First published 2005
This collection spans Russian literature from the early 1800s through the fall of the Soviet Union and into the present day. The anthology brings together celebrated authors like Pushkin, Turgenev, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, and Solzhenitsyn with previously silenced writers including the rebellious Kryzhanowsky and surrealist Shalamov. These stories emerge from different eras of Russian history, responding to the harshness of aristocratic society, the rigid machinery of communist rule, and the brutality of prison camps. The collection showcases the short story's prominent role in Russian literary tradition. Penguin Classics has published classic literature for over seventy years, offering more than 1,700 titles that span global literature across all genres and fields of study. The series provides reliable texts with scholarly introductions and notes, plus modern translations by recognized translators.
Genres: literary-fiction, anthologies, 20th-century, 21st-century, russian-literature
Vibes: emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-drama, literary-fiction
Setting: Russia, Soviet Union
Period: Early 1800s, Fall of Soviet Union, Present Day
396 pages · Paperback · Penguin Books Ltd
Content warnings: violence