The Captain's Daughter

A. S. Pushkin entered Russian culture not only as the greatest Poet but also as a prose writer and playwright. The book includes his prose works: "The Tales of Belkin," "Dubrovsky," "The Queen of Spades," and "The Captain's Daughter," in which the author appears as a historian, chronicler, subtle psychologist, and magnificent storyteller. The first Russian poet’s transition to prose was preceded by his reflections on the nature of verbal art. "Precision and brevity — these are the first virtues of prose," he wrote. "It requires thoughts and thoughts — without them, brilliant expressions serve no purpose. Poetry is a different matter…" It is quite possible that Pushkin's interest in prose was based on a sense of the unprecedented seriousness of the tasks facing the young Russian literature. Remaining unmatched in skill, Pushkin's prose largely predetermined the paths of its development.