Narrative
Apple Fragrance
Антоновские яблоки
Ivan Bunin · 1900
Opening lines
Осень, идут беспрерывные дожди; на улице дребезжат извозчичьи экипажи, и с гулом, с грохотом катятся среди толпы тяжелые конки; по целым дням сижу я за работой, гляжу в окно, на мокрые вывески и серое небо, и все деревенское далеко от меня.
Autumn, and ceaseless rains; in the street the cabs rattle, and the heavy horse-trams roll through the crowd with a rumble and a clatter; for whole days I sit at my work, looking out of the window at the wet signboards and the grey sky, and all that belongs to the country is far away from me.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from ru.wikisource.org
Synopsis
The narrator remembers the autumns of his youth in the countryside: the smell of the Antonov apples gathered in the orchard for sale, the house of Aunt Anna Gerasimovna, the autumn hunts with Arseny Semyonych, the people of former days and their homes. In four parts, from tableau to tableau, without a plot, the narrative contrasts the abundance of life on the estates of former days with what it has become, and brings back to life, through colours, smells and sounds, a beauty that is fading.
Context
The story appeared in October 1900 in the St Petersburg journal Jizn, with the subtitle “Pictures from the book of epitaphs”. Its germ is found in a letter of August 1891, in which the author spoke of the fragrance of these fruits in the garden and of his nostalgia for the time of the former landowners. The reception was divided: Gorky praised its style, while writing in 1901 that these apples smelled good, but not of democracy.
Who it is for
A short narrative, without plot, made of sensations; it opens the French collection that bears its title.
Prizes and reception
Critics see in it one of the masterpieces of the author's early manner, an example of his atmospheric pictures.