Alexander Kuprin

The Duel

Olesya. The Garnet Bracelet

Maksim Gorky

I Bunin

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short fiction in history. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, Chekhov is often referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theatre. Chekhov practiced as a medical doctor throughout most of his literary career: "Medicine is my lawful wife", he once said, "and literature is my mistress." Chekhov renounced the theatre after the reception of The Seagull in 1896, but the play was revived to acclaim in 1898 by Konstantin Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre, which subsequently also produced Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and premiered his last two plays, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. These four works present a challenge to the acting ensemble as well as to audiences, because in place of conventional action Chekhov offers a "theatre of mood" and a "submerged life in the text". Chekhov had at first written stories only for financial gain, but as his artistic ambition grew, he made formal innovations which have influenced the evolution of the modern short story. He made no apologies for the difficulties this posed to readers, insisting that the role of an artist was to ask questions, not to answer them.

Reminiscences of Anton Chekhov

Then, in another week, something else happened. Prince Andrey came in one day, dull and absent-minded. He spoke of one thing and another, but always as if he had some persistent idea in the background. The artist, who knew his character, asked what was the matter.

The Picture

Maxim Gorky

Ivan Bunin

As one can infer from the title, the following book is about Anton Chekhov - not necessarily a biography of his life, but rather memories that the author has of him. From his love of all animals with the exception of cats to the orchard where he has planted each tree; the author shows us a side of Chekhov outside the boundaries of what his works are known for. The writer of this book is also a famous author within his own right - Maxim Gorky, a Russian writer and political activist who was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Stuart Symington

Kuprin stories about kids translated into English

Russian Kids

A story of once-in-a-lifetime love - found and lost through sheer foolishness, set in the beautifully romantic south of France, richly detailed by the masterful pen of Alexander Kuprin.

The Wheel of Time

A searing indictment of the darkest side of decadent Russian culture in the twilight of the Tsars, by the last of the great pre-Soviet realist writers. Ahead of its time in the frank depiction of prostitution and exploitation of women, this gritty and dramatic novel ranks with the works of such eminent realists as Émile Zola in France, or George Gissing in England.

Yama (The Pit)

The Pit (Yama, ) is a novel by Alexander Kuprin published in installments between 1909 and 1915, in Zemlya almanacs (1909 - Vol.3, 1914 - Vol.15, 1915 - Vol.16). The book, centering on middle class brothel, owned by a shrewd woman named Anna Markovna, caused much controversy in its time."

The Pit ( )

The tales selected here are taken from various volumes, and two of them, "The Elephant" and "The White Poodle," from a volume specially designed by Kuprin for reading aloud to children. The others are: A Slav Soul; The Song and The Dance; Easter Day; The Idiot; The Picture; Hamlet; Mechanical Justice; The Last Word; Dogs' Happiness; A Clump of Lilacs; Anathema; Tempting Providence; Cain. Aleksandr Ivanovich Kuprin (1870-1938) was Russian novelist and short-story writer. He was an army officer for several years before he resigned to pursue a writing career, and was a friend of Maxim Gorky. He won fame with The Duel (1905), a novel of protest against the Russian military system. In 1909, Yama: The Pit, his novel dealing with prostitution in Odessa, created a sensation. Kuprin left Russia after the revolution but returned in 1937. Some of his best short stories of action and adventure appear in The Garnet Bracelet, originally published in 1917.

A Slav Soul and Other Stories

Alexander Kuprin prefaced his novel "The Pit" about the lives of early 20th century Russian prostitutes as follows, "I know many people will find this novel amoral and inappropriate, but nevertheless I dedicated it from the bottom of my heart to mothers and young people." Indeed, the novel's publication was followed by an explosion of outrage. The "good" society accused Kuprin of slander and forever exiled him from its sitting rooms, charity auctions, and holiday balls. Progressive intellecutals winced and shuddered, but could not help admitting Kuprin had a point. As with the works of Marquis de Sade and George Sand, parents hid copies of the book from their children. But those who wanted to read the book found the way. Whether hated or admired, forbidden or applauded - one thing was certain: Kuprin's beautifully written, brutally realistic, vivid, and poignant novel left no one indifferent. Gender inequality and sex trade are still alive today, in our world of supersonic speeds and instant information exchange, hidden behind the latest and greatest political, social, and technological innovation. Strip away the details of the era, and Kuprin's novel suddenly becomes very modern and topical, filled with archetypes that still exist today, and thought-provoking ideas that are bound to send your mind reeling.

The Pit

So many dream of limitless power and fulfillment of all wishes. Wise men, alchemists and philosophers spend decades looking for this great secret. What would they say, if they discovered that the ultimate prize they so desperately pursued ended up falling into the hands of the least likely individual?

Alexander Kuprin

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