Selected Short Stories

by Leonid Andreyev, Dmitry Fadeyev (Translator)

Selected Short Stories by Leonid Andreyev is translated by Dmitry Fadeyev and includes a new translation of a longer short story (~24k words) called "Judas Iscariot and the Others," which forms the centerpiece of the selection.

On the surface this story is a reversal of the Biblical tale, in which Judas is not just the traitor, but is actually the most faithful of the disciples, betraying Jesus as a test of mankind's integrity. Below the surface, as with all Andreyev's stories, lie other themes that are much more relevant to the author.

Rather than just packaging the stories in a standard e-book, translator Dmitry Fadeyev published the book using an honor payment system, which you can read more about here: http://leonidandreyev.com/buy/.

If you end up reading the stories and end up liking one, please share a link to it.

Genres: Short Stories, Russian Literature, Fiction, Russia, Literature

222 pages, Paperback

Published January 13, 2019

About the author

Leonid 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).

Reviews

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 4 out of 5]

I became a Russian literature lover years ago, but this author has broken from the mold in this collection. I have to admit at first I thought my ebook had a glitch. The stories I was reading had religious themes to reflect upon. So far I’ve read 1 semi-typical Russian lit style short story.

[Jason Comely · Rating 5 out of 5]

A big thanks to Dmitry for making this available in English.

[Erik B.K.K. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really only liked the story about Judas, The Earth and Lazarus. The contemporary Russian stories not so much. Andreyev uses wonderful prose and the translation is very beautiful, but most stories were boring and I expected a twist or clever ending in every story and was disappointed each time. To be honest this should be tagged 'dnf'.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raw, deep emotion, and finely observed, but at no remove. Compare to Flaubert (Temptation of St Anthony) or J. G. Ballard for the overwhelming immersive atmosphere, but less intellectualized and more emotionally frank/direct than the former, and much less stylized (and more emotionally frank/direct) than the latter.

[Ani · Rating 4 out of 5]

"But, do you really need to leave the house in order to visit a graveyard? Is it not enough for the night’s gloom to envelop you and extinguish the sounds of the day…. do you really need the night to visit a graveyard? Is the day not enough—that restless, noisy day, with enough evils of its own? Take a look into your own soul, and, whether it be day or night, there you will find a graveyard."

From his "Life Is Wonderful for the Resurrected."

[Dave Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Judas Iscariot and the Others", "Lazarus", "Carelessness" and "The Wall" are really good. The other stories are slight but still worth a look. Apparently Lovecraft admired Andreyev's work. A shame he wasn't more influenced by it.