Aleksandr Kuprin’s Followers (156)

Aleksandr Kuprin

Born

in Narovchat, Penza Oblast, Russian Empire

September 07, 1870

Died

August 25, 1938

Genre

Literature & Fiction

edit data

Aleksandr Kuprin (Russian: Александр Иванович Куприн; 7 September 1870 in the village of Narovchat in the Penza Oblast - August 25, 1938 in Leningrad) was a Russian writer, pilot, explorer and adventurer who is perhaps best known for his story The Duel (1905). Other well-known works include Moloch (1896), Olesya (1898), Junior Captain Rybnikov (1906), Emerald (1907), and The Garnet Bracelet (1911) (which was made into a 1965 movie). Vladimir Nabokov styled him the Russian Kipling for his stories about pathetic adventure-seekers, who are often "neurotic and vulnerable."

Kuprin was a son of Ivan Ivanovich Kuprin, a minor government official who died of cholera during 1871 at the age of thirty-seven years. His mother, Liubov' Alekseevna Kuprina Aleksandr Kuprin (Russian: Александр Иванович Куприн; 7 September 1870 in the village of Narovchat in the Penza Oblast - August 25, 1938 in Leningrad) was a Russian writer, pilot, explorer and adventurer who is perhaps best known for his story The Duel (1905). Other well-known works include Moloch (1896), Olesya (1898), Junior Captain Rybnikov (1906), Emerald (1907), and The Garnet Bracelet (1911) (which was made into a 1965 movie). Vladimir Nabokov styled him the Russian Kipling for his stories about pathetic adventure-seekers, who are often "neurotic and vulnerable."

Kuprin was a son of Ivan Ivanovich Kuprin, a minor government official who died of cholera during 1871 at the age of thirty-seven years. His mother, Liubov' Alekseevna Kuprina, Tatar princess (of the Kulunchakovs), like many other nobles in Russia, had lost most of her wealth during the 19th century. Kuprin attended the Razumovsky boarding school during 1876, and during 1880 finished his education in the Second Moscow Military High School (Cadet Corps) and Alexander Military School, spending a total of ten years in these elite military institutions. His first short story, The Last Debut, was published during 1889 in a satirical periodical. "In February 1902, Kuprin and Maria Karlovna Davydova were married, their daughter Lidia born in 1903." Kuprin's mother died during 1910.

Kuprin ended military service during 1894, after which he tried many types of job, including provincial journalism, dental care, land surveying, acting, circus performer, church singer, doctor, hunter, fisher, etc. Reportedly, "all of these were subsequently reflected in his fiction." His first essays were published in Kiev in two collections. Reportedly, "although he lived in an age when writers were carried away by literary experiments, Kuprin did not seek innovation and wrote only about the things he himself had experienced and his heroes are the next generation after Chekhov's pessimists."

Although the 1896 short story Moloch first made his name known as a writer, it was his novel The Duel (1905) which made him famous. "Kuprin was highly praised by fellow writers including Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, Leonid Andreyev, Nobel Prize-winning Ivan Bunin" and Leo Tolstoy who acclaimed him a true successor to Chekhov. After publication of The Duel he paid less and less interest to fancy literature and began to spend time in pubs and brothels. His sensationalist novel about the lurid life of prostitutes, The Pit (1915), was accused by Russian critics of excessive Naturalism.

Although not a conservative, he did not agree with Bolshevism. While working for a brief time with Maxim Gorky at the World Literature publishing company, he criticized the Soviet regime. During spring 1919, from Gatchina near Petrograd, Kuprin left the country for France. He lived in Paris for most of the next 17 years, succumbing to alcoholism. He wrote about this in much of his work. He eventually returned to Moscow on May 31, 1937, just a year before his death, at the height of the Great Purge. His return earned publication of his works within the Soviet Union.

Kuprin died during the spring of 1938 in Leningrad and is interred near his fellow writers at the Literaturskiye Mostki in the Volkovo Cemetery (Volkovskoye Memorial Cemetery) in Leningrad. A minor planet 3618 Kuprin, discovered by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh in 1979 is named after him.

