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From Karamzin to Bunin: An Anthology of Russian Short Stories
" . . . highly recommended. . . . This anthology of faithful translations of the classics is by far the best of its kind to come out for a long time." ―Canadian Slavic Review
480 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1969
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 24, 2022
A textbook, the first part of which consists of sixty pages of essays, one for each story. I'm skipping those essays for now, as I am not a student of Russian literature.
1 - Poor Liza by Nikolai Karamzin - From the later 18th century, and it shows it. The prose is egregious-looking at first , but if one is patient, one will find the story. It's a pretty familiar one, as an innocent young girl is brought low by the love, and then lust, of a feckless young man of higher social standing. Too bad for her, and let this tale be a lesson to ya dear ladies.
2 - The Station Master by Alexander Pushkin- Similar to the first story but much better written and with the bad outcome coming down on dear old abandoned Dad instead of the feckless beautiful daughter. It's about a failure to honor family ties, but also about class distinctions.
3 - The Queen of Spades by Alexander Pushkin - Another famous story by a revered master. This one was made into at least one movie - English I believe. About a guy who gets his comeuppance.
4 - The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol - The most famous of all Russian shorts? Read before by me a couple of times - I think.
5 - Bezhin Meadow by Ivan Turgenev - IT begins in the same ghostly territory where Gogol leaves off, but the view is much more ... transcendent(?) as our storyteller spends a lost night out in the big, beautiful, overwhelming bosom of Mother Nature, Russian-style. IT pulls out all the prose stops in his ecstatic descriptions of the great outdoors.
6 - The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Nikolay Leskov. This long story sounds familiar so I might have read it a LONG time ago. Very black comedy methinks.
7 - The Dream of a Ridiculous Man: A Fantastic Story by Fyodor Dostoevsky. More craziness from Mr. All-Wound-Up and ready to spew.
8 - God Sees the Truth, but Waits by Leo Tolstoy - a short and sweet of a man done wrong who fids a spiritual path away from hatred and despair.
9 - The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy - One of the all-time biggies short/long story -wise. This was my third time through. Tolstoy was always after the big fish, spiritually speaking: birth-life-death-suffering-meaning-God etc.
- Poor I. I. - nowadays he'd have a quick ultrasound and simple surgery.
- Tolstoy = materialism is a soul-killer.
- The deliberate chronicle draws one in when one wants to get away from the suffering. The reader is as impatient for him to die as his family is.
10 - The Red Flower by Vsevolod Garshin. Yup ... Russian authors are obsessed with lunacy and lunatics.
11 - Makar's Dream by Vladimir Korolenko - Very atmospheric(think Siberia, winter) but of murky purpose(to me). In other word a typical Russian story.
12 - Heartache by Anton Chekhov - read before.
13 - Gooseberries by Chekhov - also read before.
14 - Anna on the Neck by Chekhov - I THINK I've read this before.
15 - The Darling by Chekhov - read before.
16 - Chelkash by Maxim Gorky - NOT read before. Another tale laden with psychic and physical murk in service to a ?????? meaning. Pretty well written, for what it's worth.
1 - Poor Liza by Nikolai Karamzin - From the later 18th century, and it shows it. The prose is egregious-looking at first , but if one is patient, one will find the story. It's a pretty familiar one, as an innocent young girl is brought low by the love, and then lust, of a feckless young man of higher social standing. Too bad for her, and let this tale be a lesson to ya dear ladies.
2 - The Station Master by Alexander Pushkin- Similar to the first story but much better written and with the bad outcome coming down on dear old abandoned Dad instead of the feckless beautiful daughter. It's about a failure to honor family ties, but also about class distinctions.
3 - The Queen of Spades by Alexander Pushkin - Another famous story by a revered master. This one was made into at least one movie - English I believe. About a guy who gets his comeuppance.
4 - The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol - The most famous of all Russian shorts? Read before by me a couple of times - I think.
5 - Bezhin Meadow by Ivan Turgenev - IT begins in the same ghostly territory where Gogol leaves off, but the view is much more ... transcendent(?) as our storyteller spends a lost night out in the big, beautiful, overwhelming bosom of Mother Nature, Russian-style. IT pulls out all the prose stops in his ecstatic descriptions of the great outdoors.
6 - The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Nikolay Leskov. This long story sounds familiar so I might have read it a LONG time ago. Very black comedy methinks.
7 - The Dream of a Ridiculous Man: A Fantastic Story by Fyodor Dostoevsky. More craziness from Mr. All-Wound-Up and ready to spew.
