If only over a century later all of humanity had finally realized the inhumanity of executions, regardless of the crime. Fascinating that this novella was published in tsarist Russia at a time of intense censorship. Perhaps the author’s intent flew over the censor’s head. Some parts of the book were especially powerful but it was all good, minus some awkward bits of poor translation that read more like my own overly literal attempts in college classes.

Condemned in Tsarist Russia
Review of the Amazon Kindle Public Domain eBook edition (2012) translated from the Russian language original Рассказ о семи повешенных (The Tale of the Seven Hanged) (1908)

I was not at all familiar with Leonid Andreyev's work until I chanced upon my GR friend Kiekiat's 4-star rating for The Seven... and I had to investigate further. Seeing that there was an Estonian character named Ivan Yanson (would have Jaan Jaanson in Estonian, or John Johnson in English) I took that as a sign to be sure to read it.

As it happens, Yanson is the most pathetic character of The Seven... and is one of two condemned murderers alongside the five members of a terror cell who had planned an assassination of a government minister. Andreyev paints portraits of each of seven in individual chapters and manages to convey the various states of fear, defiance, stoicism, acceptance, and other emotions that occur. These are simplified by being assigned 1 to 1 to each character. It is quite the unique novella and it is curious that it passed the Tsarist censors at the time. Admittedly it doesn't criticize the regime, but allowing sympathy for the condemned is not something that you would expect in repressive totalitarian states.

The public domain translation is that of Herman Bernstein who produced it as early as 1909. It still reads very well although some archaic spellings are present e.g. "Esthonians" instead of the present day "Estonians".

The Seven... is based on a true 1908 case where an anti-Tsarist terror cell was arrested and charged with the planned assassinations of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich (a grandson of Tsar Nicholas I) and the Minister of Justice I.G. Shcheglovitova. The plot was disclosed by an informer. The group was tried by a Military Tribunal and 7 of them were hanged, with 2 sentenced to 15 years of hard labour. 3 of the group members were women, including 2 of the hanged. I found this background information from the Russian Wikipedia entry for the book, the English Wikipedia entry has only a short summary of the novel itself.

Trivia and Links
The character Werner in The Seven... was based on the real-life Vsevolod Lebedintsev who was arrested under the name of Mario Calvino as he had re-entered Russia with identity papers borrowed from that Italian socialist. Fearing prosecution after Lebedintsev's execution, Calvino emigrated to the Americas where his famous author son [a:Italo Calvino|155517|Italo Calvino|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1501975461p2/155517.jpg] was born in Cuba. The family later returned to Italy.

The Seven... has been adapted into film and stage plays several times. The most recent film version is the Slovak language Balada o siedmich obesených (1968) dir. Martin Holly.

Introduction:
"The misfortune of us all is that we know so little, even nothing, about one another - neither about the soul, nor the life, the sufferings, the habits, the inclinations, the aspirations of one another. Literature, which I have the honor to serve, is dear to me just because the noblest task it sets before itself is that of wiping out bounderies and distances."

"My task was to point out the horror and the iniquity of capital pusnihment under any cirumstances."

"It is not death that is terrible, but the knowledge of it: it would be utterly impossible to live if a man could know exactly and definitely the day and hour of his death."

Leonid Andreyev's beautiful storytelling and deep exploration of existential and moral themes make this book a timeless read for those interested in literature that explores the human condition in all its complexity.

A book as much about life as it is about death. This book literally disintegrated as a read it, which seemed fitting.

“And it was not because he saw death that Sergey suffered, but because he saw life and death at the same time. A sacrilegious hand had lifted the curtain which from all eternity hidden the mystery of life and the mystery of death; they had ceased to be mysteries, but they were no more comprehensible than the truth written in a foreign language.”