Ivan Bunin’s works presented love as the great mystery of being, the complex feeling that unites spirituality and all-consuming passion. The author described it as a fatal element, which makes any person tragically powerless.

During the years in emigration, Bunin wrote outstanding literary works on love. Some of them were included in the collection “Sunstroke”, which was published in 1927 in Paris.

The story “Sunstroke”, after which the collection is titled, chronicles the feelings of a man in love. A lieutenant parted with his beloved woman forever and gradually realized the tragedy of what was happening. The author described one day in his life — his feelings, thoughts, attempts to be distracted by routine activities that could not ease the profound pain of loss.

Poet and book critic Mikhail Tsetlin singled out the title story among others in the collection. He compared it with Impressionist paintings and said that

Bunin described to his beloved Galina Kuznetsova how the story was created. After the conversation, she noted in her diary:

In addition to “Sunstroke”, the collection also includes other stories: “Ida”, “The Mordovian Sarafan”, “The Case of Cornet Yelagin”, “The Horror Story”, “Notre-Dame de la Garde”, “The Desecrated Spas”, “Burden”, “In the Garden”, “Cicadas”, “Waters Aplenty”.

The cycle “Waters Aplenty” was published for the first time in 1925-1926. Bunin was inspired to write it after his trip to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1911. The series includes 17 travel notes, which are written day by day, in addition, the exact place of stay is indicated.

According to a legend, the entrance to paradise was located in Ceylon. Therefore, the hero’s journey became a kind of pilgrimage to the holy places. ‘Waters Aplenty’ can be considered a continuation of the series of travel essays ‘Bird”s Shadow’ of 1910-1911. Bunin dedicated this series to his journey to the Middle East, including his pilgrimage to the sites connected with the life of Jesus.