Alma Books The Kiss and Other Stories Чехов Антон Павлович

This collection of lesser-known early short fiction - ranging from absurd humorous sketches to psychological dramas and tragic tales - demonstrates Anton Chekhov's mastery of the genre, with stories about marital infidelity, betrayal, deception and love in its various forms. Although varying m tone and purpose, what these tales have in common is a profound and subtle understanding of the human condition, in its farcical and melancholy aspects, couched in Chekhov's trademark minimalist style

В сборник "Степь" вошли повести, написанные Чеховым в плодотворный и во многом переломный для его творчества период 1880—1890-х гг. В них молодой писатель, уже лишившийся юношеского оптимизма, а впоследствии достигший спокойной и ироничной умудренности зрелых лет, открыл для себя тему, которая стала для него главной, — тему русской интеллигенции • Любовь и профессиональная деятельность, отношения с людьми, родительские чувства и попытки обрести смысл существования — все это для героев его повестей становится поводом для сложного и беспощадного самоанализа • Книга на английском языке • Anton Chekhov widely hailed as the supreme master of the short story also wrote five works long enough to be called short novels-here brought together in one volume for the first time in a masterly new translation by the award-winning translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky

A secret terrorist group infiltrates the household of a government official’s son, with a view to spying on the father and, ultimately, assassinating him. But the young man entrusted with the task – an ailing, world-weary “nobody” – seized with the purposelessness of life and a sense of his own impending death, gradually becomes disillusioned with his mission, and decides to embark on a new path which will lead him to tragedy • Combining psychological detail with a strong sense of place and time, The Story of a Nobody bears all the hallmarks of Chekhov’s genius, and perfectly captures the political and social tensions of its day

A secret terrorist group infiltrates the household of a government official's son, with a view to spying on the father and, ultimately, assassinating him. But the young man entrusted with the task - an ailing, world-weary nobody - seized with the purposelessness of life and a sense of his own impending death, gradually becomes disillusioned with his mission, and decides to embark on a new path which will lead him to tragedy

When the young salesman Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning transformed into a monstrous insect, his shock and incomprehension are coupled with the panic of being late for work and having to reveal his appearance to family and colleagues. Although over the following weeks he gradually becomes used to this new existence confined within the bounds of the apartment, and his parents and sister adapt to living with a grotesque bug, Gregor notices that their attitudes towards him are changing and he feels increasingly alienated • One of the masterpieces of twentieth-century world literature, ‘The Metamorphosis’ is accompanied in this volume by a selection of other classic tales and sketches by Kafka – such as ‘The Judgement’, ‘In the Penal Colony’ and ‘A Country Doctor’ – all presented in a lively and meticulous new translation by Christopher Moncrieff

«Дама с собачкой и другие рассказы 1896–1904» — это очаровательный сборник сказок, показывающий Антона Чехова на пике его писательского творчества. Это издание Penguin Classics переведено Рональдом Уилксом с предисловием Пола Дебрецени • В последние годы своей жизни Чехов написал несколько рассказов, которые вошли в число его шедевров и вошли в число самых уважаемых произведений русской литературы. Пронзительные «Дама с собачкой» и «О любви» исследуют природу любви вне брака – ее романтический идеализм и страх разочарования. А в таких рассказах, как «Крестьяне», «Дом с мезонином» и «Моя жизнь», Чехов рисует яркую картину положения бедняков и их бессилия перед эксплуатацией и лишениями. Собрав здесь произведения, Чехов отошел от реализма своих ранних рассказов, расширив диапазон персонажей и сюжетов, одновременно выработав сдержанный минималистический стиль, который вдохновил таких современных авторов рассказов, как Эрнеста Хемингуэя и Уильяма Фолкнера

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, the author of one of the most poignant and enduringly popular novels of the twentieth century, left only a few other pieces of fiction when he died prematurely at the age of sixty. Childhood Memories and Other Stories, here presented in a new translation by Stephen Parkin and including previously deleted passages and the unpublished fragment ‘Torretta’, collects all of Lampedusa’s extant shorter fiction and provides a revealing glimpse into the writer’s workshop and the background to the composition of his masterpiece • From the atmospheric recollections of the Palazzo Lampedusa and the Palazzo Filangeri Cuto at the turn of the twentieth century in ‘Childhood Memories’ to the delightful fable ‘The Siren’, from the gently humorous, bitter­sweet tones of ‘Joy and the Law’ to ‘The Blind Kittens’ – the first chapter of what was intended to be a sequel to The Leopard – this volume showcases Lampedusa’s unparalleled ob­ser­vational powers and narrative skills

Set in the year after the 1929 crash and incorporating many autobiographical elements, 'Babylon Revisited' tells the story of the widower Charlie Wales, a reformed alcoholic and successful businessman returning to Paris to convince his in-laws to give him back the daughter he abandoned. As the old haunts of the city he used to carouse in seem more and more alien to him, he finds himself assailed by feelings of guilt and regret • Considered one of Fitzgerald's finest and most poignant pieces of short fiction, 'Babylon Revisited' is presented here with a selection of other tales published in the same period, such as 'Crazy Sunday' - an account of alcoholism and infidelity in Hollywood - which showcase the author at his creative best

The breathtaking short story collection from the Costa-shortlisted Irish writer • Three gunshots on the Irish border define the course of a young man's life; a writer clings fast to a star-crossed affair with a woman who has never been fully in his reach; a fisherman accustomed to hard labour rolls up his sleeves to dig a grave for his child; a pair of newly-weds embark on their first adventure, living wild on the deserted Beginish Island • Spanning a century and two continents - from the muddy fields of Ireland to a hotel room in Paris, a dingy bar in Segovia to an aeroplane bound for Taipei - these densely layered tales reveal the quiet heroism and gentle dignity of ordinary life. Ranging from the elegiac to the brutally confrontational, Billy O'Callaghan's stories explore the resilience of the human heart and its ability to keep beating even in the wake of grief, trauma and lost love

The heir to his grandfather’s considerable fortune, Anthony Patch is led astray from the path to gainful employment by the temptations of the 1920s Jazz Age. His descent into dissolution and profligacy is accelerated by his marriage to the attractive but turbulent Gloria, and the couple soon discover the dangerous flip side of a life of glamour and debauchery • Containing obvious parallels with F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald’s own lives, The Beautiful and Damned is a tragic examination of the pitfalls of greed and materialism and the transience of youth and beauty

Contains original illustrations by the author • Written for the poet John Addington Symonds's young daughter Janet while she was ill and confined to her bed, 'The Owl and the Pussycat' sees the two enamoured animals sail away in a boat "for a year and a day / To the land with the bong tree grows", where they get married • Long considered one of the nation's favourite poems, it is combined here with other memorable examples of what Lear called "nonsense songs", such as 'Calico Pie' and 'The Duck and the Kangaroo', as well as with nonsense stories, cookery, botany and alphabets, in a collection that transports adults and children alike to the extraordinary world of Edward Lear's imagination

Coming back into town after a hunting expedition, Alexandre Dumas witnesses an incredible scene: a man has come to hand himself in to the mayor after decapitating his wife, terrified by the fact that her severed head spoke to him even after her death. This prompts the guests at a dinner Dumas attends later that evening to exchange stories of death and the supernatural, ranging from accounts of the guillotine during the Terror to tales of vampires and fratricide in the Carpathians • The Thousand and One Ghosts – here presented in its first and only translation into English – is a gloriously macabre work by the celebrated author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, which also touches on the serious political issue of capital punishment