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Creative Nonfiction Short Stories – Page 31 of 232

“Treatise on Elite lies” by Minerva Noiropp

John Chapter 1:Verse 521st Century King James VersionAND THE LIGHT SHINETH IN THE DARKNESS, AND THE DARKNESS COMPREHENDED IT NOT. Ecclesiastes Chapter 1:Verse 921st Century King James VersionTHE THING THAT HATH BEEN, IT IS THAT WHICH SHALL BE; AND THAT WHICH IS DONE, IS THAT WHICH SHALL BE DONE; AND THERE IS NO NEW THING UNDER THE SUN.Eons come and go. Cycles rotate. There is nothing new under the sun. The planetary combinations can only line up in a fini...

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“In The Clouds” by Kelly Porter

Strange and unusual. My father once used those words to describe his career as a meteorologist. Some people are surprised to discover meteorology is regarded as a science, and for that, I blame The Weather Channel. Because, hey. Do smart scientific-minded people willingly go into places others have been told to evacuate? Crazy people perhaps, but scientists?   Dad wasn’t a television personality ...

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“Sunday Morning” by Cheyenne Nicole

My eyes are shut tight as the morning sun peers its way through the curtains of my bedroom. Maybe if I close them long enough it’ll go away, or if I ignore it, it’ll just cease to exist and therefore not bother me.  The start of a new day, a symbol that yesterday is over and today has only just begun. Dread rolls its way through my body starting at my ears, raking its way across my skin and settling deep in my bon...

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“Chipper in the Old Folks Home” by Kara Hunsdon

Clouds hovered above in an ever-present gloom, while the slow stream of time ticked onward. Bennington Residential Care, the Nursing Home with the highest turnover rate of medical staff in the county, sat between two great mountains in a quiet valley. If you were to look up the definition of dreary, the cracked gray bricks that were more at home in prison, and the faded glass doors opening into the facility would...

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“A Chance at Freedom” by Alicia Griffin

They stood quietly in front of their apartment door - Faustina holding their 5-month-old son, Luis, in her arms while Antonio read the document he held in his hands. Their 5-year-old daughter, Gladys, watched intently from the other room, while the military official stood at the doorway; satisfied with his delivery and more than delighted to rid those who didn’t care to support the communist island and its ideologies. 

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“Skin Deep” by Linda Hershman

In France, I walked naked on the beaches. Whether strolling the quiet shores of La Rochelle, dotted with a few families, or picking my way through sculpted singles on the Riviera, I’d shed my clothes the moment my feet sank into sand.My public nudity shocked me, like the stab of seashells biting into the soft soles of my feet. At home in Philadelphia, I spent a lifetime hiding my body, strategically draping clothing in hopes of directing the eye away from hips that strained my hip-hugge...

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“A LIFE IN THE DAY OF” by Gloria Murray

1973 wds               A LIFE IN THE DAY OF…              That August morning the milk in my cereal began to curdle and form little grayish blobs.  My tongue touched a painful sore on the inside of my mouth which I assumed was a canker sore. It was only 9 a.m. and the thermometer outside had already hit 90 degrees.             Opening the front door the air hi...

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“Albert & Charlie” by Boise Thomas

In January of 1931, on a tour of the United States of America, Professor Albert and Mrs. Elsa Einstein, visit Universal Studios in Burbank, California as the guest of studio head, Carl Laemmle. Mr. Laemmle asks the world-renowned physicist, “Is there anyone in Hollywood you would like to meet?” Einstein replies, “One person, Charlie Chaplin.” The icons of science and comedy meet on January 30, while attending the premie...

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“Keep Your Eyes Open Einstein” by Scott Christenson

Filled with a mixture of excitement, ambition and trepidation I headed into the first day of my first ever internship. The administrator from HR went through the company policies quite sternly, then said the pay was $7.00 an hour, I said ok. This was more than I had ever been paid. He showed me my cubicle. I sat down. It was the first time I had ever sat down at a job, It felt like heaven. Before this I had only worked in very physical retail jobs. Things were not easy in Milwaukee heading into 1990.I w...

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“First Love” by John Walsh

           “John, they're going to put me in a place.”            “No, M, nobody’s going to put you in a place.”            M. had been having trouble at work. We were no longer  going out  but I was still her best work friend, so I was driving her to the psychiatric appointment the employee assistance program was making her keep. When I told her she was not going to a place, I was completely sincere. She w...

