Comments on: Russian Reading Recs?

Question: Russian Reading Recs?

beezy — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:24:46 -0800

I want to read Russian literature - what do I read?

I saw Gary Kasparov speak last night, and I became really interested in reading more Russian literature. What should I read? What's most accessible to start? [I have a trauma over a high school reading of Crime & Punishment, but perhaps it's time to try again]

I think I'm starting this project to learn more about Russian culture, get a feel for the way the language works, and somehow sneak a peek into the Russian mindset.

If someone has an *accessible* history to rec, that would be great to. I confess my attention span is not what it could be these days - gimme more story, less analysis.

By: TryTheTilapia

TryTheTilapia — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:33:20 -0800

Please do try to read Crime and Punishment again. The Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translation is outstanding. Avoid the Constance Garnett translation at all costs.

By: icarus

icarus — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:54:46 -0800

Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

By: InsanePenguin

InsanePenguin — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:55:51 -0800

I really enjoyed "The Death Of Ivan Ilyich," a novella by Leo Tolstoy. It led me to read a lot of his work, all of which I enjoyed.

By: lovecrafty

lovecrafty — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:57:42 -0800

Try reading Notes from Underground, and then returning to Crime and Punishment. No exploration of Russian literature/culture can be complete without Dostoyevsky!

Gogol's short stories (esp. "The Overcoat") are great, and if you like them, try Dead Souls.

Of course, Pushkin is wonderful and an absolute must. Lots of short stories, if you don't want to start with poetry.

The Master and Margarita is one of my favorite novels, period.

I remember reading Riasanovsky's History of Russia in college and liking it.

By: shelleycat

shelleycat — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:00:38 -0800

Seconding Master and Margarita. I found it an easy (and very good) read yet very different in style than the English 'literature' I was reading around the same time.

I also liked Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) although it's a bit more soap opera-ish.

By: iconomy

iconomy — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:04:27 -0800

I found Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev to be very enjoyable.

By: rudster

rudster — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:09:17 -0800

It's not solely or even accurately classified as Russian literature, but you simply must read Pnin by Nabokov, for an important (but certainly not exclusive) representation of what is Russian. Also for the sheer enjoyment.

By: asuprenant

asuprenant — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:11:43 -0800

The Brothers Karamazov

By: limon

limon — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:21:39 -0800

What? No Chekhov? If long novels traumatize you, start with an anthology of his short stories!

By: timory

timory — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:27:09 -0800

master and margarita is my favorite book. it is soooo much better in the original, though that i feel like everyone else is missing something truly glorious. dostoevsky doesn't suffer so much in translation - please try crime and punishment again.

chekhov's plays! the three sisters is my favorite, but his comedies are good absolutely delightful as well.

gogol's short stories are a treat. read the nose.

By: DarkForest

DarkForest — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:28:16 -0800

I enjoyed Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot". I also liked some of the short stories in some ancient anthology of Russian short stories I found in a book sale (The Best Russian Short Stories (c) 1925 by The Modern Library). You can probably get something similar from your library. Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Chekov: all good. Flipping through this now I see a story "God Sees The Truth, But Waits" by Tolstoy. An intriguing enough title that I'll have to read it tonight.

By: jamjam

jamjam — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:30:30 -0800

I would start with A Sportsman's Notebook, by Ivan Turgenev, which has been said to have been more influential in the liberation of the serfs in Russia than Uncle Tom's Cabin was in ending slavery in the US.

There is an intense, melancholy, autumnally elegiac sweetness to those tales which I have searched for in other books over decades without ever finding anything that comes close.

Please pardon me while I go off for a good afternoon cry.

By: bonaldi

bonaldi — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:36:24 -0800

Pushkin's Tales of Belkin had a massive effect on Russian literature, and are worth reading in their own right.

By: chndrcks

chndrcks — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:44:01 -0800

I was going to say Sketches from a Hunter's Album by Turgenev

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:44:39 -0800

A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch is a good let's-get-comfortable-with-everyone-having-several-confusing names introduction, as it's short and has few characters and is also very good.

By: canoehead

canoehead — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:47:47 -0800

I PREFER the Constance Garnet translations but that's just me.
Also I would suggest Oblomov by Goncharov.

By: richardm

richardm — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:52:10 -0800

Once you've exhausted the above suggestions you might try: Andrei Bely, Venedikt Erofeev, Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, Victor Pelevin (I'd recommend anything before Babylon), Andrei Platanov, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Abram Tertz (Andrei Sinyavsky), Vladimir Voinovich, Yevgeny Zamyatin (We). I hope I have the spellings correct.

There are many other - in fact I've enjoy almost all the Russian novels I've picked up, with the exception of those by Vladmir Sorokin and Yuri Buida.

