“Devil’s Notebook” Released to Book Market

According to the correspondent of the Iran Book News Agency (IBNA), “Devil’s Notebook,” written by Leonid Andreyev and recently made available to Persian speakers with a translation by Hamidreza Atashbarab, is a protest against the foundations and values of bourgeois society.

This novel, which remained unfinished, is Leonid Andreyev’s last work and, in a way, a book that summarizes and concludes all of the author’s works.

The translator emphasized in the book’s preface: “The author’s warnings in this work are entirely timely and contemporary. Maxim Gorky said: The observation and prediction of the human soul in Andreyev’s novel ‘Devil’s Notebook’ is astonishing. This prediction was not only true about human beings themselves but also successfully depicted a society where the ruthless law of calculation, lies, and malice reigns.”

He also wrote: “Leonid Andreyev’s works are overflowing with apocalyptic themes; the reason for the emergence of such themes is that the author lived during one of the transitional periods, bordering two centuries: the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Moreover, it should not be overlooked that the 20th-century world was very dreadful and afflicted with crime and bloodshed; on one hand, the global economic crisis intensifying from the last decade of the 19th century, and on the other hand, wars that shook Europe one after another. The turmoil of the Russian revolutions at the beginning of the 20th century and war and rebellion also transformed the course of life in this part of the world and subsequently the entire world…”

In Devil’s Notebook, one can find a connection to the apocalyptic events that were emerging and unfolding in Russia and around the world. In this novel, Andreyev develops the subject of the devil’s descent to earth, and his devil comes to earth with the goal of understanding humanity. The devil takes human form and appears as an American billionaire named Alfred Vanderbilt.

In a part of the novel, you read: “Yes, I am the Devil. But I must also add to Señor Magnus’s words that I am not only a devil in human form but a plundered devil. Don’t you know, Your Excellency, that these two swindlers have plundered me? And were you one of them too, Your Grace? Only Magnus continued to laugh; the others, like me, waited seriously for the bishop’s answer. He duly fulfilled everyone’s expectation…”

Parseh Book has recently offered ‘Devil’s Notebook,’ translated by Hamidreza Atashbarab, in 336 pages.