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“Special report: Habitants Flee From Violence And Organized Crime.” by José Pablo Carrillo

“Why are you fleeing?”  I waved down the small-sized pickup driving towards the entrance. The wind must have carried my question swiftly inside the four-door midsize SUV because the small pickup came to a sudden halt.  I walked a couple steps towards the driver’s door and saw an older woman, mid-fifties, her skin light brown like Mexican soil, and a Panama hat whose shadow barely hid the wrinkles and bags a...

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“A Soldier's Story” by Thom Brodkin

The first time I saw Schmidt was my first day of basic training. We were transported in “cattle cars” to our new home away from home in Fort Benning, Georgia.  When the doors opened, there were what seemed like an infinite number of drill sergeants—although in reality, there were only eight. They greeted us using names many of us had never heard before. We were “maggots” and “shitheads” and “faggots.” We were all devastatingly scared—all of us that is, except for Schmidt. It seemed that no matter how much the dr...

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“Nautical Neophytes” by David Hampton

It was summer of 1976 in Springfield, Missouri. Jeff and I were at the Village Inn Pancake House. It was nearly midnight on a Friday and we were knocking down breakfast, which had become a weekend tradition after knocking down several beers at the Alibi Lounge. During that era in Smalltown, USA the Inn was about the only place you could get breakfast at that time of night. I normally had bacon and eggs with biscuits and gravy. Jeff, on the other hand, would always...ALWAYS order pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream on top. Plus, e...

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“Does the Cap and Gown Make Me Grown?” by Sue Hunter

She stood there, a can of soda clutched in her hand. The bathroom was the only place in the house where she could be alone. The condensation from the drink was cold, making her hands freeze. It was a good feeling. The cold kept her from getting stuck in her own head. She leaned over the sink, taking a tentative sip in the hopes it would keep herself from getting sick. It didn’t work.            The noise from the ...

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“Brillant Corners” by Diane Hunter

Robert Annenberg grew up in a house that had ten-foot ceilings, shiny parquet floors, and huge venetian glass mirrors. The home itself, sat on a huge corner lot in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was surrounded by beautiful large oak and maple trees. His parents were considered old Philadelphians or proper Philadelphians. This class of people claimed their hereditary and cultural descent from England, and Germ...

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Narrative Nonfiction Short Stories | Study.com

English Courses / Short Stories: Study Guide & Homework Help Course / Short Stories by Genre Chapter

Instructor: Clio StearnsShow bio

Clio has taught education courses at the college level and has a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction.

Teaching students to read narrative nonfiction is a unique experience, since it combines some features of fiction with some of nonfiction. This lesson offers some narrative nonfiction stories you can use to help your students better understand the genre.

Teaching Narrative Nonfiction

Are you trying to help your children or students form a better understanding of different kinds of nonfiction? One genre you might focus on is that of narrative nonfiction. Many students will love narrative nonfiction because it is written like a story, and they can use their fiction comprehension skills to help them make sense of it. At the same time, narrative nonfiction is indeed nonfiction, and this requires students to approach it in a uniquely thoughtful way.

To help your students understand narrative nonfiction, you will need some texts to work with. After all, it is one thing to learn about a genre in the abstract, and quite another to practice reading within it! Short stories can be ideal for understanding narrative nonfiction, because students can finish them relatively quickly and move to discussion and analysis of text and genre. The stories in this lesson will help students develop an interest in and understanding of narrative nonfiction.

Narrative Nonfiction Short Stories

Each story is followed by a brief summary and an idea of who might find the tale especially appealing.

True American Artform, by Simon Kay

This is a short story about learning to play pool. The main characters, Rey and Jimmy, get into quite a competitive game. They learn about each other, their philosophies on life, and all of the metaphors that can be associated with the game of pool. This piece of nonfiction is especially well suited to students who like suspense or enjoy learning about games.

High Times in Jamaica, by Richard Jacobs

Jacobs tells the tale of something that happened to him when he was traveling in Kingston, Jamaica in 1954; he is taking a break from hitchhiking around the world. The story will introduce students to Jamaican history and culture and will give them an opportunity to reflect on the way race and class can influence people's lives and experiences. It is a good read for students who are interested in travel or learning about other cultures.

The Cellmate, by Crystal Arbogast

This true story tells what it was like to spend a night in jail with a man who is about to be hanged. The story takes place in Whitesburg, Kentucky, and the man is the last to be hanged in his jurisdiction. The tale gives students an opportunity to think about what it is like to face death or to be a survivor, and in addition to offering a solid example of narrative nonfiction, it raises interesting social and political questions.

