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Reviews
The Enchanted Wanderer and Other Stories by Larissa Volokhonsky, Richard Pevear, Nikolai Leskov
alisaa_vl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sh00's review against another edition
3.0
Лесков вообще очень хорош, но во времена, когда я учился в школе, его давали как-то вскользь, ну, "Левшу", конечно - но что школьникам до той стилизации и атмосферы анекдота? "Горите себе, а нам некогда".
Книжечка сыграла со мной шутку - когда я её покупал, я просмотрел оглавление, и мне почему-то взбрело в голову, что это весь цикл "Праведники". Конечно, не весь - большая его часть, но не весь. Теперь-то, думаю, можно остаток скачать, а в будущем, может быть, и более полный сборник попадётся.
Книжечка сыграла со мной шутку - когда я её покупал, я просмотрел оглавление, и мне почему-то взбрело в голову, что это весь цикл "Праведники". Конечно, не весь - большая его часть, но не весь. Теперь-то, думаю, можно остаток скачать, а в будущем, может быть, и более полный сборник попадётся.
breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
termith's review against another edition
5.0
Давно хотел Лескова почитать, и как выяснилось не зря. Понравились все повести!
booklightexplorer's review against another edition
3.75
While these short stories didn't pack the same kind of emotional punch as Checkov's stories did for me, I enjoyed reading them. My favorite was by far The Spook - it was such a good story. It's interesting. I remember thinking, while reading, that I would only be able to pick out a couple of favorites but looking back at the list of stories I found that I liked reading most of them. That alone, I feel makes for a good collection of short stories.
msgtdameron's review against another edition
4.0
Going camping with Leskov must have been great experience. Even though in his time travel meant camping, fast forward to today and one wishes he were writing and telling his tales. Leskov style is to tell the tale, we hear the tellers voice can even see the arm and hand gestures that he is using. This is called skaz or oral writing. Skaz comes from the Russian verb skazat to speak or tell and leads to the other noun skazka or folktale. Styleistically this is fine if the story is short but in the longer stories, Enchanted Wanderer, The Angel it leads to a to much extraneous information. Take the story The Robbery. The teller spends two pages discussing his aunts Old Believer thoughts from crossing one's self to why one should not marry a current Orthodox girl. All well and good but her major contribution to the story is to say that the tellers Uncle is at the gate. Leskov could have just left her religious description as She was an Old Believer. and the effect would have been the same. In The Angel there are also many pages of the rites of the Old Faith. Which while useful to the tale could have been cut with out effecting the tale at all. Maybe this is just a petty stylistic peeve I have but, It would have much better to hear these stories around a campfire in some wood. The ghosts and sprites would come to life, the cold of the Dnieper in winter would be felt more, the ghosts would be more real.. This book takes me back to those days at summer camp and walks down Old Harmony Rd, riding in the woods, camping at barn two, and all the other events that young folks my age experienced in the 70's during the summer. The stories are fantastic just read them and then retell them around a campfire at some point in the future. Your audience will love you the more for it.
rsonderman13's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
2.5
emily_britton's review against another edition
3.0
I read this because I needed to read Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk for my class and figured I'd just read the whole thing. It's an interesting bunch of stories, with lots of variety, although there overriding theme seems to be that Russia is not Europe in many ways. Some of the stories were quite gruesome, but several made me chuckle, and the surprise appearance of my instrument was a special treat.
keepreadingbooks's review against another edition
3.0
First half: 2.5 stars - second half: 3.5 stars
”But I have little faith; it does not give my mind the power to contemplate such loftiness: I am of the earth, earthy. I am thinking of those mortals who love the good simply for the sake of the good itself and expect no reward for it anywhere. These straightforward and reliable people, it seems to me, should also be perfectly pleased by the holy impulse of love and the no less holy patience of the humble hero of my faithful and artless story.”
I started this tome back in September, got about halfway and then had to take a break. Many of the stories that make up the first half of the book were rather heavy and much longer than needed – especially the title story, The Enchanted Wanderer, drained me of energy. I still wanted to finish it, as I did enjoy a number of the stories, so I decided to read a story here and there in between other reads. That worked well. And then we reached December and the compulsive part of me wanted very much to finish the entire thing before the new year, so I resolved to read the rest.
Luckily, the second half was much more to my liking than the first. The stories were entertaining, engaging, and quickly read. It’s a fascinating and extremely varied look into Russian life in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, dealing both with Princes and Counts as well as peasants and townsfolk and everything in between, in a large collection of different stories that illuminate certain aspects of life and religion in that time period.
If you’re a seasoned reader of classic Russian literature, I would recommend picking this one up, too (and practice your patience during some of the longer stories) – many argue that Leskov is one you need to read. If you’re new to the genre, however, I don’t think this is the place to start. I’d recommend Nikolai Gogol’s Petersburg Tales instead!
/NK
”But I have little faith; it does not give my mind the power to contemplate such loftiness: I am of the earth, earthy. I am thinking of those mortals who love the good simply for the sake of the good itself and expect no reward for it anywhere. These straightforward and reliable people, it seems to me, should also be perfectly pleased by the holy impulse of love and the no less holy patience of the humble hero of my faithful and artless story.”
I started this tome back in September, got about halfway and then had to take a break. Many of the stories that make up the first half of the book were rather heavy and much longer than needed – especially the title story, The Enchanted Wanderer, drained me of energy. I still wanted to finish it, as I did enjoy a number of the stories, so I decided to read a story here and there in between other reads. That worked well. And then we reached December and the compulsive part of me wanted very much to finish the entire thing before the new year, so I resolved to read the rest.
Luckily, the second half was much more to my liking than the first. The stories were entertaining, engaging, and quickly read. It’s a fascinating and extremely varied look into Russian life in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, dealing both with Princes and Counts as well as peasants and townsfolk and everything in between, in a large collection of different stories that illuminate certain aspects of life and religion in that time period.
If you’re a seasoned reader of classic Russian literature, I would recommend picking this one up, too (and practice your patience during some of the longer stories) – many argue that Leskov is one you need to read. If you’re new to the genre, however, I don’t think this is the place to start. I’d recommend Nikolai Gogol’s Petersburg Tales instead!
/NK