Tatar Desert. The Riddle of the Old Forest

"Tatar Desert" — a masterpiece of parable prose that had a significant impact on subsequent modernist literature — is a unique life story of a young officer who spent his entire life at a distant outpost on the edge of the desert, awaiting the attack of mysterious barbarian hordes, rumored to live on the other side. A story of a life wasted in anticipation of action, in hope and fear that "something will happen".

The whimsical and delicate "The Riddle of the Old Forest," with its light and sorrowful tone, at first glance belongs to the genre of literary fairy tales for adults; however, behind the unpretentious narrative imitation of a folk legend lies a profound parable about the destructiveness of the confrontation between man and nature.