A.I. Kuprin began writing the story 'The Pit' in 1909 and completed the work six years later. The book about the life of prostitutes evoked more condemnation than sympathy or understanding. The author was accused of immorality and excessive naturalism. The attitude to the story by Leo Tolstoy (by the way, the author of the scandalous 'Kreutzer Sonata') was sharply negative. ... And as if in...

Pushkin's turn to prose was a deliberate step, preceded by reflections on the nature of verbal art. And it is quite possible that the interest of the first Russian poet in prose was based on a sense of the unprecedented seriousness of the tasks facing Russian literature. The collection includes works by A. S. Pushkin: 'Arap of Peter the Great', 'Tales of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin', 'The...

Jack London was a master storyteller and one of the world's most popular American writers. His books are filled with thrilling adventures, rugged romance, and noble sentiments that remain with his characters even through the harshest trials. This is especially true of his works set in the American North—a region where the author himself experienced perilous adventures and about which he wrote...

The second part of this popular Russian language course for adults is designed for learners progressing from the Basic to the First Level (A2–B1). The textbook is intended for an average of 80–120 hours of study. Its aim is to facilitate the rapid acquisition of various language aspects and speech skills. The textbook integrates grammar and conversational practice. (TBU–TORFL-1 / A2–B1)

*Doctor Faustus* (1943) is a seminal work by Thomas Mann and one of the most significant books of the 20th century. Under Mann’s pen, the old German legend of Doctor Johann Faustus—who sold his soul to the Devil not for money or fame, but for absolute knowledge—is transformed into a mysterious parable-like novel about the talented young composer Leverkühn. Whether in reality or merely in his...

This collection includes three plays by George Bernard Shaw. Foremost among them is *Pygmalion* (1912), which has inspired numerous film adaptations and the legendary Broadway musical *My Fair Lady*. The plot is based on the ancient Greek myth of a sculptor striving to bring a beautiful statue he has created to life; in Shaw’s play, the protagonist attempts to transform a simple flower girl...

For millions of readers worldwide, the Paris of the ‘Roaring Twenties’ will forever remain ‘Hemingway’s Paris’—a city where one could live, work, and be happy without a penny to one’s name. For decades, this work was published based on the 1964 edition, which appeared three years after the author's death. However, the author's son and grandson, Patrick and Seán, undertook a massive effort to...

*The Razor’s Edge* is a true study of the mores of early 20th-century European and American society. The novel features perhaps the most vivid characters ever created by Somerset Maugham. Larry Darrell is a young American in search of life’s meaning. Isabel, his fiancée, faces a difficult choice between love and wealth, social convention and the desire to live life on her own terms. Elliott...

Montaigne’s magnum opus, *Essays*—a work that occupied him for a decade—is written in a lively, free-flowing style, devoid of any rigid structure. The philosopher examines topics such as governance, interpersonal relationships, and mastery over one’s own will—among many others—through the lens of his personal experience, enriching his reflections with witty observations and quotations from both...

What strange Bolivian virus sparked an epidemic in a Russian village? Where did the crystal pyramids found in the snow—amidst fields and forests—come from? Who are the *vitaminders*, living their own distinct lives in houses made of self-generating felt? And how will the story of the rural doctor Garin’s journey unfold—a journey that began during a blizzard at a tiny station where horses were...

A story about the time when desires are still alive but one’s strength is already waning—and about a strange, almost mystical love that overtakes a man at the end of a wasted life filled with dreary work and tawdry, casual sex.