-
Classic Russian Short Stories, Volume 1
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $16.80
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Evgenii Onegin
- A New Translation by Mary Hobson
- By: Alexander Pushkin, Mary Hobson - translator
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Evgenii Onegin is best known in the West through Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin. But the original narrative poem (consisting of 389 stanzas, the form of which has become known as the "Pushkin sonnet") is one of the landmarks of Russian literature. In the poem, the eponymous hero repudiates love, only to later experience the pain of rejection himself. Pushkin’s unique style proves timeless in its exploration of love, life, passion, jealousy, and the consequences of social convention.
-
-
'Breathtakingly brilliant tour de force'
- By Joseph M. on 11-01-12
By: Alexander Pushkin, and others
-
Egyptian Nights and Other Tales of Imagination and Romance
- By: Alexander Pushkin
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This original compilation from Skyboat Media features the most inventive and poetic of Alexander Pushkin’s short fiction. Exposed to French culture at a young age, Pushkin’s work reflects these sensibilities, and he combines this with stories of his Russian ancestors that his grandmother would relate to him and his siblings during their summers near Moscow.
-
Classic German Short Stories, Volume 1
- By: Friedrich Schiller, Johann Peter Hebel, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and others
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
German short stories began in the late 18th century as brief, beautifully written moral fables. In the following century, style evolved toward realism in parallel with that of other European literature. From the lofty idealism of Goethe to the searing verisimilitude of Mann, German writers of all styles have left us some of the most arresting profiles of the human condition ever conceived.
-
-
Enjoyable
- By Ian on 04-26-05
By: Friedrich Schiller, and others
-
The Best Russian Short Stories
- By: Count Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Alexander Pushkin, and others
- Narrated by: Cathy Dobson
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A brilliant collection of short stories by some of Russia's best writers.
-
-
Deep Russian stories
- By Carlos on 10-28-17
By: Count Leo Tolstoy, and others
-
Classic French Short Stories, Volume 1
- By: Anatole France, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, and others
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
French literature may be said to begin with the ninth century "Song of Roland," and it has since then churned out masterpiece after masterpiece in every century right up to the present. Beginning with Balzac and Dumas in the early part of the nineteenth century and proceeding to Sartre and Camus at the midpoint of the twentieth, the stories in this collection showcase the talents of some of the greatest French masters of the short story.
-
-
Nonsense music
- By Anahita Mirtabatabaei on 06-27-20
By: Anatole France, and others
-
Eugene Onegin
- A Novel in Verse
- By: Alexander Pushkin, James E. Falen - translator
- Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eugene Onegin is the master work of the poet whom Russians regard as the fountainhead of their literature. Set in 1820s imperial Russia, Pushkin's novel in verse follows the emotions and destiny of three men - Onegin the bored fop, Lensky the minor elegiast, and a stylized Pushkin himself - and the fates and affections of three women - Tatyana the provincial beauty, her sister Olga, and Pushkin's mercurial Muse.
-
-
Pushkin and Falen are brilliant, not so Corkhill
- By Jabba on 05-17-15
By: Alexander Pushkin, and others
-
Evgenii Onegin
- A New Translation by Mary Hobson
- By: Alexander Pushkin, Mary Hobson - translator
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Evgenii Onegin is best known in the West through Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin. But the original narrative poem (consisting of 389 stanzas, the form of which has become known as the "Pushkin sonnet") is one of the landmarks of Russian literature. In the poem, the eponymous hero repudiates love, only to later experience the pain of rejection himself. Pushkin’s unique style proves timeless in its exploration of love, life, passion, jealousy, and the consequences of social convention.
-
-
'Breathtakingly brilliant tour de force'
- By Joseph M. on 11-01-12
By: Alexander Pushkin, and others
-
Egyptian Nights and Other Tales of Imagination and Romance
- By: Alexander Pushkin
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This original compilation from Skyboat Media features the most inventive and poetic of Alexander Pushkin’s short fiction. Exposed to French culture at a young age, Pushkin’s work reflects these sensibilities, and he combines this with stories of his Russian ancestors that his grandmother would relate to him and his siblings during their summers near Moscow.
-
Classic German Short Stories, Volume 1
- By: Friedrich Schiller, Johann Peter Hebel, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and others
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
German short stories began in the late 18th century as brief, beautifully written moral fables. In the following century, style evolved toward realism in parallel with that of other European literature. From the lofty idealism of Goethe to the searing verisimilitude of Mann, German writers of all styles have left us some of the most arresting profiles of the human condition ever conceived.
