Dark Avenues

Ivan Bunin (1870–1953) was the first Russian writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. His last book of fiction, Dark Avenues, is arguably the most widely read twentieth-century collection of short stories in Russia.

• Appendix contains the story Dark Avenues in the original Russian, as well as In Spring, in Judaea, A Place for the NightWorks included: Dark Avenues, The Caucasus, A Ballad, Styopa, Muza, A Late Hour, Rusya, A Beauty, The Simpleton, Antigone,An Emerald, The Visitor, Wolves, Calling Cards, Zoyka and Valeria, Tanya, In Paris, Galya Ganskaya, Heinrich, Natalie, Upona Long-Familiar Street, A Riverside Inn, 'The Godmother, The Beginning, The Oaklings, Miss Klara, Madrid, A Second Pot of Coffee, Iron Coat, A Cold Autumn, The Steamer Saratov, The Raven, The Camargue, One Hundred Rupees, Vengeance, The Swing, 'Pure Monday, The Chapel

Bunin can perhaps be viewed as the sensual celebrant of White Russian decadence, but he has the lyrical power of Turgenev and understands human relations with striking percipience. Highly recommended.