for you, and that's for certain.
Nikolai Leskov, you sly literary devil! Thrusting your satirical needle repeatedly into the side of those pompous members of the bourgeoisie, in this case, in the person of a Russian princess.
Here's how our waggish author frames his tale: the unnamed princess, recently returned to Petersburg, desires a sagacious tutor for her innocent teenage daughter, a teacher who will use books to instruct the tender youth about life in current day Russia; however, and here's the rub, the books used by the teacher (narrator Leskov) must not be "infected by the 'evil of the day'."
A curious Nikolai inquires further as to what is permissible and what is not. Turns out, absolutely no Gogol or Lermontov; Pushkin is allowed but only after considerable cuts made by the princess herself; Turgenev is approved without question, but "minus the passages where they talk of love."
At this point, our author/narrator's interest is piqued further. Here's a snatch of dialogue when the princess refers to arousing subjects found in Goncharov:
"This was intriguing to such a degree that I plucked up my courage and asked outright what the arousing subjects in Goncharov were.
To this frank question I received a frank, terse reply, uttered in a sharp whisper: "Elbows."
I thought I had not heard right or had not understood.
"Elbows, elbows," the princess repeated and, seeing my perplexity, seemed to grow angry. "Don't you remember . . . how that one . . . the hero at some point . . . admires the bare elbows of his . . . of some very simple lady?""
My goodness! Now what author, pray tell, is actually approved without the slightest reservation? To this question, the princess points over her head to a shelf of books elegantly bound in pale blue morocco - the letters de Mme de Genlis. For the princess, Mme de Genlis is not only a font of truth but a living oracle who speaks directly to her - moreover, upon her death, the princess has instructed her son to place the works of Mme de Genlis in her coffin so the great medium can guide her journey into paradise.
Oh, you dear lady. Let's take a breath and segue to the tale's grand finale, a literary gathering to celebrate the New Year. What transpires at this august occasion is a stroke of Leskov magic. The princess' daughter reads a page of the great oracle's writing causing the princess, you might say, to be hoisted on her own petard.
Interested? Please read for yourself. Link: https://www.shortstoryproject.com/sto...
Russian author Nikolai Leskov, 1831-1895
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