Sunday, August 30, 2015

#122 A Cold Autumn- Ivan Bunin


#122 A Cold Autumn- Ivan Bunin

Bunin was the first Russian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Although his anti-communist beliefs forced him to flee, he was the first exiled author to be published in the USSR.

This is the eve of World War I. A family goes through the emotions of separation before war.  “We sat quietly that evening, only occasionally exchanging the odd insignificant word, hiding our innermost thoughts and feelings with exaggerated calm.”

A young couple not yet married talk of the what-ifs and the promises young couples make when discussing an uncertain future. He dies before they could get married and she lives on, although not without regret.

“Only that cold autumn evening…And that is all there’s been in my life. All the rest has been a useless dream.” Can you tell this is Russian literature?



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