-
-
Enjoyable
- By Ian on 04-26-05
By: Friedrich Schiller, and others
-
The Best Russian Short Stories
- By: Count Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Alexander Pushkin, and others
- Narrated by: Cathy Dobson
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A brilliant collection of short stories by some of Russia's best writers.
-
-
Deep Russian stories
- By Carlos on 10-28-17
By: Count Leo Tolstoy, and others
-
Classic French Short Stories, Volume 1
- By: Anatole France, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, and others
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
French literature may be said to begin with the ninth century "Song of Roland," and it has since then churned out masterpiece after masterpiece in every century right up to the present. Beginning with Balzac and Dumas in the early part of the nineteenth century and proceeding to Sartre and Camus at the midpoint of the twentieth, the stories in this collection showcase the talents of some of the greatest French masters of the short story.
-
-
Nonsense music
- By Anahita Mirtabatabaei on 06-27-20
By: Anatole France, and others
-
Eugene Onegin
- A Novel in Verse
- By: Alexander Pushkin, James E. Falen - translator
- Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eugene Onegin is the master work of the poet whom Russians regard as the fountainhead of their literature. Set in 1820s imperial Russia, Pushkin's novel in verse follows the emotions and destiny of three men - Onegin the bored fop, Lensky the minor elegiast, and a stylized Pushkin himself - and the fates and affections of three women - Tatyana the provincial beauty, her sister Olga, and Pushkin's mercurial Muse.
-
-
Pushkin and Falen are brilliant, not so Corkhill
- By Jabba on 05-17-15
By: Alexander Pushkin, and others
-
The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories
- By: Nikolai Gogol
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 17 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories is a bizarre and colorful collection containing the finest short stories by the iconic Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. From the witty and Kafkaesque "The Nose", where a civil servant wakes up one day to find his nose missing, to the moving and evocative "The Overcoat", about a reclusive man whose only ambition is to replace his old, threadbare coat, Gogol gives us a unique take on the absurd.
-
-
Contents are horrible; disappointed.
- By Andrew on 11-16-20
By: Nikolai Gogol
-
50 Great Russian Short Stories
- Illustrated: Notes from the Underground, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, The Lady with the Dog, First Love, The Mantle, The Queen ... The Embroidered Towel and Others Stories
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, and others
- Narrated by: P. Coates, M. Goodrick, M. Bowen, and others
- Length: 38 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The collection includes the best works of famous Russian writers Fyodor Dostoevesky, Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Ivan Turgenev, and more.
-
-
Beware of Missing Story
- By Samuel Carroll on 01-12-22
By: Fyodor Dostoevsky, and others
-
Notes from the Underground
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A predecessor to such monumental works such as Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, Notes From Underground represents a turning point in Dostoyevsky's writing towards the more political side.
In this work, we follow the unnamed narrator of the story, who, disillusioned by the oppression and corruption of the society in which he lives, withdraws from that society into the underground.
-
-
great book, great narration
- By Oleg on 06-15-16
-
Devils
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 28 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Exiled to four years in Siberia, but hailed by the end of his life as a saint, prophet, and genius, Fyodor Dostoevsky holds an exalted place among the best of the great Russian authors. One of Dostoevsky’s five major novels, Devils follows the travails of a small provincial town beset by a band of modish radicals - and in so doing presents a devastating depiction of life and politics in late 19th-century Imperial Russia.
-
-
Excellent translation and narration
- By L. Kerr on 09-06-13
-
Dead Souls
- By: Nikolai Gogol, Constance Garnett - translator
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gogol's great Russian classic is the Pickwick Papers of Russian literature. It takes a sharp but humorous look at life in all its strata but especially the devious complexities in Russia, with its landowners and serfs. We are introduced to Chichikov, a businessman who, in order to trick the tax authorities, buys up dead 'souls', or serfs, whose names still appear on the government census. Despite being a dealer in phantom crimes and paper ghosts, he is the most beguiling of Gogol's characters.
-
-
It is a fun absurdist book.
- By Sean Nelson on 09-07-18
By: Nikolai Gogol, and others
-
The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol
- By: Nikolai Gogol
- Narrated by: Peter Batchelor
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Selected from Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, Mirgorod, and Petersburg Tales and arranged in order of composition, the 13 stories in The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol encompass the breadth of Gogol's literary achievement. From the demon-haunted “St. John's Eve” to the heartrending humiliations and trials of a titular councilor in “The Overcoat”, Gogol's knack for turning literary conventions on their heads, combined with his overt joy in the art of storytelling, shines through in each of the tales.
