I am not the first to observe this phenomenon. Here is a fragment from Nabokov:
“Carrying his purchase, wrapped in brown paper and sealed with tape, under his arm, he entered the bookshop and asked for “Martin Eden.” [A novel by Jack London]
“Eden-Eden-Eden,” the tall, dark woman quickly repeated, rubbing her forehead. “Wait, you don’t mean a book about a British statesman?”
“I mean,” answered Pnin, “the famous work – a novel by the famous American writer Jack London.”
“London-London-London,” said the woman, holding her temples.
Mr. Tweed, her husband, a writer of local poetry, came to her aid with a pipe in his hand. After some searching, he brought out an old edition of “The Son of the Wolf” from the dusty depths of his not very prosperous store.
“I’m afraid that’s all,” he said, “that we have from the books of this author.”
— Strange! – said Pnin. – The vicissitudes of glory! In Russia, I remember, everyone – children, adults, doctors, lawyers – everyone read and reread it. This is not his best book, but okay, okay, I’ll take it.”
In USSR, Jack London was sold in millions of copies, and his novel ‘Martin Eden’ was one of the most favored by the Soviet readers. The same thing can be said about Theodore Dreiser and his ‘American Tragedy’, ‘The Financier’, etc.
James Fenimore Cooper was also very popular, especially his ‘The last of Mohicans’ but not only. His whole literary heritage, quite forgotten in the US, was instead acclaimed in USSR.
Even after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, these authors haven’t lost their status, as modern publishers re-edit their works. Jack London stands out, with ‘Martin Eden’ being one of the most beloved books by Russian readers, and ‘The white fang’ a popular novella among the children.
I remember reading so-called ‘Leatherstocking tales’ by J. Fenimore Cooper (a series of novels about United States in the 18-19th centuries) when I was 11 years old, and falling in love with this period of history and especially the culture of native Indian tribes, of which I knew nothing about before that.
by ArthRol