The End of the World, by Sushma Joshi

This piece of narrative nonfiction takes place in Nepal, in the context of a prophesy that the world is about to end. The narrator reflects on what it is like to hear the prophesy and then live through it, describing daily life in a Nepalese village and how different people react to the prophesy. Students will love this tale if they are interested in spirituality or in learning more about different cultures and ways of life.

The Bully, by Roger Dean Kiser

The narrator of this very short piece of narrative nonfiction meets up with someone he knew a long time ago. The meeting triggers memories of what it was like to be bullied as a child and what it means to move on from the hardships of childhood. The text is a good one if you are looking for ways to address issues of teasing and bullying with your students.

My Friend Zoran Djindjic, by Dusan Velickovic

In this story, Velickovic reflects on the character Zoran, who is included in his longer book. The character was a real person who was killed by the Milosevic regime in Serbia. This story reflects on the writer's relationship to his dead friend and what it means to approach him as a literary character. Students who are interested in history and politics will enjoy this work.

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Small prose narrative fiction.

Short prose. Narrative genres in versification

Very short stories. Brevity is a sister

I invite those who wish to learn how to write prose in

Makar Evgrafovich went to the grocery store in the morning for vodka to commemorate his bosom friend Senya Krivosheiko, who died five years ago from hitting the back of his head on the pavement, but on the way he stumbled over a curb and almost fell under a KAMAZ garbage collection truck passing by, which made him so scared that……

Zhenya Prokopiev picked daisies, gathered them into a bouquet and brought them to Natasha Gribkova to please her, while Natasha preferred peonies to daisies, but sniffed the bouquet anyway and put it in a glass of water. And at night she was lying in bed, smelling daisies……

Oh my God, what blue eyes you have! It's crazy! And hair, hair - naturally a nymph, no - a divine naiad, not otherwise! And the lips, and the smile ... Yes, I am for you . .. yes, I am! I will part the clouds with my hands! Oh no, that's plagiarism. Then - "Valentina, you are my picture!" Uh, no, where did it take me……

Andrei Palych fell off the bed onto the floor. He fell quite noticeably, painfully, but without a shudder, and somehow even invigorating. He had a strange, depressing dream, about pine cones that lay on the ground, and what and why - he could not understand in a dream. What does he need these bumps for? And he would have suffered in delirium if he had not fallen out of bed……

After three mediocre collections of lyrical poems, the poet Vasily Podluny finally decided to create a masterpiece so that all the spiteful critics would rest and the admirers would go crazy with delight. And do not trifle, but straight a poem. About love, of course. Tragic and hopeless. So that everyone reads and shudders in tears ......

He was waiting for her at the corner - just on the way from the cafe "Paradise" to the bus stop. She could not pass by, she always walked like that. And today had to pass, certainly had to. Oh, how he was waiting for her, there was no one more desirable for him in the whole world! Well, where are you, where are you?..…

1. A small narrative prose literary work containing a detailed and complete narrative about a particular event, case, everyday episode.

2. A small prose work of mostly narrative nature, compositionally grouped around a single episode, character.

3. A work of small volume, containing a small number of characters, and also, most often, having one storyline.

Fairy tale

1. Narrative literary work about fictitious persons and events with a setting for fantastic fiction.

2. Narrative, folk-poetic or author's work of art about fictitious persons and events, mainly with the participation of magical, fantastic forces.

3. A narrative genre with a magical fantasy plot, with real and (or) fictional characters, with real and (or) fabulous reality, in which aesthetic, moral, social problems of all times and peoples are raised at the behest of the author.

Letter

1. Epistolary genre of literature, the author's address to a certain person with the formulation of some important question.

2. A genre of journalism that involves the author's appeal to a wide range of readers in order to draw attention to any fact or phenomenon of reality.

Correspondence tour

1. A kind of descriptive text, the object of which is some point of interest.

2. A kind of essay dedicated to some historical and cultural monument, in which elements of description, narration and reasoning are present in equal proportions.

Essay

1. A small piece of literature that gives a short expressive description of something.

2. In fiction, one of the varieties of the story, is more descriptive, mainly affects social problems. A journalistic essay, including a documentary essay, sets out and analyzes real facts and phenomena of social life, as a rule, accompanied by their direct interpretation by the author.

