Proper Name Other Stories

Stories by an experimental writer. In A Non-Unified Field Theory of Love and Landlords, one reads: "Tiny space dust and space grains of sand rain / Down on the earth by the millions each minute / And interplanetary and interstellar comets ast / Eroids and meteoroids are more numerous than a / Ll the fish in all the seas of the world and y / Ou might discover a comet and become famous ..."

Reprint of the original, first published in 1840.

The writing of Boris Mozhaev, available in English for the first time ever in this volume, stands out in terms of narrative style and bold sincerity amongst contemporary Russian writers already translated into English. His insight into Russian life, politics and society, and the rural community in particular, represents a unique voice among the great writers of the twentieth century, who fearlessly and, at great personal sacrifice, wrote what they knew to be the truth about everyday life in Russia. Mozhaev had to fight against Soviet censorship all his life and some of his works were suppressed for over twenty years before they were allowed to be published - always to great critical acclaim. When Mozhaev's story 'Lively' was published, shortly after Alexander Solzhenitsyn's famous story 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich', it was no less of a cause célèbre in Russian literary circles and society. Stylistically, he combines Chekhov's acute eye for detail, evident in his short stories with the wonderful humour and pathos of Gogol, expressed with a unique ear for rural wit and dialogue. Though the communist regime has collapsed and new leaders have emerged from the shadows, Mozhaev's stories still have a modern resonance and a chillingly poignant relevance, as those in power still conduct themselves with the same Soviet mindset and mentality as they did under the old regime. Mozhaev's writing, still regularly republished in Russia today, has not tarnished with time and it still bears its sharp, critical edge, as cutting as the day it was originally written. Through this volume of translations, Mozhaev is set to take his place amongst the great writers of contemporary Russia accessible to the English-speaking reader. The translator has provided a wealth of background information and copious notes to help the reader better to understand the satire and enjoy the stories.

It has become a reality, dear Harry. I feel very strangeÑa curious sensation in the throat, just as if I was going to cry, and yet it is exactly what I have been longing for. You know better than any one how I had set my heart on going to sea, and yet I thought that I should never manage it. But, after all, here I am, really and truly a midshipman; at least a volunteer of the first class, as we are called now. The first time I put on my uniform, with my gold-band cap and dirk, I could not help every now and then looking at the gold lace on my collar and the buttons with the anchor and crown, and very pretty and nice they looked; and I do believe that this half-reconciled poor mamma, and Fanny, and Mary, and dear little Emily to my going when they saw me with them on. IÕll tell you how it all happened. Uncle Tom came to stay with us. He had been at the Hall a week when, the very day before I was to go back to school, while we were all at breakfast, he got a long official-looking letter. No sooner had he torn it open and glanced at its contents, than he jumped up and shook papa by the hand, then kissed mamma, exclaiming, ÒThey do acknowledge my services, and in a handsome way too, and they have appointed me to the Juno intended for the South American station; the very ship I should have chosen! I must have Pringle with me. No nonsense, Mary. He wants to be a sailor, and a sailor he shall be. HeÕs well fitted for it. IÕll have no denial. ItÕs settledÑthatÕs all right.Ó (I had been telling him the day before how much I wanted to go to sea.) He carried his point, and set all the household preparing my kit, and then posted off for London, and rattled down to Portsmouth to hoist his flag. He is not a man to do things by halves. In three days I followed him. The ship was nearly ready for sea. Most of the officers had joined. There was only one vacancy, which I got. Another captain had been appointed, who had been superseded, and he had selected most of the officers.

The late Victorians had an insatiable appetite for the macabre and sensational: stories of murder and suspense, ghosts, the supernatural and the inexplicable were the stuff of life to them. The two writers in this volume well represent the last decade of the nineteenth century, and are of interest in themselves as well as for their contribution to the chilling of the Victorian spine. Mrs. Alfred Baldwin attempted as a child to contact her dead sister through a seance, and took to writing when stricken by a mysterious illness six weeks after marriage. She was also the mother of the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin. Lettice Galbraith is herself no less mysterious than the stories she wrote. She appeared on the literary scene in 1893, published a novel and two collections of stories in that year, a further story ("The Blue Room") in 1897, and then nothing more. Readers of 'The Empty Picture Frame', 'The Case of Sir Nigel Otterburne', 'The Trainer's Ghost' and 'The Seance Room' will recognise the Victorian spirit at its finest.

Reproduction of the original: Kitty ́s Class Day and other Stories by Louisa May Alcott