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Book Review of Great Russian Short Stories (Dover Thrift Editions)

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Great Russian Short Stories (Dover Thrift Editions) by Leonid Andreyev, Anton Chekhov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Vsevolod M. Garshin, Nikolai Gogol, Maxim Gorky, Alexander Kuprin, Nikolai Leskov, Alexander Pushkin, 4 stars

This is a wonderful collection of twelve of great stories from as many outstanding 20th century Russian authors. The selections are classic examples from Russia's Golden Age of Literature, the era before Stalin became ruler. They show man and his human weaknesses in works from fiction, nonfiction, peotry and drama.

I especially enjoyed "The Queen of Spades" by Alexander Pushkin and "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" written by Leo Tolstoy. Other delightful offerings were "The Overcoat" by Nikolai Gogol; "The Signal' by Vsevolod M. Garshin; and "The Lady with the Toy Dog" by Anton Chekhov. The last one, "The Outrage-A True Story" was penned by Alexander Kuprin.

Included were these authors you may well recognize with their offerings: Ivan S. Turgenev, "The District Doctor;" Fyodor Dostoyevsky, "White Nights;" Nicholay Leskov, "The Clothesmender;" Theodor Sologub, "The White Mother;" Maxim Gorky, "Twenty-six Men and a Girl;" and Laonid Andreyev, "Lazarus".