He: An Unknown's Story

by Leonid Andreyev, Vlad Zhenevsky (Translator)

A tutor accepts a high-paying position with the Nordens, a wealthy family living in luxury on the seashore. The Nordens live in a constant pendulum of happiness and mirth, sadness and silence, and yet something dark and foreboding hangs over both the grounds and the family. As the December days darken, a mysterious and silent visitor begins making frequent appearances outside the mansion windows, waiting to be let in.

"Andreyev is, so to speak, Chekhov's spiritual son. But he is a sickly son, who pushes the melancholy element to the limit. Chekhov's gray tone has become black in Andreyev; his somewhat sad humor has been transformed into tragic irony, his subtle impressionability into morbid sensitivity." - Serge Persky

Genres: Russia, Fiction, Short Stories

25 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1913

About the author

Leonid Nikolayevich Andreyev (Russian: Леонид Николаевич Андреев; 1871-1919) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who led the Expressionist movement in the national literature. He was active between the revolution of 1905 and the Communist revolution which finally overthrew the Tsarist government. His first story published was About a Poor Student, a narrative based upon his own experiences. It was not, however, until Gorky discovered him by stories appearing in the Moscow Courier and elsewhere that Andreyevs literary career really began. His first collection of stories appeared in 1901, and sold a quarter-million copies in short time. He was hailed as a new star in Russia, where his name soon became a byword. He published his short story, In the Fog in 1902. Although he started out in the Russian vein he soon startled his readers by his eccentricities, which grew even faster than his fame. His two best known stories may be The Red Laugh (1904) and The Seven Who Were Hanged (1908). His dramas include the Symbolist plays The Life of Man (1906), Tsar Hunger (1907), Black Masks (1908), Anathema (1909) and He Who Gets Slapped (1915).

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young man agrees to move in and be a tutor in an isolated mansion by the sea. Everyone who lives there is very strange, and he soon finds himself stalked by a shadowy figure in the night. This is a classic set up for a creepy Gothic story, but this is hardly a typical "haunted house" tale. Andreyev creates something far more interesting and deep.

Despite the rather slow pace and an ending that didn't entirely satisfy me at first, I find myself liking this barely-novella length story a lot more since I read it. Andreyev builds atmosphere well and has enough strange elements to keep you guessing. The strange ambiguity throughout the story leaves a lasting impression.

Read it for free here: https://weirdfictionreview.com/2013/1...

[Mikhail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Но я не думал и не понимал, что замерзаю, и все шел, внимательно разглядывая снег под ногами, – и снег был все один и тот же. И сколько я ни поднимал и ни опускал ногу, снег был все один и тот же. И наступила ли ночь действительно, или мрак шел изнутри меня, все вокруг меня начало медленно и тихо темнеть, из ровно белого превращаться в ровно серое, стало совсем не на что смотреть.

[S.M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very strange and compelling. I plan to read more Andreyev now; I just hope this story hasn't set too high a bar for the rest of his work.