Tales of Belkin

Written in the autumn of 1830 and sometimes referred to as "the little parodies," the five stories in this collection involve a number of the key contemporary themes in European literature, including the Byronic hero, the Gothic novel, and the tale of the supernatural. Yet each sparkling vignette adds an unexpected twist to these familiar literary themes, and in doing so fruitful new avenues for exploration are suggested. These tales quickly proved remarkably influential, and Russia's future literature simply would not have been the same without them.

Alexander Pushkin was born into the Russian nobility in Moscow in 1799. Educated by French tutors while learning Russian from the household serfs, he began publishing poems in his early teens and soon gained widespread recognition, especially for his use of vernacular. At 18 he received a government appointment in St. Petersburg and threw himself into cultural life, including associating with radical intellectuals. He published his first major work, the long poem Rusian and Ludmila, in 1820, shortly before being banished from the capital for writing political poems such asOde to Liberty. In 1825 some friends were involved in the Decembrist uprising, and Pushkin’s restrictions were tightened. Yet he wrote some of his greatest work in exile, including his playBoris Godunov and his novel-in-verse Eugene Onegin. Finally pardoned by the Tsar, he married Natalya Goncharova in 1831. They became regulars of court society, which soon impoverished Pushkin, and in 1837, scandalous rumors about Natalya prompted him to challenge an alleged paramour to a duel. Wounded, Pushkin died two days later. Fearing a public outpouring at his funeral, the government removed his body in the night, to be buried at his family’s distant estate.
 
 
Josh Billings is a fiction writer and translator who lives in Maine. He is also the translator of the Melville House edition of The Duel, by Aleksandr Kuprin.