The Star of Solomon. Stories + Lecture by Dmitry Bykov

The “Ardis” audio studio offers you to listen to the story “The Star of Solomon” by the Russian writer Alexander Kuprin and several of his stories performed by Dmitry Bykov.

A modest official Ivan Tsvet is visited by a mysterious man who brings news of an inheritance and train tickets to his uncle’s estate. The visitor asks for only one service: to burn, without reading, the occult manuscripts of the deceased uncle—Freemason… (“The Star of Solomon”).

It’s not easy to find a pub named after the legendary inventor of beer-making—on a busy street in a port city. There’s no sign, but the establishment’s two rooms are never empty… (“Gambrinus”). A lone cardsharp has a phenomenal gift that allows him not to rely on cheating tricks… (“The Student”). A woman who was raped during a voyage on a steamship tells her husband about it… (“Sea Sickness”). The story of a little man, on whom all misfortunes fall. (“Holy Lie”). The beginning of the 26th century. The planet is turned into a lush garden, machines have reduced work to four hours a day, there are no wars, vices have disappeared—virtues flourish. On Earth there is peaceful, well-fed prosperity… (“Royal Park”). When all topics are exhausted, it’s hard to come up with a holiday story, but if you plunge into the past and remember childhood… (“Grass”). The thieves were labeled the instigators and participants in Jewish pogroms, which they are extremely upset and offended by. (“Offense”).

The audiobook concludes with a traditional lecture by Dmitry Bykov.