A Tomb For Boris Davidovich - The Stories

The Stories

• "The Knife with the Rosewood Handle"

Miksha is a Jewish tailor's apprentice turned revolutionary whose commitment and cruelty lead him to commit a sordid murder and die in prison.

• "The Sow that Eats her Farrow"

Verschoyle, a Republican volunteer in the Spanish Civil War, is punished for criticizing the Soviet takeover.

• "The Mechanical Lions"

Chelyustnikov organises a fake religious service for a Western dignitary visiting Kiev.

• "The Magic Card Dealing"

The seemingly unmotivated murder of Dr. Kaul Taube is revealed to have been decided by a card game between two criminals.

• "A Tomb for Boris Davidovich"

Boris Davidovich Novsky, a noted revolutionary, is arrested with the intent to extract a confession from him in a show-trial. During his interrogation Novsky duels with his interrogator Fedukin over how he will be remembered in the future, fighting over the conclusion to his biography.

• "Dogs and Books"

Set up as a parallel to "Boris Davidovich", the story deals with Baruch David Neumann, a Jew forced to convert to Christianity during a pogrom.

• "The Short Biography of A. A. Darmolatov"

Darmolatov, a minor revolutionary poet, is ruined by disease rather than terror.