The Queen of Spades and Other Stories (Penguin Classics)

This Dover Thrift edition - The Queen of Spades and Other Stories - offers an enjoyable introduction to Alexander Pushkin, an early nineteenth century Russian poet and writer. This collection includes Pushkin's popular The Queen of Spades and his five short stories published under the title The Tales of the Late P. Belkin. The translation was by T. Keane, originally published in 1894 by G. Bell & Sons, London. The Queen of Spades is a haunting story of one man's obsession with gambling. Hermann, German by birth but a young officer in the Russian military, is notable among his fellow officers in St. Petersburg for his restraint: "He has never had a card in his hand in his life; he never in his life had a wager, and yet he sits here till five o'clock in the morning watching our play". Hermann becomes intrigued with a tale of a closely held secret, one that reveals a bidding sequence that always wins. Unlike the title story, the other five stories have settings in rural Russia at great distance from cosmopolitan Moscow and St. Petersburg. Apparently Pushkin originally published these stories under a pseudonym. P. Belkin, supposedly a somewhat mysterious individual that liked to collect tales. An Amateur Peasant Girl: The wealthy landowner Ivan Petrovitch Berestoff, feuds with his nearest neighbor, Gregory Ivanovitch Mouromsky. Unknown to either, Mouromsky's daughter, Lizaveta Gregorievna, while dressed as a peasant girl, has attracted the attention of Berestoff's son, leading to considerable confusion. The Shot: In a formal Russian duel one duelist, chosen by chance, fires first from a fixed distance at the other. If the first duelist misses his opponent (or does not critically wound him), the second duelist now fires. In this tale the second duelist, a superb marksman, holds his fire, but with the understanding that at some future time he will return and kill his opponent. The Snowstorm: This highly contrived story is singularly Russian. Love, chance, and honor ultimately mitigate the unexpected consequences of a senseless prank by a young military officer. The Postmaster: This story is perhaps less contrived, and yet it still relies heavily on coincidences. The postmaster is not a postman, but is one that manages a way station for resting horses and travelers. The Coffin Maker: In what appears to be a dream, an undertaker is harassed by his previous clients, now all dead and buried, who return to his home for festivities. The ending is somewhat ambiguous.

From what I can learn this present volume ISBN 0192839543 from 1999 replaces ISBN 0192832131 from 1997.That volume is almost identical but is just 273 pages versus the present. I am not clear on all the changes but the books contains similar material and identical covers. Roughly, here is the contents: Introduction Bibliography Life of Pushkin Milestones of the Pugachev Uprising The Puskin Stories: Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin - The Shot, 12 pages - The Snowstorm, 12 pages - The Undertaker, 7 pages - The Stationmaster, 12 pages - The Lady Peasant, 18 pages The Queen of Spades, 29 pages The Captain's Daughter: a novella, 108 pages Peter The Great's Blackamoor, 35 pages, an unfinshed work. Then summary Notes. Comments: The book contains a very long introduction to the works and has many notes at the end. In reading just the present book, you will receive a good idea of the general works of Pushkin - abbreviated - and a lot of detail on the present works. The stories are excellent, well written, and one is instantly converted to being a Pushkin fan. I am not a literary expert but I have read works by Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, etc, and clearly one sees the connection in style and subject matter. It is easy to see how Tolstoy drew inspiration from these works. The stories are grounded mostly in realism and 18th and 19th century historical events although there are romantic touches and Queen of Spades has elements of the supernatural. Overall, these are excellent stories that bring a smile to one's face.

If someone comes to me and asks what I think true Russian spirit is, I would say, "duel" is. Russian duel is very recklessand even absurd because the percentage of survival is only 50%. Each load their gun and go to the opposite end and they shoot from distance in turn until either one is shot. In the book, German,the main character, is a half-bood of Russian and Germany. Due to his birth,mixed with German blood, he is usually very realistic and doesn't believe in magic or tricks. In numerous gatherings German never participates in the card games but always watches people play. When he hears that an old woman knows how to win the game he sniffs and ignores it. But ironically it is he who arrives at the gate of her house. However, it is not his intention but he himself is dragged by some magical power. As quite an ordinary and poor man, German believes in diligence and reason, but not fantasy or fate. That's why he never participates in any games. Their game is like a duel. The players say some number and they take cards until either of them get to reach the number and he wins. Then a new game starts as if they already forgot about the former game. Usually the loser loses a huge sum of money, which means that the winner becomes enormous rich. In other words, the game actually changes their lives in totally different ways. Everyone who has read this book would never forget the last scene of the Queen of Spades. Perhaps she really does say so, or he only dreams or imagins. No one knows except Pushkin. Bytheway, he is not telling something moral to persuade or teach us. All he shows is something like Matrix, I guess. Maybe the whole story is just a trick or magic or some parts are. The judgement is up to the reader. We all are German in a way.

This book is a nice (don't forget cheap) adaptation and translation of Russia's most celebrated author, A.S.Pushkin. I imagine that other editions (hardcover and so on) are extremely expensive, so this book is a good introduction into the works of a classic and exceptionally talented writer. I have read much of Pushkin in Russian language, so I can honestly say that this book is true to the originals and it is worth spending your $3 on. NOTE: To people, who know that Pushkin is considered greatest RUSSIAN (emphasis on "russian") writer and expect to find real Russia in his writings: you won't find much of it here, for the fact that Pushkin wrote mainly about his upper-class contemporaries, who (pretty much like Pushkin himself) lost touch with real Russia, hence the revolution awhile later... If you want to feel some of Pushkin's russian spirit, you should try reading his poetry instead of the short stories.

Many critics have commented on the short, somewhat tragic life of Alexander Pushkin. He was an outstanding poet as well as a short story writer later on. This Dover edition of one of his most famous short story, along with several others, is an economical and excellent way to get yourself acquainted with one of the earlier Russian masters of literature. The short stories are memorable for their simplicity in style and tone, yet poignant and emotional.