By: Nikolai Gogol
-
The Fyodor Dostoevsky BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Including Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Devils & The Brothers Karamazov
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Narrated by: Roy Marsden, Alex Jennings, Roger Allam, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most important and influential Russian writers of the 19th century, Fyodor Dostoevsky is admired worldwide for his great realist novels, exploring questions of morality, philosophy and the nature of existence. This compilation contains the BBC radio productions of his four most famous novels - as well as three lesser-known works and two bonus documentaries - collected together for the first time.
-
-
Awful. Just read/listen to the actual books
- By wahwah on 05-02-22
-
Short Stories of William Somerset Maugham, Volume 1
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the 2001 Audie Award for Classic Fiction, this is an unparalleled presentation of Maugham's stories, complete with sound effects and music.
-
-
Jewels!
- By Jacko45 on 07-05-04
-
The Divine Comedy
- By: Dante Alighieri, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - translator
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dante's Divine Comedy is considered to be not only the most important epic poem in Italian literature, but also one of the greatest poems ever written. It consists of 100 cantos, and (after an introductory canto) they are divided into three sections. Each section is 33 cantos in length, and they describe how Dante and a guide travel through Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.
-
-
Divine Comedy
- By Tbaley on 05-27-15
By: Dante Alighieri, and others
-
Grimm's Fairy Tales
- By: Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since their first publication in 1812, Grimm's Fairy Tales have proven to be an enduring feature of Western literature. The stories have been translated into over 100 languages worldwide, and their influence has cast its spell on many film makers, as well. The stories were collected from traditional storytellers from around Germany, usually women, and the motivation to collect them grew out of the wave of romantic nationalism of the early 19th century.
-
-
loved it
- By Frank J. Zaccagnini, Jr. on 09-14-17
By: Jacob Grimm, and others
-
The Aeneid
- By: Virgil
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Aeneid represents one of the greatest cultural and artistic achievements of Western Civilization. Within the brooding and melancholy atmosphere of Virgil's pious masterpiece lies the mythic story of Aeneas and his flight from burning Troy, taking with him across the Mediterranean the survivors of the Greek onslaught. Aeneas, after many travails and adventures, including a love affair with Dido Queen of Carthage and a visit to the underworld to see his father, ends up in Italy.
-
-
An epic in every sense of the word
- By James on 01-06-05
By: Virgil
-
Parallel Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans
- By: Plutarch
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 83 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Plutarch (c. AD 46-AD 120) was born to a prominent family in the small Greek town of Chaeronea, about 20 miles east of Delphi in the region known as Boeotia. His best known work is the Parallel Lives, a series of biographies of famous Greeks and Romans, arranged in pairs to illuminate their common moral virtues and vices. The surviving lives contain 23 pairs, each with one Greek life and one Roman life as well as four unpaired single lives.
-
-
For the Very Dedicated
- By John Pinkerton on 03-13-18
By: Plutarch
Publisher's Summary
Russian literature exudes an atmosphere of mysticism, which is said to be a natural result of the simplicity of her people. Often, instead of being "about" anything, Russian stories sometimes seem to be the "thing" in itself. Be this as it may, it is an undeniable fact that with hardly any portent of future greatness to come, Russian literature suddenly sprang fully developed into existence in the 19th century. One after another, from Pushkin to Chekhov, some of the greatest writers who have ever lived emerged from the steppes, forests, and cities of Mother Russia.
Selections in Volume I:
- In "The Shot", by Alexander Pushkin, a duel is postponed so that it may be continued at a more propitious time.
- "The Overcoat", by Nikolai Gogol, is the hilarious tale of a lowly bureaucrat who suddenly finds himself in need of a new overcoat.
- "The Tryst", by Ivan Turgenev, is a gorgeous, masterfully written first person narrative of a hunter who overhears two young people: one who loves and one who does not.
- In "The Wedding", by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, when a man is invited to a children's ball, he witnesses an amazing incident. Five years later, a posh wedding clarifies everything.
- In "A Prisoner in the Caucasus", by Leo Tolstoy, Tartar rebels take a Russian officer prisoner in order to collect a ransom. But the officer's one thought throughout his cruel ordeal is to escape.
- In "An Upheaval", by Anton Chekhov, a young governess accused of theft learns the identity of the real culprit.
