Satan's Diary

Excerpt from Satan's Diary

In Satan's Diary Andreyev summed up his boundless disillusionment in an absorbing satire on human life. Fearlessly and mercilessly he hurled the falsehoods and hypocrisies into the face of life. He portrayed Satan coming to this earth to amuse himself and play. Having as sumed the form of an American multi-millionaire, Satan set out on a tour through Europe m quest of amusement and adventure. Before him passed various forms of spurious virtues, hypocrisies,the ruthless cruelty of man and the often deceptive innocence of woman. Within a short time Satan finds himself outwitted, deceived, relieved of his millions, mocked, humiliated, beaten by man in his own devilish devices.

The story of Andreyev's beginning as a writer is best told in his autobiography which he gave me in 1908.

I was born, he said, in Oryol, in 1871, and studied there at the gymnasium. I studied poor ly; while in the seventh class I was for a whole year known as the worst student, and my mark for conduct was never higher than 4, sometimes 3. The most pleasant time I spent at school, which I recall to this day with pleasure, was recess time between lessons, and also the rare occasions when I was sent out from the classroom. The sun beams, the free sunbeams, which penetrated some cleft and which played with the dust in the hall way - all this was so mysterious, so interesting, so full of a peculiar, hidden meaning.

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