Are there any glaring errors in his wikipedia entry? Anything you feel worth adding?
As I understand it, he authored a work titled, "проклятие зверя" or "Pro-klyatic Zverya" in Russian. I can't find mention of it in his wikipedia entry. Would someone be able to characterize it in broad terms?
Is Andreyev associated with any sort of political or social endeavors? For instance, is he regarded as a fascist icon? Was he lionized by Communists? A favorite of liberals?
BACKGROUND-
For me, it started with this entry in /r/OutOfTheLoop. And the more I (and others) looked into it, the weirder the whole thing seems. Thought I'd consult you fine folks, to see if you could provide any insight, or even point us in the right direction.
Thanks!
-EDIT-
It might be worth mentioning some of the recurring motifs and phrases in /r/klyatic...
A paraphrase of "Might makes right," has popped up a couple of times. Serial killers and death-cults have some representation. Some posts and comments reflect an attitude I would characterize as a general misanthropy/dissatisfaction with society. Also "The Ridge" has been mentioned, repeatedly. The name "Slateton" seems to carry some authority with these folks.
If this connects with Andreyev's works in any way, that would be a major clue for us!
Just compare with Andreev's bio on a page, dedicated to his life. It's in russian, but Google translate would let you get the gist
Yes, he did wrote a novel Проклятие зверя
or "Pro-klyatic Zverya" in Russian
Latin e is still e in Cyrillic, not c, so /r/klyatic sounds funny 'pseudo-russian' to me - there's no such word.
Would someone be able to characterize it in broad terms?
Just your typical fin-de-sicle pulp. Hero is tired, a bit crazy, disillusioned, depressed, talk to himself about death, dies in the end etc.
Here's full text in russian. Note that server is a bit flaky.
- Is Andreyev associated with any sort of political or social endeavors?
Politically, he was briefly involved with RSDRP (which later fractured into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks) but didn't play a noticeable role and drifted away from politics after 1907.
He was strongly influenced by Nietzsche and Übermensch vs masses theme shows often in his tales.
He was always more into writing and expressing his emotions (which were dark, depressive etc.) than into politicking. Note that being cynical, tired of wordly toil and depressed was all the rage in these times in Russia. Many authors of the so-called Silver Age of Russian literature exhibited these traits. Decadence, symbolism, apocalyptic visions etc. - fin de sicle.
As a writer, he was associated with expressionism.
Andreyev attempted suicide thrice, but died in 1919 of natural causes. His son Daniil Andreyev was also a renowned author - and also into mysticism, just not as dark.
"Might makes right,"
That's ancient aphorism, but in this context I think it's coming from Nietzsche ideas.
I can't speak much to Andreyev - he seems like a fairly minor writer of the Russian Silver Age - but there is likely zero connection between The Curse of the Beast and those kooky kids at /r/klyatic. There's an OCR error in the Google books result: проклятие зверя transliterates as proklyatie zverya, not pro-klyatic zverya.