Russian Writer Andreyev

Official: 46 injured as gas cannister explosion rips through wedding reception ...

Ministry spokesman Alexander Andreyev told The Associated Press that the worst cases would be flown to Moscow for treatment.

Russian news agencies said the gas was being used to fuel an outdoor grill.

There was no suspicion of foul play.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

THE FEARLESS READER: Leonid Andreyev: A Negelcted Russian

Born in the rural province of Oryo, the young Leonid Andreyev went to Moscow to study law, but soon gave up an unremunerative practice for the equally uncertain life of a journalist.  Drawing on what he observed as a police court reporter, Andreyev began to write stories that were published in Moscow newspapers. Maxin Gorki, a powerful writer on the underclass and an early opononent of the Tsarist regime,  became a friend and supporter of Andreyev's work. At first an ardent supporter of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Andreyev was dismayed by the totalitarian direction the revolution took. With his wife and step-son, Andreyev left his beloved Russia for exile in Finland.  Poverty, despair, and a trouble relationship with stepson Vadim haunted his final years.  Andreyev's photograph of  the eight year old Vadim is aas unflinching as was inspired by Andreyev's revulsion at the violence of the failed 1905 revolutionary uprising.  His deep pessimism at events caused the initial rift between himself and Gorki.  Andreyevdepicted warfare as a series of confusions, distortions, and hallucinations. Out of this maelstrom, Andreyev discerned the lineaments of what we now call nuclear warfare. If all this sounds like literature too dark to be endured, that would be unfortunate. Andreyev is one of the great Russian writers and his work should not  be missed. His succinctness, in contrast with the expansiveness of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, is a  catapult into the writing of the 20th century. If the public had taken his words to heart, they would not have been surprised by the horrors of World War I.

What a pleasant surprise to see Andreyev the feature of your latest post. I first stumbled upon his wonderful photographs through William Maxwell's 'They Came Like Swallows' - the picture of the pouting Vadim is used on the cover of the Harvill and Vintage editions. I'm still to read his stories, and 'Visions' has long been on my "to find" list. I do have however a book of his photographs - 'Leonid Andreyev : Photographs by a Russian Writer : An Undiscovered Portrait of Pre-Revolutionary Russia' http://www.librarything.

Photographs by a Russian writer, an undiscovered portrait of pre-revolutionary Russia

Modern Russian classics, Silence: by L. N. Andreyev; The white dog: by Feodor Sologub; The doctor: by Michael Artzibashev; A father: by Anton Tchekov; Her lover; by Maxim Gorky

photographs by a Russian writer Leonid Andreyev, an undiscovered portrait of pre-revolutionary Russia

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