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Hello everyone,
I just saw the film The Last Station about Tolstoy's last months and his impact on the Russian people, and it sparked my attention for Russian literature. Can anyone familiar with the genre offer a few entry points for someone who's looking to start exploring?
FYI : I have not read anything by Tolstoy or Dostoevesky, so practically anything is open game.
Pushkin is considered as the father of Russian literature, but I am no further than him, I'm afraid.
And I'm gonna be a while yet because Pushkin sparked my interest so much that I actually have started to learn the language so I can read Eugene Onegin and the rest in their original. It's going well so far; starting on children's books soon :). Beautiful language.
But certainly, there are a few Dostoevski fans round here, and a few who have read Tolstoy.
Apperently they had something against Napoleon (image of misplaced pride and downfall), locked their wives up until the early 18th century (?) and they still had serfs (kind of slaves like Europe had until the middleages, they came with the land one bought) until 1917. Catherine the Great improved the country in the 18th century, but then the country stayed the same through which, because it was already desparately behind, it lacked further behind to the pre-indsutrial 19th century state it was when te revolution happened in 1917.
Have fun!
Tha's all I know, but brushing up on things like this might benefit you in order to understand everythng better.
I have always wanted to read further Tolstoy, having only read The Death of Ivan Ilyich.
"The Death of Ivan Ilyich" is a great place to start with Tolstoy, though since most of his works are so long, you may move into him with a couple more novellas rather than "Anna Karenina" or "War and Peace". I have a nice little 3 novella paperback from Borders publishing that was inexpensive. Also, his essays are certainly not politically correct by modern standards but very interesting.
Dostoevsky is more to my taste and has, I think, more excessively readable "long novels". "Notes From the Underground" is brilliant but might be a little difficult to start with, though its length is nice for getting introduced. "The Gambler" and "The Double" are also great short works. Nothing compares, however, to "The Brothers Karamazov" it is probably the best, most engaging classical novel I have ever read. "Crime and Punishment" is also great, as is "The Idiot" though I would wait on the latter till you get a feel for his existential/Christian faith.
As for translations, Pevear and Volokhonsky have great translations of most of these works--as well as a great Everyman's Library Collected Stories of Gogol--but the older (and public domain!) versions by Constance Garnett are also very good.
You are in for a world of brilliance. Enjoy.
Oh read any of his great short novels: The Death of Ivan Illych, Master and Man, The Kreutzer Sonata, Hadji Murat, and definitely read Anna Karinina. These are among the greatest pieces of fiction ever written.
Hey thanks everyone. I have not gotten a chance to go to the library lately, but when I do I think I will look for some of Tolstoy's novellas. I think I will also check out "The Brothers Karamozov."
@kiki1982: I actually have an aunt who studied russian all throughout college for the same purposes so I can definitely see where youre coming from.
Resurrection. Tolstoy's novels are very readable. You can start with his autobiographical novel which is really three novels generally bundled together:
Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth. Anna Karenina could be next. It is a good read and is not too difficult. War and Peace is very long, but not difficult to read once you have all the various families in the book straight in your mind. Many copies give you an outline of the families. Resurrection was his last novel. It is the story of a Russian nobleman who seduces a servant girl. Years later he is called to jury duty. That's right; the young girl he seduced is on trial for theft and murder while working in a bawdy house. The Prince feels that he is resposible for her downfall. the rest of the book tells how this confrontation changes his and the girl's life.
I probably like Dostoevsky more than Tolstoy. The order I read his four big novels is The Brothers Karamazov, The Possessed, The Idiot, and Crime and Punishment. I've also read his novel A Raw Youth. The Gambler, Notes from Underground, and The House of the Dead are also good.
For short stories and a change of pace try Chekov and Gogol.
For shorter novels, read Turgenev's Fathers and Sons and Torrents of Spring.
For a more modern novel, read Pasternack's Doctor Zhivago. You can also see the movie .... one of the best made by Hollywood with Julie Christy and Omar Shariff. Probably the best love story I have ever read.
Russian literature is some of the best in the world. There are more novels, short stories, and plays than I have listed here. Just plunge in and enjoy.
For Dostoevsky - I would start with The Eternal Husband or Humiliated and Insulted. The Brothers Karamozov is about 1,000 pages longQuote:
Originally Posted by addae
A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Solzhenitsyn is also a really good, and pretty short, Russian novel
I've started reading War and Peace, but I thought I'd get a bit of historical info first, so that I can contextualise a bit easier. I'm finding that it is helping having been introduced to the historical players, even though the history book was primarilty about the invaision of Russia, and the subsequent retreat by Napoleon, and the novel starts before this.
It's due to the people on Litnet that I've decided to do a bit more study with my reading.
You can probably learn more about Tolstoy by first reading his non-fiction. I recommend his The Kingdom of God is Within You:
http://www.kingdomnow.org/withinyou.html
I recommend Poor Folk as an intro into Dostoyevsky's work.
As a general intro into 19th century classical Russian literature I recommend Gogol's "The Overcoat".
For 20th century literature, I recommend,
http://www.sovlit.com/
I consider this one of the greatest websites in the Internet.
War & Peace (Maude translation)
For Dostoyevsky, why not start with 'Notes from the Underground'. Relatively short, but will give you a good insight into his writing in unflinchingly raw, distilled form. After that 'Crime and Punishment' which would be a good entry point to his novels, and hopefully that will lead you to his magnum opus, 'The Brothers Karamazov'. I can't recommend his novels enough.
Tolstoy I would start with Anna Karenina. Yes it's lengthy, but very easy to read, and it's an incredible novel that deals with a lot of the themes that fascinated Tolstoy; a lot of people seem to be turned off by the character of Levin, but I found him one of the most endearing characters that Tolstoy created and he is fundamental to the novel (as the characterisation of Tolstoy himself and as the contrast to Anna's story). War and Peace is more difficult in terms of size and scope, and requires a lot of attention, but I found once you are absorbed into the story and familiar with all the familes, it is an incredibly rewarding read.
Others:
Dead Souls by Gogol - in many ways the precursor to the great Russian novelists, but fascinating in it's own right, and a very funny, satirical book too.
Fathers and Sons by Turgenev - especially since a lot of Dostoevsky's work (especially Demons) is a direct response to this novel
Short stories by Chekhov - master of this form
Tolstoy has always been my favorite and his books always interest me. I find all of his works very moving.
He has no parallels in the world of literature.
War and peace is such a book I never get tired of reading.
At times I think this book must be rated the greatest novel written on earth.
As an introduction to Tolstoy you might consider "Count Cagliostro", one of my favourite short pieces. His craftmanship with words were something else e.g.
"Her face, a face of a child rather than that of a woman, seemed transparent, for so soft and clear was the skin; she kept her eyelids modestly lowered over her blue eyes, and her sweet mouth slightly parted".
If Tolstoy has attracted your interest, start with him. If you enjoy "Big" History, go with War and Peace. If you prefer more personal and social stories, then Anna K . It depends what kind of thing you like- a bit of research will reveal what you need. I will just add that Tolstoy is very good teller of stories whatever his subject, you don't need a degree in Russian Lit to enjoy them.