Russian literature...

[kiki1982]

Hello!

I'm a little bit in the dark about russian literature. The first ever book I had to read was Dostojevski's 'Crime and Punishment', but I didn't like it at all and I left it after 30 pages or so. I tried it again after a year and I got to around page 100 and then I was so bored that I gave up again.:as-sleep:
A little earlier this year I went to Tshechov's 'Three Sisters' and that I really liked. Maybe it was just Dostojevski that bored me, or even the translation and not russain literature as a whole...
Is there anyone who can recommend a russian book that is not boring, has no useless feeling to it and not too long for a first time (so Tolstoj's 'War and Peace' is really out of the question)?
I would be much obliged to all of you...:)

[mayneverhave]

Hmmm.

Personally, I found the Constance Garnett translation of The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky to be incredible. I personally wasn't too thrilled with Crime and Punishment either, but thought the Brothers K was magnificent.

If you want something shorter, try Nikolai Gogol's "The Overcoat". It's a short story (one of the best) that should give you a fairly accurate glimpse at Russian style and technique.

[SirRaustusBear]

A short Russian novel that I loved is Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time. It has that whole Russian ambiguous morality but it's under 200 pages. Crime and Punishment is my favorite Russian novel though, so our tastes may be different.

[johann cruyff]

Definitely The Brothers Karamazov.Also,try some of Tolstoy's short stories and novellas,you may like them.Of course,there is a lot more to Russian literature than just Dostoevsky and Tolstoy,but those two are the best.If you don't like any of their work(which is almost impossible,don't worry),it's unlikely that you'll like anything else.

[Quark]

If you liked Chekhov's plays you could try his short stories. Four favorites of mine are "About Love", "The Student", "Sleepy", and "A Doctor's Visit." I'm actually running a Chekhov short story discussion on LitNet if you're interested: http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17728&page=11. We do one or two stories a month.

Outside of Chekhov, though, there are a number of good authors to try. Some people have already mentioned Gogol and Tolstoy. Another one might be Turgenev. These are the big 19th century authors. Hopefully, someone who knows a little more about contemporary Russian lit can name some more recent books.

[Kafka's Crow]

If you can't read Crime and Punishment then you should stay away from Dostoevsky for the time being. A Hero of Our Time is a good suggestion for a starting point. Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev should also cause little problems. Once you are at ease with smaller works than you will find yourself capable of enjoying the 'biguns'. Notes from the Underground and The Death of Ivan Ilych should be good for you as well if you have appetite for highly introspective novel and the 'death-bed topos.'

[JBI]

Pushkin's Eugene Onegin is perhaps the greatest work of Russian literature I have yet come across.

[Mockingbird_z]

well I think you cant judge a book (at least you cant say that you dont like a book) just because you have not read it up to the end.
Only after you have read the last page casn you say wether it was worthy or not.
Dostoevsky is very diffucult to read even for native speakers, the lannguage is may be difficult but the whole idea is what you should concentrate on, and if you havent finished it you cant know if you like it.
though I may be mistaken

[Oomoo]

Fathers and Sons is not a true Russian novel. Turgenev explores Russian themes and every character has 100 names, but his work lacks the Russian spirit that one can feel in Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. He is more formalist and more traditionalist - almost no thoughts of characters! - and while his novels are extremely well written one can't feel the "fire".

[Amundsen]

I can also recommend Hero of our time and also Lermontov's Demon-about 100 pages maybe more

[bazarov]

Fathers and Sons is not a true Russian novel. Turgenev explores Russian themes and every character has 100 names,

What would that suppose to mean?
Actually, Fathers and Sons might be the best to start. In my opinion, Three Sisters is the worst piece of Russian literature I've ever read.

If you continue this tempo, you'll read C&P in only five years; and that's not bad :thumbs_up War and Peace or Brothers Karamazov are too too big for start.

[Julian Koller]

Start off with the work of Alexander Pushkin, the father of Russian literature. Once you love him, the rest will follow.

