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The Crushed Flower and Other Stories
He was six years old, and the world was to him enormous, alive and bewitchingly mysterious. He knew the sky quite well. He knew its deep azure by day, and the white-breasted, half silvery, half golden clouds slowly floating by.
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First published January 1, 1911
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About the author
Leonid Andreyev
689 books416 followersLeonid Nikolayevich Andreyev (Russian: Леонид Николаевич Андреев; 1871-1919) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who led the Expressionist movement in the national literature. He was active between the revolution of 1905 and the Communist revolution which finally overthrew the Tsarist government. His first story published was About a Poor Student, a narrative based upon his own experiences. It was not, however, until Gorky discovered him by stories appearing in the Moscow Courier and elsewhere that Andreyevs literary career really began. His first collection of stories appeared in 1901, and sold a quarter-million copies in short time. He was hailed as a new star in Russia, where his name soon became a byword. He published his short story, In the Fog in 1902. Although he started out in the Russian vein he soon startled his readers by his eccentricities, which grew even faster than his fame. His two best known stories may be The Red Laugh (1904) and The Seven Who Were Hanged (1908). His dramas include the Symbolist plays The Life of Man (1906), Tsar Hunger (1907), Black Masks (1908), Anathema (1909) and He Who Gets Slapped (1915).
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 14, 2020
A Flor Pisada⭐⭐⭐⭐
Foi a leitura mais levezinha que fiz de Andreyev, até agora. Contudo, o tema é sério e pode ser doloroso. O narrador é uma criança embevecida de admiração pelos seus progenitores, até ao dia em que percebe que estes não são tão perfeitos quanto julgava.
Perante esse facto imutável, urge não permitir que tal belisque o amor que sente por eles.
É uma das primeiras dores de crescimento, para todos nós.
Lázaro⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
O Lázaro da história bíblica, o Lázaro ressuscitado depois de três dias no sepulcro.
Pode uma história profundamente angustiante, ser também extremamente bela?
Pode!
Foi a leitura mais levezinha que fiz de Andreyev, até agora. Contudo, o tema é sério e pode ser doloroso. O narrador é uma criança embevecida de admiração pelos seus progenitores, até ao dia em que percebe que estes não são tão perfeitos quanto julgava.
Perante esse facto imutável, urge não permitir que tal belisque o amor que sente por eles.
É uma das primeiras dores de crescimento, para todos nós.
Lázaro⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
O Lázaro da história bíblica, o Lázaro ressuscitado depois de três dias no sepulcro.
Pode uma história profundamente angustiante, ser também extremamente bela?
Pode!
November 13, 2015
Um livro pequenino - pouco maior do que um baralho de cartas - que contém dois curiosos contos:
A Flor Pisada
Iura é um menino de seis anos que, por um acaso, assiste a um episódio revelador da infidelidade da mãe e, aterrado, tenta que o pai não descubra.
Lázaro
A vida de Lázaro depois de ressuscitado por Cristo; o Outro Lado que todos querem e não querem ver nos olhos de quem esteve três dias nas Trevas.
Destas histórias minorcas, retirei duas conclusões:
1) há que ter muito cuidado com os fedelhos, porque mesmo pequenitos percebem tudo;
2) os milagres podem ter consequências muito graves.
A Flor Pisada
Iura é um menino de seis anos que, por um acaso, assiste a um episódio revelador da infidelidade da mãe e, aterrado, tenta que o pai não descubra.
Lázaro
A vida de Lázaro depois de ressuscitado por Cristo; o Outro Lado que todos querem e não querem ver nos olhos de quem esteve três dias nas Trevas.
Destas histórias minorcas, retirei duas conclusões:
1) há que ter muito cuidado com os fedelhos, porque mesmo pequenitos percebem tudo;
2) os milagres podem ter consequências muito graves.
