Two Soviet-era Russian Translations of Doris Lessing

Copies from the original editions of Doris Lessing’s first appearance in Russian: Муравейник – the 1956 translation of her 1953 novel The Antheap – and Марта Квест – the 1957 translation of her 1952 novel Martha Quest. Lessing is one of a number of Communist-sympathetic Western writers whose works were published in Russian translations in the Soviet Union. She developed an interest in Marxist politics while living in Rhodesia and joined the Communist party when she moved to London in 1951. By the time these two translations were published, however, Lessing had already become disillusioned with Communism because of its “propensity for dogmatic and tyrannical thought”*, a theme addressed in subsequent works such as A Ripple from the Storm and The Golden Notebook.

These volumes complement a series of recent acquisitions of Soviet-era Russian translations of communist-sympathetic or leftist Western authors. See also 1944 Edition of Russian Translations of Garcìa-Lorca, 3 by Tsvetaeva.

Муравейник: Rare Books (Ex): Item 6751932
Марта Квест: Rare Books (Ex): Item 6751934

The only copies listed in North American libraries.

This was a joint purchase financed by the English & American Literature and Slavic funds.

*Raschke, Debrah. “Lessing, Doris.” The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. : Oxford University Press, 2006. Oxford Reference. 2006. Date Accessed 25 Dec. 2013