Classics of Foreign Short Stories No. 01

In this audiobook, you’ll find audio versions of the best works by recognized classics of foreign literature from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. For a more detailed look at the authors of the almanac “Classic of Foreign Short Stories,” you can listen to their works published separately in the audiobook series “Soyuz—Classic.”

Honoré de Balzac “The Mass of an Atheist” (translator: N. Stolyarov). An audio version of the novella, part of Balzac’s multi-volume work reflecting the “picture of manners” of his time and known as “The Human Comedy.”

Edgar Allan Poe “An Incident in the Rocky Mountains” (translator: Mikhail Engelgardt). Mr. Bedlow, a gentleman, beloved in every respect, liked to wander alone among bleak hills famously called “the Rocky Mountains.” One day, as always, Bedlow went out for a walk and disappeared. The sudden appearance of Mr. Bedlow and his story about what happened to him during his journey shocked everyone…

Émile Zola “Big Misho” (translator: B. Gimelelfarb). An audio version of one of the novellas by Émile Zola, leader and theorist of the so‑called naturalist movement, from the cycle “New Tales of Ninon.”

Guy de Maupassant “The Child” (translator: S. Ivančina‑Pisareva). Jacques Bourdelier was known as a spendthrift and lover of pleasure. Once he swore he would never marry—but he unexpectedly changed his mind. It happened suddenly, in summer, while vacationing at the sea…

Arthur Conan Doyle “Five Orange Seeds” (translators: N. Mazurenko, G. Charsky). Another detective story about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. They will have to unravel the mystery of mysterious deaths somehow connected to the orange seeds that each victim received shortly before dying.

Knut Hamsun “A Lady from Tivoli” (translators: Konstantin Balmont, Alexander Blok). You’ll get to know the work of the wonderful Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun—a rapturous singer of nature and love, a subtle psychologist who masterfully reproduced the complex and contradictory world of human emotional experience.

Herbert George Wells “The Butterfly” (translator: D. Nosovich). Who could have thought that disagreements about insect classification might become the cause of hostility between entomology professors—and subordinate their entire lives to searching for proof that the others are wrong?

Theodore Dreiser “The Country Doctor” (translator: M. Volosov). In one of his essays, Dreiser said: “In the life that passed before me, I could not catch any meaning.” Perhaps the writer really didn’t notice the meaning of half a century lived—but he saw the man of his time, saw the era through that man—and conveyed it. And the audio version of this story from the collection “Twelve Americans” is further confirmation.

Jack London “Unexpected” (translator: T. Ozersky). Modern human life tends toward rigid forms, and the development of civilization only strengthens that tendency—so everyday life dominates, and the unexpected rarely occurs. But then the unexpected happens. And then the ill‑prepared die. They don’t see what isn’t obvious, can’t make sudden decisions, and lose their heads, ending up in a new, unfamiliar rut.