THE CAUCASUS Translated by Ivan Bunin - A Short Story-1937- 5 pages- translated from the by Russian by Sophie Lund -1984 - Included in The Gentleman from San Francisco and Other Stories

 The Caucases by Ivan Bunin - A Short Story-1937- 5 pages- translated from the by Russian by Sophie Lund -1984 -

Included in The Gentleman from San Francisco and Other Stories

Ivan Bunin

“What the Russian Revolution turned into very soon, none will comprehend who has not seen it. This spectacle was utterably unbearable to any one who had not ceased to be a man in the image and likeness of God, and all who had a chance to flee, fled from Russia.” - Ivan Bunin

October 22, 1870 - Born Voronezh, Russia

March 28, 1920 - moves to Paris where he Will spend The rest of his Life, with countryside interludes 

1933 - first Russian to win the Nobel Prize

November 8, 1953 - dies in Paris 

Bunin moved to Paris in 1920, his heart broken by the fall of The Romanovs from power in Russia. He, like many Russian Émigrés, spent the rest of his life dreaming of the old days and fantasying about the restoration of a Tsar, along with the return of his family estate.

Once it became clear that the Bolsheviks would be victorious in the ensuing civil war, Bunin emigrated from Russia, never to return. In 1920, at the age of fifty, he had to start a new life and literary career in western Europe. He suffered first a long and tortured affair and then a disastrous marriage, the collapse of which was followed by the death of his only child at the age of five.

His stories bring to my mind the nostalgia for pre-revoluntunary Russian exhibited in , Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisted by Vladimir Nabokov that I read earlier this month.

"The Caucases" is the fifth story I have so far featured on The Reading Life.

Today's brief story centers on what happens when a woman married to a Tsarist Russian Army officer runs of with one of his men.

The couple has made elaborate plans how to get away. They take a train. The wife fears her husband will stop at nothing to track them down, feeling entitled by honor to kill them.

‘It seems to me,’ she said, ‘that he suspects something, maybe knows something. Perhaps he’s read one of your letters, or found a key to fit my desk … I think, with his harsh proud nature, he’s capable of anything. Once he told me, point-blank: “I’ll stop at nothing to defend my honour, the honour of an officer and a husband.” Now, for some reason, he literally watches my every move, and if our plan is to succeed I must be extremely careful … He’s already agreed to let me go because I’ve convinced him that I’ll die unless I get a glimpse of the south and the sea, but in the name of God be patient!’"

 Before she left she gave him a deceptive reason why she was leaving and gave him false information as to where she was going. They are very cautious not to be seen boarding the train together.

(Spolier alert)

Of late I have been dominated in my thoughts by the passing of my beloved wife of many years, long before her time.

The husband does find them but the ending is not what they feared. He takes his revenge:

"He searched for her in Gelendzhik, in Gagry and in Sochi. On the morning after his arrival in Sochi he swam in the sea, then shaved, put on a clean shirt and a snow-white, high-collared tunic, lunched at his hotel on the terrace of the restaurant, drank a bottle of champagne, took coffee with chartreuse, and smoked a leisurely cigar. Returning to his room, he lay down on the divan and using two revolvers shot himself through both temples."

The story elegantly describes the beauty of the Caucases. There is a delightful scene in which a family of snow leopards approach the train.

Mel Ulm 

Three Sisters- A Play in Four Acts by Anton Chekhov- 1900- translated by Constance Garnett

 Three Sisters- A Play in Four Acts by Anton Chekhov- 1900- translated by Constance Garnett

I was motivated to read Chekhov's play by the chapter devoted to it in Viv Groskup's marvelous book, The Anna Karenina-Life Lessons from Russian Literature, "How to Live with the Feeling That the Grass is Always Greener: Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov".

Born: January 29, 1860, Taganrog, Russia

Died: July 15, 1904, Badenweiler, Germany

Spouse: Olga Knipper (m. 1901–1904)

Three Sisters along with The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya and The Seagull are considered Chekhov's best plays. The play was written for the Moscow Art Theatre and it opened on 31 January 1901, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko.

The three sisters, twenty something live in a provisional town but they long to move to Moscow.

Their parents are deceased, they have been left a comfortable house and enough money to have servants. The oldest sister, Olga is at 28 considered a spinster. She works as a teacher but wishes she could be a wife instead, even "to an old man". She functions as the matriarch of the family.

