Born in February 1799, Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin is a Russian writer that has been on my “to be Read (TBR)” for a very long time.
I decided it was high time I read something written by him, when I came across this short story. It is considered one of his best works of fiction.
Published in March 1834, The Queen of Spades is described as a gambling story but it is much more than that. Hermann, an army officer seemed to enjoy watching other people gamble but never did do himself. However, one day a friend,Tomsky was telling a story about how his grandmother, the Countess. Many years ago, while living in Paris, the Countess lost a lot of money gambling. A friend told her that if she played three certain cards in succession, she would win her money back and it worked.
This story gave Hermann the idea to find out what the three cards are. The story is about his quest to find out and the people he may hurt along the way. It’s a story of good verses evil and of course, greed.
I enjoyed this story. It has some great character development and simple yet strong prose to keep the story and plot moving.It’s said to be a novella but at only 23 pages, I choose to call it a short story. You can read it here.
If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays or just find out about some great short stories, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story reviews. Come join in the fun!
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Interesting choice. Just the name Pushkin is enough to intimidate!
Sounds like a good one. I can never quite figure out the line between short story and novella.
I heard Placido Domingo sing the lead in the opera based on this story and it was FABULOUS. If I ever have time to read something not related to research for my next novel I’d love to read this.
The only Pushkin I’ve read was “The Snow Storm” (or “The Blizzard” as it is sometimes translated). I enjoyed the writing, but not the ending.
I agree with Marg’s quote above.
Marg, I found this story quite accessible, no need to feel intimidated by it. It was much easier than some Russian Lit. I have read.
Carol, this is what Wikipedia has to say about the definition of a novella, “A novella (also called a short novel) is a written, fictional, prose narrative longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000. Other definitions start as low as 10,000 words and run as high as 70,000 words.”
M.L. I haven’t seen of the opera, I bet it was good. This story reads quite fast unlike, some Russian Lit.
John, I just downloaded ‘The Snowstorm” into my Kobo. I am curious to see how it compares.