An Anthology of Soviet Prose

This anthology of modern Russian prose covers a considerable period of literary development from 1917 up to the present time. Soviet literature, which has inherited the best traditions of Russian and world classics, represents a new stage in the advance of world culture. It came into being and developed on socialist soil and, quite naturally, it reflects specific traits and features of socialist society. To help the reader grasp more easily the organic links between the message of literary works and the historical period in which they were written, the compiler has arranged the contents in three parts: (1) Prose of the 1920’s, (2) Prose of the 1930’s and (3) Prose of the 1940-60’s. Each part contains short novels, stories or chapters from novels by Soviet writers, which will enable the reader to acquaint himself with a wide range of Soviet writers, their individual styles and the different literary forms and genres in which they work (the short story, novel, novelette, lyrical miniature, etc.) The texts have been arranged chronologically. Included in the anthology are writers belonging to different generations: prose writers of the older generation (Maxim Gorky, Alexei Tolstoy, Konstantin Fedin, Ilya Ehrenburg and others), of the second generation (Vera Ketlinskaya, Vera Panova, Emmanuil Kazakevich and others) and writers who have appeared on the literary scene more recently (Yuri Kazakov, Yuri Bondarev, Vladimir Soloukhin and Yuri Nagibin). The anthology contains short notes on the writers selected for it, which include biographical data and brief comments on the authors’ styles. In compiling the notes much use was made of autobiographies, excerpts from writers’ diaries, letters and reminiscences. Each note is followed by a list of the writer’s main works. After each text there are explanatory notes giving English translations of the more difficult passages of text and explanations of words and phrases denoting exclusively Russian things and notions.