February 21, 2021
The Crushed Flower - 4 Stars
Lazarus - 4 Stars
Death, which has been described as a mysterious king until this point, is now deified: it has "measureless power". Death is a god, and Lazarus, his messenger. It is ironic that, like all messengers, Lazarus is not taken care of, not cared for, and avoided after disclosing his message. Those who had denied his god are cursed. It is also ironic that curse is the message that Lazarus is bound to deliver, that death is not dead, that death is not far away, that death is not a detail, that death is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent as it is the god. Lazarus, the messenger, might be ignored by people, but he delivers the message most effectively, probably more effectively and successfully than any other prophet had done. All those who receive the message instantly become converts of this religion and begin to believe in death, which is their god, and then they stop believing everything else. They are such faithful believers that they always think of their god; they are obsessed with it. They had lived all their lives with the blasphemous denial of death. Now they deny life. Their new god decreed, "Let there be dark", and all was dark.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4927662
Lazarus - 4 Stars
Death, which has been described as a mysterious king until this point, is now deified: it has "measureless power". Death is a god, and Lazarus, his messenger. It is ironic that, like all messengers, Lazarus is not taken care of, not cared for, and avoided after disclosing his message. Those who had denied his god are cursed. It is also ironic that curse is the message that Lazarus is bound to deliver, that death is not dead, that death is not far away, that death is not a detail, that death is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent as it is the god. Lazarus, the messenger, might be ignored by people, but he delivers the message most effectively, probably more effectively and successfully than any other prophet had done. All those who receive the message instantly become converts of this religion and begin to believe in death, which is their god, and then they stop believing everything else. They are such faithful believers that they always think of their god; they are obsessed with it. They had lived all their lives with the blasphemous denial of death. Now they deny life. Their new god decreed, "Let there be dark", and all was dark.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4927662
October 29, 2022
ENGLISH: This edition contains 8 stories by Andreiev. A set of short stories by the author of the play He Who Gets Slapped, who has been called the Russian Edgar Allan Poe. His stories are supposed to be very dark, but not all of them are, the same as happens with Poe. Five of these stories are short and, with one exception, not too interesting; the other three are novelettes. The exception is the story that gives its title to the collection, where Andreiev gives a very good description of a six-year-old child mind.
These are the three novelettes:
Judas Iscariot: This novelette recounts the Gospel, with Judas as the central character. I don't like much the image it gives of Jesus. I can't see why Andreiev describes Judas as hideously ugly and one-eyed. And I don't quite see the point of the last chapter, where Judas seems to be boasting of knowing that Jesus is God, so that his treason was not directed against him, but against the Sanhedrin, whose members he has betrayed into hell; and against the apostles, whom he has shown as cowards who abandoned Jesus.
The man who found the truth: This novelette describes a man sentenced to life in prison for a horrendous crime, to which he pleads not guilty. The problem is, the narrator's words give me a feeling quite similar to that produced by the sermons of the evil protagonist of the movie The Night of the Hunter, and sometimes border blasphemy; so the reader (at least this reader) feels skeptical regarding his declaration of innocence. When he, as an old man, recovers his freedom, he does not get used to it, and has a cell built in his house to go on being a prisoner.
The Ocean: I didn't like it. For my taste, it's too gruesome.
ESPAÑOL: Esta edición contiene 8 cuentos de Andreiev. Interesante conjunto de relatos breves del autor de la obra "El que recibe las bofetadas", a quien se ha llamado el Edgar Allan Poe ruso. Se supone que sus historias son muy oscuras, pero no todas lo son; pasa lo mismo con las de Poe. Con una sola excepción, cinco de estos cuentos son cortos y sin demasiado interés; los otros tres son novelas cortas. La excepción es el cuento que da título a la colección, en el que Andreiev describe muy bien la mentalidad de un niño de seis años.
