“Eugene Onegin” is a novel written in verse by Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837). Pushkin was a Russian playwright, novelist, and poet of the Romantic era often hailed as the greatest Russian poet and father of modern Russian literature. Born into the nobility, his first poem was published when he was just 15 years old and by the time he left university he had garnered considerable acclaim for his literary endeavours. Pushkin died from wounds sustained in a duel with Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d''Anthès, his wife''s alleged lover and brother-in-law. A timeless classic of Russian literature, “Eugene Onegin” is made up of 389 fourteen-line stanzas of iambic tetrameter with an unusual rhyme scheme, which is now known as “Onegin stanza” or the “Pushkin sonnet”. Set in 1820s Russia, the story revolves around the lives and loves of three men and three women, exploring the relationship between fiction and real life together with the deadly inhumanity of social convention. “Eugene Onegin” is a riveting and suspenseful tale full of philosophical digressions with a satirical slant that will not disappoint lovers of Russian literature. Ragged Hand is proud to be republishing this classic novel now in a brand new edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author. Translated from the Russian by Henry Spalding.
