The book ‘Memoires’ by Ivan Bunin was published in 1950 by the Paris publishing house ‘Vozrozhdenie’ (Renaissance). Prior to that, the writer published selected sketches under the title ‘Autobiographical notes’ in the newspaper ‘Novoye russkoe slovo’ (New Russian Word) in New York. Those were written in the 1920s and 1930s, but some of them — even before the revolution. These sketches were published separately on the pages of many emigrant magazines.
Bunin’s “Memoires”, as collected under one cover short stories, recreated the atmosphere of the era and allowed readers to learn about the great people of that time. Bunin accurately and sharply described Sergei Rachmaninoff, Anton Chekhov, Feodor Chaliapin, Maxim Gorky, and many others.
The “Memoires” captivated readers with an ironic and facile style — in these short sketches the author was able to create lively portraits of his friends. For example, the description of his meeting with artist Ilya Repin has become a funny historical anecdote:
Bunin’s “Memoires”, as collected under one cover short stories, recreated the atmosphere of the era and allowed readers to learn about the great people of that time. Bunin accurately and sharply described Sergei Rachmaninoff, Anton Chekhov, Feodor Chaliapin, Maxim Gorky, and many others.
The “Memoires” captivated readers with an ironic and facile style — in these short sketches the author was able to create lively portraits of his friends. For example, the description of his meeting with artist Ilya Repin has become a funny historical anecdote:
