Russian literature

But that is the beginning of a new story — the story of the gradual renewal of a man, the story of his gradual regeneration, of his passing from one world into another, of his initiation into a new unknown life. That might be the subject of a new story, but our present story is ended.

• The Lower Depths by Gorky

• Crime And Punishment by Dostoevskiy

• The Awakening by Tolstoy

This last event drew the serious attention of the government to the daring exploits of ??. Information was obtained of his place of retreat, and a detachment of soldiers was sent to take him, dead or alive. Several of his band were captured, and from these it was ascertained that ?? was no longer among them. <...> Nobody knew what became of him. At first the truth of this testimony was doubted, for the devotion of the brigands to their chief was well known, and it was supposed that they had concocted the story to secure his safety; but after events confirmed their statement. The terrible visits, burnings, and robberies ceased; the roads again became safe. According to another report, ?? had fled to some foreign country.

• And Quiet Flows the Don by Sholohov

• Dubrovsky by Pushkin

• Dead Souls by Gogol

Then the moon begins to rage, it pours streams of light down right on Ivan, it sprays light in all directions, a flood of moonlight engulfs the room, the light heaves, rises higher, drowns the bed.

It is then that Ivan Nikolaevich sleeps with a blissful face.

The next morning he wakes up silent but perfecdy calm and well.

His needled memory grows quiet, and until the next full moon no one will trouble the professor - neither the noseless killer of Gestas, nor the cruel fifth procurator of Judea, the equestrian Pontius Pilate.

• The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov

• A Hero of our Time by Lermontov

• The Duel by Kuprin

The low sun shone yellow on the empty fields, the horses splashed steadily through the puddles. He gazed at the fleetingly glimpsed horseshoes, his black brows knitted, and thought:

“Yes, you’ve only yourself to blame. Yes, of course they were the best moments. And not merely the best, but truly magical! ‘All round the scarlet dog rose bloomed, the avenues of dark limes stood…’[11] But my God, what would have happened later on? What if I hadn’t abandoned her? What nonsense! This Nadezhda, not the keeper of a lodging house, but my wife, the mistress of my house in St Petersburg, the mother of my children?”

And closing his eyes, he shook his head.

• Captain's Daughter by Pushkin

• Oblomov by Goncharov

• The Dark Avenues by Bunin

The distant sound is heard, as if from the sky, of a breaking string, dying away sadly. Silence follows it, and only the sound is heard, some way away in the orchard, of the axe falling on the trees.

• The Cherry Orchard by Chekhov

• The Storm by Ostrovsky

• The Government Inspector by Gogol