The Enchanted Wanderer and Other Stories
by Nikolai Leskov
On This Page
Description
Written over the course of Leskov's career, each story in The Enchanted Wanderer elucidates the very essence of the human condition; themes of love, despair, loneliness, and revenge are explored against the backdrop of nineteenth-century working-class Russia. Leskov deftly layers social satire and subtle criticism atop myth and fable, resulting in a richly entertaining collection.Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Picked this up after reading Walter Benjamin's essay pitching Leskov as the last great figure in European storytelling. There are a number of shorter stories included (like Lady Macbeth of Mtensk, which Shostakovich later turned into an opera), but the title story is the centre of attention and surely what Benjamin was referring to; it sits as a sort of 19th century Russian terminal-station to the tradition embodied by the Decameron and the Thousand and One Nights. Also excellent is The Steel Flea, a sort of Gogolesque triumph of Russian craftsmanship in the face of Russian everything-else.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Books Read in 2026
1,688 works; 62 members
Author Information
336+ Works 2,969 Members
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Notable Lists
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Il viaggiatore incantato e altri racconti
- Original title
- Ovcebyk; Ledi Makbet Mcenskogo uezda; Zapecatlennyj angel; Ocarovannyj strannik; Levsa; Tomlenie ducha
- Original publication date
- 1873
- People/Characters
- Katerina Lvovna Ismailova; Zinovy Borisovich Ismailov; Boris Timofeyevich Ismailov; Sergei Filippich; Aksinya; Fyodor Zakharov Lyamin (show all 22); Fiona; Sonia; Ivan Severyanich Flyagin; Tsar Alexander I; Matvey Ivanovich Platov; Alexei Fedetov-Chekhovsky; Tsar Nicholas I; Lefty; Lyubov Onisimovna; Count Kamensky; Arkady Ilyin; Drosida Petrovna; Nikolai Ivanovich Miller; Private Postnikov; Lieutenant Colonel Svinyin; General Kokoshkin
- Important places
- Mtsensk, Oryol Oblast, Russia; Nishny Novgorod, Russia; Lake Ladoga, Russia; Moscow, Russia; Russian steppes; London, England, UK (show all 11); St. Petersburg, Russia; Taganrog, Russia; Tula, Russia; Sukhaya Orlitsa, Russia; Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Important events
- Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Epiphany
- First words
- In our parts such characters sometimes turn up that, however many years ago you met them, you can never recall them without an inner trembling.
In our part of the world one sometimes comes across people of such character that one cannot recall them without a shudder even when many years have elapsed since the last encounter.
- Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Hanna transl... (show all)ation) - Original language
- Russian
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 891.733
- Disambiguation notice
- Do not combine books called The Enchanted Wanderer without careful checking; there are four separate collections under that title, plus the 1924 A.G. Paschkoff translation of the story by itself, published as a separat... (show all)e book.
This work is for books containing the following six stories:
• Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
• The Enchanted Wanderer
• Lefty, Being the Tale of Cross-Eyed Lefty of Tula and the Steel Flea
• The Make-up Artist
• The Old Genius
• The Sentry
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- General Fiction, Fiction and Literature, Historical Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 891.733 — Literature & rhetoric Literatures of other languages East Indo-European and Celtic literatures Russian and East Slavic languages Russian fiction 1800–1917
- LCC
- PZ3 .L5647 .E — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction in English
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 67
- Popularity
- 463,838
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.14)
- Languages
- English, Italian, Russian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 5