Las tres novelas cortas son estas:
Judas Iscariote: Esta novela corta ofrece una versión del Evangelio, con Judas como personaje central. No me gusta mucho la imagen de Jesús que presenta. No entiendo por qué Andreiev describe a Judas como tuerto y horriblemente feo. Y no veo a dónde quiere ir a parar el último capítulo, en el que Judas parece jactarse de saber que Jesús es Dios, por lo que su traición no se dirigió contra él, sino contra el Sanedrín, a cuyos miembros traicionó enviándolos al infierno; y contra los apóstoles, a quienes ha hecho aparecer como cobardes que abandonaron a Jesús.
El hombre que descubrió la verdad: Esta novela corta describe a un hombre condenado a cadena perpetua por un crimen horrendo, del que se declara inocente. Lo malo es que la sensación que da, como narrador, es muy parecida a la que producen los sermones del malvado protagonista de la película La noche del cazador, bordeando a veces la blasfemia, por lo que el lector (al menos este lector) tiende al escepticismo respecto a esa declaración de inocencia. Cuando, ya viejo, recupera la libertad, no se acostumbra y se hace construir en su casa una celda para seguir siendo un prisionero.
El Océano: No me gustó. Demasiado truculenta para mi gusto.
These are the three novelettes:
Judas Iscariot: This novelette recounts the Gospel, with Judas as the central character. I don't like much the image it gives of Jesus. I can't see why Andreiev describes Judas as hideously ugly and one-eyed. And I don't quite see the point of the last chapter, where Judas seems to be boasting of knowing that Jesus is God, so that his treason was not directed against him, but against the Sanhedrin, whose members he has betrayed into hell; and against the apostles, whom he has shown as cowards who abandoned Jesus.
The man who found the truth: This novelette describes a man sentenced to life in prison for a horrendous crime, to which he pleads not guilty. The problem is, the narrator's words give me a feeling quite similar to that produced by the sermons of the evil protagonist of the movie The Night of the Hunter, and sometimes border blasphemy; so the reader (at least this reader) feels skeptical regarding his declaration of innocence. When he, as an old man, recovers his freedom, he does not get used to it, and has a cell built in his house to go on being a prisoner.
The Ocean: I didn't like it. For my taste, it's too gruesome.
ESPAÑOL: Esta edición contiene 8 cuentos de Andreiev. Interesante conjunto de relatos breves del autor de la obra "El que recibe las bofetadas", a quien se ha llamado el Edgar Allan Poe ruso. Se supone que sus historias son muy oscuras, pero no todas lo son; pasa lo mismo con las de Poe. Con una sola excepción, cinco de estos cuentos son cortos y sin demasiado interés; los otros tres son novelas cortas. La excepción es el cuento que da título a la colección, en el que Andreiev describe muy bien la mentalidad de un niño de seis años.
Las tres novelas cortas son estas:
Judas Iscariote: Esta novela corta ofrece una versión del Evangelio, con Judas como personaje central. No me gusta mucho la imagen de Jesús que presenta. No entiendo por qué Andreiev describe a Judas como tuerto y horriblemente feo. Y no veo a dónde quiere ir a parar el último capítulo, en el que Judas parece jactarse de saber que Jesús es Dios, por lo que su traición no se dirigió contra él, sino contra el Sanedrín, a cuyos miembros traicionó enviándolos al infierno; y contra los apóstoles, a quienes ha hecho aparecer como cobardes que abandonaron a Jesús.
El hombre que descubrió la verdad: Esta novela corta describe a un hombre condenado a cadena perpetua por un crimen horrendo, del que se declara inocente. Lo malo es que la sensación que da, como narrador, es muy parecida a la que producen los sermones del malvado protagonista de la película La noche del cazador, bordeando a veces la blasfemia, por lo que el lector (al menos este lector) tiende al escepticismo respecto a esa declaración de inocencia. Cuando, ya viejo, recupera la libertad, no se acostumbra y se hace construir en su casa una celda para seguir siendo un prisionero.
El Océano: No me gustó. Demasiado truculenta para mi gusto.
May 13, 2018
The two last stories -- both novellas -- were the strongest: an enigmatic telling of Judas, and yet another of Andreyev's psychological prison tales.
