Los espectros
1904
First Published
3.66
Average Rating
130
Number of Pages
No es facil escribir una novela sobre la locura sin caer en el topico (el loco como iluminado, como monstruo, como martir) y sobre todo no es facil que el resultado sea una lectura entretenida y hasta ligera, mostrando ademas de forma mas o menos veraz la realidad de las enfermedades mentales. Eso (que intento en otro sentido tambien Machado de Assis con El alienista) es precisamente lo que logra Andreyev en Los espectros. En esta novela, Andreyev (o Andreiev) nos traslada a un apacible sanatorio ruso, en el que conviven el elegante Pomerantsev, subjefe de la administracion que cree volar con san Nicolas curando a los enfermos; Petrov, obsesionado con llamar a todas las puertas hasta que le abran; el doctor Sheviriov, que dirige la institucion con mano compasiva, cuando no esta tomando champan en los salones burgueses de la ciudad, o la triste y timida enfermera enamorada de el. Los espectros no oculta las consecuencias a veces tragicas de la locura (el aislamiento, el sufrimiento o incluso la muerte) pero lo presenta todo con la misma calma que dice reinar en el sanatorio. No es que lo que se nos cuenta sea alegre, pero el tono con el que se nos cuenta es cuando menos desenfadado, ameno, sencillo. Sin romanticismos excesivos ni dramatizaciones. Ademas, como la obra es no breve, sino brevisima, se ventila practicamente de una sentada, y deja ganas de mas (una sensacion preferible en todo caso al cansancio que producen las novelas demasiado largas). En fin, otra joyita minima que nos regala Acantilado, ideal para devorar en dos viajes de metro o en una tarde de domingo."
Avg Rating
3.66
Number of Ratings
96
5 STARS
20%
4 STARS
40%
3 STARS
29%
2 STARS
9%
1 STARS
2%
goodreads
Author
Leonid Andreyev
Author · 26 books
Leonid Nikolayevich Andreyev (Russian: Леонид Николаевич Андреев; 1871-1919) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who led the Expressionist movement in the national literature. He was active between the revolution of 1905 and the Communist revolution which finally overthrew the Tsarist government. His first story published was About a Poor Student, a narrative based upon his own experiences. It was not, however, until Gorky discovered him by stories appearing in the Moscow Courier and elsewhere that Andreyevs literary career really began. His first collection of stories appeared in 1901, and sold a quarter-million copies in short time. He was hailed as a new star in Russia, where his name soon became a byword. He published his short story, In the Fog in 1902. Although he started out in the Russian vein he soon startled his readers by his eccentricities, which grew even faster than his fame. His two best known stories may be The Red Laugh (1904) and The Seven Who Were Hanged (1908). His dramas include the Symbolist plays The Life of Man (1906), Tsar Hunger (1907), Black Masks (1908), Anathema (1909) and He Who Gets Slapped (1915).
