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The Queen of Spades & The Captain's Daughter
"The Queen of Spades" (Russian: Пиковая дама; translit. Pikovaya dama) is a short story by Alexander Pushkin about human avarice. Pushkin wrote the story in autumn 1833 in Boldino[1] and it was first published in the literary magazine Biblioteka dlya chteniya in March 1834.[2] The character of the Countess was inspired by Princess Natalya Petrovna Galitzine (Princesse Moustache).
The story was the basis of the operas The Queen of Spades (1890) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, La dame de pique (1850) by Fromental Halévy and Pique Dame (1865) by Franz von Suppé[3] (the overture to the Suppé work is all that remains in today's repertoire).
The Captain's Daughter (Russian: Капитанская дочка, Kapitanskaya dochka) is a historical novel by the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin. It was first published in 1836 in the fourth issue of the literary journal Sovremennik. The novel is a romanticized account of Pugachev's Rebellion in 1773-1774.
The story was the basis of the operas The Queen of Spades (1890) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, La dame de pique (1850) by Fromental Halévy and Pique Dame (1865) by Franz von Suppé[3] (the overture to the Suppé work is all that remains in today's repertoire).
The Captain's Daughter (Russian: Капитанская дочка, Kapitanskaya dochka) is a historical novel by the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin. It was first published in 1836 in the fourth issue of the literary journal Sovremennik. The novel is a romanticized account of Pugachev's Rebellion in 1773-1774.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
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38 people want to read
About the author
Alexander Pushkin
2,862 books3,498 followersWorks of Russian writer Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin include the verse novel
Eugene Onegin
(1831), the play
Boris Godunov
(1831), and many narrative and lyrical poems and short stories.
See also:
Russian: Александр Сергеевич Пушкин
French: Alexandre Pouchkine
Norwegian: Aleksander Pusjkin
Spanish:Aleksandr Pushkin
People consider this author the greatest poet and the founder of modern literature. Pushkin pioneered the use of vernacular speech in his poems, creating a style of storytelling—mixing drama, romance, and satire—associated ever with greatly influential later literature.
Pushkin published his first poem at the age of 15 years in 1814, and the literary establishment widely recognized him before the time of his graduation from the imperial lyceum in Tsarskoe Selo. Social reform gradually committed Pushkin, who emerged as a spokesman for literary radicals and in the early 1820s clashed with the government, which sent him into exile in southern Russia. Under the strict surveillance of government censors and unable to travel or publish at will, he wrote his most famous drama but ably published it not until years later. People published his verse serially from 1825 to 1832.
Pushkin and his wife Natalya Goncharova, whom he married in 1831, later became regulars of court society. In 1837, while falling into ever greater debt amidst rumors that his wife started conducting a scandalous affair, Pushkin challenged her alleged lover, Georges d'Anthès, to a duel. Pushkin was mortally wounded and died two days later.
Because of his liberal political views and influence on generations of Russian rebels, Pushkin was portrayed by Bolsheviks as an opponent to bourgeois literature and culture and a predecessor of Soviet literature and poetry. Tsarskoe Selo was renamed after him.
See also:
Russian: Александр Сергеевич Пушкин
French: Alexandre Pouchkine
Norwegian: Aleksander Pusjkin
Spanish:Aleksandr Pushkin
People consider this author the greatest poet and the founder of modern literature. Pushkin pioneered the use of vernacular speech in his poems, creating a style of storytelling—mixing drama, romance, and satire—associated ever with greatly influential later literature.
Pushkin published his first poem at the age of 15 years in 1814, and the literary establishment widely recognized him before the time of his graduation from the imperial lyceum in Tsarskoe Selo. Social reform gradually committed Pushkin, who emerged as a spokesman for literary radicals and in the early 1820s clashed with the government, which sent him into exile in southern Russia. Under the strict surveillance of government censors and unable to travel or publish at will, he wrote his most famous drama but ably published it not until years later. People published his verse serially from 1825 to 1832.
Pushkin and his wife Natalya Goncharova, whom he married in 1831, later became regulars of court society. In 1837, while falling into ever greater debt amidst rumors that his wife started conducting a scandalous affair, Pushkin challenged her alleged lover, Georges d'Anthès, to a duel. Pushkin was mortally wounded and died two days later.
Because of his liberal political views and influence on generations of Russian rebels, Pushkin was portrayed by Bolsheviks as an opponent to bourgeois literature and culture and a predecessor of Soviet literature and poetry. Tsarskoe Selo was renamed after him.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 9, 2015
I read these two short works by Pushkin separately at Project Gutenberg, but I am reviewing them this way to save myself some 'paperwork'.
In The Queen Of Spades, a young army officer hears gossip about a sure-fire way to win at faro, a card game that was not only popular but very addictive and was actually outlawed in Europe at one point. Our officer has a plan to learn which three cards he is to use in his game....but does the plan work the way he expects? This very short piece was tense and thrilling, with an ending that made me want to cheer, it was so perfect.
