Grin, Alexander. The Shining World; Running on the Waves (Blistayushchiy mir. Begushchaya po volnam). Illustrated by V. Vlasov, 1958. In Russian.

Грин А. Блистающий мир. Бегущая по волнам. Романы. Рисунки В. Власова.
Л.: Детгиз, 1958. 360 с., ил.
Серия: Библиотека приключений и научной фантастики (БПиНФ), «рамка», № 38.
Твердый переплет, обычный формат. Тираж 75 000 экз. Иллюстрированный форзац.
Состояние переплета: хорошее. Корешок потерт и загрязнен, позолота частично стерта.
Состояние блока: хорошее. Бумага тонирована, разводы на полях титульных листов.
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Grin, A. The Shining World; Running on the Waves (Blistayushchiy mir; Begushchaya po volnam). Two novels. Illustrated by V. Vlasov.
Leningrad: Detgiz, 1958. 360 pp., illustrated.
Series: Library of Adventure and Science Fiction (BPiNF), frame series, no. 38.
Hardcover, standard format. Print run 75,000 copies. Pictorial endpaper.
Binding condition: Good. Spine rubbed and soiled, gilt partly worn.
Text block condition: Good. Paper toned, liquid stains in the margins of the title leaves.

Alexander Grin (born Alexander Stepanovich Grinevsky, 1880-1932) is the Soviet writer of romantic adventure and fantastic prose whose invented seaside countries have made him a cult author in Russian. Published sparingly for years, he returned to wide circulation in the 1950s, and Detgiz volumes like this one belong to that revival. This book pairs two of his novels. The Shining World (Blistayushchiy mir), Grin's first novel, was serialized in the magazine Krasnaya niva in 1923 and is usually classed as soft science fiction and magical realism. Its hero Drud can fly as long as people believe in him; he escapes from prison with the help of a woman who offers him absolute power on earth, and the story takes up the age-old dream of human flight. The early chapters in this copy move through a circus where a performer is billed as Double Star. Running on the Waves (Begushchaya po volnam), dated 1928, is usually classed as magical realism. A girl who glides over the water as if across a ballroom gives her name to a ship, and anyone who steps aboard is marked for an unusual fate. The novel has been translated into at least ten languages, with a German version as early as 1949, while The Shining World exists in German, Spanish, Latvian and Polish. This is not a first edition of either novel. The book belongs to the Detgiz frame series of adventure and science fiction, named for the ornamental border on its covers: gilt arabesques on blue-grey cloth, with a tower among clouds and a flying figure. The front endpaper shows a blue view of a night town with spires and rooftops. It suits collectors of Grin and of Soviet fantastic literature, frame series completists, and readers of romantic sea adventure in Russian.