Pushkin's "The Shot" Today's dose of literature, provided again by Bartleby, is Alexander (or, Aleksandr, depending on your source) Pushkin's "The Shot."
"The Shot," published in 1830, takes place in rural Russia. A young narrator shares the story of a duel between a former Russian soldier and an aristocrat. It is similar in its cruelty to yesterday's "Mateo Falcone," but told in a less compressed way. It doesn't really seem to be Pushkin's most popular piece, which makes me wonder why it was chosen for Matthew's Short Story survey. I guess a representative of Russian lit was needed, but even Matthews concedes that, for this style, Mateo did it better.
I hope the next story I read doesn't also have to revolve around a macho character with a gun.

*note* If you're following my reading, you'll notice I jumped around a little on Bartleby's short story section. I'm going in order now, but am not talking about some of them (the first 6 I read a week or so ago and just didn't feel like sharing on, the 9th I addressed a few posts ago). I'll stick to the order now, but I'm skipping House of Usher. I've read it too many times. If you want an essay on it, I'll dig out one from American Lit.
So, next on the list is Hawthorne's "The Ambitious Guest." Haven't read that one. Hmm.  ¶   0 comments