The short story “Sunstroke” has been written by Bunin in 1927, and due to the category and stylistic features is adjacent to the collection of narratives “Dark Alleys” created during the Second World War, when Bunin’s family was in extreme distress (conflicts with the authorities, lack of food, cold, etc.).
Narrative technique of Bunin's works differs in striking noble simplicity and sophistication. "Sunstroke" begins - without any pre-emptive explanations - with indefinite-personal sentence: "They came out after dinner, leaving the hot, bright lights of the cafeteria, walking on the upper deck, and stopping at the banisters”. The reader does not yet know anything about an upcoming event or its participants: the very first impression is associated with the sensations of light and heat. Images of fire, stuffiness and sun shine throughout this six-page story to support the "heat" of the narrative.
Nearly five out of six total pages of text "Sunstroke" describe the state of lieutenant after breaking up with a stranger. Actually novelistic plot is just a preamble to lyrically rich reflection of the hero about the mystery of life. The tone of these reflections by relentlessly recurring issues, which do not suggest an answer: "What to do?", "Where to go?".