3. Literary genre, the distinguishing feature of which is the artistic description of predominantly single phenomena of reality, comprehended by the author in their typicality. As a rule, the essay is based on the author's direct study of his object. The main feature of the essay is writing from life.

Word

1. Genre of oratorical prose and journalism.

2. Literary work in the form of an oratory, sermon or epistle; story, story in general.

3. In ancient Russian literature, the name of works of an instructive nature, “educational prose” of a rhetorical and journalistic nature. Most often, the “word of praise” required oral pronunciation, but, being created in advance (in a written version), it remained a written work in the national culture.

Essay

1. A genre of criticism, literary criticism, characterized by a free interpretation of a problem.

2. A kind of essay in which the main role is played not by the reproduction of a fact, but by the depiction of impressions, reflections and associations.

3. A prose etude presenting general or preliminary considerations about some subject or on some occasion.

4. In modern literary criticism, an essay or article full of theoretical and philosophical reflections.

IV.4. The theme of the competition work the participant of the Competition formulates independently, depending on the given thematic areas and genres of competitive works. In this case, the content of the work will be internally motivated, which, in turn, can ensure the originality and independence of the work, stimulate creativity. In addition, a self-formulated topic will be another indicator of the development of textual competence, therefore, an appropriate criterion has been included in the criteria for evaluating competitive works.

Examples of topic formulations in different genres by thematic areas “The story of my acquaintance with …. (writer or work). Genre - story. "What books talk about at night." Genre - fairy tale. Hello future reader... (writer or work). Genre - letter. "Where are you, where are you, father's house?" At home S.A. Yesenin". Genre - Correspondence tour. "The candle of memory does not go out." “Sevastopol stories of L.N. Tolstoy". Genre - Essay. "The Word about Griboyedov". Genre is a word. “Man has always been and will be the most curious phenomenon for man” (Belinsky), (reflections on the novel, for example, “The Brothers Karamazov” by F.M. Dostoevsky or “Lord Golovlev” by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin”). Genre - essay. "... What is beauty and why do people deify it?" (reflections inspired by the poem by N.A. Zabolotsky “Ugly girl”). Genre - essay. “There is a monument in our city…” (about the monument dedicated to the Great Patriotic War). Genre - essay, correspondence tour. “The history of the country is the history of people” (about a specific person or family during the Second World War). Genre - short story, essay. “The theater museum is the life work of A.A. Bakhrushin. Genre - correspondence tour, story, essay, word. These examples are indicative.

So you take me for a person for whom money is everything, for a greedy person, for a selling soul? So know, friend, that you offer me a wallet filled with pistoles, and whether this purse be in a luxurious box, and the box in a precious case, and the case is in a magnificent chest, and the chest is in a rare delivery, and the delivery in magnificent room, and the room in the most pleasant apartment, and the apartment in a marvelous castle, and the castle in an incomparable fortress, and the fortress in a famous city, and the city on a fertile island, and the island in the richest province, and the province in a flourishing monarchy, and the monarchy in the whole world - so, if you offered me the whole world, where would this flourishing monarchy, this fertile island, this famous city, this incomparable fortress, this marvelous castle, these pleasant apartments, this superb room, this rare set, this beautiful chest, this precious case, this luxurious box, in which a purse filled with pistols would lie, then I it would also be of little interest how your money is and how you are.

(J-B. Molière)

no gaslight, no stearin light, no springy low sofas, no unvarnished furniture, no disillusioned youths with glasses, no liberal female philosophers, no sweet camellia ladies, of which there are so many divorced in our time, in those naive times when from Moscow, leaving for St. Petersburg in a wagon or carriage, they took with them a whole kitchen of homemade preparations, drove for eight days on a soft, dusty and dirty road and believed in fire cutlets, into Valdai bells and bagels, - when in the long autumn in the evenings tallow candles burned, illuminating family circles of twenty and thirty people, at balls, wax and spermaceti candles were inserted into the candelabra when the furniture was placed symmetrically, when our fathers were still young, not only by the absence of wrinkles and gray hair, but they shot for women and from another corner of the room rushed to pick up and not accidentally dropped handkerchiefs, our mothers wore short waists and huge sleeves and solved family matters by taking out tickets; when the lovely camellia ladies hid from daylight - in the naive times of Masonic lodges, Martinists, Tugenbund, in the days of the Miloradovichs, Davydovs, and Pushkins, there was a congress in the provincial city of K. landowners and noble elections ended.

