Good books for learning Russian

[Joe]

I'd like to offer advice to anyone who might be learning the Russian language and eager to read some literature in the original language. Does anyone else have any reccomendations?

[Joe]

I'd like to start off reccomending the book: Russian Stories: A Dual Language Book by Gleb Struve. The stories vary in difficulty and has a parallel translation in English. This book is the most accessible I think that Russian short stories have been made, and it's not hard to find (online at least).
I love the story "Sleepy" by Chekhov (spat' hochetsya). I haven't really found a good English translation.
Anyone else know any great Russian short stories?

[Michael]

Would you consider the shorter works by Fyodor similar to that which you are seeking? I may be surprised to find that short stories by prolific Russians actually exist; they seem to be so dramatic and immersed in their anguish that detail flows naturally to them.

[Joe]

I was thinking about short stories (10-30 pages), but I'd love to talk about some of Dostoevsky's novellas. I just started reading The Double, which is I think only Dostoevsky's 2nd work (i could be wrong), and it is both short (170 pages) and detailed enough at the same time.
Even Tolstoy wrote a lot of short stories, especially in his later career, many of which are spiritual and didactic. There are a lot of these which I love; for instance in the book I mentioned above there is a Tolsoy story called "The Three Hermits" which is a Russian rendition of a folk tale dating back to St. Augustine.

[Heather]

I'd recommend Chekov -- simple / conversational Russian, very short stories, and (as I was amazed to discover as a college student) NOT always gloom & doom. He has several quite humorous / satirical stories. One of my favorites, which must be very obscure as I've never seen it in print in English or in any of the collected short stories I have found / own in Russian, is called "At the Dacha" ("Na dachje"). Absolutely hilarious!

[Lianne]

Thanks for the recommendations! I'm currently learning Russian so I'll be sure to check out those short stories. My mum's co-worker also passed me along a collection of poetry and short stories by Pushkin which will also be helpful I think =)

[Frankie]

I'm learning Russian as well. I appreciate your recommendation, Joe. I'm hoping to find some collector's books in cyrillic.