Stories From The Steppe

'the Steppe and other Stories'', a collection is among the first of Chekhov's works to be published in a serious literary journal. The majority of tales in this collection focus on the issues faced by privileged class. The narration shows that the author never left his roots, being the son of an unsuccessful provincial grocer greatly influenced his writings. Interesting!

Exiled to Siberia In June 1942, the Rudomin family is arrested by the Russians. They are "capitalists -- enemies of the people." Forced from their home and friends in Vilna, Poland, they are herded into crowded cattle cars. Their destination: the endless steppe of Siberia. For five years, Ester and her family live in exile, weeding potato fields and working in the mines, struggling for enough food and clothing to stay alive. Only the strength of family sustains them and gives them hope for the future.

Featuring first-time translations of numerous examples of modern Kazakh literature for publication in the USA, this anthology provides excellent examples of literary life in both Soviet and post-Soviet Kazakhstan, and introduces readers to the rich literary traditions of the region. The materials introduce the rich literary heritage of Kazakhstan, which is a part of the unique prose and poetry traditions of the Central Asia steppes and Eurasia. The selected readings will enhance the understanding of unique nomadic culture and Central Asian universe of the great Eurasia Steppe, which, in the words of British Chancellor George Curzon, has "charms for the historian, the archeologist, the man of science ...." The Stories of the Great Steppe was designed as an a supplementary reader and textbook for students and general public studying 20th century Eastern European, Russian, and Central Asian literature, culture, and intellectual history. It can be used in courses on Slavic literature, Russian and Soviet literature, Russian cultural history, World History, and the History of World Civilizations. Dr. Rafis Abazov is an adjunct professor at Columbia University (New York, USA) and a visiting professor at Al Farabi Kazakh National University (Almaty, Kazakhstan). He has written six books, including The Culture and Customs of the Central Asian Republics (2007), Green Desert: The Life and Poetry of Olzhas Suleimenov (2011), and The Stories of the Great Steppe (2013). His research interests and publications focus on cultural globalization and the intellectual history of Central Eurasia and Russia, as well as public policy, governance, and contemporary cultural, intellectual and political trends in the region.

Maxim Gorky, the bitter Voice of Russia, can tell fairy tales whose coloring has all the richness of oriental twilights and whose cadences are garlands woven of sea-spray and wind-blossoms. His stories of the steppe are not propagandistic, and with the exception of the powerful tale "Because of Monotony," they are not sordid pictures of realistic misery, but they are sweet fairy lullabies that the gods must sing to the baby angels when they are sad and weary with their contemplation of human sorrows. These tales are filled with longing, and throughout that longing there is a thread of red fire that at times bursts forth into a flaming prophecy of hope. The Stories of the Steppe are among his most wonderful visions.

Nineteen traditional folktales reflecting the way of life of the Kazakhs, a Turko-Mongol nomadic people whose chief domain is the second largest republic of the Soviet Union. Includes glossary.

Brilliant horsemen and great fighters, the Scythians were nomadic horsemen who ranged wide across the grasslands of the Asian steppe from the Altai mountains in the east to the Great Hungarian Plain in the first millennium BC. Their steppe homeland bordered on a number of sedentary states to the south - the Chinese, the Persians and the Greeks - and there were, inevitably, numerous interactions between the nomads and their neighbours. The Scythians fought the Persians on a number of occasions, in one battle killing their king and on another occasion driving the invading army of Darius the Great from the steppe. Relations with the Greeks around the shores of the Black Sea were rather different - both communities benefiting from trading with each other. This led to the development of a brilliant art style, often depicting scenes from Scythian mythology and everyday life. It is from the writings of Greeks like the historian Herodotus that we learn of Scythian life: their beliefs, their burial practices, their love of fighting, and their ambivalent attitudes to gender. It is a world that is also brilliantly illuminated by the rich material culture recovered from Scythian burials, from the graves of kings on the Pontic steppe, with their elaborate gold work and vividly coloured fabrics, to the frozen tombs of the Altai mountains, where all the organic material - wooden carvings, carpets, saddles and even tattooed human bodies - is amazingly well preserved. Barry Cunliffe here marshals this vast array of evidence - both archaeological and textual - in a masterful reconstruction of the lost world of the Scythians, allowing them to emerge in all their considerable vigour and splendour for the first time in over two millennia.

Excerpt from Stories of the Steppe Maxim Gorki, the Bitter Voice of Russia, can tell fairy tales whose coloring has all the richness of oriental twilights and whose cadences are garlands woven of sea-spray and wind-blossoms. His stories of the steppe are not propagandistic, and with the exception of the powerful tale Because of Monotony, they are not sordid pictures of realistic misery, but they are sweet fairy lullabies that the gods must sing to the baby angels when they are sad and weary with their contemplation of human sorrows. These tales are filled with longing, and throughout that longing there is a thread of red fire that at times bursts forth into a flaming prophecy of hope. Perhaps Gorki, in writing those strange, wonderfully magical fairy tales, was unconsciously rehearsing that strangest and most wonderful fairy tale of them all, - the great Russian Revolution. He who has no love for music had better leave these stories alone, as they will have no charm for him. He who prefers society to sunsets will find these stories dull and colorless, - as colorless as the clouds at the close of the day are to a blind man. But those who have the capacity for enjoying the silent music of the night, the barely audible purling of sea-waves in the distance, the soft pit-a-pat of the wind-dance on the prairie, will be charmed by these stories as they have rarely been charmed in their waking hours. For these stories of the steppe have all the magic of dreams; their atmosphere envelopes you and permeates your every pore, sinking deep into your heart through every one of your five senses, and through a sixth sense, too, - a sense whose very indefinable vagueness makes if the most vivid of them all. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.