Record Number: 24901
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'[...] the gratuitous atrocity of, say, "Ivan Illyitch"[sic] or the monstrous stupidity of such a thing as "The Kreutzer Sonata" for instance; where an obvious degenerate not worth looking at twice, totally unfitted not only for married life but for any sort of life is presented as a sympathetic victim of some sort of sacred truth that is supposed to live within him.'
Century:1900-1945
Date:Between 1902 and 1 Sep 1908
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:unknown
unknown
unknown
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:3 Dec 1857
Socio-Economic Group:Gentry
'Szlachta', or Polish landed gentry/nobility
Master mariner and author
Religion:Roman Catholic
Country of Origin:Poland
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:The Death of Ivan Illyich and other stories
Genre:Fiction
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsprobably Constance Garnett's translation published by Heinemann 1902; but see also additional comments.
Provenanceowned
if Garnett's translation then almost certainly a gift from the translator
Source Information:
Record ID:24901
Source:Joseph Conrad
Editor:Karl Frederick R. and Laurence Davies
Title:The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad Volume 4 1908-1911
Place of Publication:Cambridge
Date of Publication:1990
Vol:4
Page:116
Additional Comments:
Letter from Joseph Conrad to John Galsworthy dated 2-3 September, Someries.
Citation:
Joseph Conrad, Karl Frederick R. and Laurence Davies (ed.), The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad Volume 4 1908-1911, (Cambridge, 1990), 4, p. 116, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=24901, accessed: 28 April 2025
Additional Comments:
That Conrad was referring to Garnett's translation is speculative but likely. It is not apparent to which version of the 'Kreutzer Sonata' Conrad is referring as this work was not part of the collection cited above. Constance Garnett did not translate this work but there is a contemporary translation by Leo Wiener published by J.M. Dent in 1904 which includes both 'Ivan Illyich' and 'The Kreutzer Sonata'.