Satan returns to earth and takes the form of a very wealthy American businessman who tours round Europe having fun and good time. Armed with good intentions, on this journey he encounters various people who are ready and evil enough to embarrass the Devil himself. He falls in love to a beautiful young woman which leaves him exposed for all the people who dare to take advantage of Satan himself.
This play was first produced by Stanislavsky in Moscow in 1909. It treats one 'David', who inherits a fortune and sets out to relieve the suffering of the world. Vast crowds gather round him, their sense of their own hardship intensified. When his resources are exhausted and he can do no more for them, they turn against him, and finally stone him to death. He is manipulated throughout by 'Anathema', a Satanic figure who wishes to have something to strengthen his case against God the Creator. But when he challenges an angel at the heavenly gates, the angel replies that good and evil on earth cannot be measured: the goodness that David represents has a value that is incomparable and transcendent. The play excited lively debate in the Russian Orthodox Church at the time, between those who condemned it as an attack on Christianity and those who praised it as a vindication of Christianity. Further performances were finally banned after intervention by Tsar Nicholas II, whose piety was equal to his stupidity. Apart from its theology, the play has the great merit of presenting two chief characters, David and Anathema, who are subtle and arresting figures that, in the first production, gave great actors real scope.
Haunting, disquieting, shocking, `The Abyss' - one of the most powerful short stories ever written - is accompanied in this volume by fifteen other stories. Together, they provide a clear account of the lasting legacy of Russia's foremost man of letters of the early twentieth century. As the young Zinaida and her sweetheart, the student Nemovetsky, stroll through the idyllic Russian countryside, their memories, dreams and thoughts about life and the future mingle in the evening breeze. But when night falls, they hasten to retrace their steps back to town through a small wood, where they are accosted by three threatening drunkards, who knock Nemovetsky unconscious and start to chase the girl through the underwood. When the young student comes round, he is confronted with the horror of what has just happened. Haunting, disquieting, shocking, `The Abyss' - one of the most powerful short stories ever written - is accompanied in this volume by fifteen other stories, never translated into English before by Andreyev, including `Silence', `The Thief' and `Lazarus, some of them never translated before into English. Together, they provide a clear account of the lasting legacy of Russia's foremost man of letters of the early twentieth century.
A mysterious gentleman arrives at Papa Briquet’s circus, and applies to be a clown; unable to do a backflip, and with the circus unwilling to accept the idea of political discourse among the clowns, they settle together on the role of He Who Gets Slapped. Unfortunately for the troupe, He has motives for joining that aren’t immediately apparent; motives that start to threaten the integrity of the circus. He Who Gets Slapped was first presented in Moscow in 1915 to enthusiastic audiences, although critics at the time were confused about Leonid Andreyev’s subtexts. It is his most famous play, at least partially due to the later release in 1924 of a film adaptation by the newly-formed MGM Studios.
A gripping collection of short stories and poems that delve into the depths of human emotion and experience. From tales of love and loss to darker explorations of revenge and redemption, this volume showcases the raw power of Andreief's writing and his unique ability to capture the essence of the human spirit. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Leonid Andreyev’s The Red Laugh is an experimental depiction of war and its psychological effects, both on those who participate in the fighting and on those who hear of its atrocities from afar. Translated into English for the first time since 1905, it is here paired with a fresh translation of Andreyev’s earlier story “The Abyss,” which caused scandal upon its first publication. This edition provides an illuminating introduction by translator Kirsten Lodge as well as a range of background materials that help set the novel in its historical, literary, and artistic contexts.
Embark on a literary journey through the heart of Russia with Best Russian Short Stories curated by Thomas Seltzer. From the depths of Dostoevsky to the whimsy of Chekhov, this collection captures the essence of Russian literature, offering a captivating glimpse into the soul of a nation through its storytelling prowess. This collection contains: THE QUEEN OF SPADES Aleksandr Pushkin THE CLOAK Nikolai Gogol THE DISTRICT DOCTOR Ivan Turgenev THE CHRISTMAS TREE AND THE WEDDING Fyodor Dostoyevsky GOD SEES THE TRUTH, BUT WAITS Leo Tolstoy HOW A MUZHIK FED TWO OFFICIALS M.Y. Saltykov THE SHADES, A PHANTASY Vladimir Korolenko THE SIGNAL Vsevolod Garshin THE DARLING Anton Chekhov THE BET Anton Chekhov VANKA Anton Chekhov HIDE AND SEEK Fyodor Sologub DETHRONED L.N. Potapenko THE SERVANT S.T. Semyonov ONE AUTUMN NIGHT M. Gorky HER LOVER Maxim Gorky LAZARUS Leonid Andreyev THE REVOLUTIONIST Mikhail Artzybashev THE OUTRAGE Aleksandr Kuprin
A remarkable collection of short expressionist stories by Russian playwright, novelist, and short-story writer, Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev, who was considered to be the father of Expressionism in Russian literature. Traces of compassion, beauty, and sympathetic insight are encountered on every page side by side with barbarity and crudeness, the reason being that Andreyev portrays life without hiding, without neglecting any part of it. The Little Angel, and other stories (1916) was of one of his collections that were extensively translated into book form. The plots in these stories are straightforward, the characters are isolated, and the endings are harsh and profound in their sadness. Because of the cumulative descriptions of the strange and the dreadful, Andreyev has been called the Russian Edgar Allan Poe. During the 1914-1929 period, America was eager for anything similar to Edgar Allan Poe. As Poe's Russian equivalent, translations of Andreyev's work found a ready audience in the English-speaking world. This collection contains the following short stories: The Little Angel At the Roadside Station Snapper The Lie An Original Petka at the Bungalow Silence Laughter The Friend In the Basement The City The Marseillaise The Tocsin Bargamot and Garaska Stepping-stones The Spy
