SEVEN RUSSIAN SHORT NOVELS MASTERPIECES

by Leo Hamalian

GOGAL IVANOVICH AND NIKIFOOVICH QUARRELED
TURGENEV DUELIST
DOSTOEVSKY GAMBLER
CHEKHOV WARD #6
TOLSTOY FATHER SERGUS
ANDREYEV DILEMMA
PASTERNAK CHILDHOOD OF ZHENYA LUVERS

Genres: Fiction, Anthologies, Literature, Short Stories, Classics

478 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

Reviews

[Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Everything turns out for the best." That's the platitude that we have unquestioningly enshrined into universal law, and that's mainly because the folks for whom everything turned out for the worst are either dead or so demoralized we don't hear from them. So we go about our charmed lives naively assuming all is for the best, that a universal goodness fuels cause and effect. Voltaire satirizes this sentiment (promulgated by the philosopher, Leibnitz, and still an underlying, probably critical, force for hope in modern times) in his 1755 farce, Candide, the first of seven novelettes in this masterpiece collection. I've had this book for years--now crumbling and yellowed, just ripe for reading--having never read some of these works and always intended. How can one get through life not having read Candide? One shouldn't, especially writers who enjoy watching a master construct amazingly tight, brief chapters, weave so much wit through a plot of witless characters, and connect with an author over centuries that you know had a damned good time in the writing and probably had reason to sense that someone like me would pick it up 250 years later and have a damned good time in the reading.

[Edwin Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had already read Metamorphosis (high school) and Master and Man ( a few years ago) but was interested in reading something short from the other classic authors. Candide is a joy to read as a farse of innocent optimism in a world full of evil ever since Adam's fall in the very beginning. I would rate it and Tolstoy's Master and Man a full 5 stars. I have not read anything by Tolstoy that is not great yet. I don't remember as much about Metamorphosis but I do remember the basics and it's a great idea for a story. Daughter of the Vicar and First Love I would rate at least 3 if not 4 stars because of the realistic struggles and story that all of us probably have experienced in our lives or those close to us. Benito Cereno is also a 3 for me with a suspenseful story but still a tedious slog with the flowery language of the early 19th century when people had lots of time to kill during long winter nights of reading by lamplight. The Lesson of the Master was a waste of my time as the main character seemed to be most concerned with "being remembered as the master of the novel" more than living a life outside of his fiction. The old MASTER probably lived his life that way early in life so he understood that thinking but he had given up on "being the master" in his older age so he could enjoy the life outside of fiction and his writing. This book was in my Mom's school collection of paperbacks that she used teaching English in high school back in the 1970s and 80s. If you want it, I will gladly mail it to you for the cost of shipping by USPS media mail, but the binding is nearly gone and pages will fall out.

[Diana Prentice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book in a book swap. I had already read “Metamorphosis”, but wanted to read “Candide”. I actually rather enjoyed Tolstoy’s “Master and Man”. It’s a good little introduction to some of the most celebrated authors.

[Camila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think all the stories in here are great; the preference is really dependent on the reader. I'll definitely come back to these again, and the book introduced me to so many great authors and classic pieces of literature.

[Frank King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voltaire's CANDIDE is awesome. I like how it ebbs and flows while introducing "challenging" topics.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Candide - Read this at about age 15, reread at 32 because why not. Forgot how dark and hilarious it is. Like, rape mentions every scene almost, dark! Yikes. Still not 100% sure I understand or agree with the ending (which seems to imply that the key to happiness is to stop thinking, just work hard and forget). Also interesting to see which institutions and ideas Voltaire considers worthy of satire (philosophers, war, slavery, opera, doctors, scientists, Jesuits, anything a rich person ever does...) and which are beneath his notice (sexism, possibly colonialism, certainly orientalism).

First Love- I haven't read too much Russian literature but I'm impressed how dark and fucked up this story is. Considering it was written contemporaneously with Victorian British stuff, holy cow! The deliberate lack of psychoanalysis was interesting and probably supposed to be revealing. And the whipping we take (literally) for love...wow. Good, weird job, Ivan Turganev.

Some Melville Story - skipped. Sorry Melville, I just couldn't get into you.

Master and Man - Tolstoy at his most mystically religious - I can't recommend GB Shaw's essay called "Lear, Tolstoy, and the Fool" enough to put this story in context. While the "moral" is a bit artistically, uhh, lacking, the psychology and description of the snowstorm is spot on. Was afraid I'd have snowstorm nightmares. Luckily, did not.
(http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/l...)

The Lesson of the Master - I must confess I often find Henry James novels a bit of a slog, but I'm really digging this story so far. Maybe novellas are the way to go. This story has a certain fucked-uppedness like First Love, which I really dug. Was the "master" a creepy old dude who craftily eliminated his romantic rival for a young, intelligent, supportive girl (while still married to someone else)? Or just a sad shell of a former artist who gives up his vision for "domestic comforts" (ie sex and companionship)? We'll never know. I think you can make the argument that the narrator is critical or dismissive of the "master"'s sexist claims about domestic happiness vs artistry.

Daughters of the Vicar - a remarkably feel-good story by DH Lawrence. You can't help rooting for the two crazy kids (I think they're 27 or so) who finally get laid, leave their repressive coal-minin' town, and head for Canada. Possibly they are terribly ill-suited in every way, but hey, at least they're not living with their sad-sack families anymore! I'm no Lawrence expert but his usual discussions of class and sexuality are here (but with a happy ending), in early form. No "revitalizing" one's rich self with the semen of the poor, only for the poor to die when used up (as Zizek points out about Lady Chatterly's Lover and, of course, the film Titanic).

[leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The star rating is only for Candide by Voltaire, which was scathing and hilarious.

This book is a anthology of works by Henry James, Kafka, Voltaire, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Melville, and D.H. Lawrence published in the 1960's. My copy is in crappy condition.

[miaaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

note: disambung kapan-kapan gitu dapat lanjutan beberapa halaman terakhir metamorphosis-nya Kafka yang hilang :D