Petersburg
Petersburg

Petersburg Introduction

by Andrei Bely

Set in Saint Petersburg during the Revolution of 1905, this classic of Russian literature draws comparisons to James Joyce’s Ulysses for its display of symbolism and humor

After enlisting in a revolutionary terrorist organization, the university student Nikolai Apollonovich Ableukhov is entrusted with a highly dangerous mission: to plant a bomb and assassinate a major government figure.

But the real central character of Petersburg is the Russian capital itself—caught in the grip of political agitation and social unrest at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Intertwining the worlds of history and myth, and parading a cast of unforgettable characters, Petersburg is a story of apocalypse and redemption played out through family dysfunction, conspiracy, and murder.

Petersburg Prologue

Petersburg Chapter the First

Petersburg Apollon Apollonovich Ableukhov

Petersburg In a Word, He Was the Head of an Institution

Petersburg North-East

Petersburg The Baron, the Harrow

Petersburg A Carriage Flew into the Fog

Petersburg Squares, Parallelepipeds, Cubes

Petersburg The Inhabitants of the Islands Strike You