Tales Of Belkin And Other Prose Writings

By (author) Pushkin, Alexander; Introduction by Bayley, John; Translated by Wilks Ronald
Short description/annotation:
Portrays the Russian people. This title presents a series of interlinked stories including "The Shot", in which a duel is revisited after many years, and the grotesque "The Undertaker". It also features "Roslavlev" and the "Egyptian Nights".
Description:
Alexander Pushkin was Russia''s first true literary genius. Best known for his poetry, he also wrote sparkling prose that revealed his national culture with elegance and understated humour. Here, his gift for portraying the Russian people is fully revealed. The Tales of Belkin, his first prose masterpiece, presents a series of interlinked stories narrated by a good-hearted Russian squire - among them ''The Shot'', in which a duel is revisited after many years, and the grotesque ''The Undertaker''. Elsewhere, works such as the novel-fragment Roslavlev and the Egyptian Nights, the tale of an Italian balladeer seeking an audience in St. Petersberg, demonstrate the wide range of Pushkin''s fiction. A Journey to Arzrum, the final piece in this collection, offers an autobiographical account of Pushkin''s own experiences in the 1829 war between Russia and Turkey, and remains one of the greatest of all pieces of journalistic adventure writing.
Table of contents:
Tales of Belkin and Other Prose WritingsIntroduction by John Bayley
Further Reading
Translator''s Note

The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin
From the Editor
The Shot
The Blizzard
The Undertaker
The Postmaster
The Squire''s Daughter

The History of the Village of Goryukhino
Roslavlev
Kirdzhali: A Tale
Egyptian Nights
A Journey to Arzrum at the Time of the 1829 Campaign

Notes

Biographical note:

ALEXANDER PUSHKIN was born in Moscow in 1799, and died in 1837, challenging a troublesome admirer of his wife to a duel.

RONALD WILKS has translated many Russian works for Penguin, including Chekhov''s MY APPRENTICESHIP, THE KISS AND OTHER STORIES, and THE PARTY AND OTHER STORIES (available in Penguin Classics).

JOHN BAYLEY is Warton Professor of English Literature, Oxford University. He has written many books, and has also introduced Pushkin''s EUGENE ONEGIN for Penguin Classics.