Marsha, the middle sister is married to a teacher who she despises for his pettiness. She has an affair. The youngest sister Irina, 20, longs for love. Their brother Andrei, whose ill-advised romance and compulsive gambling wreaks havoc on the family finances and eventually forces them out of their home. Weary of their small-town surroundings, the Prozorovs long to return to Moscow, the bustling metropolis they left eleven years ago. Unfortunately, ground down by disappointment, debt, and the oppressive ordinariness of their daily lives, they’re never able to get there. There is an army camp nearby and a number of officers visit.

Here is Viv Groskup's take on the lesson to be learned from Three Sisters. 

"The problem is, no matter how good we have it, the grass genuinely does seem greener elsewhere. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in Chekhov’s play Three Sisters, where all the three sisters really want in life is to get back to Moscow, scene of their childhood. Moscow represents a reaction against their present life – which they don’t want – and a promise of something better. They want Moscow, Moscow, Moscow. They say it enough times. But what they also want, crucially, is to be somewhere else other than where they are right now. Sound familiar?"

One of the factors I enjoyed in the play was that the Sisters seemed aware there was a growing demand for social change directed at ending the vast inequalities in Russian society.

"Chekhov’s brilliance lies in capturing something important about a life change that was happening at the time he was writing: people were starting to be able to affect their own lives, change their class, break out of the confines of their gender". Viv Groskup 

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgahov - 1967 - translated from Russian by Richard Pevear and Lariosa Volohonsky -with a Forward by Boris Fishman - 2016 - 412 Pages

 

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgahov - 1967 - translated from Russisn by Richard Pevear and Lariosa Volohonsky -with a Forward  by Boris Fishman - 2016 - 412 Pages 

This post is in Observation of The 130th Birth anniversary of Mikhail Bulgahov

A very good article on The Lecacy and history of The Master and Margarita 

With a newly revised translation based on an uncensored Russian original, The 50th anniversary edition has lots of useful footnotes. Bulgahov composed if from 1928 to 1940 but did not publish it for concern of reaction of Stalinist authorities 

Mikhail Bulgahov 

May 15, 1891 Kyiv, Ukraine

March 10, 1940 - Moscow 

I wish i had read this back in 1997 so I could have by now reread it numerous times.  Maybe Bulgahov’s ability to take us away from the mundane World will make it a marvelous pandemic times read for many.  Others maybe dealing with their own darkness now and feel similarities in modern societies to Stalist Era Moscow as portrayed by Bulgahov.  Others may see in The News from India The Devil having great fun or in contemporary politicians vain greedy sycophants to match those in The Master and Margarita.

‘Beautiful, strange, tender, scarifying, and incandescent . . . One of those novels that, even in translation, makes one feel that not one word could have been written differently . . Master and Margarita has too many achievements to list—for one thing, a plot scudding with action and suspense, not exactly a hallmark of Russian literature. . . . This luminous translation [is] distinguished by not only the stylistic elegance that has become a hallmark of Pevear and Volokhonsky translations but also a supreme ear for the sound and meaning of Soviet life. . . . It’s time for The Master and Margarita to rise to its rightful place in the canon of great world literature. . . . As literature, it will live forever.’ —Boris Fishman, from the Foreword

I have had The Master and Margarita on my to be read list for years. I can enthusiastically agree with those who see it as a great work of art, a remarkable combination of styles and a very funny satire of Russian Society under Stalin.  

The plot has two settings. One  turns on the Devil’s visit to the Soviet Union where he causes immense havoc aming Moscow literary elite.  The other setting is in the time of Jesus, centering on his order of execution by Pontius Pilate.

As part one open Woland, the Devil has a confrontation with Berlioz, head of an important trade Union. Woland tells him he will die that day.  In vivid scene Berlioz gets his head cut off in a bizzare accident.  A Young poet witnesses the event and attempts to capture Woland and his Entourage.  His attempts to convince the authorities Woland is the Devil, in an officially athesitic Society whose officials must repudiate such Ideas get him placed in a mental hospital.  There he meets The Master very bitter because no one will publish his novel about Pontius Pilate and Jesus. He has from his dispair abandoned his mistress Margarita.  Along The way Woland puts on an incredible magic show and trashes The luxury apartment of Berlioz.  Of course on his official income he could not afford such a place.