(L.N. Tolstoy)

the people ate and dined, whoever could, in accordance with the salary received and their own whim, - when everyone had already rested after the departmental creaking of feathers, running around, own and other people's necessary occupations and everything that voluntarily asks itself more even than necessary, a restless person - when officials are in a hurry to give pleasure the rest of the time: whoever is more daring, rush to the theater; who's out on the street, setting it on looking at some hats; who in the evening spend it in compliments of some a pretty girl, a star of a small official circle; who, and it happens more often of everything, just goes to his brother on the fourth or third floor, in two small rooms with a antechamber or a kitchen and some fashion pretensions, a lamp or some other thing, worth many donations, refusals from dinners, festivities; In other words, even while when all the officials are scattered around the small apartments of their friends to play into an assault whist, sipping tea from glasses with penny crackers, inhaling smoke from long chibouks, telling some gossip during the surrender, from high society, from which he can never, in any condition, refuse a Russian person, or even when there is nothing to talk about, retelling an eternal anecdote about the commandant who was told that the tail of Falconet's horse had been cut off monument, - in a word, even when everything is trying to have fun, Akaki Akakievich did not indulge in any entertainment.

(N.V. Gogol)

Wherever she goes, she already carries a picture with her; does he hurry to the fountain in the evening with a wrought-iron copper vase on her head, - the whole is imbued with a wonderful harmony embracing its environs: the wonderful lines of the Albanian mountains go into the distance more easily, the blue depths of the Roman sky, the cypress flies straight up, and the beauty of the southern trees, the Roman pinna, more precisely and is more clearly drawn in the sky with its umbrella-shaped top, almost floating in the air. And everything, and the fountain itself, where they already crowded into a heap on the marble steps, one above other Albanian townswomen, talking in strong silver voices while alternately beats water in a ringing diamond arc into the copper vats placed, and the most fountain, and the crowd itself - everything, it seems, is for her, in order to show the triumphant beauty, so that it can be seen how she leads everyone, like a queen leads behind him his court rank.

Prose is all around us. It is in life and in books. Prose is our everyday language.

Artistic prose is a non-rhyming narrative that has no size (a special form of organization of sounding speech).

A prose work is one written without rhyme, which is its main difference from poetry. Prose works are both artistic and non-fiction, sometimes they are intertwined, as, for example, in biographies or memoirs.

How did the prose or epic work come about

Prose came to the world of literature from Ancient Greece. It was there that poetry first appeared, and then prose as a term. The first prose works were myths, traditions, legends, fairy tales. These genres were defined by the Greeks as non-artistic, mundane. These were religious, everyday or historical narratives, which received the definition of "prose".

In the first place was highly artistic poetry, prose was in second place, as a kind of opposition. The situation began to change only in the second half. Prose genres began to develop and expand. Novels, short stories and short stories appeared.

In the 19th century, the prose writer pushed the poet into the background. The novel, short story became the main art forms in literature. Finally, the prose work took its rightful place.

Prose is classified by size: small and large. Consider the main artistic genres.

A work in prose of a large volume: types

A novel is a prose work that is distinguished by a long narrative and a complex plot that is fully developed in the work, and the novel may also have side storylines, in addition to the main one.

The novelists were Honore de Balzac, Daniel Defoe, Emily and Charlotte Bronte, Erich Maria Remarque and many others.

Examples of prose works by Russian novelists can make a separate book-list. These are works that have become classics. For example, such as "Crime and Punishment" and "The Idiot" by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, "The Gift" and "Lolita" by Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, "Doctor Zhivago" by Boris Leonidovich Pasternak, "Fathers and Sons" by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, "A Hero of Our Time" Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov and so on.

An epic is more than a novel in terms of volume, and it describes major historical events or responds to national problems, more often both.

The most significant and famous epics in Russian literature are "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy, "Quiet Flows the Don" by Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov and "Peter the Great" by Alexei Nikolayevich Tolstoy.

Prose work of small volume: views

Novella is a short work, comparable to a short story, but rich in events. The history of the short story originates in oral folklore, in parables and legends.

The novelists were Edgar Poe, HG Wells; Guy de Maupassant and Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin also wrote short stories.

The story is a small prose work, characterized by a small number of characters, one storyline and a detailed description of the details.

Bunin and Paustovsky are rich in stories.

An essay is a prose work that is easily confused with a story. But still there are significant differences: a description of only real events, the absence of fiction, a combination of fiction and documentary literature, as a rule, touching on social problems and the presence of more descriptiveness than in a story.

