The Red Laugh

About this book

In The Red Laugh, Russian writer Leonid Andreyev depicts war through a consciousness overwhelmed by fear and violence. Presented as fragments of a discovered manuscript, the narrative moves from marching soldiers and battlefields to a home life still disturbed by the experience of war. Memory and nightmare overlap as the characters struggle to make sense of what they have witnessed. The narrative passes between two brothers, while the recurring image of the red laugh carries the horror of battle into everyday life. This psychological work concentrates on grief, unstable perception and the effects of violence, offering an anti-war vision rather than a celebration of military heroism. Translated into Arabic by Mostafa Younes, this 108-page edition is published by Kinzy Publishing Agency in the World Classics Library series.