Part Two things get even stranger. Margarita learns to fly and control her unleashed passions.

We meet a magic cat, encounter Vampires, theatrical personalities and figures from Russian history.

Natasha, her maid, accompanies her as they fly over Russia’s forests and rivers. Margarita bathes and returns to Moscow with Azazello as the hostess of Satan's spring ball. At Azazello's side, she welcomes dark historical figures as they arrive from Hell. The Devil grants her one wish.  She asks for The Master to be returned to her.  At The Spring Ball numerous characters from Hell return for The party.  There  are echoes of Dante, Faust, and Gogol.  There are helpful footnotes

We read more of The Master’s novel.  Does he seem to vinducate Judas? Does he see Jesus as Christians do or as amythical figure?  

The plot is open to numerous interpretations.  Much turns on How you think The novel about Pontius Pilate illuminates Life in the Soviet Union in the 1930s.

There are lots of historical references and literary allusions. Faust is a source of inspiration as is the work of Gogol.  

It is very funny.  For sure it is Russia’s contribution to magic realism at a very high level.

The Master and Margarita is really as powerful as these famous writers have said 

“My favorite novel—it’s just the greatest explosion of imagination, craziness, satire, humor, and heart.” —Daniel Radcliffe

“From the first page I was immediately beguiled, leading me to my year of reading Bulgakov, drawing me to venture to Moscow to seek out the landmarks in the book, and the author’s grave, which is steps away from the grave of Gogol.” —Patti Smith, The New York Times Book Review

“Nude vampires, gun-toting talking black cat, and devil as ultimate party starter aside, the miracle of this novel is that every time you read it, it’s a different book.” —Marlon James, “My 10 Favorite Books,” in T: The New York Times Style Magazine

Mel u

”Gooseberries” - A Short Story by Anton Chekhov, 1888 - Introducing Elizabeth B. Yousopov, Consultant Upon Czarist Literature

George Saunders on “Gooseberries”

Podcast of “Gooseberries”

As I mentioned in The Reading Life Review for November I have asked a few highly literate individuals, mostly associated with the extended Bousweau family, Ambrosia was a great help in this, to lend their occasional expertise to the blog.  As we approach our ninth year and visit five million I felt a need for help which  I am sure will enhance The Reading Life.  

Elizabeth Bousweau Yousopov is  joining us as a consultant upon Czarist Era Russian Literature.  As readers of the classic travel book, Tea and 

Tokyo With Nicky by Ruffington Bousweau, 1902, know, a strong connection was made between Ruffington  Bousweau and Grand Duke Felix Yousopov during a tour of Japan.  This connection still exists between The families. Elizabeth was married to Rolf Yousopov,  grand nephew of Felix.  The marriage was by mutual consent morgantic.  They had four daughters. She currently lives in Paris, now a widow, with two Russian Blue Cats.  She is considered a world class authority on Czarist Era Russian Literature.  When asked about post revolutionary literature she said there was none.  

Mel u

Anton Chekhov is nearly universally regarded as the greatest short story writer of all time.  He also was employed on one of the Yousopov estates to medically certify the health of serfs prior to purchasing or selling.  

“Gooseberries” is a beautiful story, structured as one gentleman telling the story of his brother’s life history to a friend as they made their way through a snowstorm.   The brother, two years older than the narrator, worked many years as a civil servant but his great dream was to own an estate in the country, one with Gooseberries bushes.  At forty he married an ugly widow for her money.  She died after three years, and at last the brother can buy an estate.  As the narrator, on his way there arrives he and his friend are shocked by the beauty of the young serf woman who greets them.  Serf Women were, of course, of mistresses of estate owners or their sons.  His brother is very happy.  The narrator  thinks to himself that the happy and content must know of the misery of others.   He feels his brother lacks the depth to see his own vulnerability.  Chekhov wonderfully evokes the beauty of the Russian country side. He rightfully says any Russian aristocrat who has ever lived in the country will see himself as from the country, not the city.  You can see this in Tolstoy and Turgenev.  

I urge you to read the article by George Saunders, a writer Mel u greatly admires.

Elizabeth B. Yousopov

Consultant upon Czarist Era Literature

The Reading Life