Short Fiction
Translated by Various translators
Free public-domain edition — preview in your browser, no account required for the first chapter.
Preview free · sign up to save progress, download to your shelf, and sync with the apps
Already have an account? Sign in
This book offers a unique blend of playful introspection and profound insight, inviting readers to find adventure and meaning in the most familiar spaces.
Edition details
Book Summary
Xavier de Maistre's 'Short Fiction' blends whimsical travelogue with philosophical meditation, as a narrator journeys around his room to explore imagination, self-discovery, and the dual nature of soul and body. The collection also includes poignant tales of isolation, sacrifice, and resilience, from a leper's solitude to a Siberian girl's quest for justice.
The collection opens with 'A Journey Round My Room,' where the narrator embarks on a forty-two-day imaginary voyage within his own chamber, celebrating the therapeutic power of solitude and reflection. He introduces a dualistic philosophy, separating the soul from the 'animal' body, and uses everyday objects—an armchair, a bed, a coat—as springboards for meditations on time, mortality, and love. The narrative oscillates between lighthearted whimsy and profound melancholy, as when a vision of an ideal girl fades, leaving him in acute isolation. Later stories shift to external settings: 'The Leper of the City of Aosta' presents a leper's inner struggles and his solace in nature and prayer, while 'The Prisoners of the Caucasus' follows Major Kascambo's capture and his servant's loyalty. 'The Young Siberian' tells of Prascovia Lopouloff's arduous journey to free her exiled parents, highlighting themes of exile and resilience. Throughout, de Maistre contrasts the vivid flights of imagination with harsh realities, using wit and irony to explore the ordinary as extraordinary.
Reading guide
Go deeper in Short Fiction
Character guides, themes, chapter companions — plus Character Web, narrative arc, and theme heatmap teasers that unlock fully beside the text in BetterReads.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book.
Prascovia Lopouloff
A fervent soul who quotes Ossian at strangers and mourns lost breezes, she turns everyday solitude into a theater of imagination and self-esteem.
Ivan Smirnoff
A plainspoken neighbor who crosses himself and mutters 'mad, by Bacchus' when confronted with poetic rapture he never asked to witness.
Major Kascambo
A military man whose presence in the narrative carries the weight of rank and the quiet authority of someone accustomed to being obeyed.
Rosalie
Called Rose, she is the beloved companion whose old age and departure mark the tender, irrecoverable losses that shadow the narrator's wandering life.
Joanetti
After fifteen years of faithful service, he leaves with downcast eyes and a carter's wagon, turning a shared lifetime into a stranger's goodbye.
Madame de Hautcastel
A noblewoman appearing in the story.
Solitude and Self-Reflection
The narrator celebrates the joys of solitude and inner contemplation, using his room as a sanctuary for philosophical meditation and escape from society, while also acknowledging the loneliness and melancholy that can accompany such isolation.
Imagination vs. Reality
The book explores the tension between the vivid, pleasurable flights of imagination and the harsh, often disappointing realities of life, as seen in the narrator's digressions, dreams, and the contrast between youthful illusions and mature disillusionment.
Time and Mortality
The narrator frequently reflects on the passage of time, the inevitability of death, and the fleeting nature of pleasure and memory, using clocks, aging, and the loss of loved ones to underscore human vulnerability.
Love and Loss
Themes of romantic and affectionate attachment are interwoven with experiences of separation, rejection, and grief, as seen in the narrator's memories of Eliza, the departure of his servant Joanetti, and the death of his dog Rose.
Reading tools
BetterReads is more than a book page—e-reader, AI beside the text, audiobooks, and native apps in one system.