Product Description

The Queen of Spades, one of his most popular and chilling short stories, tells of an inveterate card player who develops a dangerous obsession with the secret of an old lady’s luck, which he believes will bring him the wealth he craves. The Negro of Peter the Great, a story based on the life Pushkin’s own great-grandfather, is a vivid depiction – and criticism – of both French and Russian society, while Dubrovsky is the Byronic tale of a dispossessed young officer. The Captain’s Daughter tells of a young man sent to military service – based on the actual events of the rebellion against Catherine II, it demonstrates Pushkin’s unparalleled skill at blending fiction and history. Together these four stories display the versatility and innovation that earned Pushkin his reputation as a master of prose and established him as the towering figure in Russian literature.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60995 in Books
• Published on: 2004-07-01
• Original language: Russian
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

About the Author
Alexander Pushkin was born in Moscow in 1799. Leaving school in 1817, he spent three years in St Petersburg working in the Foreign Office and writing erotic verse. His flirtations with pre-Decembrist movements and his revolutionary verses lead to his exile in 1820. After a stay in the Caucasus and Crimea he was sent to Bessarabia, where he began to write more seriously, beginning Eugene Onegin and Tsygany. In 1831 he retired to a family estate, married, and his literary output slackened. He was mortally wounded in a duel and died in January 1837. Rosemary Edmonds was born in London and studied languages in England, France and Italy. During the war she was translator to General de Gaulle. Among her many translations for Penguin Classics are Tolstoy's War and Peace, Anna Karenin and Resurrection and Turgenev's Fathers and Sons. She died in 1998.

Customer Reviews

A worthy introduction to the work of this celebrated writer
Don't expect a collection of complete stories when opening this book. Instead, there is one very short story - the celebrated "Queen of Spades", one long story - the Captain's Daughter, and two uncompleted works.

Nonetheless, this is a worthy introduction to the work of this celebrated writer. Pushkin was deeply moved by Russian history and depicts vividly various strata of seventeenth and eighteenth century Russian society in this collection: from the Imperial Court to the landowners; from the swashbulkling military men to the peasantry. The writing - enhanced by a spirited translation - is accessible and Pushkin is particularly strong on conjuring up the right atmosphere.

"The Captain's Daughter" stands out as the masterpiece of this collection. Purporting to be edited memoirs, it is set in the heart of the Pugachev rebellion against Catherine the Great. It is a stirring tale of battles, betrayal and the twists of circumstance. How the hero gets out of various scrapes with the rebels is mind-boggling but very exciting. There is also real sympathy for Pugachev. It would have taken great courage for Pushkin to display this not many years later and it is little wonder that he was persecuted by the authorities.

For this and the justly famous "Queen of Spades", a reader new to this writer will not be disappointed.

Twist in the tale?!
Having seen these stories recommended elsewhere, I decided to buy this short collection as a taster of Pushkin's prose work; unfortunately, I was very disappointed. The leading story of this collection "The Queen of Spades" is celebrated as a classic example of the short story form, with a stinging twist in its tale (tail?) - but the ending is painfully obvious pages from the end. These stories simply did not grip me: the characters did not seem that well defined, and the writing is fussy and obtuse. I suppose I might have "missed the point", but I just couldn't recommend these stories - things don't improve with the others in this collection. I am a huge fan of short stories from a range of times and places, but I don't think these compare with some of the others I have read - the stories of Kate Chopin, for example, are infinitely more satisfying than these (Chopin is my favourite writer). The only real bonus about this collection is the price: if you're not sure whether Pushkin would be your cup of tea, this budget sampling is probably the best starting point from which to test the waters.