Reading the Russians in 2021

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

These books will be sidereads in addition to our monthly Classics in Translation. The goal is to read books by Russian authors other than Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and Nikolai Gogol.

January: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

February/ March: Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

April/May/June: And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov ( possibly the sequel: The Don Flows Home to the Sea)

July: The Mother by Maxim Gorky

August: Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin

September/October: Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov

November: The Twelve Chairs by Ilya Ilf

December: Russian Poets - Sergei Yesenin, Osip Mandelstam or member's choice

And

Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin

Which I totally forgot to post in August!

[Jazzy]

I've read the lot! Several of them this past year. Have fun everyone else. I'll probs read more Chekhov or something :)

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Do you have any you want to suggest as our final book or books, depending on the length, Jazzy?

[Jazzy]

And Quiet Flows the Don is the longest, are you reading all 4 parts or only parts 1&2?

I just finished it in September, and it was remarkable.

Doctor Zhivago is the next longest. A lot of snow. Perhaps a good December read. I have owned a few copies of this.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I could make the Don book a three month read. We're reading Doctor Zhivago in February/March because in most of Canada it's still winter.

[Jazzy]

The Twelve Chairs has quite the film legacy.

The novel has inspired at least twenty adaptations in the Soviet Union and abroad.

The first cinematic adaptation of the novel is the joint Polish-Czech film Dvanáct křesel (1933). The original plot was considerably altered, yet many following adaptations were primarily based on this film rather than on the novel itself (e.g., the former marshal of nobility from the novel was replaced in the Polish-Czech film by a barber who then appeared in several later adaptations).

In Nazi Germany, Thirteen Chairs (1938) was based on this novel. However, the film does not credit the novel's authors.

In England, the book inspired the film Keep Your Seats, Please (1936), directed by Monty Banks at Ealing Studios and starring George Formby. The action takes place in Britain and involves seven chairs, not twelve.

In Hollywood, the comedy It's in the Bag! (1945) starring Fred Allen is very loosely based on the novel, using just five chairs.

A Brazilian version called Thirteen Chairs (1957), stars comedians Oscarito, Renata Fronzi, and Zé Trindade. In this version, the main character, played by Oscarito, inherits his aunt's mansion, which is soon confiscated, leaving him with only 13 chairs. After selling them, he finds out that his aunt had hidden her fortune in the chairs. He then goes on a quest to get the chairs back.

Tomás Gutiérrez Alea made a Cuban version titled Las Doce Sillas (1962) with Reynaldo Miravalles as Ostap. Set in a tropical context, in this version the hero "sees the light", becomes corrected and joins Cuban revolutionary youth in zafra campaign (sugar cane harvesting).

The story also served as the basis for the 1969 film The Thirteen Chairs starring Sharon Tate.

A Syrian TV series entitled Hamam al-Hana (1968) is based on the premise of this novel. It involves three guys looking for the hidden treasure (a stash of money) all over Damascus, with a chair for every episode.

Mel Brooks made a version titled The Twelve Chairs (1970). His film follows the novel more closely, but changes the ending. Frank Langella plays the part of Ostap Bender, Ron Moody plays Vorobyaninov, and Dom DeLuise plays Father Fyodor.

In the 1970s, two adaptations were made in the USSR: a film in 1971 by Leonid Gaidai with Archil Gomiashvili as Bender and a miniseries in 1976 by Mark Zakharov with Andrei Mironov as Bender.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Thanks for all the info, Jazzy. I may have watched one of the movie versions-a long time ago.

[Jazzy]

Oh I didn't understand your first question I'll have a look at some of the books I haven't read yet!

[Jazzy]

Road to Calvary by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy, perhaps? I've read it but don't know if everyone else has.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Jazzy, the remaining month is December and I see that Alexei Tolstoy also wrote some fairy tales-since we need a lighter read for December. Have you read any of them.
I know that by December I'm usually looking for lighter reads as the year gets darker.

[Jazzy]

No but how about some poetry by one of the famous Soviet poets?

[Jazzy]

I would like to read The Last Poet of the Village: Selected Poems by Sergei Yesenin Translated by Anton Yakovlev

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I will look into the availability of that book, Jazzy, since I do like poetry.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

That book is not available but I did find a number of books at the library by Osip Mandelstam so I will suggest him under the general heading of Russian Poetry.
That way we can all share any poems/poets we have read.

[Jazzy]

Rosemarie wrote: "I will look into the availability of that book, Jazzy, since I do like poetry."

