SOURCE: Karlinsky, Simon. “Tallemant and the Beginning of the Novel in Russia.” Comparative Literature 15, No. 3 (Summer 1965): 226-33.

In the essay below, Karlinsky analyzes Ezda v ostrov liubvi, discussing its flaws and infelicities of style as well as its importance to the development of the Russian novel.

It is seldom possible to date the introduction of a genre in a given literature with such precision as the introduction of the novel in Russia. The first novel (and, indeed, the first secular work of fiction) that was ever published in Russian appeared in 1730. It was titled Ezda v ostrov ljubvi (The Voyage to the Isle of Love), and the title page of the original edition stated that the work had been translated from the French “by the student Vasily Trediakovsky.” The name of the author of the French original was not mentioned. Prior to 1730, translations of foreign works of fiction...