2022 First Quarter - The Possessed

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

This is our first group read of the year for Reading Envy Russia! It might point you toward a novel (or away from, who knows.) We will have a group discussion sometime at the end of the month. I'm still waiting on kid sports schedules but will schedule a date and time soon!

So this one's pretty early, January, to allow you to select and read a novel the rest of the quarter. I know we are already discussing the novels we will pick (and of course, feel free to dig into those too; they're going to require some time!)

[Melissa Wiebe]

Who is the author?

[Suzanne]

Elif Batuman :) I'm looking forward to her book.

[Robin]

I'm looking forward to diving into this book. I'm undecided on what novel to pick, but I'm leaning towards The Brothers Karamazov. It's been on my bucket list for years. We'll see...

[Laura]

I hope to finally finish off Crime and Punishment. It's had the better of me for way too long.

[Audj]

I just received my copy of Possessed - looking forward to this challenge. I've wanted to read Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman last year - but didn't have the courage or mental focus to tackle it. Having the Reading Envy community for encouragement will hopefully make the difference this year! Thanks Jenny.

[Sue]

I'll be receiving my copy of Possessed soon. I had started War and Peace a while ago, so I might take that up again. Waiting for inspiration.

[Thomas]

I just bought an ebook (Kobo) of The Possessed moments ago. I'm going to try to read three novels by Sasha Sokolov: A School for Fools, Between Dog and Wolf, and Astrophobia. I'm a slow reader though, so, we'll see.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Deb wrote: "Hi, I am new here. This is my first group read.

I’ve just read the first chunk of The Possessed and I’m inspired to read some of Isaac Babel’s short stories. His Complete Works, edited by Nathalie..."

Hi Deb, welcome!

I have read The Idiot by Elif Batuman, and yes the title is likely connected to all of this too - but even just the story she's telling of the guy she liked and how she traveled - well it sounds awfully familiar from the "noveL" The Idiot!

I only read the intro so far and was confused about Thomas Mann in there - it felt like a reference to a canon I don't personally know. But somehow by the time I'd finished the preface I'd purchased Eugene Onegin as translated by Tolstoy so I'm going to have too many books on my pile to even know where to start. :)

[Matthew]

My copy of The Possessed is on the way and I hope to participate in the discussion. I've been looking for a "push" to read more Russian literature so I'm excited for this.

I really liked Batuman's The Idiot, and she has a sequel to that book scheduled to be published in the spring that looks interesting.

[Donna]

My copy of The Possessed arrived today. I'm looking forward to reading it and participating in the discussions.

[Kathy]

I am a newbie too to the group read but very excited about participating. Thank you, Jenny, for making this available. I have started the Possessed and Batumen very readable and funny. I just started Eugene Onegin and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. I look forward to the discussions with everyone.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I've been marking little bits where Batuman actually talks about Russian novels - it is definitely not as often as I was hoping! However there was a good little blurp about Oblomov, which I ordered but hasn't arrived yet (true to the theme of the novel, ha.) I think it will be interesting to return to the Batuman after reading the novel, if it is mentioned.

[Thomas]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I've been marking little bits where Batuman actually talks about Russian novels - it is definitely not as often as I was hoping! However there was a good little blurp about Oblomov, which I ordered..."

Oblomov was my favourite read in university!

[Shatterlings]

I have Oblomov on my shelf too, but I am not enjoying Elif’s book I am finding it dull and not inspired to finish it as it’s not really about Russian literature.

[Jeff]

I have mixed feelings about The Possessed. I really enjoyed the chapters about Babel, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and The House of Ice. All very interesting and entertaining, I thought. Some of it read like a Wes Anderson movie. I struggled to get through the Samarkand chapters.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Jeff wrote: "I have mixed feelings about The Possessed. I really enjoyed the chapters about Babel, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and The House of Ice. All very interesting and entertaining, I thought. Some of it read li..."

Deb wrote: "Thank you, Shatterling. I thought I was the only one. It is oddly dispassionate, considering the title."

Shatterlings wrote: "I have Oblomov on my shelf too, but I am not enjoying Elif’s book I am finding it dull and not inspired to finish it as it’s not really about Russian literature."

You may not want to read yet another book allegedly about Russian novels but one person in Instagram recommended Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature and it looks to be more what I was hoping for from the Batuman. I downloaded it in Hoopla....

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Deb wrote: "Batuman mentioned that in Uzbek there are 100 words for weeping. I wish she’d explored that notion. What an opportunity missed."

I wonder why she didn't just let this book be what it wanted to be, and that is a book about Uzbekistan, clearly!

Nobody asked, but I once took an online Uzbek cooking class!
http://jennybakes.blogspot.com/2020/0...

[Karen]

I finished reading The Possessed and I enjoyed it, although I agree with others who said that it wasn't really as much about Russian literature as expected. And the quirkiness level was too high in some sections, for my taste anyway. Still, I enjoyed it, and it did inspire me to look into reading some Isaac Babel stories.

[Isabel (kittiwake)]

I’m 84% of the way through the ebook, and although it hasn’t helped me decide on Russian novels to read for the challenge, I enjoyed the section about Empress Anna’s ice palace, and the King Kong connection earlier in the book was fascinating.

Yesterday I went to the library and picked up Dead Souls to read for Q1 and I’ll start it as soon as I finish The Possessed.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I'm sensing we don't need to have a synchronous group discussion about The Possessed but if someone would like to, or just to chat about our picks and how they are going, we can do that!

[Laurie]

I’m a little more than half way through The Possessed and am generally enjoying it. I read a lot of the comments here before starting and I think that helped me. I think it’s really a memoir about Batuman’s interest in Russia and Eastern European languages and cultures. Also, as an academic, I really relate to those stories even though I’m a social/biological scientist and she’s in literature.

I’d personally like to hear more about other people’s book picks and also how they felt about The Possessed.

[Ceane]

I finished the Possessed, and like others was a bit disappointed in it as an introduction to Russian novels. Parts were a slog for me, but as someone who spent many years in graduate school I enjoyed the parts about her academic experiences. Also was interested to see how much of The Idiot was based on her real life adventures. I’m going to be reading Anna Karenina and liked the parts about Tolstoy as an introduction to him, as I had almost no knowledge of him or his life. And nice to learn a little about Uzbekistan and it’s languages!

[Isabel (kittiwake)]

I did quite enjoy The Posessed once I got used to it being a grad student’s memoir. She was mean about her fellow students, though!