(Th)ings and (Th)oughts

by Alla Gorbunova, Elina Alter (Translator)

From a rising star of Russian literature, a collection of short stories that straddles the line between delight and horror. 


Twisting the art of the fairytale into something entirely her own, Alla Gorbunova’s Ings and Oughts is an endlessly inventive collection thematically-linked short prose. Divided by subject—romance, philosophy, fate—the stories in this collection turn a magical lens to bitter realities.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Russia, Russian Literature, Collections, Folklore, Contemporary

200 pages, Paperback

Published November 4, 2025

Reviews

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poet, translator, critic... Gorbunova sounds like a bit of a Russian wunderkind from what I understand. This book fell into my lap courtesy of a monthly subscription mailing from publisher Deep Vellum and it was a rather delightful surprise. Hovering somewhere in the realm of postmodern flash fiction fairytales and folklore, these 50+ stories take on the human condition in all its absurdity. Most stories are less than 3 pgs as they dip into the waters of fable and horror. They confound. They mock. They delight. An odd little wonder of a collection.
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Favorite Stories:
- Terenitiy’s Guilt
- Incidental Pleasures
- Don’t say i’m a godes
- The Tricycle and the Rubber Dildo
- Some Bullshit
- Man and Brick
- Diptych
- The Lives of Monsters
- (Th)oughts
- I Know Something You Don’t Kno
- The Skeptical Cat
- Chapter 5: Ivan Petrovich and the Long-Awaited Train
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From “A Russian Prophet,” p21:
"And then something shifted in Pavel Nesterov’s mind, and he could no longer distinguish between what was real and what wasn’t. In this way things had once shifted in the minds of all prophets."

From “Incidental Pleasures,” p43:
"Vasily lives through incidental pleasures. Not even really lives—more like survives. Say he’s heading home on the metro, and he thinks to himself, “I’ll get home, and then I’ll kill myself.” But he’s really hungry, so he goes to a cafe and eats some junk there, starts feeling pleasantly relaxed and too lazy to kill himself, and moves the whole thing to tomorrow. Then Vasily remembers that tomorrow X is coming over and they’re going to have amazing sex, and he postpones suicide to the day after that."

[T.J. Price]

Lydia Davis & Leonora Carrington fashion homunculi from one another's hearts, breathe a strange, magical life into them, and then send them off into the dark wilderness to gather folktales from the folktale tree; all the while, Chekov & Kafka—in the form of enormous, wry-faced bears—are observing from a nearby mountain

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this one is for the real short story lovers. They are each only around 3 pages long. How do you even come up with that many ideas!

This collection is very much steeped in fairytale and folklore and from the first page I was sucked in. There is an entire section just dedicated to one guy and his misadventures. That’s fun!

Look some of these hit better than others but overall I really enjoyed. I will always have a soft spot for a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously and this certainly doesn’t.

*read via Edelweiss

[Adina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an experience all on its own. The story with the hotel and the train station, as well as The Trials if Ivan Petrovich, are my favourites. Honestly, the one with the hotel was so well written, it will probably stay with me for a long time.

[cockroach · Rating 4 out of 5]

absolutely unrateable but i think there is pure unadulterated genius in this

[Keyi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surreal, beautifully written, what the hell is going on, et cetera, et cetera. Despite its absurdity and my feelings of perpetual confusion, I feel like I'll find myself returning to this work again and again.

[Annie • willyoubemybookfriend]

