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The Queen of Spades and Other Stories

The “Queen of Spades and Other Stories” is a collection of short fiction showcasing Alexander Pushkin`s application of Romantic sensibilities to uncompromising studies of human frailty. This “Penguin Classics” edition is translated with an introduction by Rosemary Edwards. “The Queen of Spades”, one of Pushkin`s most popular and chilling short stories, tells of an inveterate card player who develops a dangerous obsession with the secret of an old lady`s luck, which he believes will bring him the wealth he craves. “The Negro of Peter the Great”, a story based on the life Pushkin`s own great-grandfather, is a vivid depiction – and criticism – of both French and Russian society, while “Dubrovsky” is the Byronic tale of a dispossessed young officer. “The Captain`s Daughter” tells of a young man sent to military service – based on the actual events of the rebellion against Catherine II, it demonstrates Pushkin`s unparalleled skill at blending fiction and history. Together these four stories display the versatility and innovation that earned Pushkin his reputation as a master of prose and established him as the towering figure in Russian literature.Rosemary Edmonds` translation is accompanied by an introduction examining Pushkin`s simplicity of style and the powerful influence he exerted on his country`s literature. Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) was born in Moscow in 1799. Leaving school in 1817, he spent three years in St Petersburg working in the Foreign Office and writing erotic verse. His flirtations with pre-Decembrist movements and his revolutionary verses lead to his exile in 1820. After a stay in the Caucasus and Crimea he was sent to Bessarabia, where he began to write more seriously, beginning Eugene Onegin and Tsygany. In 1831 he retired to a family estate, married, and his literary output slackened. He was mortally wounded in a duel and died in January 1837. If you enjoyed “The Queen of Spades”, you might like Fyodor Dostoyevsky`s “The Idiot”, also available in “Penguin Classics”.

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