Discovering Russian Literature discussion
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Introduce Yourself : New Chapter
Hi I , im srikanth, 24years from India. I was exposed to some Russian short stories at school,then read crime and punishment from dosvesky, I adored his train of thought,and the discussion he pose to self. To the situation, ayan rand was my favorite
Veronica, if you want a graphic insight into Gogol's imagination, Google 'Gogol utube viy'He wrote the mythical story of the monster, Viy. (Ukrainian for Eyelash. I use this monster in my y/a novel, 'Brovko's Amazing Journey')
Larry wrote: "Veronica, if you want a graphic insight into Gogol's imagination, Google 'Gogol utube viy'He wrote the mythical story of the monster, Viy. (Ukrainian for Eyelash. I use this monster in my y/a nove..."
Thanks Larry! :)
Veronica wrote: "Hi everybody! I am Veronica, from Italy. I discovered Russian literature when I was 15 with Gogol's "The Nose", which I adored. Nevertheless, for some reason, I didn't get deeper into Russian lit..."
Well, The Nose was my first thing I have read in Russian language... Fascinating story!
"Well, The Nose was my first thing I have read in Russian language... Fascinating story!"It is indeed! Each time I re-read it, I am completely captured by it!
Hello, I'm Everita. I love Russian language and literature. I am Latvian and my mother tongue is Latvian, but due to my country's history of being part of Soviet Union I have had Russian as my second language since childhood, thus the great opportunity to enjoy Russian literature in the original language. The classics who have led me through enormous spectrum of feelings and thoughts and whose works I see as timeless are Dostoyevsky, Bulgakov, Chekhov and Tolstoy.
Viktor Pelevin and Jevgenij Grishkovec have opened for me the world of culture and literature of modern times Russia.
The next big chapter of my life will be also in Russian. I am moving to Moscow next spring (currently living in Vienna, Austria) so I am about to feel and live the Russian culture and lifestyle as never before.
I am very interested to see how people from all around the world read, experience and see the works of Russian authors.
Hi I'm Elio and I first discovered Russian literature back in college. I never got around to reading The Idiot and I will be starting soon. Looking forward to it.....
Hi, I'm Sam. I got into Russian literature after someone recommended Gogol to me when I told them I liked Kafka, back in high school. Since then I've slowly acquired a taste for Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy and I really like Chekov. I wish I had the time to learn Russian so I could read Pushkin's poems, there used to be a statue of him by the side of the road where I used to live. If anyone has any recommendations for modern authors, I'd love to hear it!
Hello, my name is Stephen and I've been an aficionado of Russian literature for about twenty years. It started with Doestoyevsky and has continued with Gorky,Gogol,Bulgakov and a few short stories by Tolstoy and Solzhenitsyn. I'm interested in pursuing the big works by Tolstoy and some of Chekov's short stories. Any advice on these out there??
Hi my name is Shane,Im an optometry student from Ireland, a destressed post exam season student and I'm partial to thunderous, rapturous passion of Russian lit, where every raindrop explodes on the ground with a fierce life altering intensity, and the texture of the human soul is of the upmost importance and where the constellations of love are mapped against the feverish torments and lurid obsession s of beating fragile hearts. So I'm being rather impertinent and a tad impolite ,but if anyone out there wants to start a buddy read with a classic , please let me know ,the more the merrier just a life, love and the universe discussion as is befitting of those intense noble hearted masters:)
I'm Kim from the U.S. and I started reading Russian literature this past fall because of my adoration of Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment." I have dabbled in reading Chekov's short stories and some of "The Double" by Dostoyevsky. I really want to read "The Brothers Karamazov" and "War and Peace." I am also trying to teach myself Russian, which I find to be an exciting pursuit!
Hello, I am Beth from the US. I read, and loved Dostoyevsky,many years ago. I became obsessed with Russian lit after finding an old copy of "Tales of Good and Evil" by Gogol. I have found Tolstoy's writings to be absolutely magical, my favorite being "Anna Karenina". I am currently reading his "Childhood, Boyhood and Youth" and Bulgarov's "The Master and Margarita". I'm looking forward to taking part in the group readings.
Good Day All! I read widely in Russian/Soviet literature and concentrate on post revolutionary writers, especially Solzhenitsyn. I have read a lot of the "great" pre-revolutionary classics, am reading The Brothers Karamazov again now and love the poetry of Akhmatova (Rekviem).I look forward to "meeting" and discussing with you.
Have a great day!