That book is for sale on Amazon, so it is readily available to all. I will buy one.

[Jazzy]

I would have to buy either and would prefer the Yesenin. There is no such thing as a 'free' book or a library book.

[Jazzy]

If you live in US you can get the Yesenin on kindle for $5.15, not bad at all!

UK can get it for £3.95 :)

I have bought mine already!

[Jazzy]

Osip Mandelstam is not available here unless you buy from one of the booksellers.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

That's why I've made the Poetry month a Member's Choice so that we have the option to read the works of any poet we choose to, due to availability(among other reasons).

[Jazzy]

yes but i would have liked to suggest Yesenin, he is my favourite :)

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I'll add him to the list for you.

[Jazzy]

You star. He was married to Isadora Duncan

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I am reading a novel translated from Croatian where Isadora Duncan was briefly mentioned, and her untimely end.

[Jazzy]

yes so very sad...she was so beautiful. They both died far too young.

[Pam, Southwest Enchanter]

I don’t normally read poetry but I’m glad that December is poetry - members choice. I have the entire collection of poetry by Anna Ahkmatova, in English and Russian, waiting to be read! I’d like to at least read some of it! I bought it at a secondhand shop when I was studying Russian. I didn’t get too far with my studies, though.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

That's great, Pam. I hope you find some poems that you can share with the group.

[Jazzy]

I read all the Anna Ahkmatova as well as

The Penguin Book of Russian Poetry, which I highly recommend.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Thanks for the recommendation, Jazzy. I am a big fan of Penguins!

[Pam, Southwest Enchanter]

Thanks Jazzy for the poetry recommendation! I’m going to try to get through my Russian lit collection and then I will look for that one!

[Jazzy]

That Penguin book of Russian poetry is on sale right now for the kindle if you're happy with an ebook.

[Jacquie]

I've wanted to read quite a few of these for for a while, thank you for putting the together!

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

You're welcome, Jacquie!

[Gem]

I love the Russians. I read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich a couple of years ago. I'll probably start on Doctor Zhivago early.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Great, Gem!

[Cleo]

Oh, I do hope I have time to join some of these, in particular One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and Oblomov. I really like Russian literature!

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

That's good to hear, Cleo!

[Joseph]

How about The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky?

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

I have a few Russian books in my TBR I want to clear next year, so not sure if I can join in. But, I'll certainly join you all for Oblomov.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

That's great!

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Joseph, we read The Brothers Karamazov in 2017, but I can set up a buddy read if enough members are interested. It's an amazing book.

[Kelly_Hunsaker_reads]

One Day in the Life is one of my favorite books. The last two paragraphs are so powerful!

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

It is an amazing book!

[Jacquie]

Rosemarie wrote: "Joseph, we read The Brothers Karamazov in 2017, but I can set up a buddy read if enough members are interested. It's an amazing book."

Hi Rosemarie, I would love to join this! I planned to read this during the months of February and March, but would love a buddy read if anyone would like to.

[Jacquie]

Just finished One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. So Glad this was the first one we read in 2021!

[Jazzy]

It's great isn't it? Make sure you add it in the 700,000 page challenge :)

[Jacquie]

Jazzy wrote: "It's great isn't it? Make sure you add it in the 700,000 page challenge :)"

thanks for the reminder!

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I'm so glad you had a chance to read it, Jacquie. It's a remarkable book.

[Karin]

Are any of these not dark and heavy? I ask because, and I may have mentioned this before, in the days when I liked dark literature my grandmother told me she never read Russian novels in English (she was trilingual and literate in three languages) because they weren't the same. Now that I am willing to overlook that, I don't like dark novels anymore. I did see that Oblomov is comedic, but make you think. I am quite happy to think, but don't want depressing.

Have any of you read this?

[Jazzy]

I think it's alright Karin, he's a bit of a layabout. :) But saying that, you might find it rather sad. I'm not the best person to ask, seeing as I rather enjoy a lot of so-called 'depressing' stories.

[Pam, Southwest Enchanter]

I haven't read any of the books on this list yet but am reading some Russian Sci-Fi by the brothers writing team Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky (in translation) and am learning Russian on the Duolingo App. I'm hoping, by the end of the year, to be able to read the Russian Children's classic Cheburashka and Crocodile Gene in Russian! I have the complete collection. I cannot find the book anywhere on the internet! I guess I will have to figure out how to add a book to GR, once I finish it. I hope everyone is enjoying their exploration of Russian Lit!