Great Soviet Short Stories

by F.D. Reeve

35 stories by 29 authors

Genres: Russian Literature, Russia

464 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1923

About the author

Franklin D'Olier "F.D." Reeve was an American academic, writer, poet, Russian translator, and editor. He was also the father of actor Christopher Reeve. He started his academic career teaching Russian language and literature at Columbia University before moving to Wesleyan University as chairman of the Russian Department.

Reeve was an officer of the Poetry Society of America, the founding editor of "Poetry Review," the secretary of Poets House in its formative years, and was associated with the New England Poetry Club and the New York Quarterly. He published over two dozen books of poetry, fiction, criticism, and translation.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent (if a bit spotty) collection! The few short stories at the end seemed like last minute additions - not bad, but could have been left off.

[Daisy]

F.D. Reeve was the husband of my college Russian professor Helen Reeve.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

theres a lot more stories in here than the pre-revolution counterpart, mostly short in length. one per author except for Зощенко who gets several really short ones. quality varies a bit and the order of the stories is alphabetical by author so flow isn't exactly the greatest. its not surprising that the vast majority of stories here are either pre or post stalin, and as usual with the russians, the bleak ones are the best, although there is a fair amount of biting satirical humor too. the weakest ones are just complaints about their wives (theres about four of these for some reason), but even the weaker ones are over quickly. the Паустовский entry is a gorgeous ode to ecofuturist civil engineering and architecture that is delightfully soviet in character

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reading - especially stories by Bedny!

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book in a fantastic used book store in the town I live in in western Maryland. If you happen to find it too, note that ”Our Father Who Art In Heaven” by Valentin Katayev is worth the reading of this anthology. My god, that story is beautiful and heartbreaking.

[Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second time I am going through this book of stories. I am gratified at their high quality. This includes not just the early Soviet stories of Babel, for example, but also some lesser known and perhaps more official authors like Boris Bedny. I suppose that the fact that one's work is politically vetted and one's scope is politically domesticated does not mean necessarily that one's talents are less.

So far I've read:

1. The Childhood of Luvers by Pasternak: This story hails from 1917 and, therefore, doesn't seem like a real "Soviet story" at all. It takes place in the old Russia. It's a rather amazing piece: It provides a child's view of the world in adult language.

2. Grackles by Babayevsky (1957): A vignette of country life that focuses on the human story and not on P.C. I suppose one writes in all countries with a focus on the human and not necessarily on the political milieu. So, I learned something.

3. The King and A Letter by Babel (early 20's): The King is a charming and clever story about a wedding and the gangsters who attend it. The awful bride turns out to be totally self centered on sex in the midst of the other turmoil and chaos. A Letter is a sad story of war and the hatreds between sons and fathers. It is told entirely without commentary in the context of a soldier's letter to his mother. The use of the letter format prevents commentary and one must discover the main players by putting together their names and patronymics.

4. Mosquitoes by Bedny (1951): And utterly charming love story at a lumber town in the far north. Get this: "She was wearing his favorite cherry-colored dress, and all the things in [his] room --- the table, the cupboard, even the sink --- looked somehow different now, as if they realized that the lady of the house had arrived. All the things had clearly deserted to Anna's side and had acquired a new, unexpected meaning as if they had been made exclusively to surround Anna, to set off her cherry-colored dress, to conceal her dirt-stained shoes. She had walked!"

I will return to this "review" when I finish the book.

[Karl]

Picked this up in the Clausen House Thrift store on Telegraph Ave,