nonsense that makes perfect sense if you know what i mean

[Ajuni Zubieta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Woah this book only has 85 ratings. A good gift—I don't know that I would have happened upon this book otherwise and I am quite glad to have read it. The book is dryly funny, almost sarcastic at points, which, paired with the very short, fable-esque stories, creates the feeling of being let in on a joke and let into a secret well of knowledge at the same time. Many of the stories seem to respond the question of how to exist—under conditions of violence, in the face oppression and injustice, and at all as humans—with answers dark, cynical, and hopeful. I found the first three sections managed to keep me very engaged despite being made up of very short pieces often similar in tone—Gorbunova manages to keep you on your toes with each story being very unique in its concept or unexpected in its structure or unsettling in its ending. There's something very cheeky going on that's delightful—like Gorbunova is smirking at you the whole time. Certainly, there are stories that are less cheeky and more earnest, many of them strong, but also many that dragged and many towards the end of the book. The last two sections I started to get bored with the sort of trick Gorbunova is doing in each story; at some point it feels like she is—very impressively—flexing her muscles as a writer but with no purpose. All in all, I really enjoyed the book and haven't read much quite like it. There is something very familiar about the way these stories are—that fable-y quality—but so different about the way they are executed. The sort of rug being pulled out from under you and the novelty of that is part of what makes this book such a interesting read.

"Accept the frying pan on which you're being fried." She's got that Oscar Wilde talent for epigrams.
"until one day they died, because happiness is achievable, but death is inevitable"
"Transcendental Meditation for Tradwives, Curing Erectile Dysfunction with Kundalini Yoga" sooo curious about what this was in the original Russian
"each new pleasure is a reason to defer"
"because things are completed when they are ruined"
"They say there is a dark sea in which oughts can't be born and I am afraid that one day I'll drown in it."
"senseless and everlasting"
"students being a generally dim bunch" shout out
"The rain comes down in a flood, a true tropical storm; the last black rhino and the red-beaked bird, sheltering beneath a tree, look out at the expanse of the savannah, lashed by countless streams, and carry on their leisurely conversation."

[Lisa (the_epi_reader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75⭐️ Weird girl Fiction if a Russian modern day Hans Christian Andersen wrote it, but included way too many inside thoughts.

(Th)ings and (Th)oughts feels like a bunch of weird dreams. Most of the short stories range between 2-3 stories, and have a similar tone to Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytales (i.e., bleak, colloquial, and melancholic). Some of the short stories I did enjoy, especially the first one, “Psychoanalysis in Hell”, but many were just odd. I often found myself reading sentences out loud to my fiancé because of I needed someone else to witness how the story just changed course out of no where. If you are a short story girlie, (or guy), (Th)ings and (Th)oughts may be your jam, but strap in because it’s different.

[Samurai Banana · Rating 5 out of 5]

i'm just a huge sucker for poetic surreal flash fiction. the comparison to kharms doesn't do it justice because it's definitely more than that (meant with no disrespect to kharms whatsoever though, "today i wrote nothing" is one of my favorites). often hilarious, often moving, and always beautiful. i don't think i enjoyed this as much as her novel "it's the end of the world, my love" but i gave this five stars so i think that says more about how much i loved that book than this one. i'm really looking forward to reading more from gorbuvna in the future.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

“All in all, the bear was rarely bored, and only sometimes, in the middle of sunny afternoon, for a moment, a sense of longing came over him—a longing for something he couldn’t remember.”

A collection of unsettling and bizarre nouveau folk-tales taking place in a psychically and spiritually decimated modern Russia. The short prose-poetry format works well for these odd little yarns.

[Molly]

I loved it!

[Trevor Arrowood · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of stories sounded so interesting, but I was left quite disappointed. They’re all 1-5 pages long which leaves a lot unsaid. Short stories are obviously supposed to leave things unsaid, but these stories feel without true themes or morals at times. Some might say they’re surreal or absurd, but I thinks that’s a false appellation to me. It felt like the author had a lot of ideas they wanted to get down.
I am willing to say that a few stories were very good, especially toward the end. I felt like I was watching the author grow as the collection developed. But nonetheless, I was sadly disappointed by this collection.

[Garrett Mikulka · Rating 3 out of 5]

About a 3:4 star rating, rounded down.

The benefit of ultra short fiction is that one can, in theory, say a lot with a little by what is left unsaid. Many of these short pieces do this well. Very imaginative and a fun way of sending fairy tale style prose into (often but not always) darker and more modern territory.

The weakness of ultra short prose seems to be the same as its strength: far too many of these stories suggest a lot but leave unsaid what might have been better said. Many of these pieces just fall flat, jump to quickly to shocking conclusions to be enjoyed, suggest profundity without earning it.

My rating is more of a picture of proportional enjoyment rather than a blanket rating of the whole piece. Several of these stories were 5 star stories. Many were 4 or 3. But too many were 1 or 2 star stories.

It’s a quick read, and probably the good stories are worth the venture through the duller ones.

I would recommend.

[Brock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Steeped in a morbid yet jocular sensibility, Alla Gorbunova’s “(Th)ings and (Th)oughts” blends the bleak realities of everyday existence with amusing absurdities. Raised amid the remnants of the Soviet Union, Gorbunova’s award-winning poetry and inventive prose signal a new wave in contemporary Russian literature. However, her latest work, translated by Elina Alter, comprises mostly middling stories that remain conceptually stunted despite their potential.

The five-part collection opens with the whimsical story “Psychoanalysis in Hell,” narrated by a psychoanalyst who outlines her strategy for helping bewildered new inhabitants process their eternal, fiery predicament. She offers prudent advice to her stupefied patients, centered on acceptance and self-love:

“You can't stop being in Hell just because you want to. Don't expect sincere repentance to bring immediate deliverance. Do not resort to bargaining or legal reasoning. Stop gathering evidence to prove that you deserve something better than Hell. Humbly and meekly come to terms with whatever happens.”

This is followed by an equally comical story, “Biomass,” about a woman who has fallen in love with a man who quite literally possesses no soul. Unfortunately for readers, the remainder of this curated selection meanders through half-baked ideas and dull sketches.

Gorbunova’s jaded surrealism evokes a range of emotions—and occasionally entertains—but ultimately fails to leave a lasting impression. Each premise seems poised to take a profound leap or strike at the heart of a philosophical question, yet instead retreats or stalls in place. Stories like “Incidental Pleasures” flirt with a Pascalian notion of humanity’s diversion-seeking loop, while “Eternal Separation” brushes lightly against the anxiety-inducing fear of eternal nothingness after death; however, both narratives lack the boldness to move beyond the surface.

Despite the general lack of direction and originality that would warrant comparisons to Kharms or Bulgakov, a handful of diamonds in the rough reveal the Russian poet’s potential. Her prose displays a dazzling imagination—full of bizarre characters, jarring actions, and promising, humorous setups. In addition, later stories, such as “ἐκπύρωσις” and “Ghost Train,” impress with sentimental language and rich symbolism.

Alla Gorbunova’s short stories leave much to be desired, yet they showcase her elaborate creativity and lyrical prowess. I sense that her ceiling is higher than what this collection achieves, making her a promising talent worth watching.

[Michael Liebermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for Novels. Response:

I tremendously enjoyed almost the whole thing. It is mostly a wondrous collection of parables. They are short, and though reading one short piece after another gets slightly grating, almost all of them, with their strangeness and yet their familiarity, make an impact.

Most all of the stories mix morals with mirth. They are funny, witty, foreign, fantastical.

The first and second sections held most of my favorites. I’m not quite sure what to make of her splitting the two sections, as if there is something separate about them, or whether it even matters. But they are all enjoyable. My favorites: Terentiy’s Guilt, Incidental Pleasures, Petrovich and Petrovsky, The Insect Priest, The Tricycle and the Rubber Dildo, On That Day He Learned, [Th]oughts, Every Bear Has Its Day.

The third section, The Trials of Ivan Petrovich, held less enjoyment for me. I appreciated that it was a larger story, a somewhat continuous string of pages. It was the novel’s way of, after previously forcing us to reset every few pages, giving us a break. I enjoyed the zaniness. Otherwise I found the section less fulfilling than its predecessors.

The fourth section felt like almost a dud. The novel does what it had been threatening to do and turns all biblical, and it feels way too abstract. But the final section picks up with more short stories that land, almost more profoundly than before.