I'll have to get hold of these admired translations by his writer-granddaughter of his 'best work': Visions: Stories and Photographs. So far I've read him in early 20thC translations, and I can't say I'm unhappy with them because his extraordinary writing manages to shine through. Even when his actual story concepts are fairly indifferent, as in a few of these.
I'll have to get hold of these admired translations by his writer-granddaughter of his 'best work': Visions: Stories and Photographs. So far I've read him in early 20thC translations, and I can't say I'm unhappy with them because his extraordinary writing manages to shine through. Even when his actual story concepts are fairly indifferent, as in a few of these.
December 23, 2022
Disappointing shorts on the psychology of deception, disillusionment, betrayal, subjugation, incarceration.
April 26, 2014
Very underrated writer, he reminds me so much of Tolstoy.
August 11, 2022
Um pequeno livro de dois contos brilhantes
January 13, 2022
in overall 3.5
my favorite stories:
1- a story which will never be finished, 5 star
2- the crushed flower, 4star
3-Love , Faith and Hope, 4 star
4-the man who found the truth , 3.5star
others 3 or 2..
my favorite stories:
1- a story which will never be finished, 5 star
2- the crushed flower, 4star
3-Love , Faith and Hope, 4 star
4-the man who found the truth , 3.5star
others 3 or 2..
April 15, 2018
Not the best collection of Russian literature short stories I have read! 2/10.
January 24, 2025
Um pequeno livro de dois contos brilhantes
October 6, 2011
Mostly-okay collection of short stories (another free ebook). The one I liked best was a retelling of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, even though most reviewers seem to hate it. Andreyev has a fixation on prisons/prisoners that extends to his creepy portrayal of the octopus-faced Judas, who is alternately malevolent and pathetic. He is too smart for the other disciples (who are mostly written as simple and good, which comes off a little condescending from Andreyev, who seems to favor the brilliant, evil, and calculating), and yet he's also stupid and self-destructive.
"The Man Who Found the Truth" is pretty good, although suffers from some of the same problems as "Ben-Tovit". Ben Tovit's about a man who has a toothache on the day of the crucifixion, and even though he witnesses it the entire story is about how his tooth hurts and how he traded an old donkey for a young donkey. Lol, Andreyev, ha ha. "The Man Who Found the Truth" is about a guy who has been wrongfully (?) imprisoned for life. Upon his release, he finds that he has become famous and rich, but instead of reveling in his wealth, he just builds himself a custom jail cell and hires a servant to act like a warden. Oh how funny.
"The Man Who Found the Truth" is pretty good, although suffers from some of the same problems as "Ben-Tovit". Ben Tovit's about a man who has a toothache on the day of the crucifixion, and even though he witnesses it the entire story is about how his tooth hurts and how he traded an old donkey for a young donkey. Lol, Andreyev, ha ha. "The Man Who Found the Truth" is about a guy who has been wrongfully (?) imprisoned for life. Upon his release, he finds that he has become famous and rich, but instead of reveling in his wealth, he just builds himself a custom jail cell and hires a servant to act like a warden. Oh how funny.
January 1, 2014
Read the Collection at Classicreader.com The volume includes:
The Crushed Flower - 3 and 1/2 stars
A Story Which Will Never Be Finished - 3 and 1/2 stars
On the Day of the Crucifixion - 4 stars
Love, Faith and Hope - 4 stars
The Ocean - 4 stars
The Serpent's Story - 3 stars
The Man Who Found the Truth - 3 stars
Judas Iscariot and Other - plan to read separately.
The Crushed Flower - 3 and 1/2 stars
A Story Which Will Never Be Finished - 3 and 1/2 stars
On the Day of the Crucifixion - 4 stars
Love, Faith and Hope - 4 stars
The Ocean - 4 stars
The Serpent's Story - 3 stars
The Man Who Found the Truth - 3 stars
Judas Iscariot and Other - plan to read separately.
September 3, 2016
(Read only 'the crushed flower')
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews