Book details
The Queen of Spades, and other stories
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Stored record
Metadata
- Gutenberg ID
- 55024
- Title
- The Queen of Spades, and other stories
- Language
- en
- Book source
- Project Gutenberg
- Description max 80 words
-
A collection of Pushkin's masterful tales, including the supernatural thriller 'The Queen of Spades' and the tragic romance 'The Gypsies.' Blending Russian folklore with psychological depth, these stories explore obsession, fate, and the clash between civilization and wild freedom.
- Summary up to 500 words
-
This volume presents a selection of Alexander Pushkin's finest short fiction, exploring themes of obsession, the destructive power of uncontrolled emotion, and the incompatibility of aristocratic sensibilities with raw nature. The narrative opens with 'The Queen of Spades,' where a dying postmaster recounts his tragic obsession with a mysterious card game and his daughter Dunia's elopement with a hussar. His desperate search leads to a revelation of deception and loss, culminating in his death from drink. Next, 'The Lady Rustic' depicts a provincial landowner, Berestoff, whose rigid, practical life is shattered by a sudden, overwhelming passion for his neighbor's daughter, illustrating how intense emotion can dismantle a disciplined existence. The volume concludes with 'The Gypsies,' a tale of a nobleman, Aleko, who abandons his wealthy life to join a wandering band. He finds freedom but faces the harsh reality of gypsy customs. Consumed by jealousy over his wife Zemphira's secret lover, Aleko murders the rival at a desecrated grave. The story ends with the community banishing him, leaving him alone in the cold, a stark commentary on the impossibility of an aristocrat finding peace within the unforgiving gypsy world. The collection is framed by a biography of Pushkin, tracing his journey from noble Moscow origins to his exile and eventual death in a duel. Through these tales, Pushkin captures the tension between civilization and nature, duty and passion, and the inevitable consequences of human frailty.
- LLM editorial rating
- 4.5/5
- Download URL
- https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55024.epub.noimages
- Local file path
-
data/epubs/pg55024.epub - Downloaded at
- 2026-07-08 05:40 UTC
People
Authors
- Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin
Classification
Categories
- Classics
- Fiction