[Amy ☁️ (tinycl0ud) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure where to begin reviewing a collection of 57 Russian short stories, some as short as one paragraph or one page. Part 3 is a series of vignettes about the same guy ('The Trials of Ivan Petrovich') but the rest are unrelated. I was impressed by the range. They felt like stories being told over a dinner table to raucous laughter. Everyone from every class, gender, and age gets made fun of.

Many of them read like parables, morality stories, or fairytales, but with a big twist or a heaping of darkness. Definitely not for children. I would say they can be described as contemporary dark fairytales featuring fast food diners and personal devices. A few of them used the idea of the doppelgänger/double/twin to place the protagonist in an existential crisis, and I found those especially fun to read.

[Jeffrey]

I’m sorry, this book was incredibly surface level and boring. I only got about half way before I had to stop for good. Nothing made much sense, the page or two a lot a lot of these stories were didn’t lend itself to any kind of interesting plot or ideas. It just felt extremely bland. Out of all the short stories I’d read up to that point, there was maybe 1 that was interesting. I don’t know if the issue was the translation, being this was written in Russian, or if it was a cultural issue, but even with how quick of a read this was, I just dreaded having to pick it up and read anymore. I really wanted to enjoy it, but the rapid fire at which these short stories started and finished, it left way too much to be desired.

[Morgan Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very silly and funny when it wants to be, while also making you realize the ridiculousness of existence. It just kind of switches between jokes and “okay, now imagine the worst person ever is your dentist, and he’s also a worm”. Weird like that. This book is very easy to get lost in, each “chapter” being 1-3 pages max. The book was translated from Russian, so all of the characters and cities have Russian names, and sometimes it’s hard to understand what’s going on with all the different names, but it’s alright.

[Max Eichelberger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my thing, reminiscent of Baron Munchausen (sp?) or perhaps the Taiga Syndrome.

I finished it watching the NBA Cup. Spurs against the Thunder. My wife told me not to help with the dishes. I don’t understand it but I feel like it helps her anxiety. Her mom acted frustrated if my wife didn’t help when she was a kid, now it causes distress when I do it.

Tomorrow we are going to celebrate Daniel’s birthday.

[karlee]

maybe this is just not the time for me to read this book. maybe this book is just too advanced for me. maybe this book is just weird? whatever the circumstances, i think i'm going to dnf this book. it's so lyrical and poetic to the point where i don't understand anything going on anymore. i know some of this is meant to be a little stream of conscious-y, but this is almost like i'm being plunged into the author's subconscious and asked to swim back up towards the surface.

bye bye.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loooooooved this! Utter whimsy. Flash fiction for those with demands on their time, or a habit of inattentiveness.

[Ivy Grimes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, absurd, beautiful, enlightening. I hope everyone reads this collection of strange little stories.

[laasya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful! Absurd in a way that was still meaningful. Dismantles expectations to make existential points that do not come off even mildly heavy handed.

[Carissa Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

The icy distance of the prose in the more speculative fiction portions somehow works wonders in the folklore portions. All in all, a lovely little mixed bag of treats.

[Alex]

Thank you DNF button for giving me permission to put down books I just don’t vibe with!!

[Ally · Rating 3 out of 5]

fave stories Incidental Pleasures and Every Bear.
3.5

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you write this? I can’t wait to read this again and again. I got it from the library and have to buy it, that’s how serious this is.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

at once whimsical, ghastly, and decidedly Russian, (th)oughts and (th)ings is a collection of short stories by up-and-coming Alla Gorbunova. landscapes, upon searching, came up appearing exactly as described- a window to a world that i can no longer travel to due to the Russian War, at least for the time being. some stories were merely a few pages long, and did not seem to convey enough to make them whole. morality was often kept vague, or perhaps completely absent which added to the uniqueness and shock factor of this collection of oddities. i did wish some stories had been developed more completely, or perhaps nuances could not be translated well?

[Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translated Russian Flash Fiction

Review #1:
i (l)iked this (b)ook

Review #2:
Q -- Why does Alla Gorbunova make her stories so short?
A -- Because she was rushin