Get the best of Oprah.com in your inbox. Sign up for our newsletters!
George Saunders's Bookshelf
'Red Cavalry' by Isaac Babel
Red Cavalry
By Isaac Babel

This story cycle follows a young Jewish intellectual who goes forth with the Cossacks (the Hells Angels of Russia, notoriously anti-Semitic) to spread the Russian Revolution to Poland. Babel—even in English translation—is one of the most breathtaking prose stylists of all time. As minimalist as Hemingway, as lush as Nabokov, he is obsessed with issues that seem particularly relevant today: the allure and horror of power, and the place of the dreamer in a brutal world.
PAGE 6 of 8
Loading...
Advertisement
IN THE CURRENT ISSUE
Express yourself! We've got 26 ways to tell your story and share it with the world, jeans that make you look 10 pounds thinner, and recipes for the easiest dinner party you'll ever throw.
see all new stories
Advertisement
Advertisement