In this particular edition, the other story is titled The Daughter Of The Commandant. At Gutenberg I found it in English under the title of Marie, A Story Of Russian Love. The same book is listed there in French as La Fille Du Capitaine and again in English as The Daughter Of The Commandant. Once I figured out that they were all the same book, I chose my title and started reading what seemed at first to be a fairly simple tale of
a young wastrel who gets sent off to the army to learn to be a man. But things happen, as they always do, and the story soon became full of surprises on more than one level, with Marie, the daughter of the commandant at the fort being the biggest surprise of all for our hero.
These were my second and third works by Pushkin, and I throughly enjoyed them. But I do wish Pushkin had listened to the advice given to his hero Peter when a duel has been arranged between himself and another young officer. An older officer tells the hot-blooded young Peter: "Ah! what folly; you have had some words with Alexis. What then? A harsh word can not be hung up by the neck. He gives you impertinence, give him the same; if he give you a slap, return the blow; he a second, you a third; in the end we will compel you to make peace...."
You see, one bit of information I learned about Alexander Pushkin is that he was killed in a duel at the age of 37. If he had not been quite so fussy about his honor, perhaps we would have had many more wonderful stories like these.
In The Queen Of Spades, a young army officer hears gossip about a sure-fire way to win at faro, a card game that was not only popular but very addictive and was actually outlawed in Europe at one point. Our officer has a plan to learn which three cards he is to use in his game....but does the plan work the way he expects? This very short piece was tense and thrilling, with an ending that made me want to cheer, it was so perfect.
In this particular edition, the other story is titled The Daughter Of The Commandant. At Gutenberg I found it in English under the title of Marie, A Story Of Russian Love. The same book is listed there in French as La Fille Du Capitaine and again in English as The Daughter Of The Commandant. Once I figured out that they were all the same book, I chose my title and started reading what seemed at first to be a fairly simple tale of
a young wastrel who gets sent off to the army to learn to be a man. But things happen, as they always do, and the story soon became full of surprises on more than one level, with Marie, the daughter of the commandant at the fort being the biggest surprise of all for our hero.
These were my second and third works by Pushkin, and I throughly enjoyed them. But I do wish Pushkin had listened to the advice given to his hero Peter when a duel has been arranged between himself and another young officer. An older officer tells the hot-blooded young Peter: "Ah! what folly; you have had some words with Alexis. What then? A harsh word can not be hung up by the neck. He gives you impertinence, give him the same; if he give you a slap, return the blow; he a second, you a third; in the end we will compel you to make peace...."
You see, one bit of information I learned about Alexander Pushkin is that he was killed in a duel at the age of 37. If he had not been quite so fussy about his honor, perhaps we would have had many more wonderful stories like these.
Read
November 30, 2020Includes:
The Queen of Spades
The Captain’s Daughter
The Lady-Rustic
The Pistol-Shot
The Snow-Storm
The Undertaker
The Station-Master
The Moor of Peter the Great (unfinished)
The Queen of Spades
The Captain’s Daughter
The Lady-Rustic
The Pistol-Shot
The Snow-Storm
The Undertaker
The Station-Master
The Moor of Peter the Great (unfinished)
June 28, 2015
Historical Fiction - Russia
Thanks to my friend and Good Reader Debbie Zapata's review, which prompted me to seek out my first Pushkin, and my second book set in Russia.
My edition contained a collection of six stories:
*The Captain's Daughter: 4 stars, a wonderfully entertaining story
*The Queen of Spades: 4.5 stars, extremely enjoyable story
*Dubrovsky: 4.5 stars, grabbed me right away
*Peter the Great's Negro: 4 stars
*The Station-Master: 4 stars
*The Snow Storm: 4 stars
Special mention - the Introduction by translator Natalie Duddington was an excellent help in finding out just who Alexander Pushkin was. Very helpful for a newbie to Russian stories.
Pushkin's stories held up very well, and are absolutely satisfying though they were written in the mid 1800's.
It was good to stretch my reading horizons. The new to me Russian historical settings and cultures of that time made me read a bit more slowly -- not to mention the long tongue-twister Russian names!
Thanks to my friend and Good Reader Debbie Zapata's review, which prompted me to seek out my first Pushkin, and my second book set in Russia.
My edition contained a collection of six stories:
*The Captain's Daughter: 4 stars, a wonderfully entertaining story
*The Queen of Spades: 4.5 stars, extremely enjoyable story
*Dubrovsky: 4.5 stars, grabbed me right away
*Peter the Great's Negro: 4 stars
*The Station-Master: 4 stars
*The Snow Storm: 4 stars
Special mention - the Introduction by translator Natalie Duddington was an excellent help in finding out just who Alexander Pushkin was. Very helpful for a newbie to Russian stories.
Pushkin's stories held up very well, and are absolutely satisfying though they were written in the mid 1800's.
It was good to stretch my reading horizons. The new to me Russian historical settings and cultures of that time made me read a bit more slowly -- not to mention the long tongue-twister Russian names!
January 12, 2025
I finished the beautiful Folio Society 1970 edition. I would have never expected to love "The Captain's Daughter" as much as I did. Pushkin is an absolute Russian master. Alas, I am only sorry that I can not read Pushkin in his native Russian language.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews