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Complete Prose Fiction
Pushkin’s prose tales are the foundation stones on which the great novels of Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky were built, but they are also brilliant and fascinating in their own right. In both prose and verse, Pushkin was one of the world’s great storytellers: direct and dramatic, clear-sighted, vivid, and passionate.
This new and expanded Everyman’s edition of his stories includes all the mature work. In addition to such novella-length masterpieces as The Captain’s Daughter and The Tales of Belkin the collection now contains many more short pieces and the masterly History of Pugachev, a powerful account of the man who rebelled against Catherine the Great. This version is translated by Paul Debreczeny and Walter Arndt.
This new and expanded Everyman’s edition of his stories includes all the mature work. In addition to such novella-length masterpieces as The Captain’s Daughter and The Tales of Belkin the collection now contains many more short pieces and the masterly History of Pugachev, a powerful account of the man who rebelled against Catherine the Great. This version is translated by Paul Debreczeny and Walter Arndt.
560 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 1990
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January 7, 2025
«Yo no nací para divertir a los Zares.»
La contundencia de esta frase dicha por Alexandr Pushkin define quién fue y qué significó para las letras rusas: ser nada más y nada menos que su Padre.
La literatura rusa era modesta y casi desconocida hasta que apareció él. Le dio brillo, nivel literario, clase y la transformó en una poderosa corriente que contagió a muchos de sus contemporáneos y sucesores.
Influenciado por el Romanticismo alemán y por poetas de la talla de Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley o Frederich Schiller le dio renombre a Rusia y la colocó en un sitial de preferencia. A partir de él ya nada sería igual, puesto que logró una verdadera revolución.
Inspiró a su protegido Nikolai Gógol a que escribiera gran parte de la obra que le dio modernidad a la literatura rusa y contagió a los autores que aparecerán después, como Fiódor Dostoievski, Lev Tolstói o Antón Chejov.
Fue un exquisito poeta, escribió narrativa clásica y en verso libre, tal es el caso del impecable “Eugenio Oneguin” y obras de teatro inmortales como “Boris Godunov” y una vasta cantidad de cuentos incluidos aquí.
Este volumen de Pushkin es esencial para todos los que aman la literatura rusa y su obra en particular. El libro es completísimo e incluye sus más famosas novelas, como "La Dama de Piqué" y "La Hija del Capitán", ambas, verdaderas joyas de la literatura hasta su primera publicación de cuentos “Historias del difunto Iván Petróvich Belkin” que a su vez incluye gemas como “La nevasca”, “Un disparo memorable”, “El fabricante de ataúdes”, “El maestro de postas” y “La muchacha campesina”.
Cierra el libro "Noches Egipcias" y una serie de borradores y cuentos a medio terminar junto con sus impresiones de viaje fechadas en 1829.
En narraciones como “Dubrovsky”, “Kirdzhali” o “Róslavlev” nos lleva a la acción que desplegaron bandidos y cosacos, hombre recios preparados tanto para desenvainar la espada como para rendirse a los pies de una joven enamorada.
El nivel de detalle y descripción que logra Pushkin de las distintas clases sociales rusas es impecable, puesto que conocía la idiosincrasia de su pueblo como nadie, tanto de campesinos como de nobles, de enamoradizas damiselas como de violentos cosacos.
Se suma a todo esto su poder de revisionismo histórico, puntualmente en "La Hija del Capitán". Dostoievski supo decir que Pushkin fue "el primero de los hombres rusos" y efectivamente se percibe esto en estas narraciones que resultan ser imprescindibles tanto para el amante de las letras rusas como para el de la literatura clásica en general.
Otra hubiera sido Rusia y su literatura si no hubiese aparecido Alexandr Pushkin. Nos hubiéramos privado de su talento insuperable.
La contundencia de esta frase dicha por Alexandr Pushkin define quién fue y qué significó para las letras rusas: ser nada más y nada menos que su Padre.
La literatura rusa era modesta y casi desconocida hasta que apareció él. Le dio brillo, nivel literario, clase y la transformó en una poderosa corriente que contagió a muchos de sus contemporáneos y sucesores.
Influenciado por el Romanticismo alemán y por poetas de la talla de Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley o Frederich Schiller le dio renombre a Rusia y la colocó en un sitial de preferencia. A partir de él ya nada sería igual, puesto que logró una verdadera revolución.
Inspiró a su protegido Nikolai Gógol a que escribiera gran parte de la obra que le dio modernidad a la literatura rusa y contagió a los autores que aparecerán después, como Fiódor Dostoievski, Lev Tolstói o Antón Chejov.
Fue un exquisito poeta, escribió narrativa clásica y en verso libre, tal es el caso del impecable “Eugenio Oneguin” y obras de teatro inmortales como “Boris Godunov” y una vasta cantidad de cuentos incluidos aquí.
Este volumen de Pushkin es esencial para todos los que aman la literatura rusa y su obra en particular. El libro es completísimo e incluye sus más famosas novelas, como "La Dama de Piqué" y "La Hija del Capitán", ambas, verdaderas joyas de la literatura hasta su primera publicación de cuentos “Historias del difunto Iván Petróvich Belkin” que a su vez incluye gemas como “La nevasca”, “Un disparo memorable”, “El fabricante de ataúdes”, “El maestro de postas” y “La muchacha campesina”.
Cierra el libro "Noches Egipcias" y una serie de borradores y cuentos a medio terminar junto con sus impresiones de viaje fechadas en 1829.
En narraciones como “Dubrovsky”, “Kirdzhali” o “Róslavlev” nos lleva a la acción que desplegaron bandidos y cosacos, hombre recios preparados tanto para desenvainar la espada como para rendirse a los pies de una joven enamorada.
El nivel de detalle y descripción que logra Pushkin de las distintas clases sociales rusas es impecable, puesto que conocía la idiosincrasia de su pueblo como nadie, tanto de campesinos como de nobles, de enamoradizas damiselas como de violentos cosacos.
Se suma a todo esto su poder de revisionismo histórico, puntualmente en "La Hija del Capitán". Dostoievski supo decir que Pushkin fue "el primero de los hombres rusos" y efectivamente se percibe esto en estas narraciones que resultan ser imprescindibles tanto para el amante de las letras rusas como para el de la literatura clásica en general.
Otra hubiera sido Rusia y su literatura si no hubiese aparecido Alexandr Pushkin. Nos hubiéramos privado de su talento insuperable.
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November 25, 2019This edition of Pushkin's writings contains all the stories from The Queen of Spades and Other Stories and from Tales of Belkin and Other Prose Writings, both of which I've read in ebook form, so this volume is destined for my real life shelves as a reminder of how much I enjoyed reading Pushkin these last weeks.
But this book also contains a piece I hadn't already read, which was a nice surprise: the first twenty pages of 'A Novel in Letters', one of the writing projects Pushkin left unfinished when he died in 1836 from a wound sustained in a duel at the age of thirty seven.
This 'Novel in Letters' dates from 1829. There are four correspondents, two men and two women. Two of the correspondents live in St Petersburg, the other two have separately fled city life for the country, and find themselves in the same Pavlovskoye village since they both have relatives there.
It's an interesting set-up, but what was really interesting for me was the portrait of a girl they both meet in the village, a slim melancholy girl of about seventeen, brought up on novels and fresh air. She spends her whole day in the garden or in the fields with a book in her hands, surrounded by yard dogs, talks about the weather in a singsong voice, and treats one to jam.
Mashenka, as she is called, sounds very like Tatiana from Eugene Onegin, who was also melancholy, fond of solitary walks and known to offer visitors jam! And like Mashenka, her favourite novel was Richardson's Clarissa.
Knowing that Richardson's book is also an epistolatory novel about a young and innocent heroine, I wondered if Pushkin was aiming to parody it, and I briefly worried for young and innocent Mashenka.
Another aspect of this short novel I found interesting were some lines about the impressions a reader gets from reading books set before their time, in this case, specifically 'Clarissa': You cannot imagine how strange it is to read, in 1829, a novel written in 1775. writes one of Pushkin's correspondents to another. It seems as if, suddenly from our drawing-room, we enter an ancient hall, upholstered with damask, seat ourselves on satin-covered armchairs, see around us strange dresses but familiar faces, and recognise in them our uncles and grandmothers, but grown younger. In the main these novels have no other virtue.
If it feels strange to read a novel set fifty years before one's time, how much stranger should it be to read one set nearly two hundred years before, as Pushkin's work is for us today. But I don't share the letter writer's opinion, although I haven't yet read Richardson. I never find it strange to read novels from previous centuries, and rather feel that those that have remained in print over the intervening time must have virtues past counting. That has certainly been my experience reading Pushkin.
But this book also contains a piece I hadn't already read, which was a nice surprise: the first twenty pages of 'A Novel in Letters', one of the writing projects Pushkin left unfinished when he died in 1836 from a wound sustained in a duel at the age of thirty seven.
This 'Novel in Letters' dates from 1829. There are four correspondents, two men and two women. Two of the correspondents live in St Petersburg, the other two have separately fled city life for the country, and find themselves in the same Pavlovskoye village since they both have relatives there.
It's an interesting set-up, but what was really interesting for me was the portrait of a girl they both meet in the village, a slim melancholy girl of about seventeen, brought up on novels and fresh air. She spends her whole day in the garden or in the fields with a book in her hands, surrounded by yard dogs, talks about the weather in a singsong voice, and treats one to jam.
Mashenka, as she is called, sounds very like Tatiana from Eugene Onegin, who was also melancholy, fond of solitary walks and known to offer visitors jam! And like Mashenka, her favourite novel was Richardson's Clarissa.
Knowing that Richardson's book is also an epistolatory novel about a young and innocent heroine, I wondered if Pushkin was aiming to parody it, and I briefly worried for young and innocent Mashenka.
Another aspect of this short novel I found interesting were some lines about the impressions a reader gets from reading books set before their time, in this case, specifically 'Clarissa': You cannot imagine how strange it is to read, in 1829, a novel written in 1775. writes one of Pushkin's correspondents to another. It seems as if, suddenly from our drawing-room, we enter an ancient hall, upholstered with damask, seat ourselves on satin-covered armchairs, see around us strange dresses but familiar faces, and recognise in them our uncles and grandmothers, but grown younger. In the main these novels have no other virtue.
If it feels strange to read a novel set fifty years before one's time, how much stranger should it be to read one set nearly two hundred years before, as Pushkin's work is for us today. But I don't share the letter writer's opinion, although I haven't yet read Richardson. I never find it strange to read novels from previous centuries, and rather feel that those that have remained in print over the intervening time must have virtues past counting. That has certainly been my experience reading Pushkin.
January 21, 2020
Elegí este libro para empezar con el autor porque las traducciones y ediciones de la editorial son una apuesta segura y porque me permitirían tener más lecturas disponibles del autor.
🇷🇺La cosa no ha salido como esperaba ...Pushkin y su pluma me han encantado y ya me he terminado el libro😂
🇷🇺Su prosa fue innovadora en la época rompe con unos predecesores obsoletos,incluso se atreve con la fusión narrativa de la prosa y la poesía .Se le considera fundador de la literatura rusa moderna.
🇷🇺Su vida es muy interesante y merece un análisis aparte ,dando un par de pinceladas decir que fue un lector incansable y que murió como uno de sus románticos protagonistas:a causa de una herida de duelo .
🇷🇺El libro comienza con “El negro de Pedro el Grande”,su lectura atrapa y tiene un trasfondo histórico importante.
🇷🇺Los cuentos del difunto Ivan Petrovich Belkin aún siendo los que menos me gustan,los disfrute.
En ellos tenemos duelos,nevadas,maestros de postas,clasismos sociales .
“El sepulturero “aunque se que no ha sido del gusto de todos me pareció una genialidad.
🇷🇺”Historia del pueblo de Goriujino tenemos un protagonista aficionado a la lectura con el que empatizamos rápidamente.
🇷🇺”Rósalev”Narrado por Una mujer:Polina .Es apasionado y apasionante tiene mucho de patriotismo.
🇷🇺”Dubrousky”Es de mis preferidos,aquí tenemos aventuras ,intrigas y venganzas.
El final te mantiene en vilo.
🇷🇺”La dama del pique “.Con el abre una puerta a la novela psicológica.
Ese final tan tétrico como divertido .
🇷🇺”La hija del capitán “.Si solo podéis leer uno recomiendo que sea este.
Es una muestra de su narrativa con un argumento claro ,descripciones concisas .
En parte novela el motín campesino acaudillado y las rebeliones rusas.Deja patente la investigación histórica del autor.
Al principio me pareció que tendría que haberse titulado “La mujer del capitán “ !Que empuje tiene este personaje!.
🇷🇺La cosa no ha salido como esperaba ...Pushkin y su pluma me han encantado y ya me he terminado el libro😂
🇷🇺Su prosa fue innovadora en la época rompe con unos predecesores obsoletos,incluso se atreve con la fusión narrativa de la prosa y la poesía .Se le considera fundador de la literatura rusa moderna.
🇷🇺Su vida es muy interesante y merece un análisis aparte ,dando un par de pinceladas decir que fue un lector incansable y que murió como uno de sus románticos protagonistas:a causa de una herida de duelo .
🇷🇺El libro comienza con “El negro de Pedro el Grande”,su lectura atrapa y tiene un trasfondo histórico importante.
🇷🇺Los cuentos del difunto Ivan Petrovich Belkin aún siendo los que menos me gustan,los disfrute.
En ellos tenemos duelos,nevadas,maestros de postas,clasismos sociales .
“El sepulturero “aunque se que no ha sido del gusto de todos me pareció una genialidad.
🇷🇺”Historia del pueblo de Goriujino tenemos un protagonista aficionado a la lectura con el que empatizamos rápidamente.
🇷🇺”Rósalev”Narrado por Una mujer:Polina .Es apasionado y apasionante tiene mucho de patriotismo.
🇷🇺”Dubrousky”Es de mis preferidos,aquí tenemos aventuras ,intrigas y venganzas.
El final te mantiene en vilo.
🇷🇺”La dama del pique “.Con el abre una puerta a la novela psicológica.
Ese final tan tétrico como divertido .
🇷🇺”La hija del capitán “.Si solo podéis leer uno recomiendo que sea este.
Es una muestra de su narrativa con un argumento claro ,descripciones concisas .
En parte novela el motín campesino acaudillado y las rebeliones rusas.Deja patente la investigación histórica del autor.
Al principio me pareció que tendría que haberse titulado “La mujer del capitán “ !Que empuje tiene este personaje!.
June 23, 2016
Collection of Pushkin's powerful stories, including the novella "The Captain's Daughter"
A whole book could be, and likely has been, written on the fascinating story of how Pushkin's life cut short at 37 in an 1837 duel over the honor of his 25-year-old wife, and yet he had an undeniable impact on Russian literature, including on the two Russian giants of Western lit, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, and, to a lesser degree, on Russian music, including that of Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky.
Pushkin was a poet, yet he thought in order to "deal with the affairs of society, he had to learn to speak its language" and thus had to "train himself to write in prose."
End of the Duel Resulting in Pushkin's Death
This is a splendid collection of all Pushkin's stories in prose, including the novella "The Captain's Daughter." His prose has been labeled "swift and economical." To Pushkin, the style of the prose was secondary to the story itself. I love reading his stories for a refreshing change from the over-stylized short stories (slice of nothingness) that come out of the MFA factories these days. In my opinion, this purchase is worth it for the masterful "History of Pugachev," which is Pushkin's story/history of the man who rebelled against Catherine the Great.
Pushkin's wife Natalia, for whose "Honor" He Died in Duel
A whole book could be, and likely has been, written on the fascinating story of how Pushkin's life cut short at 37 in an 1837 duel over the honor of his 25-year-old wife, and yet he had an undeniable impact on Russian literature, including on the two Russian giants of Western lit, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, and, to a lesser degree, on Russian music, including that of Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky.
Pushkin was a poet, yet he thought in order to "deal with the affairs of society, he had to learn to speak its language" and thus had to "train himself to write in prose."
End of the Duel Resulting in Pushkin's Death
This is a splendid collection of all Pushkin's stories in prose, including the novella "The Captain's Daughter." His prose has been labeled "swift and economical." To Pushkin, the style of the prose was secondary to the story itself. I love reading his stories for a refreshing change from the over-stylized short stories (slice of nothingness) that come out of the MFA factories these days. In my opinion, this purchase is worth it for the masterful "History of Pugachev," which is Pushkin's story/history of the man who rebelled against Catherine the Great.
Pushkin's wife Natalia, for whose "Honor" He Died in Duel
October 20, 2016
Relatos de gran calidad de uno de los padres de la Literatura Rusa. Aunque es conocido por su poesía, en la prosa es también un titán.
"...su alma cansada por las pasiones, el ocio y una secreta melancolía".
"...su alma cansada por las pasiones, el ocio y una secreta melancolía".
September 27, 2020
Навремето в училище учехме по някое и друго стихотворение на Пушкин, та поне бяхме наясно, че е поет. Печалният му край на дуел беше допълнителна точка, открояваща го в морето от други лица, прелитащи твърде бързо и понякога хаотично из учебната програма.
Но че е писал и проза, разбрах от прелестното илюстровано томче на бяла руска хартия (единствените луксозни издания у нас през соца). Беше неустоимо красиво издание.
Като цяло руските прозаици не са в моя регистър. Подмолният им мистицизъм дори и в дребните битови аспекти, тежкият воал от безнадеждност...и солидният им обем са ме отказвали неведнъж. Но има една рядка порода, която е абсолютното изключение. Поетите, пишещи проза, сред които Пушкин и Лермонтов. И - да - Чехов. Ах, Чехов!
Поетите - прозаици и Пушкин в частност са майстори на синтеза. Сменят формата, но не и стила. Изреченията са филигран всяко едно само за себе си. Не са многословни и особено мистични - точно обратното. Кратки, обрани, изящни и побрали невероятни количество идеи и послания в грахово зърно.
Разказите и повестите на Пушкин са измамно кратки и простички. Първият, горен пласт е романтичен и дори с намек за авантюра и сантимент. Първото четене оставя читателя с невероятно романтично впечатление. После се пробужда усещането, че нещо не е съвсем наред. Нещо е изпуснато. И идва вторият прочит с втория пласт. Ето го и проблемът - обикновено остро социален и политически. Измамно замаскиран в немногословния детайл. Следва сериозно замисляне. И на третия прочит идва онзи момент с “Ахаааа!”, който според легендата накарал Архимед да изскочи от ваната и да хукне директно към работилницата си.
Някой беше сравнил филмовото изкуство (но те - изкуствата - си приличат) с красиво узряло ябълково дърво. Има за всеки - някои ще стигнат само до най-долните клони (ако обичат ябълки), други - по-нагоре, трети ще стигнат и до върха.
Пушкин е едно изумително ябълково дърво. От най-прекрасните!
Но че е писал и проза, разбрах от прелестното илюстровано томче на бяла руска хартия (единствените луксозни издания у нас през соца). Беше неустоимо красиво издание.
Като цяло руските прозаици не са в моя регистър. Подмолният им мистицизъм дори и в дребните битови аспекти, тежкият воал от безнадеждност...и солидният им обем са ме отказвали неведнъж. Но има една рядка порода, която е абсолютното изключение. Поетите, пишещи проза, сред които Пушкин и Лермонтов. И - да - Чехов. Ах, Чехов!
Поетите - прозаици и Пушкин в частност са майстори на синтеза. Сменят формата, но не и стила. Изреченията са филигран всяко едно само за себе си. Не са многословни и особено мистични - точно обратното. Кратки, обрани, изящни и побрали невероятни количество идеи и послания в грахово зърно.
Разказите и повестите на Пушкин са измамно кратки и простички. Първият, горен пласт е романтичен и дори с намек за авантюра и сантимент. Първото четене оставя читателя с невероятно романтично впечатление. После се пробужда усещането, че нещо не е съвсем наред. Нещо е изпуснато. И идва вторият прочит с втория пласт. Ето го и проблемът - обикновено остро социален и политически. Измамно замаскиран в немногословния детайл. Следва сериозно замисляне. И на третия прочит идва онзи момент с “Ахаааа!”, който според легендата накарал Архимед да изскочи от ваната и да хукне директно към работилницата си.
Някой беше сравнил филмовото изкуство (но те - изкуствата - си приличат) с красиво узряло ябълково дърво. Има за всеки - някои ще стигнат само до най-долните клони (ако обичат ябълки), други - по-нагоре, трети ще стигнат и до върха.
Пушкин е едно изумително ябълково дърво. От най-прекрасните!
February 5, 2021
İlk Puşkin kitabım. Hatta uzun süredir Rus edebiyatı okumadığımı hesaba katarsak, bu konuda da ilk oldu benim için. Diğer Rus yazarlara oranla oldukça yalın ve rahat bir üslubu var Puşkin'in. Bu açıdan tereddütleri olan varsa hemen alıp okusun derim. Bir asker kızı olarak kitaba adapte olma açısından hiçbir sorun yaşamadım. O ortama aşina olmakla beraber bunu tekrar deneyimlemek güzeldi. Kitabı aslında son ana kadar çok sevdim diyebilirim fakat nedense sonunu yeterli bulmadım, fazla yüzeysel geldi. Keşke daha farklı bir şekilde esere veda edebilseydim. Yalın bir üsluba karşın Puşkin kitap boyunca çeşitli eleştirilerini hem açık hem de gizli yoldan biz okuyuculara hiçbir çekinme olmadan sunuyor. Bu arada kitabı İletişim Yayınları'nın çevirisinden okudum, çeviri açısından tavsiye ederim.
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April 28, 2022“Kendi geleceğinizi yazmak istiyorsanız, kalemi başkalarının eline vermeyin.”
July 31, 2009
So. . .I've been fairly obsessed with the Russians lately; on a whim bought this book here, as well as a Collection of Tales by Gogol, Great Short Works of Dostoevsky, and also his The Idiot. And one by one I devoured them all, starting with the Idiot. I don't know what it is about those Russians that kills me (well, I do have an idea. . .but those reveries do not belong here), but during those weeks I was anticipating getting home from work like there was a fat steak waiting there for me (this analogy is no joke if you are a starving bachelor).
But anyways, Pushkin. I learned of Pushkin and Gogol from references to them in Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn. He's pretty much touted as the great Russian poet, and much of his material was absorbed into the Russian language and identity, even during his lifetime. This collection is all prose, however, with bits of poetry sprinkled in as plot vehicles here and there. It's hard to sum up his style of prose and short stories though, because he did a lot of experimentation with form, and some stories are simply incomplete. For instance, he has a story in there called Eugene Onegin which is actually a fictional narrator telling a few very clever and creative stories about people he knew in his life. I think it would be wise to suspend my judgment a bit on Pushkin until I have pored over his poetry as well, but suffice to say I enjoyed this collection very much, even though he was apparently more gifted as a poet. So as not to risk sounding like the book's forward, I'll just say that his success is in my opinion owing to the dynamic relationships and interactions between an array of endearing characters. As in Gogol and even Dostoevsky there are always there are beautiful images and descriptions of daily life in idyllic countryside peasant towns as well as historically fascinating depictions of Petersburg and Moscow.
The last and longest story in the book was an especially unexpected treat: the historical chronicles of a Cossack outlaw named Pugachev who posed as Peter III (despite the fact that Peter III was already dead at the time) and rampaged across the Ukrainian region, absorbing into his ranks tens of thousands of other discontented Cossacks as he stormed town after town. He sent many a weak-hearted military officer either to the gallows to or to shameful flight before his bloody guerrilla revolt was brought to a halt by a painstaking and complex counter-campaign. Pushkin, though affirming he was writing in the interest of history and record, cannot but make this story an engrossing narrative, including many anecdotal stories of the rebel's bold and unpredictable interactions with people of all class and stripe, and the eccentric, incorrigible charm that makes him such a fascinating figure in Russian lore.
But anyways, Pushkin. I learned of Pushkin and Gogol from references to them in Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn. He's pretty much touted as the great Russian poet, and much of his material was absorbed into the Russian language and identity, even during his lifetime. This collection is all prose, however, with bits of poetry sprinkled in as plot vehicles here and there. It's hard to sum up his style of prose and short stories though, because he did a lot of experimentation with form, and some stories are simply incomplete. For instance, he has a story in there called Eugene Onegin which is actually a fictional narrator telling a few very clever and creative stories about people he knew in his life. I think it would be wise to suspend my judgment a bit on Pushkin until I have pored over his poetry as well, but suffice to say I enjoyed this collection very much, even though he was apparently more gifted as a poet. So as not to risk sounding like the book's forward, I'll just say that his success is in my opinion owing to the dynamic relationships and interactions between an array of endearing characters. As in Gogol and even Dostoevsky there are always there are beautiful images and descriptions of daily life in idyllic countryside peasant towns as well as historically fascinating depictions of Petersburg and Moscow.
The last and longest story in the book was an especially unexpected treat: the historical chronicles of a Cossack outlaw named Pugachev who posed as Peter III (despite the fact that Peter III was already dead at the time) and rampaged across the Ukrainian region, absorbing into his ranks tens of thousands of other discontented Cossacks as he stormed town after town. He sent many a weak-hearted military officer either to the gallows to or to shameful flight before his bloody guerrilla revolt was brought to a halt by a painstaking and complex counter-campaign. Pushkin, though affirming he was writing in the interest of history and record, cannot but make this story an engrossing narrative, including many anecdotal stories of the rebel's bold and unpredictable interactions with people of all class and stripe, and the eccentric, incorrigible charm that makes him such a fascinating figure in Russian lore.
April 20, 2016
Es lo primero que leo de Pushkin, y ahora me dedicaré a buscar más cosas suyas. Me encantó por la sencillez que se ve que persigue. Aunque tengo algunas quejas de esta edición, hay muchos cuentos inconclusos que es un poco extraño leer junto a otros buenísimos evidentemente más trabajados. Es una queja para la editorial. Empezar a leer a un autor con un cuento inconcluso, es como entrar a una casa bellisima por la puerta de atrás.
November 9, 2018
Mình muốn đọc cuốn này từ lâu lắm rồi, mà đi mua sách không lần nào mua được... Từ nào giờ cứ canh me tìm cuốn này, mà kiểu xuất bản lâu rồi nên ít thấy có hàng nữa. May sao hôm bữa lên Tiki coi mới thấy cuốn này có hàng, lại được giảm 30% nên thôi hốt luôn ahihi :D
Không ngờ Puskin vừa làm thơ hay, lại vừa có thể viết được những mẩu truyện ngắn cũng hay không kém. Nếu thơ của Puskin dạt dào chất lãng mạn trữ tình, thì truyện ngắn của Puskin có cái nét gì đó rất duyên dáng và đáng yêu, đặc biệt là ở những câu chuyện tình kết thúc có hậu. Nhưng hay nhất phải là câu chuyện "Con đầm bích" (và cũng là truyện ngắn nổi tiếng nhất của Puskin), với chất huyền ảo pha lẫn phê phán được thể hiện rõ nét. Thật tuyệt vời khi cuối cùng mình cũng sở hữu được cuốn sách này he he he :)) Đọc từ hôm qua tới hôm nay là xong rồi :D
Không ngờ Puskin vừa làm thơ hay, lại vừa có thể viết được những mẩu truyện ngắn cũng hay không kém. Nếu thơ của Puskin dạt dào chất lãng mạn trữ tình, thì truyện ngắn của Puskin có cái nét gì đó rất duyên dáng và đáng yêu, đặc biệt là ở những câu chuyện tình kết thúc có hậu. Nhưng hay nhất phải là câu chuyện "Con đầm bích" (và cũng là truyện ngắn nổi tiếng nhất của Puskin), với chất huyền ảo pha lẫn phê phán được thể hiện rõ nét. Thật tuyệt vời khi cuối cùng mình cũng sở hữu được cuốn sách này he he he :)) Đọc từ hôm qua tới hôm nay là xong rồi :D
January 23, 2011
There is certainly a reason why Pushkin is the most celebrated author in Russia. His nuanced characterization of the Russian intelligentsia is way ahead of his time, foreshadowing many future philosophical analyses, like Habermas and the Vekhi. If you're interested in the unique way modernity developed in Russia, these stories are a must read.
September 9, 2018
Olaylar ve duygu değişimlerinin çok hızlı cereyan ettiği bir kitap oldu. Olayların içine giremeden bitmişti zaten. Karakterlerin duygularındaki yenilikler özellikle altyapısız bulduğum noktalardı. Alıştığım rus klasiklerindeki derinliği bulamadığım bir kitaptı maalesef.
November 18, 2021
Rus edebiyatının temel eserlerinden biri olan Yüzbaşının Kızı isimli romanı grup okuması kapsamında (21 yıl sonra) tekrar okudum.
Akıcı anlatım hemen dikkat çekiyor. Anlatımdaki yer yer kara mizaha kayan ince espri anlayışını çok sevdim. Jane Austen'i hatırlattı. Çeviri oldukça yerelleştirilmiş fakat hikayeye uyduğunu ve yapay olmadığını düşünüyorum.
Puşkin, Rus dilini geliştiren ve Rus edebiyatının kurucusu kabul edilen yazarlardan. Goethe ve Schiller ile birlikte tarih bilimiyle uğraşanların adını saygı ve sevgiyle andığı edebiyatçılardan.
Anlattığı konu itibariyle çok etkilendiğimi söyleyemem. Fakat "bir halk ayaklanmasını ele alarak anlatım biçimiyle çarlığın katı sansürünü yıkmaya çalışmış olmasıyla" bile takdiri hak ediyor yazar. Yaşananlarla ilgili fikirlerini metne başarılı bir şekilde yedirmiş.
Bu eser bana, Rus edebiyatını ne kadar sevdiğimi hatırlattı. 2022 yılı okuma planını kabataslak şekillendirmiştim ama değişiklikler yapabilirim gibime geliyor.
Akıcı anlatım hemen dikkat çekiyor. Anlatımdaki yer yer kara mizaha kayan ince espri anlayışını çok sevdim. Jane Austen'i hatırlattı. Çeviri oldukça yerelleştirilmiş fakat hikayeye uyduğunu ve yapay olmadığını düşünüyorum.
Puşkin, Rus dilini geliştiren ve Rus edebiyatının kurucusu kabul edilen yazarlardan. Goethe ve Schiller ile birlikte tarih bilimiyle uğraşanların adını saygı ve sevgiyle andığı edebiyatçılardan.
Anlattığı konu itibariyle çok etkilendiğimi söyleyemem. Fakat "bir halk ayaklanmasını ele alarak anlatım biçimiyle çarlığın katı sansürünü yıkmaya çalışmış olmasıyla" bile takdiri hak ediyor yazar. Yaşananlarla ilgili fikirlerini metne başarılı bir şekilde yedirmiş.
Bu eser bana, Rus edebiyatını ne kadar sevdiğimi hatırlattı. 2022 yılı okuma planını kabataslak şekillendirmiştim ama değişiklikler yapabilirim gibime geliyor.
February 28, 2025
Ben Puşkin'in bu kitabı herkesten önce yazdığını unutmuştum. 🙈🙈 Sonlara doğru bakınırken gördüm. Öyle olunca kitap gözümde epey büyüdü. Çünkü herkes var içinde. Tüm Rus Edebiyatı var. Genç yaşta ölmesine de daha çok üzüldüm. Büyük Ustaların tuğlalarından okuyup gelirseniz daha bir etkileyici olacaktır diye düşünüyorum. Kronolojik bir okuma aynı etkiyi yaratmayacaktır gibi geldi. Bu şekilde denk getirdiğim ve deneyimlediğimden son derece memnunum. Vay be. Keşke olayların nerelere gittiğini görebilseydin Puşkin üstat.
Bu arada içerik değil kesinlikle üslup benim için buradaki konu. Bunu "sanatın öyküsü"nde de görürüz. Rönesans sürecinin gelişimi nasıldı? Floransa bir günde kurulmadı. Brunelleschi, Giotto, Masaccio ile gelen bir süreçti bu. Sadece sanatla da kısıtlamam ama şimdi kısıtlayacağım. :P Bilim, felsefeye girersek toparlayamam. :) Biz sanattan devam edelim. Acaba kendisi hakkında döneminde neler dendi? O da geldi aklıma. Çünkü yeni bir inşa süreci hep sancılı olmuş malum. Yine "sanatın öyküsü"nde dönem isimleri nasıldı? Hep bir ezikleme vardı. Öyle kalmış aklımda. :) Barok, Empresyonizm filan hep öyle idi... Ama kim ne demişse de bugüne ismi gelenler belli. Tüm ustalara saygılarımla diyerek lafımı da bağladım.
Vay be. Vay be. Vay be... Keşke olayların nerelere gittiğini görebilseydin Puşkin üstat...
Not: Caravaggio'a da selam olsun. Onu da çok severim. Düello lafı geçince aklıma geldi.
Bu arada içerik değil kesinlikle üslup benim için buradaki konu. Bunu "sanatın öyküsü"nde de görürüz. Rönesans sürecinin gelişimi nasıldı? Floransa bir günde kurulmadı. Brunelleschi, Giotto, Masaccio ile gelen bir süreçti bu. Sadece sanatla da kısıtlamam ama şimdi kısıtlayacağım. :P Bilim, felsefeye girersek toparlayamam. :) Biz sanattan devam edelim. Acaba kendisi hakkında döneminde neler dendi? O da geldi aklıma. Çünkü yeni bir inşa süreci hep sancılı olmuş malum. Yine "sanatın öyküsü"nde dönem isimleri nasıldı? Hep bir ezikleme vardı. Öyle kalmış aklımda. :) Barok, Empresyonizm filan hep öyle idi... Ama kim ne demişse de bugüne ismi gelenler belli. Tüm ustalara saygılarımla diyerek lafımı da bağladım.
Vay be. Vay be. Vay be... Keşke olayların nerelere gittiğini görebilseydin Puşkin üstat...
Not: Caravaggio'a da selam olsun. Onu da çok severim. Düello lafı geçince aklıma geldi.
May 6, 2020
هذا الكتاب يحتوي على قصص المرحوم إيفان بتروفيتش بيلكين ونشرت عام 1831م وقصة قصيرة بعنوان ملكة البستوني نشرت عام 1834م ورواية أبنة الآمر التي نشرت عام 1836م
وهذه الترجمة من قبل الروائي غائب فرمان هي ترجمة عن الروسية مباشرة وقد قرأت من قبل ترجمة سامي الدروبي لرواية أبنة الضابط وفي الحقيقة رغم ترجمة الدروبي عن لغة وسيطة وهي الفرنسية فأنني أجد ترجمة الدروبي أجمل وأكثر سلالة من ترجمة غائب فرمان
في رواية ابنة الآمر يتحدث بوشكين عن قائد ثورة القوزاق إميليان بوغاتشيف الذي ادعى أنه بيتر الثالث قيصر روسيا وهو ادعاء تكرر من قبل في تاريخ روسيا ومن ذلك ادعاء ديميري انه ابن القيصر إيفان الرهيب وقد استولى على العرش خلال 11 شهراً 1605-1606
كانت فترة ثورة بوغاتشيف ما بين عام 1773م وحتى إعدامه عام 1775م وقد صورها بوشكين في هذه الرواية وكأن بوشكين في تلك الأعوام أي أيام القيصر نيكولاي الأول يصور ما عاناه الشاعر من تلك الفترة والتي قمع فيه كل فكر تحرري والتي قتل من أثرها أصدقاء بوشكين ونفي الكثير منهم وقد قتل أيضا بوشكين بعد نشره لهذه الرواية بسنة
عندما يُذكر اسم بوشكين، تتألق في الذهن الفكرة عن شاعر روسي على نطاق الأمة كلها، بوشكين ظاهرة فذة، وربما الظاهرة الوحيدة للنفسية الروسية، وفيه تجلت الطبيعة والروح واللغة والخلق الروسي في تلك الدرجة من النقاء والجمال المصفى على عدسة بصرية بارزة
هكذا يقول الروائي غوغول عن صديقة بوشكين
وهذه الترجمة من قبل الروائي غائب فرمان هي ترجمة عن الروسية مباشرة وقد قرأت من قبل ترجمة سامي الدروبي لرواية أبنة الضابط وفي الحقيقة رغم ترجمة الدروبي عن لغة وسيطة وهي الفرنسية فأنني أجد ترجمة الدروبي أجمل وأكثر سلالة من ترجمة غائب فرمان
في رواية ابنة الآمر يتحدث بوشكين عن قائد ثورة القوزاق إميليان بوغاتشيف الذي ادعى أنه بيتر الثالث قيصر روسيا وهو ادعاء تكرر من قبل في تاريخ روسيا ومن ذلك ادعاء ديميري انه ابن القيصر إيفان الرهيب وقد استولى على العرش خلال 11 شهراً 1605-1606
كانت فترة ثورة بوغاتشيف ما بين عام 1773م وحتى إعدامه عام 1775م وقد صورها بوشكين في هذه الرواية وكأن بوشكين في تلك الأعوام أي أيام القيصر نيكولاي الأول يصور ما عاناه الشاعر من تلك الفترة والتي قمع فيه كل فكر تحرري والتي قتل من أثرها أصدقاء بوشكين ونفي الكثير منهم وقد قتل أيضا بوشكين بعد نشره لهذه الرواية بسنة
عندما يُذكر اسم بوشكين، تتألق في الذهن الفكرة عن شاعر روسي على نطاق الأمة كلها، بوشكين ظاهرة فذة، وربما الظاهرة الوحيدة للنفسية الروسية، وفيه تجلت الطبيعة والروح واللغة والخلق الروسي في تلك الدرجة من النقاء والجمال المصفى على عدسة بصرية بارزة
هكذا يقول الروائي غوغول عن صديقة بوشكين
July 27, 2018
Me había quedado atrás con las reseñas y la actualización de mis lecturas en Goodreads por lo que trataré de ser breve.
Este libro nos regala toda la narrativa de Pushkin, el escritor, poeta, que revolucionó las letras rusas y del cual emanan otros escritores como Gogol, Gorki, Dostoyevski, Tolstoi, etc. Relatos, novelas cortas donde se descubre una Rusia diferente, sintetizada, sin adornos excesivos ; pero con toda su esencia que no deja de enamorar a los lectores. La historia que sobresale por su construcción y por sus personajes es "La hija del capitán" y mi cuento favorito "El disparo". Aquel que quiera conocer el origen de la gran literatura rusa debe conocer a Pushkin y este libro es esencial para comprender su magnífica obra.
Este libro nos regala toda la narrativa de Pushkin, el escritor, poeta, que revolucionó las letras rusas y del cual emanan otros escritores como Gogol, Gorki, Dostoyevski, Tolstoi, etc. Relatos, novelas cortas donde se descubre una Rusia diferente, sintetizada, sin adornos excesivos ; pero con toda su esencia que no deja de enamorar a los lectores. La historia que sobresale por su construcción y por sus personajes es "La hija del capitán" y mi cuento favorito "El disparo". Aquel que quiera conocer el origen de la gran literatura rusa debe conocer a Pushkin y este libro es esencial para comprender su magnífica obra.
January 19, 2021
Puşkin den okuduğum ilk kitap, öyküyü ve akıcılığını sevdim, ana karakterini de öyle. Puşkin okumaya devam edebilirim.
October 17, 2016
من أجمل الأعمال التي قرأتها لبوشكين مترجماً، وأعني بالذات قصص إيفان بيلكين ورواية دوبروفسكي، فهذين العملين أجمل من روايته الأخرى ابنة الضابط.
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قصص إيفان بيلكين:
لا تقدم هذه القصص بوشكين قاصاً مبدعاً بل ناقداً أدبياً فذاً، ناقداً للأدب الواقعي في كل رموزه الفرنسية، ناقداً ما سمّاه آلان روب غرييه بعده بمائة وعشر سنين:" الكثير من الأثاث والتحف والستائر" في الرواية الواقعية، الغارقة في تفاصيل الأشياء من حول شخوص الروايات، ولا شيء سوى تفاصيل لا قيمة لها، غير أن القدرة النقدية التي يتحلى بها بوشكين لا تقف عند حدود ما هو أدبي بل تصبح الرواية ذات فاعلية اجتماعية من خلال النماذج التي يصورها بوشكين في قصصه كقصة صانع التوابيت على سبيل المثال، والتي وإن كانت ساخرةً إلا أن أدريان الذي يشتم من خلاله بوشكين المجتمع وتراتبيته يعود ليشتم ذاته بسبب سوء معاملته الموتى حين دعاهم لحفلته الخاصة، كما ويقدم نموذجاً طهرانياً للحب من خلال قصة ناظر المحطة وقصة الفلاحة - ابنة السيد، الحب الذي فيه ينتقد السلوك الشخصي في تعريضٍ بأخلاق النبلاء الروس، ووضع المرأة في المجتمع، رغم أن القصص تحمل جوانب واسعة من الانتقاد للمجتمع الروسي إلا أنها تغلّف هذا النقد بقالب سخرية عالٍ جداً، وفي حالاتٍ أخرى فإن القارئ ليأسى على مصير بعض الشخصيات وذلك لأن بوشكين الذي يعلي من شان القيم الأخلاقية والشرف الشخصي لا يتهاون مع شخصيةٍ من شخصيات قصصه أو رواياته إلا ويحال إظهار الضحالة والتفاهة والخوف فيها، في محاول للتعريض بالجميع.
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رواية دوبروفسكي من أجمل وأجل ما قرأت لبوشكين، عمل خالد وصراع نفسي وأخلاقي لا يمكن التنبؤ بنهاياته بين أبطال العمل.
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قصص إيفان بيلكين:
لا تقدم هذه القصص بوشكين قاصاً مبدعاً بل ناقداً أدبياً فذاً، ناقداً للأدب الواقعي في كل رموزه الفرنسية، ناقداً ما سمّاه آلان روب غرييه بعده بمائة وعشر سنين:" الكثير من الأثاث والتحف والستائر" في الرواية الواقعية، الغارقة في تفاصيل الأشياء من حول شخوص الروايات، ولا شيء سوى تفاصيل لا قيمة لها، غير أن القدرة النقدية التي يتحلى بها بوشكين لا تقف عند حدود ما هو أدبي بل تصبح الرواية ذات فاعلية اجتماعية من خلال النماذج التي يصورها بوشكين في قصصه كقصة صانع التوابيت على سبيل المثال، والتي وإن كانت ساخرةً إلا أن أدريان الذي يشتم من خلاله بوشكين المجتمع وتراتبيته يعود ليشتم ذاته بسبب سوء معاملته الموتى حين دعاهم لحفلته الخاصة، كما ويقدم نموذجاً طهرانياً للحب من خلال قصة ناظر المحطة وقصة الفلاحة - ابنة السيد، الحب الذي فيه ينتقد السلوك الشخصي في تعريضٍ بأخلاق النبلاء الروس، ووضع المرأة في المجتمع، رغم أن القصص تحمل جوانب واسعة من الانتقاد للمجتمع الروسي إلا أنها تغلّف هذا النقد بقالب سخرية عالٍ جداً، وفي حالاتٍ أخرى فإن القارئ ليأسى على مصير بعض الشخصيات وذلك لأن بوشكين الذي يعلي من شان القيم الأخلاقية والشرف الشخصي لا يتهاون مع شخصيةٍ من شخصيات قصصه أو رواياته إلا ويحال إظهار الضحالة والتفاهة والخوف فيها، في محاول للتعريض بالجميع.
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رواية دوبروفسكي من أجمل وأجل ما قرأت لبوشكين، عمل خالد وصراع نفسي وأخلاقي لا يمكن التنبؤ بنهاياته بين أبطال العمل.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 7, 2022
Wow, such direct and vivid prose. Pushkin does not waste a single word on unessential information. 'The Captain's Daughter' was imsanely thrilling. I decided to skip 'A History Of Pugachev' for now, because it seems to be very very dense. Although probably interesting, I don't really understand why it's part of this collection.
By the way, i definitely understand why people state that Pushkin had a big influence on the writing of later Russian authors such as Tolstoy. Must read if one wants to get into Russian literature!
By the way, i definitely understand why people state that Pushkin had a big influence on the writing of later Russian authors such as Tolstoy. Must read if one wants to get into Russian literature!
July 23, 2022
Pushkin's one of a number of authors whom I acknowledge are a Big Deal in spheres other than my Anglocentric US one and with whom I've had a generally favorable, if limited, relationship through their single most popular work. Such leaves me with a vague desire to read more of their works but little knowledge as to what to pick up next, which was exactly me after reading Eugene Onegin way back in 2015. Now, Pushkin stands out from the crowd due to his singular heritage that earns him a spot in the extremely small circle composed of Alexandre Dumas and whoever else stands tall in the European canon but flies under the racial radar, so I was especially keen on revisiting him in a far more informed capacity. After years of failing to find a single edition variety of his most ethnographically interesting (if not quality literature speaking) short work The Blackamoor of Peter the Great, I figured guaranteeing my acquisition of it was worth the price of more reading material. Now, I'll admit, getting to this during the first couple of months of new work in a new community made the reading endeavor a tad over my head in a few areas, especially when the endnotes turned into multi page writeups in and of themselves. However, for the majority of the time, Pushkin was wonderfully engaging in a half romantic adventurous, half witty commentarious, and surprisingly half women are human beingness, to the point that when I read the story in the appendix that had been popularly attributed but was later revealed to not be by Pushkin himself, I could immediately pick up on why one author had risen and the other had, in a word, sunk. The fact that this work encompasses all (or at least nearly) of Pushkin's official experimentations with prose, finished or otherwise, means that there are some rough spots at the beginning, and the last section was a tad too brownnosing and/or a stark reminder of Pushkin's elevation of status in the Russian tsardom for my tastes. However, I don't often engage with an author's complete prose in a single cumulative reading experience, and Pushkin I can say was one of the more rewarding authors to take on in such a fashion.
Diving into this holistic collection as haphazardly as I did means I ended up reading a number of works that I had seen around here and there but hadn't realized I'd be encountering until I was a few pages past the individual title. The Captain's Daughter, The Queen of Spades, Tales of Belkin, Dubrovsky, The History of Pugachev, along with a number of other, less famous prose offerings, among which one finds "The Blackamoor of Peter the Great" at the very beginning, the original goal of my reading. Considering how Pushkin occupied an intensely interesting liminal space where translations of novels (largely French) were coming into Russia and little existed in the country (leastwise in the writer's opinion) that could match it, following his journey from decrying prose as inadequate to drawing up severable serviceable, sometimes even grand, examples of the art was more engaging than most artist's prose collections end up being. Out of the lot, I'd say "Dubrovsky" stood out the most in my mind in terms of the deft balance between adventure potential of the plot with credible characterization and enculturated setting. I also appreciated the strong vein of spook present in "The Queen of Spades" and a few others (especially when presented in that special breed of deadpan humor that sends me into absolute fits of glee). The section devoted to Pugachev, one of Russia's many bloody historical figures and who rose and fell a half century before Pushkin's research into him, in both fiction and nonfiction forms had its fascinations due to the historical nature of both the figure and his nation's reckoning with his aftermath (Catherine the Great decreed that all information relating to Pugachev and his rebellion be suppressed, and Pushkin had to get official approval from Nicholas I to access the information). By the end, though, I was rather fatigued by having navigated this wide variety and intensely end noted (40-50 pages worth) spread of writings, and I was glad to finish this piece that I hadn't entirely known I had been getting myself into when I started.
After having got through this, all I would need to do is read an edition that encompasses all of Pushkin's non 'Eugene Onegin' poetical works and, barring the most inaccessible of unpublished writings, be finished with the author's entire oeuvre. I'm not in the mood to commit to that, but it is a nice thought to have an author be so compactly encompassed (although the details for why that's the case makes for a rather tragic trade off, to say the least). In any case, the times being what they are, singling out Russian works for especial perusal calms me in a singular fashion, especially when they are older and are grounded in beginnings rather than swamped in a chain of conflicting consequences. I don't have any left in my remaining challenge reads for this year, but soon I'll be changing over to a far more modern reading track for the rest of 2022, and there are a number of Russian works I can pick up for Women in Translation Month, if nothing else. As such, this was another instance of, however chaotic life became on both the local and the international scale of things, I've established this hobby of mine in a strong enough manner to sink into when necessary and come out when needed. Pushkin happened to be the focus in a manner that at first intimidated but further on engaged, and whatever you say about his writing, you can never say that it, or the person himself, was ever boring.
Diving into this holistic collection as haphazardly as I did means I ended up reading a number of works that I had seen around here and there but hadn't realized I'd be encountering until I was a few pages past the individual title. The Captain's Daughter, The Queen of Spades, Tales of Belkin, Dubrovsky, The History of Pugachev, along with a number of other, less famous prose offerings, among which one finds "The Blackamoor of Peter the Great" at the very beginning, the original goal of my reading. Considering how Pushkin occupied an intensely interesting liminal space where translations of novels (largely French) were coming into Russia and little existed in the country (leastwise in the writer's opinion) that could match it, following his journey from decrying prose as inadequate to drawing up severable serviceable, sometimes even grand, examples of the art was more engaging than most artist's prose collections end up being. Out of the lot, I'd say "Dubrovsky" stood out the most in my mind in terms of the deft balance between adventure potential of the plot with credible characterization and enculturated setting. I also appreciated the strong vein of spook present in "The Queen of Spades" and a few others (especially when presented in that special breed of deadpan humor that sends me into absolute fits of glee). The section devoted to Pugachev, one of Russia's many bloody historical figures and who rose and fell a half century before Pushkin's research into him, in both fiction and nonfiction forms had its fascinations due to the historical nature of both the figure and his nation's reckoning with his aftermath (Catherine the Great decreed that all information relating to Pugachev and his rebellion be suppressed, and Pushkin had to get official approval from Nicholas I to access the information). By the end, though, I was rather fatigued by having navigated this wide variety and intensely end noted (40-50 pages worth) spread of writings, and I was glad to finish this piece that I hadn't entirely known I had been getting myself into when I started.
After having got through this, all I would need to do is read an edition that encompasses all of Pushkin's non 'Eugene Onegin' poetical works and, barring the most inaccessible of unpublished writings, be finished with the author's entire oeuvre. I'm not in the mood to commit to that, but it is a nice thought to have an author be so compactly encompassed (although the details for why that's the case makes for a rather tragic trade off, to say the least). In any case, the times being what they are, singling out Russian works for especial perusal calms me in a singular fashion, especially when they are older and are grounded in beginnings rather than swamped in a chain of conflicting consequences. I don't have any left in my remaining challenge reads for this year, but soon I'll be changing over to a far more modern reading track for the rest of 2022, and there are a number of Russian works I can pick up for Women in Translation Month, if nothing else. As such, this was another instance of, however chaotic life became on both the local and the international scale of things, I've established this hobby of mine in a strong enough manner to sink into when necessary and come out when needed. Pushkin happened to be the focus in a manner that at first intimidated but further on engaged, and whatever you say about his writing, you can never say that it, or the person himself, was ever boring.
October 12, 2018
Yazıldığı tarihi düşündüğümüzde kitap bence bir harika ama günümüze göre biraz yavan kaldı. Masalsı bir anlatımı var su gibi akıp gitti.
July 9, 2025
I first read Alexander Pushkin’s The Collected Stories in 1998, which, to be honest, feels like several lifetimes ago.
I remember the copy well — thin-paged, dog-eared by the third reading, its Cyrillic spirit somehow pulsing through the English like a whisper through a snowstorm. I was barely an adult then, but already dangerously curious about brevity, restraint, and the craft of prose that leaves behind more than it reveals. Pushkin — that sly, elegant, glittering genius — gave me all of that and more.
And I’ve returned to the book since then, innumerably. Like one returns to a weathered door in a dream, hoping it might open differently this time.
To read Pushkin is to enter a literary threshold: he doesn’t shout like Dostoevsky, doesn’t plunge into icy waters like Tolstoy, doesn’t drift like Chekhov. Instead, he slices — gently, expertly. Each story is like a stiletto — cold, precise, and somehow musical. Even when you know the plot, you’re caught off guard by its sly tone, the restraint of its feeling, the way horror and humor waltz together just beneath the surface.
Take The Queen of Spades, for instance. You probably remember it well — Hermann, the calculating young officer; the spectral countess; the obsession with the "three, seven, ace." It’s one of those rare stories that feels like myth, fable, and social satire all at once. Every reread for me is a new experience — sometimes I feel the chill of supernatural doom, sometimes I just marvel at Pushkin’s irony and economy. It is, simply put, a masterclass in narrative tension. And that ending? Cold as death. Perfectly Russian.
Then there’s The Shot, which I still consider one of the most psychologically layered short stories ever written. Its power doesn’t come from action — it comes from what isn’t said. The long wait. The unspoken code of masculinity and honor.
The standoff that never quite happens, and yet echoes in the reader’s gut like a gun never fired. Pushkin was writing this in the 1830s — long before modernist anxiety became a literary aesthetic. And yet, it’s all there. You feel it in your bones.
What’s striking about these stories — beyond their taut architecture and memorable characters — is Pushkin’s ability to do so much with so little. He could sketch an entire world in three pages, and a tragic fall in one cool paragraph. A duel, a seduction, a war, a ghost — they pass by like candle flames flickering in a dark hall, brief and unforgettable.
But here’s the thing that’s kept me coming back all these years: Pushkin never tells you what to feel. He stands back, lets the thing happen. The violence, the irony, the comedy, the pathos — they emerge from what people do, not what the narrator editorializes. It’s a style that rewards maturity. The older I get, the more I appreciate his restraint. The more I realize how modern he was in his minimalism.
And maybe that’s why The Collected Stories isn’t just a book I’ve read — it’s one I’ve lived through, again and again. In moments of heartbreak, I’d return to The Snowstorm. In times of cynicism, The Stationmaster reminded me how deeply Pushkin understood loss, even under a veil of fable. And whenever the world felt too noisy, too self-important, I’d re-read The Undertaker, and marvel at how lightly death could be carried on the back of humor.
Of course, not every story is perfect. Some feel like sketches — more interesting in idea than execution. But even there, Pushkin is instructive. He’s showing you how the frame holds the painting. He’s teaching you what to leave out.
Now, so many years later, I still keep the book nearby. It’s not a volume I push on everyone. It’s more like a secret — a collection for those who’ve learned to love silence, brevity, and the way snow falls quietly in Russian fiction.
Pushkin doesn’t demand your awe. He earns it.
One clean sentence at a time.
I remember the copy well — thin-paged, dog-eared by the third reading, its Cyrillic spirit somehow pulsing through the English like a whisper through a snowstorm. I was barely an adult then, but already dangerously curious about brevity, restraint, and the craft of prose that leaves behind more than it reveals. Pushkin — that sly, elegant, glittering genius — gave me all of that and more.
And I’ve returned to the book since then, innumerably. Like one returns to a weathered door in a dream, hoping it might open differently this time.
To read Pushkin is to enter a literary threshold: he doesn’t shout like Dostoevsky, doesn’t plunge into icy waters like Tolstoy, doesn’t drift like Chekhov. Instead, he slices — gently, expertly. Each story is like a stiletto — cold, precise, and somehow musical. Even when you know the plot, you’re caught off guard by its sly tone, the restraint of its feeling, the way horror and humor waltz together just beneath the surface.
Take The Queen of Spades, for instance. You probably remember it well — Hermann, the calculating young officer; the spectral countess; the obsession with the "three, seven, ace." It’s one of those rare stories that feels like myth, fable, and social satire all at once. Every reread for me is a new experience — sometimes I feel the chill of supernatural doom, sometimes I just marvel at Pushkin’s irony and economy. It is, simply put, a masterclass in narrative tension. And that ending? Cold as death. Perfectly Russian.
Then there’s The Shot, which I still consider one of the most psychologically layered short stories ever written. Its power doesn’t come from action — it comes from what isn’t said. The long wait. The unspoken code of masculinity and honor.
The standoff that never quite happens, and yet echoes in the reader’s gut like a gun never fired. Pushkin was writing this in the 1830s — long before modernist anxiety became a literary aesthetic. And yet, it’s all there. You feel it in your bones.
What’s striking about these stories — beyond their taut architecture and memorable characters — is Pushkin’s ability to do so much with so little. He could sketch an entire world in three pages, and a tragic fall in one cool paragraph. A duel, a seduction, a war, a ghost — they pass by like candle flames flickering in a dark hall, brief and unforgettable.
But here’s the thing that’s kept me coming back all these years: Pushkin never tells you what to feel. He stands back, lets the thing happen. The violence, the irony, the comedy, the pathos — they emerge from what people do, not what the narrator editorializes. It’s a style that rewards maturity. The older I get, the more I appreciate his restraint. The more I realize how modern he was in his minimalism.
And maybe that’s why The Collected Stories isn’t just a book I’ve read — it’s one I’ve lived through, again and again. In moments of heartbreak, I’d return to The Snowstorm. In times of cynicism, The Stationmaster reminded me how deeply Pushkin understood loss, even under a veil of fable. And whenever the world felt too noisy, too self-important, I’d re-read The Undertaker, and marvel at how lightly death could be carried on the back of humor.
Of course, not every story is perfect. Some feel like sketches — more interesting in idea than execution. But even there, Pushkin is instructive. He’s showing you how the frame holds the painting. He’s teaching you what to leave out.
Now, so many years later, I still keep the book nearby. It’s not a volume I push on everyone. It’s more like a secret — a collection for those who’ve learned to love silence, brevity, and the way snow falls quietly in Russian fiction.
Pushkin doesn’t demand your awe. He earns it.
One clean sentence at a time.
August 4, 2018
Rus Edebiyatı'nın babası sayılan Alexander Pushkin'in tüm öykü ve romanlarını barındıran Hasan Ali Yücel Dizisinin "Yüzbaşının Kızı - Bütün Öyküler, Bütün Romanlar" toplaması 38 gibi genç bir yaşta hayatını kaybetmiş Pushkin'in ne kadar harika bir yazar olduğunu okuyucuya sunan fazlasıyla değerli bir eser. Dostoyevski, Tolstoy ve Çehov gibi kendinden sonraki tüm Rus yazarlara ilham kaynağı olmuş Pushkin'in eselerini okudukça bu kadar genç yaşta ölmüş olmasına gerçekten üzülüyorsunuz. Bazı eserlerini bitirememiş olmasına rağmen betimlemeleri ve anlatımıyla Rus edebiyatının temel taşı haline gelen Pushkin öykülerinden özellikle "Povesti pokoynogo Ivana Petrovicha Belkina / The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin / Merhum İvan Petroviç Byelkin'in Öyküleri" (1831), "Dubrovsky / Dubrovski" (1841) ve "Suç ve Ceza"daki Raskolnikov karakterine ön ayak olan "Pikovaya Dama / The Queen of Spades / Maça Kızı" (1834) öyküleri bir harika. Fakat bunların içinden en iyisi kuşkusuz toplamaya da adını vermiş gerçek bir başyapıt olan "Kapitanskaya Dochka / The Captain's Daughter / Yüzbaşının Kızı" (1836). Öykülerinde sanat özgürlüğünü savunan, Rus sosyetesini eleştiren ve Rusya tarihi hakkında önemli bilgiler veren Pushkin'in tüm öykülerinin toplandığı bu muhteşem eser her edebiyat severin kitaplığında mutlaka bulunması gereken kitaplardan. Kitabın içindeki hikayeler sırasıyla:
• Arap Petra Velikogo / Peter the Great's Negro / Büyük Petro'nun Arabı (1828)
• A Novel in Letters / Mektuplarla Roman (1829)
• Povesti pokoynogo Ivana Petrovicha Belkina / The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin / Merhum İvan Petroviç Byelkin'in Öyküleri (1831)
• Vystrel / The Shot / Atış
• Metel / The Blizzard / Tipi
• Grobovschik / The Undertaker / Tabutçu
• Stanzionny Smotritel / The Stationmaster / Menzil Bekçisi
• Baryshnya-krestyanka / The Squire's Daughter / Köylü Genç Bayan
• Istoriya sela Goryuhina / The Story of the Village of Goryukhino / Goryuhino Köyü Tarihi (1837)
• Roslavlev (1936)
• Dubrovsky / Dubrovski (1841)
• Pikovaya Dama / The Queen of Spades / Maça Kızı (1834)
• Kirdzhali / Kırcali (1834)
• Yegipetskie Nochi / Egyptian Nights / Mısır Geceleri (1837)
• Kapitanskaya Dochka / The Captain's Daughter / Yüzbaşının Kızı (1836)
• Puteshestvie v Arzrum / A Journey to Arzrum / 1829 Seferi Sırasında Erzurum'a Yolculuk (1836)
15.03.2015
İstanbul, Türkiye
Alp Turgut
http://www.filmdoktoru.com/kitap-labo...
• Arap Petra Velikogo / Peter the Great's Negro / Büyük Petro'nun Arabı (1828)
• A Novel in Letters / Mektuplarla Roman (1829)
• Povesti pokoynogo Ivana Petrovicha Belkina / The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin / Merhum İvan Petroviç Byelkin'in Öyküleri (1831)
• Vystrel / The Shot / Atış
• Metel / The Blizzard / Tipi
• Grobovschik / The Undertaker / Tabutçu
• Stanzionny Smotritel / The Stationmaster / Menzil Bekçisi
• Baryshnya-krestyanka / The Squire's Daughter / Köylü Genç Bayan
• Istoriya sela Goryuhina / The Story of the Village of Goryukhino / Goryuhino Köyü Tarihi (1837)
• Roslavlev (1936)
• Dubrovsky / Dubrovski (1841)
• Pikovaya Dama / The Queen of Spades / Maça Kızı (1834)
• Kirdzhali / Kırcali (1834)
• Yegipetskie Nochi / Egyptian Nights / Mısır Geceleri (1837)
• Kapitanskaya Dochka / The Captain's Daughter / Yüzbaşının Kızı (1836)
• Puteshestvie v Arzrum / A Journey to Arzrum / 1829 Seferi Sırasında Erzurum'a Yolculuk (1836)
15.03.2015
İstanbul, Türkiye
Alp Turgut
http://www.filmdoktoru.com/kitap-labo...
November 13, 2017
After reading the 5 star fiction novel "The Captain's Daughter", I read this excellent fable illustrated book by Alexander Pushkin. It's been decades since last I've read fables. First, the painting illustration by Palekh for these fables are excellent and a work of art by itself. A reader can understand the stories just by admiring attentively the illustrations. The fables are epic, poetic, and romantic worth to be read by both adults and children.
The first fable is by far the best fable and most important one as it takes half of the book and is divided in 6 parts, which I've never read before.
I also read the fable titled "The dead princess and the 7 knights" dated 1833, which is very familiar to all of us because it is very similar to the fable of "Snow white and the 7 dwarfs" by Grimm brothers 1812 (according to wikipedia). Therefore, somebody copied the others and/or both got the inspiration from the same ancient oral fable of the region. I'm no literature historian, thus, I don't know the real answer to who is the original author of this story. If you know, please share with us.
The first fable is by far the best fable and most important one as it takes half of the book and is divided in 6 parts, which I've never read before.
I also read the fable titled "The dead princess and the 7 knights" dated 1833, which is very familiar to all of us because it is very similar to the fable of "Snow white and the 7 dwarfs" by Grimm brothers 1812 (according to wikipedia). Therefore, somebody copied the others and/or both got the inspiration from the same ancient oral fable of the region. I'm no literature historian, thus, I don't know the real answer to who is the original author of this story. If you know, please share with us.
October 16, 2014
Being the first Russian writer I've ever read, I have nothing to compare Pushkin to. But all the amazing things I've heard about him, ring true after reading these tails-especially his poetry. I am mostly more into Romanticism than Realism but, Pushkin's writing style is beautiful even in an English translation and his frequent delving into deep pathos, plot- turns and shocking climaxes makes his work shine with luster amidst the snowy settings. There's a haunting and romantic gloom that sets the tone for his story's and even though a lot of them were never completed, they still leave a satisfying ending. Story's and novels always go on after the book has been closed and we're always left musing the possibilities from our own imaginings. I'll be sure to remember these tales for a while to come.
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September 21, 2020Rus edebiyatında nazım ve nesrin tam ayrılmadığı dönemlere yeni bir soluk getirmiş Puşkin. 1828’de yazmaya başladığı ancak bitirmediği roman denemesi Büyük Petro’nun Arabı şiir ve düz yazı arasında gidip geliyor. Puşkin’in tam anlamıyla uygun bir biçimde olmasa da bu romanını anne tarafından büyük büyükbabası Abram Petrovich Gannibal’ın hayat hikayesine dayandırdığı biliniyor. Vaftiz babası Büyük Petro tarafından yetiştirilen Gannibal, Voltaire tarafından Aydınlanma’nın karanlık yıldızı olarak adlandırılmış. Zeki olduğu birçok kişi tarafından doğrulanmış, ancak ahlakı konusunda Puşkin’in yazdıklarının aksine bir anlaşmaya varılamamış. Büyük Petro’nun Arabı’nı çevirirken 50 sayfalık bir not ekleyen Nabokov, Gannibal için “iyi bir askeri mühendis, insanlığı bakımından bir hiç” demiş. Puşkin bu tartışmalı atasının hikayesini 40 sayfada bırakmış.
Mektuplarla Roman, adıyla birçok şeyi açıklığa kavuşturuyor. Liza ve Saşa’nın mektuplaşmalarıyla başlayıp, Vladimir ve dostunun mektuplaşmalarıyla son buluyor. Karakterlerin mektupla anlatıcılık görevini üstlenmesi kurgusu ve Balzac’in Eugénie Grandet’si Dostoyevski’yi oldukça etkilemiş olacak ki işinden yeni istifa etmiş bu adam, 9 ay içerisinde ilk romanı İnsancıklar’ı yazmış.
İnsancıklar demişken; Fedora’nın Varvara’ya getirdiği, sevgili Varenka’sından da Makar Devuşkin’e ödünç gelen Byelkin Öyküleri (Merhum İvan Petroviç Byelkin’in Öyküleri), Puşkin’in Rus halkını gerçekçi bir çizgide anlattığı beş öyküden oluşuyor: Atış, Tipi, Tabutçu, Menzil Bekçisi ve Köylü Genç Bayan. Bu öykülerden Tabutçu (1830), Dickens’ın A Christmas Carol’ına (1843) benzerliğiyle; Menzil Bekçisi de tasvirleriyle dikkatimi çekmişti. İnsancıklar’ın Makar Devuşkin’iyse “kendi gönlünde ne varsa en ince ayrıntılarıyla yazdığı” için sevmiş bu hikâyeyi:
“Menzil Bekçisi’ni de okudum; size şunu söyleyeyim canım, insan yaşayıp gidiyor, ama hemen yanında böyle bir kitabın varlığını, bütün hayatının içine ilmek ilmek işlendiği bir kitabın varlığını bilmiyor.”
“Gerçekten ben bile yazabilirdim bunu; neden yazmamışım? Sonuçta aynı hissediyorum, kesinlikle kitapta yazdığı gibi hissediyorum, tam olarak aynı durumdayım üstelik, misal olarak söylüyorum, hikayedeki zavallı Samson Vyrin gibiyim. Kim bilir kaç Samson Vyrin dolaşıyor aramızda, yaralı yüreğiyle!” (Çev. Sabri Gürses, Can Klasik 2019 baskısı)
Goryuhino Köyü Tarihi’nde bir tarih yazıcılığı parodisi oluşturuyor Puşkin. Romantik tarih anlayışını yazdığı bu kısa öyküyle eleştiriyor.
Roslavlev’de bir kadının ağzından başka bir kadını, Prenses Polina’yı anlatıyor. Polina karakteri üzerinden sosyetenin iki yüzlülüğünü ele alıyor. Behramoğlu önsözünde Roslavlev’in Tolstoy’un Savaş ve Barış’ına ilham olmuş olabileceğinden bahsediyor.
Puşkin zengin ve asil bir ailenin çocuğu olarak dünyaya gelmesiyle, kendini bu eleştirdiği sosyetenin içinde bulmuştu. Tabii bu sayede Fransızca eğitim aldı ve dönemin önemli şair ve yazarlarını okudu. Köylü dadısı Arina’nın anlattığı hikayeler ise sevgi ve barışa yatkın gördüğü, ahlaklı ve şerefli bulduğu Rus halkına ilk bağıydı. İlk şiirlerinde bile Rus edebiyatında öncülerinden olacağı gerçekçilik akımının izlerinin görülebildiği söylenir (Ben henüz okumadım, bilmiyorum). Puşkin her ne kadar gerçekçi bir zemin yaratsa da romantik karakterler kullandığı romanlar da yazdı (kimilerine göre bunlar roman değil, novella). Bitirilmemiş olduğu iddia edilen ve ölümünden sonra yayınlanan Dubrovski bunlardan biri. Biri zengin biri fakir iki derebeyi olan Troyekurov ve Dubrovski’nin ilişkisiyle başlayan bu roman, Puşkin’in bir halk isyanını ele aldığı ilk eseri. Paranın satın alabildiği bürokrasi sistemi sonucunda neler olabileceğini inceliyor. Dubrovski’nin bunun dışında ele alabileceğimiz pek çok yönü var, ama hiç keyif kaçırmadan oldukça ilgimi çeken Maça Kızı’na geçiyorum.
Maça Kızı’nda sıra dışı bir karakteri ele alıyor Puşkin: Hermann. Saf kötü, Dostoyevski’nin deyişiyle iblis bir ruhu var bu Hermann’ın. Tabutçu hikayesiyle bazı ögeleri paylaşıyor olsa da, Rus yazın dünyasını daha çok etkilemiş, Raskalnikov ve Ştolts karakterlerinin betonunu dökmüş.
Kırcali ve Mısır Geceleri oldukça kısa iki hikâye. Özellikle Kırcali diğer eserlerin yanında oldukça sönük kalmış. Mısır Geceleri, (anlatıcıya göre) paragöz bir emprovizatörle yolları kesişen, şair unvanından hiç hoşlanmayan bir şair olan Çarski’nin yarı manzum hikayesi.
Geldik Puşkin’in belki de en ünlü eserine: Yüzbaşının Kızı. “Kahramanların gerçek yaşamdan kopuk, savaştan başka bir şey düşünmeyen yapay kişiler olarak değil de, kendilerine özgü yaşamları ve aile yaşantılarıyla birlikte verilmiş olmaları” (Behramoğlu) bu romanın en güzel yanlarından. Pugaçev isyanı sırasında geçen (evet yine düzmece) Yüzbaşının Kızı, bu isyanı ve Marya’yla Pyotr arasındaki aşkı merkeze alıyor. Bu roman hakkında sevdiğim diğer bir şey ise bu aşkın gökten düşercesine bir anda ortaya çıkmaması. Savaşta sırf “kötü” tarafın da iyi yürekli olabileceğinin, savaşanların iyiliklerinden ya da kötülüklerinden değil üslerine bağlılıklarından savaştıkları anlatısı, Puşkin’i kısmen barış yanlısı yapıyor diyebilir miyiz?
Bu kitaptaki son eser, 1829 Seferi Sırasında Erzurum’a Yolculuk. Rus işgali altında gittiği Erzurum’da görmek istediği “Rusya dışı” hissiyatını bulamamış Puşkin. Aldığı gezi notlarını, sen savaş sırasında epik bir şeyler yazarsın diye beklemiştik diyenlere inat yayımlamamış ilk başta. Savaştan dönüp Yevgeni Onegin’i yayımlaması da tepki çekmiş. Sonra bu eleştiriler üzerine yayımlamadığını üstüne basa basa yazdığı bir önsözle basılmış bu yolculuk notları. Ölen bir Türk askerinin betimlemesiyle, kısmi hümanist tarafını azıcık da olsa sızdırmış. Erzurum’a Yolculuk’taki doğa betimlemelerini ve tablolarla benzeştirmelerini çok beğendim. Zihnimde hala canlı görüntülerle kapağı kapattım.
Mektuplarla Roman, adıyla birçok şeyi açıklığa kavuşturuyor. Liza ve Saşa’nın mektuplaşmalarıyla başlayıp, Vladimir ve dostunun mektuplaşmalarıyla son buluyor. Karakterlerin mektupla anlatıcılık görevini üstlenmesi kurgusu ve Balzac’in Eugénie Grandet’si Dostoyevski’yi oldukça etkilemiş olacak ki işinden yeni istifa etmiş bu adam, 9 ay içerisinde ilk romanı İnsancıklar’ı yazmış.
İnsancıklar demişken; Fedora’nın Varvara’ya getirdiği, sevgili Varenka’sından da Makar Devuşkin’e ödünç gelen Byelkin Öyküleri (Merhum İvan Petroviç Byelkin’in Öyküleri), Puşkin’in Rus halkını gerçekçi bir çizgide anlattığı beş öyküden oluşuyor: Atış, Tipi, Tabutçu, Menzil Bekçisi ve Köylü Genç Bayan. Bu öykülerden Tabutçu (1830), Dickens’ın A Christmas Carol’ına (1843) benzerliğiyle; Menzil Bekçisi de tasvirleriyle dikkatimi çekmişti. İnsancıklar’ın Makar Devuşkin’iyse “kendi gönlünde ne varsa en ince ayrıntılarıyla yazdığı” için sevmiş bu hikâyeyi:
“Menzil Bekçisi’ni de okudum; size şunu söyleyeyim canım, insan yaşayıp gidiyor, ama hemen yanında böyle bir kitabın varlığını, bütün hayatının içine ilmek ilmek işlendiği bir kitabın varlığını bilmiyor.”