By: trip and a half

trip and a half — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:03:39 -0800

Many good suggestions already -- just wanted to second Goncharov's Oblomov. It's excellent and it seems like it's often overlooked.

By: londongeezer

londongeezer — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:10:18 -0800

Hard-core and quite gruelling contemporary - Vladimir Sorokin. Surreal humour - Daniel Kharms.

By: whir

whir — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:13:14 -0800

If you're looking for more accessible inroads, I would echo Gogol's short stories, and also We by Zamyatin (it's a dystopian science-fiction story, predating 1984 but very similar to it). But really, you can't go wrong with any of the classics. Even War and Peace, despite its length, is broken up into very digestible short chapters.

When I took a survey course in college we got a lot of historical and cultural information, which I found very helpful, especially with some of Gogol's stranger work, and with understanding the literary situation in Russia at the time a lot of the 19th century works were written. Unfortunately I don't have a recommendation for a good history. (I did like Goerge Steiner's literary analysis Tolstoy or Dostoevsky, but it would probably have too many spoilers for someone just starting out.) Enjoy, you have some of the finest literature ever written before you.

By: milarepa

milarepa — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:14:21 -0800

I never understood the constant adoration Master and Margarita gets. Meh. With that said, you can't go wrong with:

The Gift by Nabokov
Dead Souls (book I) by Gogol
St. Petersburg by Bely
We by Zamyatin
The Death Of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy.

By: mustcatchmooseandsquirrel

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:15:37 -0800

I second (third? fourth?) Master and Margarita by Bulgakov. And Pnin by Nabokov. Those book is brilliant. Brothers Karamazov is kind of intimidating but this chapter of it is a must.

By: mustcatchmooseandsquirrel

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:15:56 -0800

*are brilliant.

By: Emperor SnooKloze

Emperor SnooKloze — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:17:39 -0800

Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev, Akhmatova, Bulgakov, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Babel, Solzhenitsyn, (A. Anatoli) Kuznetsov, Sholokhov, Goncharov, Nabokov, Zamyatin. I'd also recommend Ken Kalfus, a contemporary American author who lives in Russia and (IMHO) writes in the Russian idiom.

Then come back and by then I'll remember more.

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:21:59 -0800

Isaac Babel's short stories are just incredible. He's not as canonical as Chekov, but man is he good.

Turgenev's novels are quite good, but some people find them less "Russian" than other 19th century Russian novelists.

By: josh

josh — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:32:56 -0800

Just aim for the bulls-eye: Anna Karenina and The Brothers Karamazov.

Also, there's a new translation of War and Peace by Pevear and Volokhonsky that should be excellent.

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:42:17 -0800

If you read one book this year, Russian or otherwise, it should be The Master and Margarita.

After you finish with that, Anna Karenina.

By: a robot made out of meat

a robot made out of meat — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:57:22 -0800

Just to clarify, do you intend to read it in Russian? Well, Anna Karenina either way.

By: Mrs. Buck Turgidson

Mrs. Buck Turgidson — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 17:09:45 -0800

The Penguin Book of New Russian Writing is a good compilation of works from the 1970s-90s.

By: Lentrohamsanin

Lentrohamsanin — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 17:12:15 -0800

You have got to read Envy by Yuri Olesha. It's an odd and delightful little book written towards the beginning of the Stalinist era, that may or may not be a wicked satire of the Soviet mindset. I can't really explain what's so great about it, but it's only about 120 pages long. There's quite a good translation of the whole thing in Penguin's Portable Twentieth-Century Russian Reader, which also has some stories by Babel and extracts from other writers mentioned here.

By: equalpants

equalpants — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 17:13:35 -0800

My top suggestions, without regard to length:
1. Crime and Punishment
2. The Gambler
3. The Eternal Husband
4. War and Peace
5. The Brothers Karamazov

I'm gonna have to dissent slightly w/regards to The Master and Margarita; I liked it, but not nearly as much as these others. Also, I don't see what's so hot about Pevear/Volokhonsky, nor what's so bad about Garnett. I can understand how some people might prefer Pevear/Volokhonsky, but a lot of people act like the difference is night and day, and it's really not. (Here's another thread about this.)

By: languagehat

languagehat — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:08:12 -0800

Great recommendations here; I especially second Oblomov and Nabokov (but I'd recommend the early novels, the ones he wrote in Russian, particularly The Gift [Dar], which to my mind is not only the best thing Nabokov ever wrote but one of the great novels of the past century). And try the historical detective novels of Boris Akunin for contemporary hijinks; they're tremendous fun (and will teach you a good bit of Russian history).