[Julian Koller]

What would that suppose to mean?
Actually, Fathers and Sons might be the best to start. In my opinion, Three Sisters is the worst piece of Russian literature I've ever read.

If you continue this tempo, you'll read C&P in only five years; and that's not bad :thumbs_up War and Peace or Brothers Karamazov are too too big for start.

what did you have against Three Sisters? I enjoyed it even though it is minor Chekhov

[Etienne]

Gogol is an absolute must (Petersburg Tales being my favorite work of his, his major work is Dead Souls);

Gontcharov's Oblomov is great, there's a topic just started on it as well, you can check quickly;

Checkov's short stories and other plays;

Bulgakov's Master and Margarita as someone mentionned;

Bely's Petersburg, absolute masterpiece, I can't praise it enough, probably my favorite work of Russian literature;

Tolstoy, you can start with his short novels (The Death of Ivan Illitch, The Cossacks, Kreutzer Sonata, etc.), my favorite work of his is undoubtely War and Peace, a giant epic of Russia during the Napoleonic wars;

Dostoevsky, his main works are The Brothers Karamazov, the Idiot and Crime and Punishment, all were good, although the Brothers Karamazov stand out as his greatest work. He has great shorter works, like Notes from the Underground.

Turgenev is great, although he is probably the less Russian of all mentioned. Fathers and Sons is very good, I suggest you look his other works as well, I remember this novella called Clara Millitch which was magnificent.

Sholokhov is good, but I suggest you only read And Quiet Flows the Don, it's about the cossacks during WW1, it's sequel do not live up to this work, however.

Nabokov's Russian works are very good, notably The Luzhin Defence.

[miss_chau]

I read Fathers and Sons by Turgenev while at university, and it has become one of my favourite novels by a Russian author. I haven't studied Russian history, so I can't make any comment on how "Russian" a novel is. I don't know if that's even a necessary criteria.

The most recent novel by a Russian author that I've read is A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch. This is on of my favourite novels, period. It is a heavily character-driven novel, and one might say that "nothing happens!" Depending on how you read it, though, one might also say that it's full of action. I agree with the latter.

[Etienne]

I haven't studied Russian history, so I can't make any comment on how "Russian" a novel is. I don't know if that's even a necessary criteria.

It's not a necessary criteria at all, I was just mentioning.

[islandclimber]

A short Russian novel that I loved is Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time. It has that whole Russian ambiguous morality but it's under 200 pages. Crime and Punishment is my favorite Russian novel though, so our tastes may be different.

I quite enjoyed this as well.. It is like the russian take on the adventure novel to a degree...

And I agree with Etienne and Oomoo, Fathers and Sons is not a traditionally Russian novel... Turgenev, though writing beautifully, maybe more so than many of the other more Russian authors, he lacks the power and the passion and the fire of so many others... Dostoevsky puts it best in "The Devils" with Turgenev portrayed by Karamazinov who is depicted as in love with all German thinking, and wants to appear to be with the youth, and is so dreadfully boring... as is apparent Dostoevsky and Turgenev did not get along...

but I might try reading some of Chekhov's longer stories, "the black monk", "ward 6", "The ravine"... or Dostoevsky's shorter works as they help with grasping and getting into the longer works... try "Notes from the Underground".... Nabokov is another one I might try, "Invitation to a Beheading" was written before he went to the US... and is actually the work he said once, that he held in the highest esteem of all his works... it is fascinating...

I read Crime and Punishment as my first piece of Russian Lit and loved it, but everyone is different.. so I hope you find something you like from this great source of wonderful literature:)

cheers

[kiki1982]

@mockingbird:

Normally I am of the same opinion as you and this was the first book ever to be awarded with the honour of not being read. After 30 pages or so I had to force myself to read on, so I decided it was not my kind of book.
The language wasn't really too difficult as such, but on the whole it was rather slow, useless, depressing etc. It was the first time ever that I had such a feeling with a book... The effect got worse as my professor european literature seemed to adore russian authors and when she couldn't finish her programm at the end of the year, she decided only on doing russian writers and so that put me off for a few years...

Looking at this list however, I have found some inspiration, so I'm prepared to give it another few chances.
Thanks everyone!:)

[Pensive]

The only Russian writers (out of those whose works I have tried) I could get into have been Gorky and Chekhov. Especially loved Chekhov's short stories.

[Mockingbird_z]

Has anyone read Granet Braslet ( i am not sure about the title in English) by Kuprin.
i just want to add someone new to the list "Dostoevskiy - Lermontov - Tolstoy - Turgenev".
it is a very good book too. i advise

[Kafka's Crow]

Has anyone read Granet Braslet ( i am not sure about the title in English) by Kuprin.
i just want to add someone new to the list "Dostoevskiy - Lermontov - Tolstoy - Turgenev".
it is a very good book too. i advise

Thanks Mockingbird_z. Found this about Kuprin, it has a few shorter works in pdf format:

http://www.kuprin.de/

[Mockingbird_z]

not at all. =) i hope you will like it.
He also has "Olesya"

[islandclimber]

The only Russian writers (out of those whose works I have tried) I could get into have been Gorky and Chekhov. Especially loved Chekhov's short stories.

Have you read Gorky's story "Creatures that were once Men"??? I love it, it's one of my favourite short stories...

[mortalterror]

Eugene Onegin by Pushkin is supposed to be th "fountainhead" of modern Russian literature. There's a decent verse translation by Nabokov, but I liked The Queen of Spades (prose) better. He was a versatile man to master both prose and verse.

Lermontov's A Hero For Our Time is my favorite Russian novel.

Goncharov's Oblomov started out great but I'm having trouble finishing the last hundred pages. It's just not funny anymore. Although it's still very well written.

Checkov, I like his plays better than his short stories. The Seagull is good.

Turgenev's Fathers and Sons was just alright in my opinion, but he was Hemingway's favorite writer.

Tolstoy and Dostoyevski are both over rated. There I said it. I read War and Peace, and Anna Karenina. They had some nice parts, but nothing to justify the massive consumption of time it takes to read either of them. There are many good points to Tolstoy's style, but I cannot get over how much I object to his handling of plot. Dostoyevski is lousy for other reasons. I read Crime and Punishment and there wasn't a believable character in the book. The characters don't talk, they pontificate and lecture. Tolstoy's characters feel real, they speak real, they act real. I don't like much about Tolstoy, but I'll give him this, he had naturalism down. Dostoyevski is an egghead who writes about ideas and I think there are subtler ways to go about that. I will confess to liking Tolstoy's short story How Much Land Does a Man Need?

I didn't much care for Gogol's Overcoat, however I haven't read Dead Souls or The Inspector General.

The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov was excellent.

I saw the movie and read the first chapter of Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, which were both special.

But my favorite Russian is still Nabokov. Lolita is a masterpiece of English fiction. I think he wrote The Defense in Russian and that's pretty impressive as well. Also, check out The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, and The Eye.

[Mockingbird_z]

Have you read M. Gorkiy? He is also a very good writer.

[manolia]

Have you read M. Gorkiy? He is also a very good writer.

Maxim Gorky? I have read most of his book..but i have the impression that he isn't very popular..i like his books though :nod:

[Mockingbird_z]

to tell the truth it is difficult to say who is really popular now in russia. certainly we should mention Dostoevsky, thats why there appear films based on his books, but its also a matter of taste and interest whether you find Gorky interesting or not.
its better to like differeant authors and find something interesting in every book.

[Mockingbird_z]

Pelevin - well yes. i have heard a lot about him too, though havent read yet.
my teacher says he is one of the best writers in modern russian literature, i think i can believe him.
so i will read a book when i get the chance.