Novel
Who Is to Blame?
Кто виноват?
Alexander Herzen · 1847
Opening lines
Дело шло к вечеру. Алексей Абрамович стоял на балконе; он еще не мог прийти в себя после двухчасового послеобеденного сна; глаза его лениво раскрывались, и он время от времени зевал.
Evening was coming on. Alexei Abramovich stood on the balcony; he had not yet recovered from his two-hour after-dinner nap; his eyes opened lazily, and from time to time he yawned.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from ru.wikisource.org
Synopsis
On a provincial estate, the retired general Negrov hires Dmitri Kroutsiferski as tutor for his son, a poor, educated young man, the son of a district doctor. He falls in love with Lioubonka, Negrov's natural daughter, and writes to her; a misunderstanding arranged by the governess causes the letter to fall into the hands of Negrov's wife, and Negrov seizes the opportunity to be rid of his daughter by marrying them. A few years later, a wealthy landowner, Vladimir Beltov, returns from abroad to the neighbouring county town and, through Dr Kroupov, befriends the young couple.
Context
Written between 1841 and 1846, the novel first appeared in two parts in the journal Otetchestvennye zapiski, in 1845 and 1846, with cuts by the censor, then in volume form in 1847, the year the author left Russia. Belinsky judged it weak as art, but valuable as a study of Russian society of the time. The first part satirizes the provincial nobility; the second introduces, with Beltov, the figure of the “superfluous man”. Doctor Krupov, who appears in it, also has his own story by the same author.
Who it is for
A short novel in two parts, satire then drama; a French translation appeared in Moscow, from Éditions du Progrès.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as one of the first social and psychological novels in Russian literature.