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aliciamae's review
5.0
I decided to read this as a primer of sorts before taking a go at some of the massive Russian classics. I'm so glad I did. This was an excellent introduction, and I really enjoyed the stories included in this collection. The stories don't all have happy endings, but neither are all the stories super dark and depressing.
boorrito's review
4.0
I found this a mixed bag of some stories. Some of them are really good: 'The Queen of Spades', 'The Overcoat' and 'Lazarus' which was a good choice for the concluding story. Others are alright and others just remind me what a ridiculous place Imperial Russia was. I'm mainly giving four stars for Lazarus though, with its fantastic creeping dread throughout.
pivic's review
4.0
This book contains Dostoyevsky's "White Nights", which is a masterpiece. Likewise I must say I enjoyed Andreyev's "Lazarus": I can't really say why I liked those short-stories so much, but they were a long stretch away from being classical tales.
Through these stories, I feel I've got a firm grasp of 19th-century Russian writing. It's interesting to see how it differs so much and yet so universally little from a lot of western English-speaking literature (even though this is a collection translated to English).
All in all: brilliant and a long stretch from this somewhat stressed-out day and age. A story like Gogol's "The Overcoat" is typical.
Through these stories, I feel I've got a firm grasp of 19th-century Russian writing. It's interesting to see how it differs so much and yet so universally little from a lot of western English-speaking literature (even though this is a collection translated to English).
All in all: brilliant and a long stretch from this somewhat stressed-out day and age. A story like Gogol's "The Overcoat" is typical.
feralbookwife's review
3.0
Some great stories in here. No surprise to hear I was especially fond of Dostoyevsky's piece. I must shamefully admit that I've never read any Tolstoy before this collection, but I am very excited to explore more of his writings. For anyone interested in Russian lit, I would definitely check this out.
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