“Wretched Days” is, in essence, a collection of Ivan Alekseevich Bunin’s diary entries written against the backdrop of events unfolding in Russia during the revolution and the civil war that followed it. The book can be roughly divided into three parts: the author’s observations of what was happening in Moscow in 1918, in Odessa in 1919, and excerpts from subsequent notes related to the theme of the revolution.
The first parts of the book show us the state of constant uncertainty most people faced: threats of hunger, pogroms. Bunin seems to cope with this situation, although sometimes he shares his fears quite openly. This book is full of despair and anger, but it is extremely important for understanding Bunin’s work, because it reflects a turning point not only in the author’s life, but also in his creative biography.