Also, I don't see what's so hot about Pevear/Volokhonsky, nor what's so bad about Garnett.

You are a discerning person. Poor old Constance takes a lot of grief because she wrote in a fairly musty Victorian style, but she was a perfectly good translator who generally got things right—if you find her style readable, go ahead and read her. And the much-lauded P&V basically suck. She knows Russian, he knows English, they sort of bat the text back and forth between them and then release it into the wild. I have no idea why they get such great press; I used to half-believe it myself, but this LH thread cured me of it. Read in particular the comments by MAB, who knows both Russian and English extremely well and is able to compare texts and translations in a way very few (and essentially no reviewers) can; I draw your attention in particular to "The P/V translations of Gogol and Master and Margarita are the worst of their batch. Definitely do not recommend."

My e-mail's languagehat at gmail; I love discussing this stuff if you ever want to!

By: languagehat

languagehat — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:12:41 -0800

Oh, I forgot about Tatyana Tolstaya—wonderful short stories that have been ably translated by Jamie Gambrell (if I remember correctly). Also, this looks like a very useful page of links.

By: knave

knave — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 19:02:41 -0800

A timely episode of On Point on the topic, you can listen to it online.

By: Mael Oui

Mael Oui — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 22:46:16 -0800

I would start with some of the short stories, namely Gogol (The Cloak) and Pushkin (The Queen of Spades). These are stories that are always in any compendium of Russian short stories. And, there's a reason for that: they're fantastic! In fact, here is an online collection called Best Russian Short Stories that contains both. You could either read it online or download it (though it downloads as a .txt, which isn't all that aesthetically pleasing). Of course, you can't go wrong with a Dostoevsky or Tolstoy short story. I would try out a couple short stories first, though, before moving on to one of the tomes.

By: eritain

eritain — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 22:54:23 -0800

Quick-start Tolstoy: How Much Land Does a Man Need? Seconding Daniil Kharms for surrealism, Solzhenitsyn for twentieth-century lived experiences (I read Gulag, which may be a but much, but I'd sight unseen second the recommendation for Ivan Denisovitch). On the poetry side of the line, I can recommend the works of Evgeny Evtushenko and Anna Akhmatova.

If you're willing to sample Ukrainian (formerly—gag—'Little Russian') literature, as well—and bear in mind, Gogol owes a lot to his Ukrainian roots—Here are some recommendations: Taras Shevchenko is a brilliant poet, and the father of Ukrainian literature. Maybe start with his 'Kateryna'. Ivan Franko and Lesya Ukrainka are the other persons of the Ukrainian literary trinity. My favorite of Franko's is 'Kameniari' (The Stonecutters) (here in Ukrainian with English translations).

By: melissa may

melissa may — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 00:10:32 -0800

Isaac Babel's been mentioned several times but I had to urge you to read him nonetheless. He's one of the best writers of short fiction, period. I will never understand why Chekov made the canon grade and he did not. Maybe because his best subject is war, and his essential outlook is bleaker than bleak.

By: jannw

jannw — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 01:02:59 -0800

my top 3.

A hero of our times
Crime and punishment
the master and the margarita

By: patricio

patricio — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 02:01:08 -0800

"Russian Short Stories from Pushkin to Buida" is a great collection of Russian short stories from the classics to more modern ones.

By: doppleradar

doppleradar — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 06:31:07 -0800

A Sportsman's Notebook by Turgenev and Cancer Ward by Solzhenitsyn

By: mediareport

mediareport — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:48:48 -0800

I absolutely loved Chekhov's short stories; they're brilliant little slices of honest life, presented with empathy but not shying away from the darkness in many characters, and were highly influential in shaping the modern short story. The human angles and settings varied widely enough to keep me reading dozens and dozens of them. I started with the Garnett translations and moved onto a book of Pevear/Volokhovsky and while I found the latter more to my liking, as I said in the previous Russian translation thread they were both relatively interesting and accessible. (Can't speak to the issues that matter to translators in that fascinating thread at languagehat's site, though I'm prepared to accept that P/V are far more praised than they should be.)

The Master and Margarita has the advantage of being really, really funny. Might be just the thing to start with; it's a satire of 1920s Soviet life in which Satan and his pals, including a large talking cat, set up shop in bureaucratic Moscow. Hilarity ensues. The edition I enjoyed was translated by Mirra Ginsburg and included an interesting introduction to Bulgakov's life.

I also was captivated/horrified by some of Varlam Shalamov's Kolyma Tales, a collection of short stories about life in a Stalinist prison camp in the 1930s and 40s, which isn't as well known as some other gulag literature but is just stunningly honest, brutal and heart-wrenching.