Essays are portrait and historical, problematic and travel. They can also mix with each other. For example, a historical essay may also contain a portrait or problematic one.

Essays are some impressions or thoughts of the author in connection with a particular topic. It has free composition. This type of prose combines the functions of a literary essay and a journalistic article. It may also have something in common with a philosophical treatise.

Medium prose genre - story

The story is on the borderline between short story and novel. In terms of volume, it cannot be attributed to either small or large prose works.

In Western literature, the story is called a "short novel". Unlike the novel, the story always has one storyline, but it also develops fully and fully, so it cannot be attributed to the genre of the story.

There are many examples of short stories in Russian literature. Here are just a few: "Poor Lisa" by Karamzin, "The Steppe" by Chekhov, "Netochka Nezvanov" by Dostoevsky, "Uyezdnoye" by Zamyatin, "The Life of Arseniev" by Bunin, "The Stationmaster" by Pushkin.

In foreign literature one can name, for example, Chateaubriand's René, Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles, Suskind's The Tale of Monsieur Sommer.

"Wonderful Doctor", "Stupid Artist", "A Conversation between a Drunk Man and a Sober Devil".

Thematic collections of the Literature section

This collection of short stories is for book lovers and book lovers who have little free time. In transport or in traffic, at lunchtime or at five minutes, in line or in the waiting room - read the classics. Here are seven stories by Anton Chekhov, Alexander Grin, Afanasy Fet, Vsevolod Garshin, Alexander Kuprin, Sergei Yesenin and Nikolai Leskov. Each piece is incredibly interesting and will not take you many hours.

Anton Chekhov

Conversation between a drunken man and a sober devil

Stories

Anton Chekhov's short story "A Conversation between a drunken man and a sober devil" is a miniature describing the meeting of a rather drunk retired collegiate secretary Lakhmatov who came to see him. The uninvited guest turned out to be a talkative creature, moreover, experiencing the same infringements and inconveniences in the service as the owner of the feast.


Alexander Grin

Tramp and head of prison

Stories

Alexander Grin's miniature "The Tramp and the Warden" is based on a chance encounter between the warden of a provincial town and a vagrant prisoner - a kind of "ragged subject" who was brought to the head of Pinkerton to dig up the flower beds. The story was written and first published in 1924 in the collection Heart of the Desert.


Afanasy Fet

Cactus

Stories

The story "Cactus" by Afanasy Fet is dedicated to an autobiographical episode from the author's life dating back to 1856. The lyrical hero, on whose behalf the narration is being conducted, served in the guard in his youth and "lived on vacation in Moscow." There he met his longtime friend and classmate Apollon Grigoriev, who one day introduced him to the unique singing talent of the "Gypsy girl Stesha" from Ivan Vasilyev's choir.


Vsevolod Garshin

A very short novel

Stories

“A very short novel” — a story by Vsevolod Garshin. This is the appeal of the lyrical hero - "a young man on a wooden leg" - to the reader. He is a disabled veteran of the war, to which he volunteered to live up to the ideals of his bride, because "honest people back up their words with deeds." The bride did not keep her promise to marry the returned hero and preferred another to him.


Alexander Kuprin

The Miraculous Doctor

Stories

“The Miraculous Doctor” is a touching Christmas story by Alexander Kuprin. Two boys from the impoverished Mertsalov family return home from the streets dressed up for the holiday to the basement, where their mother, a sick sister and a hungry baby are waiting for them. The head of a family in trouble, unable to help his relatives, runs away from home on a festive evening and accidentally meets a doctor who saves a sick child and the whole family, gives money and inspires courage in exhausted people. This is akin to a miracle, which is emphasized in the title of the story. After the appearance of this extraordinary person, the impoverished, unsuccessful life of the Mertsalovs enters a prosperous course: the children recover, the father finds a place, the boys are placed in a gymnasium.


Sergei Yesenin

By White Water

Stories

The story "By White Water" by Sergei Yesenin, whose main character is the fisherman's wife Palaga, raises the complex theme of the moral conflict between spiritual purity and the sinfulness of carnal sensuality. The title of the story is associated with Belovodye, the legendary utopian land of freedom from Russian folk legends of the 17th-19th centuries, which, according to the Old Believers, was located somewhere in the East, and had the Bukhtarma Territory in Altai as its real prototype.


Nikolai Leskov

Dumb artist

Stories

The plot of the story "The Dumb Artist" by Nikolai Leskov takes place in the fortress theater of the Oryol Count Kamensky, known for its cruelty.


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