8 - God Sees the Truth, but Waits by Leo Tolstoy - a short and sweet of a man done wrong who fids a spiritual path away from hatred and despair.
9 - The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy - One of the all-time biggies short/long story -wise. This was my third time through. Tolstoy was always after the big fish, spiritually speaking: birth-life-death-suffering-meaning-God etc.
- Poor I. I. - nowadays he'd have a quick ultrasound and simple surgery.
- Tolstoy = materialism is a soul-killer.
- The deliberate chronicle draws one in when one wants to get away from the suffering. The reader is as impatient for him to die as his family is.
10 - The Red Flower by Vsevolod Garshin. Yup ... Russian authors are obsessed with lunacy and lunatics.
11 - Makar's Dream by Vladimir Korolenko - Very atmospheric(think Siberia, winter) but of murky purpose(to me). In other word a typical Russian story.
12 - Heartache by Anton Chekhov - read before.
13 - Gooseberries by Chekhov - also read before.
14 - Anna on the Neck by Chekhov - I THINK I've read this before.
15 - The Darling by Chekhov - read before.
16 - Chelkash by Maxim Gorky - NOT read before. Another tale laden with psychic and physical murk in service to a ?????? meaning. Pretty well written, for what it's worth.
January 1, 2016
Very Good Anthology. Not only does this book have a lot of different authors covered, but the articles written on the authors themselves are wonderful. Great for anyone that's interested in Russian Literature.
March 31, 2012
I bought this book for a Russian culture class in college and kept it because I really enjoyed it. Coming from a then-poor college student, that is saying something!
December 25, 2019
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District was especially fun.
September 3, 2023
Really good anthology, introduction to a variety of Russian authors. Really like Dostoevsky’s. Bunin’s to close is insane and I need to revisit. Pushkin is fun.
August 28, 2024
I got this anthology for the stories but also - and really more so - to read Proffer’s analysis of each story. While some of the stories were meh, Proffer’s analysis and criticism for each was stellar. His have been the best critique of a wide range of Russian authors and stories that I’ve read; insightful with, at time, a dash of snark.
And it is a good survey of stories - it has classic gems like “The Overcoat”*, “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”, “The Death of Ivan Ilych”*,“Heartache”*, and “The Darling* (all re-reads for me), but also Chekhov’s “Gooseberries*” and “Anna on the Neck*”.
And new to me: Karamzin’s “Poor Liza*,” Pushkin’s “The Station Master*” and “The Queen of Spades*” (and I find it curiously interesting that my first read of his is prose, not poetry), Turgenev’s “Bezhin Meadow,” Leskov’s “Lady MacBeth of the Mtensk District,” Tolstoy’s “God Sees the Truth, but Waits*,” Garshin’s “The Red Flower,” Korolenko’s “Makar’s Dream*,” Gorky’s “Chelkash,” Kuprin’s “The Garnet Bracelet,” and Bunin’s “The Gentleman from San Francisco.”
I’m also impressed with his translations of the stories. He translated 11 (the *s above) of 18 stories in this anthology.
And now I’m trying to remember exactly where I came across his name: it may have been in connection with my recent reading of Pasternak and/or Bulgakov; or possibly Chekhov in connection with Uncle Vanya. But i remember at the time coming here and seeing the Canadian Slavic Review highly recommending this. My thanks to them.
See separate entries for each story.
And it is a good survey of stories - it has classic gems like “The Overcoat”*, “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”, “The Death of Ivan Ilych”*,“Heartache”*, and “The Darling* (all re-reads for me), but also Chekhov’s “Gooseberries*” and “Anna on the Neck*”.
And new to me: Karamzin’s “Poor Liza*,” Pushkin’s “The Station Master*” and “The Queen of Spades*” (and I find it curiously interesting that my first read of his is prose, not poetry), Turgenev’s “Bezhin Meadow,” Leskov’s “Lady MacBeth of the Mtensk District,” Tolstoy’s “God Sees the Truth, but Waits*,” Garshin’s “The Red Flower,” Korolenko’s “Makar’s Dream*,” Gorky’s “Chelkash,” Kuprin’s “The Garnet Bracelet,” and Bunin’s “The Gentleman from San Francisco.”
I’m also impressed with his translations of the stories. He translated 11 (the *s above) of 18 stories in this anthology.
And now I’m trying to remember exactly where I came across his name: it may have been in connection with my recent reading of Pasternak and/or Bulgakov; or possibly Chekhov in connection with Uncle Vanya. But i remember at the time coming here and seeing the Canadian Slavic Review highly recommending this. My thanks to them.
See separate entries for each story.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews