12 Chairs (Illustrated Edition)

Author: I. Ilf
Publisher:
Publishing Time: Not available
Features: The Twelve Chairs is a significant work co-authored by Ilf and Petrov, also their breakthrough work. When the novel was first published, it was criticized by the "LRP" as "taking a nihilistic attitude towards real life," but it quickly gained widespread popularity among readers and attracted extensive attention and affirmation from the literary critics. The Twelve Chairs was reprinted ten times during the authors' lifetime and translated into multiple languages. At the time of the revolutionary storm, the noblewoman Betukhova hid her life's savings in one of a set of twelve chairs, and only revealed this secret to the priest Fyodor, who was making her last confession, and her Volobyaninov, until her death. Thus, a struggle for the search and seizure of wealth broke out between the priest on one side and the on the other. The journey to find the treasure spans the corners of the Russian land and involves all kinds of characters; the plot is full of twists and turns, absurd and hilarious, yet believable. However, the main purpose of the novel is not to provide readers with a humorous and entertaining adventure story, but to use the clever structure of this story and a sharp satirical pen to present the "small world" of petty bourgeoisie, mediocrities, and all kinds of social parasites to the readers (which includes both the decadent nobles, old officials, old merchants, and old clergy who rise to the surface and stir in the context of rapid social change, as well as the emerging bourgeoisie who seize opportunities during the "New Economic Policy" period, as well as the bureaucrats who ignore the feelings of the people, those who profit at the expense of the public, and so-called writers and poets who create shoddy works in the name of artistic innovation, even those who are licentious and perverted). The sharp edge of the spear is aimed directly at their common traits—greed, selfishness, profit-seeking, and materialism.