As a Russian major, this work was never my favorite. It's *important* in the genealogy of later Russian and Soviet writers, from Pushkin to Solzhenitsyn, but not the most enjoyable to read. This, though, is meant to be the definitive translation, and it delivers. The introduction features a useful biography of Radishchev and background on the reception of the book.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is a really interesting book. I didn't love all of it, and it took me forever to read, but since finishing it I keep thinking about different parts of it. This isn't so much of a novel as it is an Enlightenment jeremiad disguised as a travelogue. Published in 1790, the plot basically consists of the narrator stopping at a postal or carriage house on his journey and meeting someone who tells a long story, or finding a letter and reading it, or seeing something that sparks a long reverie. It's basically an excuse for speech-making, and reform-minded speechmaking at that.

Radishchev was a noble, but an enlightened enlightenment noble, and you can tell why he was exiled to Siberia for this book, because almost nothing in then-current Russian society escapes comment. Especially coming in for scorn is the hypocrisy and self-interest of the noble class and the plight of the serfs, who were at the mercy of the aforementioned hypocritical, rapacious, and cruel nobles. I knew life as a Russian serf probably wasn't that great but it is awful to see his depictions of the hereditary servitude system and think about how much of humanity lived like this over the centuries.

It's also very interesting to see Radishchev make analogies between the serf system and slavery in the USA, making the argument that serfs are treated "just as badly" as American slaves and that the serf system is an evil just like slavery. Fascinating that only about a decade or so after independence (and just after the US Constitution was ratified with the disgusting 3/5ths compromise) that the system of slavery is seen as such an evil and a reference to something awful that would immediately be recognized by his audience.

Like I said, this was a slow going book, but while I am glad I am no longer reading it, I am also very glad that I have read it.

Not really a coherent narrative, but rather 25 loosely connected vignettes about the state of Russian society in the 18th century, especially the horrors inflicted upon the serfs.

The chapters that deal with this or the corruption of the nobility are fascinating, heartbreaking, and unfortunately still relevant. I was rather surprised by the vehement denunciation of slavery, especially in the Americas. The guilt he discusses in using products made from American slavery still reverberate in today's society as many deal with the ethical implications of buying things made in sweatshops or using child labor.

Other chapters go on long tangents on the history of censorship or Russian poetry. The author himself seems to be aware that these are not for everybody and informs the reader they can skip these or even take a nap. I assure you that nothing will be lost if you do.

Thanks to NetGalley and Columbia University Press for the ARC, and also the latter for continuing to put out all these great unheralded classics and expanding the repertoire of Russian literature in English.

Originally published in 1790, Alexander Radishev's incredible travel log depicting the deplorable socio-economic realities of late 18th century Russia, attracted right away the wrath of Catherine the Great & her government, almost costing Radishev his life and a one way ticket into the depths of a harsh Siberian exile.

More than a travel journal within the confines of an. Russian Empire almost feudal at the time, it is a meticulous catalog of all the ills plaguing its entire society at the tail end of the tsarina's long reign.
Introducing radicalism into Russian prose for the first time ever, Radishev became inadvertently the greatest influence for several generations of Russian writers during the 19th century
It is an unavoidable read for anyone interested by Russian history.⁸

Many thanks to Netgalley and Columbia University Press for the opportunity to read this magnificent book prior to its release date

Very, very good introduction. As for the book itself, I wish I was more interested in it, unfortunately I found it a bit too preachy. However I must admit it was definitely advanced for its time and it took lots of courage on Radischev's part.

Aleksandr Radishchev (1749-1802) is sometimes called the father of the Russian intelligentsia, the “first Russian humanist” or “the first Russian radical”. The Soviets took him on board and called him “the first Russian revolutionary”. I’m not qualified to judge these assessments, but certainly it appears that he was probably the first person to raise his voice on behalf of the serfs, and this is his most acclaimed and well-known book, suppressed until 1905 but later becoming a Soviet classic. It’s sometimes compared to Uncle Tom’s Cabin as it brought to the wider reading public the plight of the serfs in Russia just as Harriet Beecher Stowe highlighted the plight of the slaves. Written between 1780-1790, the timing wasn’t good as although the French Revolution was still in its early stages by 1790 it had already made Catherine the Great wary and she accused Radishchev of trying to stir up the people against the government. He was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress and condemned to death although this was later commuted to exile in Siberia. After Catherine’s death he was allowed to live on his estate, although he eventually committed suicide. The book recounts his experiences on his journey of the title where he was witness to the degradation, misery and inequities of serfdom, which he describes graphically and with empathy. There are some harrowing and moving episodes, particularly one describing a serf auction. Unfortunately there are also some definite longueurs, such as a long passage on censorship. The human parts are very affecting but essentially it’s a book of ideas and I found myself skipping whole chunks. I feel that this is a book for the lover or student of Russian history and culture rather than the general reader, and even though I am both I still found it palled on occasion. However I am extremely glad to have discovered it thanks to NetGalley and very much enjoyed meeting Aleksandr Radishchev.

Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow is a wild fever dream of a trip through late 18th century Russia in the company of a traveller who sees everything and reacts with febrile and intense emotion to what he sees. This translation is weepy-marvelous. I kept stopping to write down passages I wanted to remember, just for the beauty of the language and the oddness of the scene. The introduction to the work in this edition is outstanding--both fascinating to read and deeply informative. I'm not an expert in the author or the era, but reading the book was a marvelous and intense experience. I kept trying to keep in mind that this work was banned and nearly all copies destroyed of it by Catherine the Great and the author exiled to Siberia--it's important to read the work in this context--but at the same time the writing is so harshly satirical and so exaggerated that I'm reminded more than anything of Voltaire's Candide, written a few decades earlier, and I guess that leads me to ponder how differently wend the fates of scholars and writers, depending on where they happen to live and write. And it amazes me anew to ponder how dangerous it is, after all these centuries, for Russians to speak out or criticize those in power in their country. An exuberant, harsh, confusing, demanding, and ever-enlightening read.

While the commentary on Russian society and politics in this classic novel was daring and provocative, I did not enjoy the delivery.

I received a digital copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really nice translation of an important book, and one that makes Radishchev accessible and even enjoyable to an English-speaking audience. While I'm able to read in Russian, Radishchev is not an author I feel very confident tackling in the original--and this translation worked really well for me. I enjoyed it and found myself digitally highlighting passages in nearly every chapter--it's not exactly light reading, but certainly worthwhile for those with an interest in Russian intellectual and political history. Many of Radishchev's observations and ideas are striking and relevant even today, even beyond their true significance to Russian history and literature. This is a book that is meant to make the reader think, and it does.

The introduction to this translation is interesting and informative, and provides a good amount of historical context on Radishchev and his work. It's probably most helpful and of more interest to someone with some background in Russian history, and I can't speak to how accessible it would be for someone without that background--but personally, having the necessary background, I really liked it.

For readers fascinated with Russian Literature and history, there are a few classics that can slip through the cracks amid readings of Dostoevsky and Gogol. One of these great works is Alexander Radischev's Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow. The story is a fictional trip along a Russian postal route into the country. However, it is so much more. This work includes concepts of philosophy, social injustice, and points a weary eye at the Russian politics of Catherine the Great.

For those who doubt the power of this book through an initial read through, remember that this book was thought to be so dangerous, that Radischev was sentenced to death for writing it. Thankfully, the government backed off a bit on the part and just sent him to the freezing world of Siberia instead (although some would argue, not better). Though fictional, there is just enough truth within the work that Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow made readers of the day (and today as well) think.

This is an incredible historical document, and a fascination evocation of Catherine the Great's complex, callous and oftentimes astounding Russia. It is inventive in style and ambitious in its merging of so many varied forms of poetry, prose and expression. It is remarkably progressive, too, in its philosophy, ideals and encapsulation of its own time. A real treat for lovers of history and literature alike.

In a sort of anti-Canterbury Tales, our author travels across his country as the title suggests, but rather than gaining stories from the people with him, finds tales, opinions and discussion with the people he encounters. But this being a book deliberately designed to ask whether or not some socialist-tinged reform might not happen in 1780s and '90s Russia, all the beats are looking at human compassion, liberty, equality, and so on. There's no hiding the fact this is not a book people turn to in between Oprah recommendations.

Early on we get the narrator enraged with a worker asleep on the job, but finding the fact he tipped his first coachman a great boon in getting a second. He discusses with a landworker at the plough how he ever finds time and energy to work for himself. He meets with a chap who, almost like the seller of indulgences in the Chaucer, has designed genealogical charts to flog to people who might want a minor title – our narrator is disgusted at the idea of the nouveaux riches getting all hoity-toity and lording it over things as a result. And he meets with an old friend, who dismisses St Petersburg as a city, due to a slovenly official's response to a potentially fatal situation.

The episodes don't always come from the people he meets, as in a fiercely powerful look at a dream, where he is a ruler seeing everything through rose tinted glasses before a sort of Ghost of Tzar-dom Past removes them for him. On the whole, however, the people bestow the contents on the narrative and not the places – this is rarely ever a travelogue as we know it, with only a couple of instances, such as Novgorod, making any impact on the page. But there's no mistaking the power this text would have had at the time for the real people in these places, and there's little surprise this civil servant-turned-author was charged with heresy against the state (of course, a death sentence, and then a change of that to ten years in Siberian exile, were a bit harsh as a response).

It's not as unreadable as the (excellent) introduction made me fear, and this is a fairly accessible read as a result of the translators' labours. But you do feel the urge to twitch a page or two ahead when faced with an interior monologue discussing the legitimacy of promissory notes. As such, and as is the norm from this publishing house, this is geared to a tiny niche market, and even more so with these pages. They will really only find great favour with the academic looking at proto-socialist thinking in Russia, or people studying early reformist modes of literature. Yup, me neither. I didn't object to my time spent in this world, however, so an average browser will not hate this. I don't see them ever recommending this to their like, however. Some things are just not set to be shared with impunity.