Romanian Stories

by Mihail Sadoveanu, Ion Luca Caragiale, Marcu Beza

"Very little is known about Romanian literature, which although not as rich as in many other countries, presents, nevertheless, features of real interest. Like all people in touch with the East, even the peasants have a strain of poetry in their speech, their expression is picturesque and gentle, an almost fatalistic note of sadness rings through all the songs they sing. Our poets have adapted themselves to this particular strain, and mostly it is the popular form that has been developed by our literary men both in prose and poetry. Romanian literature possesses eminent historians and critics. I am not, in these few lines, going to touch upon their activities ; but strangely enough there are few writers of fiction amongst the Romanians great novel writers do not exist. The Romanian, above all, excels as poet and as a short-story writer. In this last art he is past-master, and it is therefore a great pleasure to me to encourage this book. Each one of these short stories is a little work of art, and deeply characteristic of Romanian popular life and thought ; therefore I have no doubt that they will interest all those who care about literature."
Queen Marie of Romania

152 pages, Paperback

Published January 12, 2017

About the author

Mihail Sadoveanu was a Romanian novelist, short story writer, journalist and political figure, who twice served as acting head of state for the communist republic (1947–1948 and 1958). He is the most prolific novelist in Romanian literature and one of the most accomplished. All his major work, however, was written before the political changes in Romania following World War II. Although Sadoveanu remained a productive author after the war, like many other writers in communist countries, he had to adjust his aesthetic to meet the demands of the communist regime, and he wrote little of artistic value between 1945 and his death in 1961.

Sadoveanu was born on 5 November 1880 in Pascani, a small town in Moldavia, to Alexandru and Profira (Ursachi) Sadoveanu.

In Anii de Ucenicie (Years of Apprenticeship, 1944) Sadoveanu recalled his special affection for his mother, who was a gifted storyteller. Her death in 1895, when she was only thirty-four, deeply disturbed Sadoveanu. In 1900, after graduating from high school, he decided to study law in Bucharest, but he soon lost enthusiasm and started missing classes. Instead, he spent most of his time writing novels and plays.

In 1901 Sadoveanu went to live in Falticeni and married Ecaterina Bâlu. Eventually the father of eleven children (including writers Profira Sadoveanu and Paul-Mihu Sadoveanu), Sadoveanu enjoyed a stable and quiet family life that was no doubt a positive influence on his writing.