Russian literature

Hey,
Have you ever read the Russian book with the peom called the poem of the grand inquisiter? I haven't read the book but I've read the exerpt from it on the web just recently where it says that a man kisses his brother Ivan sitently on the lips. I think this is a beautiful greeting if it can be done betwen men as nothing more than that, especially if the men are flesh and blood brothers. Does anyone know if men in the Russian Orthadox church greet like that in Russia? If so, is anyone here from Russia and do you go to that church and do that?

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Originally Posted by Koa

I adored "Devils". Possibly even more than Crime & Punishment (I haven't read the other two yet). It's part of the reason why I decided to study Russian..

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I just finished reading "The Possessed" yesterday, I enjoyed it as much as "The Idiot" but not as much as "Crime and Punishment". One you didn't mention is "Notes From the Underground" which is probably my favourite of Dostoevsky's books.

Hey,
Does anyone know aout the book called the Karamazov brothers?" I want to meet a man who has a brother he kisses on hte lips as a greeting like the nice man that does the kissing in that Russian literature book.

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Originally Posted by zwag

Hey,
Have you ever read the Russian book with the peom called the poem of the grand inquisiter? I haven't read the book but I've read the exerpt from it on the web just recently where it says that a man kisses his brother Ivan sitently on the lips. I think this is a beautiful greeting if it can be done betwen men as nothing more than that, especially if the men are flesh and blood brothers. Does anyone know if men in the Russian Orthadox church greet like that in Russia? If so, is anyone here from Russia and do you go to that church and do that?

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It's Brothers Karamazov from Fyodor Dostoevsky, and no, they don't do that regulary in Orthodox church. Why are you so interested about that???

Hello!! First post!! My favourite Russian work at present would have to be the Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (hence the screen name :nod: ) I think it's a brilliant work of satire and it defies the conventions of its time. I also love ANYTHING by Pushkin, specifically Evgeny Onegin and The Queen of Spades.

I am looking for a good wartime romance novel. I particularly love reading about the Russian wars. Any suggestions would be appreciated

Well, there's always War and Peace by Tolstoy which takes place during the war of 1812. Then you could go with Quiet Flows the Don by Sholohkov which features, amoung other things, the romance of Gregor and Aksinia along with the Russian Revolution and the Civil War that followed. Quiet Flows the Don is written from the Cossacks point of view and for the most part, they fought with the Whites, if you want to look at that struggle from the Red point of view, you could go with the Fedin Trilogy, Early Joy, No Ordinary Summer and The Bonfire which is also called, The Conflagration. There's also Doctor Zhivago by Pasternak...again about the Revolution and the time afterwards. Those are the books that first spring to mind but I'm sure I'll come up with more after a bit. :)

I find it unfortunate that it took me so long to get into Russian literature. The first novel I ever picked up from a Russian author was Darkness At Noon by Arthur Koestler a couple of months ago. I'm hooked. The book just knocked the breath out of me, it was so different than the American and English literature I was reading at the time. I can't wait to dive deeper into Russian lit. Wish I knew the language!

I love Russian literature and I'm fortunate that I don't have to look for any translations. The originals are always better. I love the poetry of Zvetaeva and Akhmatova, and the prose by so many authors I cant even think of!

You can try "How the steel was tempered" by Ostrovski...It features the The Great Patritioc war...If you are willing to shun the radiance of the "socialistic idealism" you may well detect the merits of the work, despite the colourful images of the now discredited communism.

I have quite a fondness for Russian literature. My review of Summer in Baden-Baden by Leonid Tsypkin can be found here:

http://www.online-literature.com/for...&postcount=327

"I find it unfortunate that it took me so long to get into Russian literature. The first novel I ever picked up from a Russian author was Darkness At Noon by Arthur Koestler a couple of months ago."

Great book indeed.

But Koestler was not Russian - He was of Hungarian-Jewish origin, and from the early 1940s he lived in England.

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/koestler.htm

I'd also recommend "Life and Destiny" by Vassily Grossman

If anyone is interested in psychology and philosophy, you might want to read Valery Sinelnikov's works...He has his PhD and he's still practising. The books are truelly interesting because of his extraordinary views and interesting stories from his own practise.

Russian Lit has got to be the best i've ever read. It doesn't compare to English lit, although I enjoy it very much, and I also agree, it's ashame I can't read russian because I bet the books are much more interesting. (O_O)y