“There are two kinds of people in this world: those who drink and those who don’t. And the ones who don’t drink are the ones who make life […]
Russian literature
Moscow-Petushki
“Everything in this world is drinkable—only some things must be filtered first.” Moscow-Petushki (also known as Moscow to the End of the Line) is a surreal, darkly comic […]
Russian literature
The Plummeting Old Women
“An old woman, driven by curiosity, leaned out of the window—and then she plummeted.” Chapter 1: The First Old Woman The story opens with an elderly woman peering […]
Russian literature
Blue Notebook No. 10
“There was a redheaded man who had no eyes or ears. He had no hair either, so he was called a redhead only in a manner of speaking.” […]
Russian literature
The Old Woman
“And so I sit, an old woman, in my room, and outside the window, the world goes on without me.” Chapter 1: The Old Woman’s Routine The story […]
Russian literature
Today I Wrote Nothing
“I am interested only in ‘nonsense’; only in that which makes no practical sense. I am interested in life only in its absurd manifestation.” Today I Wrote Nothing […]
Russian literature
Incidences
“A man walked out of his house and disappeared forever.”— Daniil Kharms, Incidences Incidences is a collection of absurdist, fragmented vignettes and short stories by Russian avant-garde writer […]
Russian literature
Mitya’s Love
“Love is a mystery. Everything in it is a mystery: how it arises, how it develops, how it disappears.” Chapter 1: Mitya’s Infatuation The story begins with Mitya, […]
Russian literature
The Gentleman from San Francisco
“The body was carried to Naples in the hold of the same steamer that had brought him to Capri, and there, in a cheap coffin, it was placed […]
Russian literature
Dark Avenues
“All love is great happiness, even if it is not shared.” Dark Avenues (Russian: Тёмные аллеи) is a collection of short stories by Ivan Bunin, centered on themes […]