“Gerçekten ben bile yazabilirdim bunu; neden yazmamışım? Sonuçta aynı hissediyorum, kesinlikle kitapta yazdığı gibi hissediyorum, tam olarak aynı durumdayım üstelik, misal olarak söylüyorum, hikayedeki zavallı Samson Vyrin gibiyim. Kim bilir kaç Samson Vyrin dolaşıyor aramızda, yaralı yüreğiyle!” (Çev. Sabri Gürses, Can Klasik 2019 baskısı)
Goryuhino Köyü Tarihi’nde bir tarih yazıcılığı parodisi oluşturuyor Puşkin. Romantik tarih anlayışını yazdığı bu kısa öyküyle eleştiriyor.
Roslavlev’de bir kadının ağzından başka bir kadını, Prenses Polina’yı anlatıyor. Polina karakteri üzerinden sosyetenin iki yüzlülüğünü ele alıyor. Behramoğlu önsözünde Roslavlev’in Tolstoy’un Savaş ve Barış’ına ilham olmuş olabileceğinden bahsediyor.
Puşkin zengin ve asil bir ailenin çocuğu olarak dünyaya gelmesiyle, kendini bu eleştirdiği sosyetenin içinde bulmuştu. Tabii bu sayede Fransızca eğitim aldı ve dönemin önemli şair ve yazarlarını okudu. Köylü dadısı Arina’nın anlattığı hikayeler ise sevgi ve barışa yatkın gördüğü, ahlaklı ve şerefli bulduğu Rus halkına ilk bağıydı. İlk şiirlerinde bile Rus edebiyatında öncülerinden olacağı gerçekçilik akımının izlerinin görülebildiği söylenir (Ben henüz okumadım, bilmiyorum). Puşkin her ne kadar gerçekçi bir zemin yaratsa da romantik karakterler kullandığı romanlar da yazdı (kimilerine göre bunlar roman değil, novella). Bitirilmemiş olduğu iddia edilen ve ölümünden sonra yayınlanan Dubrovski bunlardan biri. Biri zengin biri fakir iki derebeyi olan Troyekurov ve Dubrovski’nin ilişkisiyle başlayan bu roman, Puşkin’in bir halk isyanını ele aldığı ilk eseri. Paranın satın alabildiği bürokrasi sistemi sonucunda neler olabileceğini inceliyor. Dubrovski’nin bunun dışında ele alabileceğimiz pek çok yönü var, ama hiç keyif kaçırmadan oldukça ilgimi çeken Maça Kızı’na geçiyorum.
Maça Kızı’nda sıra dışı bir karakteri ele alıyor Puşkin: Hermann. Saf kötü, Dostoyevski’nin deyişiyle iblis bir ruhu var bu Hermann’ın. Tabutçu hikayesiyle bazı ögeleri paylaşıyor olsa da, Rus yazın dünyasını daha çok etkilemiş, Raskalnikov ve Ştolts karakterlerinin betonunu dökmüş.
Kırcali ve Mısır Geceleri oldukça kısa iki hikâye. Özellikle Kırcali diğer eserlerin yanında oldukça sönük kalmış. Mısır Geceleri, (anlatıcıya göre) paragöz bir emprovizatörle yolları kesişen, şair unvanından hiç hoşlanmayan bir şair olan Çarski’nin yarı manzum hikayesi.
Geldik Puşkin’in belki de en ünlü eserine: Yüzbaşının Kızı. “Kahramanların gerçek yaşamdan kopuk, savaştan başka bir şey düşünmeyen yapay kişiler olarak değil de, kendilerine özgü yaşamları ve aile yaşantılarıyla birlikte verilmiş olmaları” (Behramoğlu) bu romanın en güzel yanlarından. Pugaçev isyanı sırasında geçen (evet yine düzmece) Yüzbaşının Kızı, bu isyanı ve Marya’yla Pyotr arasındaki aşkı merkeze alıyor. Bu roman hakkında sevdiğim diğer bir şey ise bu aşkın gökten düşercesine bir anda ortaya çıkmaması. Savaşta sırf “kötü” tarafın da iyi yürekli olabileceğinin, savaşanların iyiliklerinden ya da kötülüklerinden değil üslerine bağlılıklarından savaştıkları anlatısı, Puşkin’i kısmen barış yanlısı yapıyor diyebilir miyiz?
Bu kitaptaki son eser, 1829 Seferi Sırasında Erzurum’a Yolculuk. Rus işgali altında gittiği Erzurum’da görmek istediği “Rusya dışı” hissiyatını bulamamış Puşkin. Aldığı gezi notlarını, sen savaş sırasında epik bir şeyler yazarsın diye beklemiştik diyenlere inat yayımlamamış ilk başta. Savaştan dönüp Yevgeni Onegin’i yayımlaması da tepki çekmiş. Sonra bu eleştiriler üzerine yayımlamadığını üstüne basa basa yazdığı bir önsözle basılmış bu yolculuk notları. Ölen bir Türk askerinin betimlemesiyle, kısmi hümanist tarafını azıcık da olsa sızdırmış. Erzurum’a Yolculuk’taki doğa betimlemelerini ve tablolarla benzeştirmelerini çok beğendim. Zihnimde hala canlı görüntülerle kapağı kapattım.
September 24, 2019
Dünya edebiyatında bir çok esere ilham veren karakterleri hikayelerinde yaratan Puşkin’in tüm öykü ve romanları tek ciltte toplanmış. Bazıları, daha kafamda olayları kahramanları oturtamadan bitiverdi. Özellikle Dubrovski son derece güzel bir kurgu, biraz Monte Kristo Kontu tadı bile veriyor. Yüzbaşının Kızı ve tamamlanamamış olmasına rağmen Büyük Petro’nun Arabı da oldukça sağlam hikayeler. Puşkin boşuna modern Rus edebiyatının kurucusu olarak bilinmiyor.
December 4, 2007
From these fine paper leafs strung with needle and thread in a red binding sprung the brightest truths, and fiery words that ever a pen has splashed on the dawn of the warmest day in literary history.
February 10, 2018
Este libro contiene toda la prosa narrativa de Pushkin. No contiene sus obras teatrales (como Boris Godunov) ni sus poemas (como Eugene Onegin).
Ya dicho eso, al leer este libro se está ante la presencia de un genio. Algo que no se puede apreciar bien con una traducción es cómo Pushkin básicamente construyó un lenguaje de la nada. El ruso era una lengua hablada por la población más pobre de forma precaria, lo que le daba una mala reputación como lengua. La aristocracia hablaba francés y los campesinos eran analfabetos, de modo que los únicos que realmente sabían leer y escribir bien el cirílico ruso eran los monjes. Pushkin tomó este lenguaje y fue agregándole palabras nuevas en base a otras ya existentes en su prosa, sus versos y sus obras a tal punto que lo terminó convirtiendo en un lenguaje con una nueva reputación y, si bien la nobleza aún seguía hablando francés, empezaron a ver con mejores ojos a la lengua anteriormente desprestigiada.
Lo que caracteriza a la narrativa de Pushkin es que va al punto. Nunca se larga en una descripción detallada de nada, sólo da los puntos esenciales y que el lector haga el resto. Incluso cuando en verdad se da a describir algo, usa las palabras en forma concisa y simple. También tiene un tono muy juguetón a la hora de narrar, muy consciente de cuando está narrando cosas extrañas o divertidas.
Sólo por mencionar algunos de los textos incluidos, se puede mencionar que sus Cuentos de Iván Petróvich Belkin usa un narrador ficticio para contar pequeñas historias de la "vida cotidiana" que no están relacionadas entre sí, La dama de pique incluye potenciales eventos sobrenaturales (o tal vez no...), La hija del capitán narra una trama en medio de un evento histórico de forma mucho más creíble que otros libros de ficción histórica y Viaje a Arzrum durante la campaña de 1829 es una narrativa de viaje, acompañando al ejército hacia el Cáucaso durante la Guerra Ruso-Turca, actuando de hecho de forma ilegal (ya que cruzó la frontera a territorio otomano aún cuando el zar se lo tenía prohibido). Sus tramas son bien diversas, pero tienen en común el concepto de un hombre común y corriente al que súbitamente se le presenta una situación inusual ante el cual no sabe bien cómo debe actuar.
Ya dicho eso, al leer este libro se está ante la presencia de un genio. Algo que no se puede apreciar bien con una traducción es cómo Pushkin básicamente construyó un lenguaje de la nada. El ruso era una lengua hablada por la población más pobre de forma precaria, lo que le daba una mala reputación como lengua. La aristocracia hablaba francés y los campesinos eran analfabetos, de modo que los únicos que realmente sabían leer y escribir bien el cirílico ruso eran los monjes. Pushkin tomó este lenguaje y fue agregándole palabras nuevas en base a otras ya existentes en su prosa, sus versos y sus obras a tal punto que lo terminó convirtiendo en un lenguaje con una nueva reputación y, si bien la nobleza aún seguía hablando francés, empezaron a ver con mejores ojos a la lengua anteriormente desprestigiada.
Lo que caracteriza a la narrativa de Pushkin es que va al punto. Nunca se larga en una descripción detallada de nada, sólo da los puntos esenciales y que el lector haga el resto. Incluso cuando en verdad se da a describir algo, usa las palabras en forma concisa y simple. También tiene un tono muy juguetón a la hora de narrar, muy consciente de cuando está narrando cosas extrañas o divertidas.
Sólo por mencionar algunos de los textos incluidos, se puede mencionar que sus Cuentos de Iván Petróvich Belkin usa un narrador ficticio para contar pequeñas historias de la "vida cotidiana" que no están relacionadas entre sí, La dama de pique incluye potenciales eventos sobrenaturales (o tal vez no...), La hija del capitán narra una trama en medio de un evento histórico de forma mucho más creíble que otros libros de ficción histórica y Viaje a Arzrum durante la campaña de 1829 es una narrativa de viaje, acompañando al ejército hacia el Cáucaso durante la Guerra Ruso-Turca, actuando de hecho de forma ilegal (ya que cruzó la frontera a territorio otomano aún cuando el zar se lo tenía prohibido). Sus tramas son bien diversas, pero tienen en común el concepto de un hombre común y corriente al que súbitamente se le presenta una situación inusual ante el cual no sabe bien cómo debe actuar.
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