Myths, legends, and true stories about love have always been a major part of oral folk art and have inspired countless works of literature. Love, however, has many faces and can evoke both positive and negative emotions—hence the title of our anthology, which features a selection of outstanding Russian love stories from the late nineteenth century to the present day.

This collection includes works by classical Russian writers such as Ivan Turgenev, Anton Chekhov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Alexander Kuprin, among others, as well as pieces by Soviet authors like Nikolai Gribachev, Yuri Kazakov, Fazil Iskander, and Vasily Shukshin, a writer, film director, and actor whose premature death was a significant loss to Soviet multinational literature.

The anthology is aimed at teenagers.

You can get the book here and here.

Designed by Robert Saifulin

Ivan Turgenev. Asya 5

Translated by Ivy and Tatiana Litvinov

Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The Little Hero 47

Translated by Olga Shartse

Anton Chekhov. Love 81

Translated by Graham Whittaker

Alexander Kuprin. The Garnet Bracelet 87

Translated by Stepan Apresyan

Konstantin Paustovsky. The Wind Rose 128

Translated by Graham Whittaker

Nikolai Gribachev. The Story of a First Love 140

Translated by Amanda Calvert

Yuri Kazakov. Manka 155

Translated by Bernard Isaacs

Fazil Iskander. The Letter 168

Translated by Graham Whittaker

Vasily Shukshin. The Classy Driver 188

Translated by Robert Daglish

Victor Likhonosov. Moments That Matter 206

Translated by Amanda Calvert