Short Fiction

Vsevolod Garshin's literary career followed a stint as a infantry soldier and later an officer, and he received both public and critical acclaim in the 1880s. Before his sadly early death at the age of thirty-three after a lifelong battle with mental illness he wrote and published nineteen short stories. He drew on his military career and life in St. Petersburg as initial source material, and his varied cast of characters includes soldiers, painters, architects, madmen, bears, frogs and even flowers and trees. All are written with a depth of feeling and sympathy that marks Garshin out from his contemporaries.

Collected here are the seventeen translations into English by Rowland Smith of Garshin's short stories and novellas, in chronological order of the original Russian publication.

Perfect for readers who appreciate the psychological depth of Chekhov and the social realism of Turgenev, this collection showcases a master storyteller at his finest. Garshin's unique blend of military experience and artistic sensitivity creates unforgettable tales that capture both the grand sweep of Russian society and the intimate struggles of the human condition.

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