Classics of the Russian Short Story. Issue 1

We dedicate this collection not only to all fans of Russian classic literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but also to students of general education schools, gymnasiums, and lyceums. We hope that by reading these stories aloud with popular theater and film actors, you will learn not only more about Russian classic literature, but also find help in studying the school and extracurricular reading program.

The collection includes:

“Song of Triumphant Love”—one of the late novellas by Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, telling about friendship, love, and the weakness of a person subject to the game of unknown forces and passions that bring him to the edge of non-being.

“Horse’s Name,” “Kashtanka,” “Chameleon”—famous stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, a subtle psychologist and master of subtext, combining humor, lyricism, and tragedy in a distinctive way.

“Tanka,” “Bast Shoes (Laptі),” “Antonov Apples”—stories by Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin, one of the greatest masters of the novella form, continuing in his works the best traditions of Russian classical realism.

“The Hermit”—a story by Maxim Gorky, whose main character calls for universal love and pity for people.

“Lenochka”—a brilliant novella by Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin about overwhelming, yet very fragile and unprotected love.

“Poison,” “Wife”—satirical stories by Arkady Timofeyevich Averchenko, mocking the vulgarity and mercenary thinking, emotions, and actions of the “creative intelligentsia.”

“The Contest”—a work by the well-known prose writer, literary scholar, and critic Viktor Vikentyevich Veresaev, about the search for hidden, eternal, conquering Beauty.

“The Cave”—a story by the distinctive Russian writer Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin, in which the author compares the era of war communism with the prehistoric “cave” period of human development.