Ivan Bunin was a Russian author, poet and diarist, who in 1933 (at the age of 63) won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for the strict artistry with which he has carried on the classical Russian traditions in prose writing." Viewed by many at the time as the heir to his friend and contemporary Chekhov, Bunin wrote his poems and stories with a depth of description that attracted the admiration of his fellow authors. Maxim Gorky described him as "the best Russian writer of the day" and "the fir...

Considered one of the most influential authors of twentieth century Russian Literature, Ivan Bunin's "Dark Avenues" is the culmination of a life's work which unrelentingly questioned of the political doxa whilst taking his poetic mastery of language to dark new heights. Written between 1938 and 1944 and set in the context of a disintegrating Russian culture, this collection of short fiction centres around dark, erotic liaisons told with a rich, elegaic poetics which probes the artistic lim...

Ivan Bunin’s first published work, The Village is a bleak and uncompromising portrayal of rural life in south-west Russia. Set at the time of the 1905 Revolution and centering on episodes in the lives of two peasant brothers “characters sunk so far below the average of intelligence as to be scarcely human” it reveals the pettiness, violence and ignorance of life on the land.At once nostalgic for a bygone more innocent age and foreshadowing the turbulences of the twentieth century, Bunin’s ...

The Nobel PrizeDwinning author's great anti-Bolshevik diary of the Russian Revolution, translated into English for the first time, with an Introduction and Notes by Thomas Gaiton Marullo. A harrowing description of the forerunners of the concentration camps and the Gulag. -Marc Raeff

In "The Village" by Ivan Bunin, readers are transported to the evocative landscapes of rural Russia, where the author weaves a poignant tapestry of human experience. The story unfolds within the rustic confines of a village, capturing the essence of its people, traditions, and the timeless ebb and flow of life. Main characters are two peasant brothers, one a brute drunk, the other a gentler, more sympathetic character, but it also follows stories of other residents who fulfill the portrait...

Ivan Bunin received the 1933 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the strict artistry with which he has carried on the classical Russian traditions in prose writing." Aristocrat to the core, Bunin somehow remained connected to the land and people and keenly felt their pulse of life. His acute observations resulted in the accurate and unforgettable characters who populated his writing.His love for punctuation and punctilious choice of words is legendary.Reading Bunin's stories is on...

The Gentleman from San Francisco tells the story of a young man who moves to San Francisco in the hope of finding adventure and wealth. However, he quickly becomes disillusioned with the city and its people. The story is full of intricate details and symbolism that help to create a rich and complex portrait of the city.

The collection includes the best works of famous Russian writers:Fyodor DostoevskyNOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUNDTHE DREAM OF A RIDICULOUS MANTHE BEGGAR BOY AT CHRIST'S CHRISTMAS TREELeo TolstoyTHE DEATH OF IVAN ILYICHA LETTER TO A HINDUA CONFESSIONGOD SEES THE TRUTH, BUT WAITSA RUSSIAN CHRISTMAS PARTYAnton ChekhovTHE LADY WITH THE DOGA SLANDERTHE HORSE-STEALERSTHE PETCHENYEGA DEAD BO...

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?The theme ...

Ivan Bunin was considered by many to be the heir of the literary tradition established by Tolstoy and Chekov - a realist writer with an achingly beautiful, brocaded style. The Life of Arseniev was written over twelve years; a part-translation was put out by Virginia and Leonard Woolf's Hogarth Press in 1933, but Bunin continued working on the novel until 1952. This is the first English translation of Bunin’s magnum opus as he truly envisioned it.We follow Alexei Arseniev, ...

The short story commenced its career as a verbal utterance, or, as Robert Louis Stevenson puts it, with "the first men who told their stories round the savage campfire."The short story is today our most common literary product. It is read by everyone. Not every boy or girl will read novels after leaving school, but every boy or girl is certain to read short stories. It is important in the high school to guide taste and appreciation in short story reading, so that the reading of days...

Russian short stories are known for being melancholy, often dealing with suffering. However, they can also be funny and absurd. Some common subjects include class distinctions, the plight of the underdog, and a rejection of authoritarianism and bureaucracy. The best collection of Russian short stories includes: Fyodor Dostoevsky: Notes from the Underground The Dream of a Ridiculous Man The Beggar Boy at Christ's Christmas Tree Leo Tolstoy: The Death of Ivan Ilyich Kholstomer, the Story of ...