He: An Unknown's Story

by Leonid Andreyev

Texte intégral révisé suivi d'une biographie de Leonid Andreïev. "Leonid Andreïev était talentueux de nature, organiquement talentueux; son intuition était étonnamment fine. Pour tout ce qui touchait aux côtés sombres de la vie. aux contradictions de lame humaine, aux fermentations dans le domaine des instincts, il était d'une effrayante perspicacité" (— Maxime Gorki). "Andreiev veut épouvanter, mais je n'ai pas peur" (— Léon Tolstoï). "Andreïev est, pour ainsi dire, le fils spirituel de Tchékhov. Mais c'est un fils maladif, qui pousse aux dernières limites l'élément mélancolique. La tonalité grise de Tchékhov est devenue noire chez Andreïev; son humour un peu triste s'est transformé en une ironie tragique, son impressionnabilité subtile, en sensibilité morbide" (— Serge Persky).

Genres: Russia, Fiction, Short Stories

Unknown Binding

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.