The Wheel of Time: Cadets

5 hrs. 56 min.

Classics

Language Russian

Author Alexander Kuprin

Narrator Yulia Tarasova

Description

The Wheel of Time is one of the most outstanding novels by A. I. Kuprin. ‘You say—too much? Nonsense. Light wine… No, my friend: I’m not a man who has sunk—I’d say, I’m emptied out. My soul is gone, and all that remains of me is just a bodily shell. I live by the unbreakable law of inertia. There’s business, there’s money. I’m healthy; in the mornings I read the papers and drink coffee—everything’s fine. I taste wine only on occasion, in company, though the company itself doesn’t amuse me in the least. But the soul has flown away. I watch the passing days indifferently, like an old film.’

The special value of the work The Cadets lies in its autobiographical character, for it was during the time of his “military youth” that Kuprin was already dreaming of becoming a “poet or a novelist.” In the very same year, military schools turned into cadet corps. It happened quite simply: the cadets were read out the highest decree, and then a few days later they were led to the dormitories and ordered, instead of the old caps, to wear round caps with a red band and a visor. Then came colored belts and the letters painted in oil on the epaulettes. It was a time of upheaval, a time of all kinds of ferment; a time of terrible distrust between teachers and students; slackness in ranks and in discipline; excessive strictness and absurd leniencies; a time when humane, milutinian—and civilian—principles collided with the harsh soldierly regimen.’ ‘The Cadets’

A. I. Kuprin