"Kholstomer", also translated as "Strider", is one of the most striking stories in Russian literature

Russian literature

Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union...

. It was started by Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...

 in 1863 and left unfinished

Unfinished work

An unfinished work is creative work that has not been finished. Its creator may have chosen never to finish it or may have been prevented from doing so by circumstances outside of their control such as death. Such pieces are often the subject of speculation as to what the finished piece would have...

 until 1886, when it was reworked and published as "Kholstomer: The Story of a Horse". Georgi Tovstonogov staged it in his theatre

Tovstonogov Theater

Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theater , formerly known as Gorky Bolshoi Drama Theater , often referred to as the Bolshoi Drama Theater and by the acronym BDT , is a theater in Saint Petersburg, that is considered one of the best Russian theaters...

 in 1975. The horse was played by Evgeny Lebedev

Evgeny Lebedev

Evgeny Alexandrovich Lebedev is the chairman of both Evening Standard Ltd, which owns the Evening Standard and also Independent Print Ltd which owns the Independent newspapers, which he bought in January 2009 and March 2010...

. This story prominently features the technique of defamiliarization

Defamiliarization

Defamiliarization or ostranenie is the artistic technique of forcing the audience to see common things in an unfamiliar or strange way, in order to enhance perception of the familiar...

 by adopting the perspective of a horse to expose some of the irrationalities of human conventions.

Strider's altruistic life is recounted parallel to that of his selfish and useless owner. At the end of the story Strider dies but his corpse gives birth to a new life - that of wolf cubs

Cubs

Cubs may refer to:*Chicago Cubs, a baseball team of the National League of Major League Baseball**Iowa Cubs, a minor league baseball team of the Pacific Coast League**Daytona Cubs, a minor league baseball team of the Florida State League...

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