Critic Reviews
"Charlton Griffin is an extraordinarily gifted narrator and his performance is enhanced with music and sound effects. These are the classics." (AudioFile)
More from the same
What listeners say about Classic Russian Short Stories, Volume 1
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- john
- 02-25-10
Just few hors d'oeuvres of Russian literature
Excellent narration matched to timeless short stories. Russia is a cold and different world from America and these shorts are a good, yet tiny, introduction to the world of Russian literature.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Alessandro
- 10-30-05
Excellent
I did not the narrator Charlton Griffin: he is an amazing reader, with beautiful voice and an amazing variety of intonations. Look forward to buy new audiobooks read by him. The Russian short stories are extremely entertaining. Highly recommended
15 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Maggie
- 06-26-11
Great collection!
This is a really good introduction to classic Russian literature. The music was, however, a bit distracting when played at the same time as the narration. In addition, the narrator seemed to be a bit bored by some of the stories.
I liked the Gogol the best and will be looking for more by him.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Listen
- 04-04-11
The finest!
This is one of the best performances I've listened. The music is very thoughtfully chosen. Highly recommended.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jan Jacob Mekes
- 02-12-12
Nice selection of classic Russian shorts
If you could sum up Classic Russian Short Stories, Volume 1 in three words, what would they be?
Very nice stories.
What did you like best about this story?
I liked how different stories from different Russian authors were included, that way you get a nice taste of what Russian literature has to offer.
Would you listen to another book narrated by Charlton Griffin?
Yes, I quite like his narration. I do have one qualm: his female voices sound unnaturally high-pitched, almost as if in post production they raised the pitch (I don't know if this is the case or not).
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Russian literature is, for me, always packed with emotion. I didn't exactly laugh or cry outright, but I did feel the emotion in the stories.
Any additional comments?
The music adds a nice touch.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- BobMichael
- 05-05-20
Excellent Recordings
Great authors, excellent selections, well produced, highly recommended for lovers of Russia and of foreign cultures.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- nm
- 01-31-22
Incredible Writing
Don't pay much attention to negative reviews about background music, narration pace, female voices...
Tasteful portions of classical works intensify or revel in profound moments scattered throughout these shorts -it's sometimes a bit louder than it should be, sometimes glorious. The narrator's pace is unusually slow, but it grows on you; his female voices aren't good, but I got completely wrapped up in all these stories anyhow.
If you love classic literature, these are perfect to bask in on short commutes; profound, fascinating, masterful. I will be listening to other classic compilations by Audio Connoisseur.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mathew Spindle
- 05-16-21
Loved it
These are wonderfully narrated classics. I loved the selection and the pleasant baritone voice expressing all the emotional nuances with perfect taste. An excellent listen.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Boris Petrov
- 03-26-21
Outstanding selection + refined music
This book is a pure joy to listen to -- highly recommended.
Narrator Griffin is masterful -- stories are accompanied by refined and unobtrusive selection. A masterpiece
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Victoria France Stavish
- 06-23-20
Rich Entertainment
I truly enjoyed these stories by the great Russian master writers. I plan on getting the second volume.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Stephen HJ
- 03-13-15
Brits Beware! American Translations
For British listeners, your journey to another time and culture my be spoiled by being viewed through the eyes of a rival culture - American. This was for me most annoying in the "The Overcoat". The story centres on a clerk and by the fiftieth time it had been pronounced to rhyme with "Burke", plus a generous sprinkling of "sidewalks" "candies" etc. I was close to giving up. In the end however the quality of the stories won through - just.
Each of the six stories is by a different author and their styles vary widely - like pictures in a gallery. These range from the impressionists, sketching the outline of a moment, to figurative painters, their pictures full of detail. There are "genre" pictures and allegories. A rich and varied mix.
For those of you who are not familiar with Charlton Griffin (like me) his honeyed voice is at times like a transatlantic Derek Jacobi. He reads well and is especially good at capturing the humour and irony. However some may find the voices he uses for women and children a little strange. This is always a challenge for readers and most merely use a change of inflection. Griffin goes much further and the voice he chooses often restricts variation and emotional range.
It is very good news that these classic tales are available as audio books but for Brits an English translation with a UK voice would be far preferable.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Angelita
- 11-27-15
Marvellously read
Nuanced reading, good sparing use of music, great stories. Will seek out other books read by Griffin.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Sam S
- 06-30-20
The classic stories we're narrated wonderfully
It was like rereading the book again after so many years. I read these stories during my younger time, and then life took its twists and turns. The stories which fired my blood got lost in the capitalist rat race.
The narrator brought back those questions, those anger and willing to change the world. Is it too late?