The Captain’s Daughter

Praise

Honorable Mention for the MLA Lois Roth Translation Prize

“Alexander Pushkin’s classic tale The Captain’s Daughter, set in the reign of Catherine the Great, appears here in a witty and engaging version that brings the Russian author to life for anglophone readers in a new way. The challenges of translating Pushkin are well known, and they have seldom met with such sure hands as those of Robert Chandler and Elizabeth Chandler. The smooth and highly readable prose retains a Russian feel throughout, without ever seeming awkward.” —from the citation for the MLA Lois Roth Translation Prize, Honorable Mention
“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”

“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

“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