''Scarlet Sails'' (, ''Alye parusa'') is a 1923 romantic novel with elements of

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

by Russian writer

Alexander Grin Aleksandr Stepanovich Grinevsky (better known by his pen name, Aleksander Green / Grin (spelling varies in non-Russian literature), rus, Александр Грин, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɡrʲin, a=Ru-Aleksandr Grin.ogg, 23 August 1880 – 8 July 1 ...

. The author described the genre of the novel as

féerie ''Féerie'' (), sometimes translated as "fairy play", was a French theatrical genre known for fantasy plots and spectacular visuals, including lavish scenery and mechanically worked stage effects. ''Féeries'' blended music, dancing, pantomime, ...

. It is a story about a dream coming true no matter how futile it seems. It was written during 1916–1922.История о сбывшейся мечте: 100 лет феерии Александра Грина «Алые паруса»
/ref>Повести Александра Грина «Алые паруса» 100 лет: почему прототип Ассоль получила 10 лет лагерей и умерла в нищете
/ref>

Plot summary

The novel has two plot lines: Assol's line and Gray's line, that join in the finale.
a page from the Biennale of Poets in Moscow ''Assol's plot line:'' The sailor Longren returns home to the village of Kaperna, and finds that his wife has died from illness and left him a 3-month-old daughter, Assol. Longren gives up his life as a sailor and spends his days raising Assol and making toys. After an incident where Longren leaves the man he considers responsible for his wife's death to drown, Longren and Assol are shunned entirely by human society. One day Assol is sent to a city with a batch of toys, including a yacht with scarlet sails. Assol lets it sail along a stream, and as she followed it she met a stranger, old Egl, who prophesied that many years in the future a prince will carry her away on a ship with scarlet sails. Since then Assol has dreamt of this prophecy and the locals consider her insane. ''Gray's plot line:'' Arthur Gray is a rich heir given to flights of fancy. When he is young, he is told that an ancestor of his left barrels of wine to his descendants claiming "Gray shall only drink this wine in paradise!" Inspired by a seascape painting, he runs away from home at age 15 and joined the crew of the schooner ''Anselm''. Later, he becomes captain of his own ship, the ''Secret''. When it sails to Kaperna, Gray sees a sleeping girl, falls in love with her and puts his ring on her finger. In the local tavern he is told (by the son of the man Longren left to die) that the girl is a local ''crazy'' named Assol, but a friend of Assol claims that she is not in fact insane. He makes sails of scarlet silk and sails to Assol's village. ''Finale:'' Assol sees a white ship with scarlet sails, Gray takes Assol in a boat to the ship, and they drink the wine. Both prophecies are fulfilled.

Commentary

The prophecy is the only fantastic element of the novel. The first version had a bit more of it: the "Scarlet Sails" was supposed to be a

story within a story A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometime ...

, with the

frame story A frame story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either fo ...

involving the narrator and a flying man Mas-Tuel. ''Scarlet Sails'' had a tremendous impact on

Russian culture Russian culture ( rus, Культура России, Kul'tura Rossii, kʊlʲˈturə rɐˈsʲiɪ) has been formed by the nation's history, its geographical location and its vast expanse, religious and social traditions, and both Eastern cultu ...

."Алые паруса": русская феерия с вековой историей
/ref>

English translations

Olga Godim's
2019 version

Adaptations

Film

* '' Scarlet Sails'' (1961), directed by Alexandr Ptushko * ''Scarlet'' (2022), directed by

Pietro Marcello Pietro Marcello (born 2 July 1976) is an Italian film director. He has directed more than ten documentary and feature films since 2004. Several of his films have been presented at international film festivals and have received various awards and n ...

*', a 1982 feature-length film by

Boris Stepantsev Boris Pavlovich Stepantsev (; 7 December 1929 — 21 May 1983) was a Soviet and Russian animation director, animator, artist and book illustrator, as well as a vice-president of ASIFA (1972–1982) and creative director of the Multtelefilm animati ...

with elements of animation

Scene

*2013:

Music

*''Assol'', a 1965 children's operetta by

Eugen Kapp Eugen Kapp (29 October 1996) was an Estonian composer and music educator. Characterized by simple harmonies, march rhythms and an appealing melodic style, his music is reflective upon the musical ideas favoured by the Stalinist regime of the 19 ...

References

{{reflist 1923 Russian novels 1923 fantasy novels Russian fantasy novels Soviet novels Romantic novels Russian novels adapted into films Fantasy novels adapted into films Alexander Grin