Ah.. Is that the book about the man who has gambling problems?
Printable View
Ah.. Is that the book about the man who has gambling problems?
No that's The Gambler, another great Dostoevsky's.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nico87
Etienne, check your pm!
This thread has helped me ALOT. A list of books purchased after starting this thread;
Dostoevsky:
Crime and Punishment
The Idiot
Demons
Notes from Underground
The Double & The Gambler (2 in 1)
Nabokov:
Pnin
Lolita
Bulgakov:
The Master and Margarita
The Heart of a Dog
Chekov:
Essential Tales
Shalamov:
The Kolyma Tales
Kafka:
Collected Stories
Most of the books I bought are published by Everyman's Library so it makes a nice collection. Feel sorry for me wallet, though.
Great choices!
Hope so, looks like I'll be reading alot of Dostoevsky in the future!
And no Brothers Karamazov? Shame on you!
Seriously, you have to have that book!
If you see the first post on this thread you will see a list of russian novels I already own, and you will find it there, bazarov!
:p Ups!:blush:
Great collection! You will like Crime and Punishment, believe me.
Hi,
the list you have read is pretty good. I would still recomment you reading "The crime and punishment". I read it when I was 16. The book is fairly difficult, since it has much to do with psychology, but it is VERY interesting. You'll enjoy it.
Still there are much more Russian Classical writers that you can read and enjoy your reading. For instance, do not forget Chekhov and his short stories and dramas. They are engoyable and easy to read. I loved Kuprin. What about Pushin and Lermontov??? They belong to the bloom of the Russian Classical Literature.
How did you expose Russian Literature for you anyway?
Cheers,
Olga
Well, as I said in the first post of this thread I used to read WW1 and WW2 litterature. A lot. My favourite subject on WW2 is the Eastern Front. The Battle of Stalingrad, the Leningrad Siege, and so forth. I then started reading a book written by Vasily Grossman, and when I googled his name on the internet, the name Solzhenitsyn popped up, can't remember where. After reading some books about the Eastern Front I heard the name Gulag alot, and wanted to investigate that further. As many people know, Solzhenitsyn is a great source if you want to learn more about Gulag, and after reading some of his books, I tried to find out more about Russian litterature. Long story short, I ended up on this forum! ;)
And, if you look on the bottom of page 3 in this thread, I made a list of the books I've recently purchased. Crime and Punishment is on the list.
I've read A Hero of our Time by Lermontov, with a translation from Vladimir Nabokov.
I don't remember much of it though, it's been some years since I read it. I see that Everyman's Library has published it so if I'm ever gonna re-read it, I will probably get the Everyman's edition.
I haven't read anything by Pushkin yet. I've purchased a book that contains the most popular russian short-stories, and The Queen of Spades is in that book. Everyman's Library has published two books by Pushkin. One is called The Collected Stories and contains The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich, Dubrovskii, The Queen of Spades, The Captain's Daughter, A History of Pugachev, Egyptian Nights and some other stories and some unfinished work. The other book is called Eugene Onegin and Other Poems. Not sure which one to get if I will read anything by Pushkin. Maybe you could recommend one of the two?
O'k. I haven't read the whole thread, of course, I'm also a member since ca. half an hour here. It was just an interesting topic. One is always glad to know that other nationalities are interested somehow in his/her culture:)
Hehe, agreed. But could you help me with Pushkin? I don't know which is best to buy, "The Collected Stories" or "Eugene and Other Poems".
"The Collected Stories" does not include "Eugene".
You can see the stories included in "The Collected Stories" in my post above.
It would be a sin to miss Eugene Onegin! It's a great poem, probably the best Pushkin's work, one of my Top 5 favorites; much better then Captain's daughter, Mozart and Salieri or Boris Godunov.
Of course, that's just my opinion.
I'm not sure, though. I have never read poems except World War 1 poems. On the other hand, the Everyman's Library edition only costs about $16.
That's not a poem(sorry, different meaning of word poem in my language), it's a novel in verse.
Oh, I thought it was a poem in verse :p
Yeah, I realized! Sorry, my mistake!:blush:
Err, you were right. It is a novel in verse!
Ah well, I ordered Eugene Onegin and Other Poems by Pushkin and The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. I also ordered The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek, which has been one of my favourite books since I loaned it from the local library about 4 years ago. All from Everyman's Library, of course. Now my wallet hurt so much that I won't buy another book for 10 years.
I'm not a big reader of poetry and I was kind of intimidated by Eugene Onegin but once you get into it, you almost forget it's in verse. It has a very nice flow, very easy so you're able to focus on the story and not the rhyme and meter.
Nico, I have just read this thread in its entirety, and I alarmed that Turgenev has received so little attention. Yes, one or two people have recommended 'Fathers & Sons', but I would also suggest 'Rudin', 'House of the Gentry', and an exquisite short story called, 'First Love'. As an introduction to his work, you might care to read Robert Dessaix's biography, published about a year ago, 'Travels with Turgenev: Twilight of Love'. Robert Dessaix is an Australian writer and a former lecturer of Russian literature. In this book, he discusses his deeply sympathetic relationship with Turgenev, and explores the theme of love in Turgenev's major works. Turgenev was a nineteenth century writer, a consummate aesthete and a master of style. (He shared a long correspondence with that other great master of style, Gustave Flaubert.) His prose is so refined, so flowing, and so lyrical....certain passages in his novels simply make one's heart melt. I urge you to read Turgenev before all the others. It'll be the most rewarding and most enriching reading experience you can ever dream of.
P.S - Some mention was made of Chekhov's short stories. Don't forget to read his plays!!! There was a great film adaptation of Uncle Vanya called 'Vanya on 22nd Street'. Cherry Orchard is also very famous.
P.P.S - Kafka was a Jew from Prague who wrote in German. And Nabakov wrote in English, and spent most of his life in America.
P.P.P.S - Perhaps you can find a book in your library called 'Lectures on Russian Literature' by Nabakov. Quite interesting. It deals with 'Fathers and Sons' and 'Crime and Punishment', among others. (His criticism of the latter is quite scathing.)
I think On The Eve is my favorite Turgenev. Rudin left me largely indifferent but as a general rule, I agree with everything you said about Turgenev. I think he's often forgotten amongst the other giants of Russian Lit and that's unfortunate. I'm just trying not to overwhelm the poor boy, Nico has suggestions here to keep him busy for about the next 10 years. :lol: I suggested Fathers and Sons with the hope that he, like me, will read it and fall in love with the author and seek out more of his books.
Arr, you bastards!! My wallet has already called in a few "mayday's" ! Awwrite, I'll look into the stuff mentioned above; with overwhelming fury! :flare:
While we're at it, I have considered reading Chekov's plays, but I'm not sure how to take on reading one. I've never been close to reading a play of any sort. Well, except for the (famous?) norwegian play Peer Gynt, which we had to read in primary school.
I had a look at A Sportsman's Notebook by Turgenev, and I think it looks interesting. This is a collection of short stories, am I right?
:lol: :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Nico87
Turgenev is really great, especially Fathers and Sons.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Werther
I'm reading it at the moment! You're right it's very interesting and entertaining too!
Anyone here read both Pnin and Lolita by Nabokov? Which one should I start with? I also have Pale Fire.