Dimensions
129 x 197 x 15mm
These stories represent the best of pre-Revolutionary Russian literature, the period between the 1890s and the First World War known as Russia's "Silver Age". Pushkin, Chekov, Tolstoy and Gogol all wrote short stories and the discipline of the form challenged them to convey their wider concerns through a medium which is both succinct and entertaining.
Human aspiration and social improvement were the issues of the day and Russian writers were eager to respond to the moral debate. In Pushkin's 'The Queen of Spades', for example, the fading aristocratic order is confronted by the dawning new age embodied in Hermann, whereas in Gogol's 'The Cloak' Kakays's new overcoat which transforms his life, represents the love and beauty for which the soul yearns. In Chekov's masterpiece, 'The Kiss', the pathos of everyday existence is alleviated by a rare moment of pure joy and an awareness that life can be lifted into another dimension. Yet, as John Bayley points out in his introduction, the sense of comedy shared by these writers ensures that they avoid the trap of sentimentalism.
This collection also provides an opportunity to sample the narrative skills of writers such as Korolenko, Kupin, Chirinov and Sologub, whose work is today relatively unknown, even by Russian readers. High characteristic of their time, these tales deserve to be rediscovered and appreciated.
