Biographical note:

Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837) is considered by many to be Russia’s greatest poet, and through his poems as well as his experimentation with other genres—dramas, short stories, novels—he influenced generations of Russian and international writers. Among his best-known works in English translation are Boris Godunov, The Tales of Belkin, Eugene Onegin, The Queen of Spades, and The Captain’s Daughter.
 
Robert Chandler’s translations from the Russian include Vasily Grossman’s Life and Fate, Everything Flows, and The Road (all published by NYRB Classics) and Leskov’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Together with Olga Meerson and his wife, Elizabeth, he has translated a number of works by Andrey Platonov. One of these, Soul, won the 2004 AATSEEL Prize. His translation of Hamid Ismailov’s The Railway won the AATSEEL Prize for 2007 and received a special commendation from the judges of the 2007 Rossica Translation Prize.

Country of final manufacture:

US

Main description:

An NYRB Classics Original

Alexander Pushkin’s short novel is set during the reign of Catherine the Great, when the Cossacks rose up in rebellion against the Russian empress. Presented as the memoir of Pyotr Grinyov, a nobleman, The Captain’s Daughter tells how, as a feckless youth and fledgling officer, Grinyov was sent from St. Petersburg to serve in a remote part of southern Russia. Traveling to take up this new post, Grinyov loses his shirt gambling and then loses his way in a terrible snowstorm, only to be guided to safety by a mysterious peasant. With impulsive gratitude Grinyov hands over his fur coat to his savior, never mind the cold.
 
Arrived at Fort Belogorsk, Grinyov falls in love with Masha, the beautiful young daughter of his captain. Then Pugachev, leader of the Cossack rebellion, surrounds the fort. Resistance, he has made it clear, will be met by death.
 
At once a fairy tale and a thrilling historical novel, this singularly Russian work of the imagination is also a timeless, universal, and very winning story of how love and duty can summon pluck and luck to confront calamity.

Review quote:

“In any language, The Captain’s Daughter would be a miniature masterpiece.” —T. J. Binyon, The Daily Telegraph
 
“Time has done nothing to dull the excitement of the story, which, for all its romantic coincidences, is something more than a mere tale of adventure because its characters are something more than cardboard.” —The New York Times

“One brilliant feature of The Captain’s Daughter is that you don’t know what sort of narrative is unfolding.... It is a baffled reflection, from the position of political enlightenment, on the extraordinary hold exercised by violence and fanaticism upon the human race.” —A. N. Wilson, The Daily Telegraph
 
“Robert and Elizabeth Chandler’s translation reads wonderfully...and captures the plot’s wildness, cruelty, and touching romance.” —Jonathan Mirsky, The Spectator
 
“Oh, how thoroughly is that classical book—magical. How thoroughly—hypnotic....Pushkin has brought Pugachev on us...the way you bring on sleep, a fever, a spell...” —Marina Tsvetaeva, Pushkin and Pugachev
 
“The Captain’s Daughter is one of the stories in which Pushkin created Russian prose.... It is true poet’s prose, absolutely clear, objective, unpretentious and penetrating.” —Robert Conquest, The Spectator
 
“Pushkin’s greatest stories include the famous supernatural tale ‘The Queen of Spades’ and the thrilling historical novel about the Pugachev rebellion, The Captain’s Daughter. Everyone should read these.” —Michael Dirda, The Washington Post