Alexey Sklyarenko: "Baron Klim
Avidov is a namesake of the hero of Gorky's novel "The Life of Klim
Samgin." One of its many characters mentions Gleb Uspensky's article on
Tolstoy: "Восемьдесят тысяч вёрст вокруг самого себя"
("80000 Versts* Around Himself"). The article's title blends
Vingt mille lieues sous les mers ("Twenty
Thousand Leagues under the Sea") with Le tour du
monde en quatre-vingts jours ("Around the World in Eighty Days")**
by Jules Verne.// *four versts = one league (approximately); **Benten is
mentioned in this novel
JM: Since I ignore the contex of
Gorky's novel, Uspensky's article and times (and a lot more, of course), I
wonder if we couldn't associate to the title of "80000 Versts
Around Himself" another possible reference, now to Xavier de
Maistre,. who wrote "Voyage autour de ma
chambre"*
...............................................................................................................................................
* Following wikipedia
"lived largely as a military man, but is known as a French writer ...and
eventually took a commission in the Russian army. He served under Alexander
Suvorov...the new monarch Paul I dismissed the victorious general ...Xavier
de Maistre shared the disgrace of his general, and supported himself for some
time in St. Petersburg by miniature painting, particularly landscapes.In 1803,
Joseph de Maistre was appointed as Piedmont-Sardinia's ambassador to the court
of Alexander I, Tsar of Russia. On his brother's arrival in St. Petersburg,
Xavier de Maistre was introduced to the Minister of the Navy, and was appointed
to several posts including director of the Library, and of the Museum of
Admiralty. He also joined active service, and was wounded in the Caucasus,
attaining the rank of major-general. In 1812 he married a Russian lady, related
to the Tsars, Mrs. Zagriatsky. He remained in Russia even after the overthrow of
Napoleon and the consequent restoration of the Piedmontese dynasty.His "Voyage
autour de ma chambre" (1794),a parody set in the tradition of the grand travel
narrative, is an autobiographical account of how a young official, imprisoned in
his room for six weeks, looks at the furniture, engravings, etc., as if they
were scenes from a voyage in a strange land. He praises this voyage because it
does not cost anything, for this reason it is strongly recommended to the poor,
the infirm, and the lazy. His room is a long square, and the perimeter is
thirty-six paces. "When I travel through my room," he writes, "I rarely follow a
straight line: I go from the table towards a picture hanging in a corner; from
there, I set out obliquely towards the door; but even though, when I begin, it
really is my intention to go there, if I happen to meet my armchair en route, I
don’t think twice about it, and settle down in it without further ado." Later,
proceeding North, he encounters his bed, and in this way he lightheartedly
continues his "Voyage". This work is remarkable for its play with the reader's
imagination, along the lines of Laurence Sterne, whom Xavier admired. Xavier did
not think much of Voyage, but his brother Joseph had it published. ..For a time,
he lived at Naples, but eventually he returned to St. Petersburg and died there
in 1852."