The queen of spades : and other stories

Paul Debreczeny’s translation, introduction and notes © 1983 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Jr. University. All rights reserved. Reprinted and published by arrangement with Stanford University Press. This collection of Pushkin's stories begins with 'The Queen of Spades', perhaps the most celebrated short story in Russian literature. The young Hermann, while watching some friends gambling, hears a rumour of how an officer's grandmother is always able to predict the three winning cards in a game. He becomes obsessed with the woman and her seemingly mystical powers, and seeks to extract the secret from her at any cost. This volume, part of a new series of the complete works of Pushkin in English, also includes 'Dubrovsky', the story of a man's desire to avenge himself after his land is unjustly taken from him by an aristocrat; 'The Negro of Peter the Great', a tale inspired by Pushkin's maternal grandfather; and the unfinished story 'Egyptian Nights', a meditation on poetry and the poet. Together, they represent some of the most striking and enduring pieces of Pushkin's prose fiction. This collection of Pushkin's shorter fiction begins with The Queen of Spades, perhaps the most celebrated short story in Russian literature. The young Hermann, while watching some friends gambling, hears a rumour of how an officer's grandmother is always able to predict the three winning cards in a game. Hermann gradually becomes obsessed with the old woman and her seemingly mystical powers, and seeks to extract the secret from her at any cost. This volume also contains a number of lesser-known works by Pushkin which are not easily available in English, including the novel Dubrovsky and the stories Egyptian Nights and The Negro of Peter the Great This volume contains new translations of four of Pushkin’s best works of fiction. The Queen of Spades has long been acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest short stories, in which Pushkin explores the nature of obsession. The Tales of Belkin are witty parodies of sentimentalism, while Peter the Great’s Blackamoor is an early experiment with recreating the past. The Captain’s Daughter is a novel-length masterpiece which combines historical fiction in the manner of Sir Walter Scott with the devices of the Russian fairy-tale. The Introduction provides close readings of the stories and places them in their European literary context. This collection of Pushkin's shorter fiction contains a number of lesser-known works by Pushkin which are not easily available in English, including the novel Dubrovsky and the stories Egyptian Nights and Peter the Great's Negro.