Reportedly, "even today, Alexander Kuprin remains one of the widest read classics in Russian literature", with many films based on his works, "which are also read over the radio", partly due to "his vivid stories of the lives of ordinary people and unhappy love, his descriptions of the military and brothels, making him a writer for all times and places." ...more

Combine Editions
Aleksandr Kuprin’s books

Average rating: 4.04 · 20,748 ratings · 1,081 reviews · 915 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Garnet Bracelet and other stories 4.07 avg rating — 7,272 ratings — 36 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Yama: The Pit 4.40 avg rating — 2,136 ratings — published 1909 — 93 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Олеся 4.05 avg rating — 2,268 ratings — published 1898 — 35 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Гранатовый браслет by Aleksandr Kuprin, Александр Иванович Куприн 3.73 avg rating — 1,939 ratings — 43 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Duel 4.02 avg rating — 885 ratings — published 1905 — 133 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Суламифь 3.66 avg rating — 489 ratings — published 1908 — 47 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Звезда Соломона 4.03 avg rating — 264 ratings — published 1917 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Молох 3.81 avg rating — 253 ratings — published 1896 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Чудесный доктор 4.31 avg rating — 207 ratings — published 1927 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Белый пудель by Aleksandr Kuprin, Александр Иванович Куприн 4.22 avg rating — 152 ratings — published 1904 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Aleksandr Kuprin…

Series by Aleksandr Kuprin

Собрание сочинений в 9 томах (3 books)
by

Aleksandr Kuprin,

Александр Иванович Куприн,

Korney Chukovsky (Introduction)

4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings

Quotes by Aleksandr Kuprin (?)

“А где же любовь-то? Любовь бескорыстная, самоотверженная, не ждущая награды? Та, про которую сказано — «сильна, как смерть»? Понимаешь, такая любовь, для которой совершить любой подвиг, отдать жизнь, пойти на мучение — вовсе не труд, а одна радость. […] Но ты пойми, о какой любви я говорю. Любовь должна быть трагедией. Величайшей тайной в мире! Никакие жизненные удобства, расчеты и компромиссы не должны ее касаться.”
― Aleksandr Kuprin, Гранатовый браслет: сборник произведений

5 likes

“– Почему – прощайте? Почему не до свидания?
Назанский засмеялся жутким, бессмысленным, неожиданным смехом.
– А почему не досвишвеция? – крикнул он диким голосом сумасшедшего.
И Ромашов почувствовал на всем своем теле дрожащие волны ужаса.”
― Aleksandr Ivanovich Kuprin, The Duel

tags: crazy, wordplay

3 likes

“— Смешная эта Людмила Львовна, — вдруг заговорил генерал, точно продолжая вслух течение своих мыслей. — Сколько раз я в жизни наблюдал: как только стукнет даме под пятьдесят, а в особенности если она вдова или старая девка, то так и тянет ее около чужой любви покрутиться. Либо шпионит, злорадствует и сплетничает, либо лезет устраивать чужое счастье, либо разводит словесный гуммиарабик насчет возвышенной любви. А я хочу сказать, что люди в наше время разучились любить. Не вижу настоящей любви. Да и в мое время не видел!”
― Aleksandr Kuprin, Гранатовый браслет: сборник произведений

3 likes

See all Aleksandr Kuprin's quotes »

Polls

Qual conto vamos discutir primeiro no clube de contos ?

Machado de Assis

1 vote, 100.0%

Aleksandr Kuprin

0 votes, 0.0%

Virginia Woolf

0 votes, 0.0%

1 total vote

comments and details

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Discovering Russi...: Good Russian novels - Recommend us! Tempt us!	31	214	Aug 30, 2011 07:13AM
Discovering Russi...: 2011 Short Story Challenger - Nominate! closed!	17	53	Sep 25, 2011 07:44AM
Discovering Russi...: 2011 Short Story Challenger - Schedule	5	79	Sep 27, 2011 07:03PM
Chaos Reading: Bookshelf Nominations: RUSSIAN LITERATURE [now online]	39	160	Aug 28, 2013 07:11AM
Nothing But Readi...: New 2 U authors 2018	127	364	Feb 06, 2019 10:50AM
Nothing But Readi...: Author Alphabet Reading Challenge: 2018	117	391	Feb 06, 2019 10:51AM
2025 & 2026 Readi...: Anna's Corner	6	52	Jan 06, 2020 11:15PM
Nothing But Readi...: Around the World in 80 Days	81	776	Jun 26, 2022 01:18PM

More…