The Enchanted Wanderer
And Other Stories

The works of Nikolai Leskov are diminutive not just in length, but it seems to also appear on the onset less in contextual form in comparison to the somewhat light seeking, of highfalutin divine derivation known to the great Russian writers of the 19th century. In its briefly short and concise form......more

How wonderful to see a book marketed on the strength of the translation - "A Pevear and Volokhonsky translation" reads the blurb at the very top of the front cover, albeit in smaller print than the author/title, and the dust jacket on the inside rear contains not details of the author but rather a p......more

I’m reviewing the Enchanted Wanderer, a short novel included in this story collection. It’s in the picaresque genre but has some unique takes on it. Instead of featuring a low-status ne’er do well, Ivan, the protagonist here, is a person of character in a hard-living sort of way. He likes to cut loos......more

A very old hardcover I found in my sister's collection. I had my doubts about reading this, but I absolutely had nothing else left in home, so I started it anyway. It is a collection of five short stories. I loved the first one, Lady Macbeth of Mtensk. I thought the second, The Enchanted Wanderer wa......more

Leskov is an author that I completely missed when I traversed the great Russian canon of literature several years ago and what a shame because these 17 stories are a unique delight. Having recently heard his name mentioned yet again as the author of the story that was the basis for Shostakovich's op......more