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The Queen of Spades and Other Stories : A New Translation

This volume contains new translations of four of Pushkin's best works of fiction. The Queen of Spades has long been acknowledged as one of the world's greatest short stories, in which Pushkin explores the nature of obsession. The Tales of Belkin are witty parodies of sentimentalism, while Peter the Great's Blackamoor is an early experiment with recreating the past. The Captain's Daughter is a novel-length masterpiece which combines historical fiction in the manner of Sir Walter Scott with the devices of the Russian fairy-tale. The Introduction provides close readings of the stories and places them in their European literary context.

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either fantasy or reality
If someone comes to me and asks what I think true Russian spirit is, I would say, "duel" is. Russian duel is very reckless and even absurd because the percentage of survival is only 50%. Each load their gun and go to the opposite end and they shoot from distance in turn until either one is shot. In the book, German,the main character, is a half-bood of Russian and Germany. Due to his birth,mixed with German blood, he is usually very realistic and doesn't believe in magic or tricks. In numerous gatherings German never participates in the card games but always watches people play. When he hears that an old woman knows how to win the game he sniffs and ignores it. But ironically it is he who arrives at the gate of her house. However, it is not his intention but he himself is dragged by some magical power. As quite an ordinary and poor man, German believes in diligence and reason, but not fantasy or fate. That's why he never participates in any games. Their game is like a duel. The players say some number and they take cards until either of them get to reach the number and he wins. Then a new game starts as if they already forgot about the former game. Usually the loser loses a huge sum of money, which means that the winner becomes enormous rich. In other words, the game actually changes their lives in totally different ways. Everyone who has read this book would never forget the last scene of the Queen of Spades. Perhaps she really does say so, or he only dreams or imagins. No one knows except Pushkin. Bytheway, he is not telling something moral to persuade or teach us. All he shows is something like Matrix, I guess. Maybe the whole story is just a trick or magic or some parts are. The judgement is up to the reader. --Reviewer: Kang Kyung Ah from Seoul, Corea