Two autobiographical texts by Kuprin— from “Cadets,” where kind and trusting Misha Bulanin first encounters cruelty and indifference, to “Junkers,” in which yesterday’s boys take the path to an officer’s rank.
The novella “Cadets” (“At the Turning Point”) and the novel “Junkers,” included in this edition, are united by a shared autobiographical foundation: in his youth, Alexander Kuprin spent ten years in a cadet corps and a military school, and the impressions of those years remained with him forever.
“Cadets” tells of Misha Bulanin’s difficult fate—a candid and trusting boy who has to endure the cold attitude of teachers and bullying from the older “comrades.” In “Junkers,” meanwhile, the hero, Alexey Alexandrov, finds himself in a different environment: here, former cadets face the task of becoming disciplined, worthy officers.