Hi all I'm Fred. retired U.S. Air Force. I started reading Russian Literature in H.S. My favorite English teacher, Barbara Herzberg, introduced me to Dostoevsky. I'm currently reading Tolstoy's Resurrection. I was looking for a group to help me understand each piece I read.
Shane wrote: "Hi my name is Shane,Im an optometry student from Ireland, a destressed post exam season student and I'm partial to thunderous, rapturous passion of Russian lit, where every raindrop explodes on..."
Shane, you have very perfectly summed up my opinion of Russian literature! However, it's not only the literature, but the people as a whole. They are stoic only on the outer crust. Inside is a whole nother story!
I grew up in a Russian household, so it is only fitting for me to love the classics of Chekhov, Tolstoy, Lermontov, Pushkin, Dostoevsky etcI hope this group will give me an opportunity to discuss my thoughts regarding these books. Reading has become so obsolete, especially in my city, so it is very nice to have connections with readers from all over the world. ;-)
I am not currently reading an exact book by a Russian author, so if this group has a specific book for the summer, I'd happily join in.
Hi, I am Bob, from the Northeast US. IT guy. I joined this group a while back, but plan to get active now. Not Russian, but really into Russian lit the past few years. Mainly have read the usual big names, but want to branch out. I am also planning on a trip to St. Petersburg, maybe next year. I just need to figure out now if there are any reading groups in progress or soon to start.
Hi! My name is Shaddy & I'm from Kashmir. I just joined the group. What actually coerced me into joining is due to my friends who started discussing Russian authors especially Doestoesky & Tolstoy. I recently got 'Notes from Underground' by Fyodor Doestoesky from a friend, but the translation is quite unheard of. It's translated by Kyril Zinovieff & Jenny Hughes. I want to know whether to go with this translation or somebody suggests a better & popular translation? I don't want to spoil the taste coz this is my first one from Doestoesky & War & Peace is still on the shelf.
I haven't read anything translated by Kyril Zinovieff and Jenny Hughes, so don't know first-hand what it is like, but their translation of Anna Karenina was very well received judging by reviews I have read, so I think you'd be safe sticking with that. I read the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation of Notes from Underground, which was very good.
Thanks David. This was helpful. I think Pavear/Volo have translations for other books of Doetoesky as well.
Bob wrote: "Hi, I am Bob, from the Northeast US. IT guy. I joined this group a while back, but plan to get active now. Not Russian, but really into Russian lit the past few years. Mainly have read the usual bi..."Bob: My profile is about the same as yours concerning Russian lit. I also did the pilgrimage to Saint Petersburg (got mugged in the metro). I have a vast collection of Russian literature. Send me a friend request if you are interested. Bill
Anya wrote: "Hi Shaddy, I am a huge Dostoyevsky fan!! May I recommend some of his short stories as a first read? "White Nights" and "Poor Folk" are excellent- I have read them innumerable times! Happy reading!"Thanks Anya for your suggestion. Pleased :/
Hello Everyone,My name is Mike and I'm an enthusiast of Russian Literature, especially the 19th Century. I have created a couple of quizzes on Goodreads All things Tolstoy and 19th Century Russian Literature. I invite you to try them and let me know what you think.
Sincerely
Mike Pasternak
Hi, I'm Blackwell. I'm from Canada but have been living in eastern Europe for over a decade (Arkhangelsk, Tbilisi, now L'viv). I love the adventure and romanticism of Pushkin, the bitter-sweet, eloquent fatalism of Chekhov, the psychological insight of Dostoevsky and moral wisdom of Tolstoy (especially when held up against their own lives), the out-of-the-box imagination and nail-on-the-head satire of Bulgakov, and so much more...
Hello, I'm Violet. I'm a Spanish major but really love Russian culture, and am beginning to learn the basics of the language as well. I have only read a few of the Russian classics so far, but am intending to tackle as many as I can this year.
Nice to meet you all!
Hello, to start with the basics: my name is Sarah, I am 21 years old and I live in The Netherlands, but can be found all over Europe most of the time. I have studied Swedish literature and library and information science, and am now a trainee in information management.
As for Russian literature: I discovered Nabokov when I was 18, and after that, I've been reading Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Bulgakov and Turgenev. I am currently reading The Karamazov Brothers, which is my 2nd Dostoevsky (after Crime and Punishment). I believe Tolstoy is my favourite, although I've only read Anna Karenina.
Gogol, Pushkin, Pasternak and Chekhov are definitely on my to read (in the near future) list as well.
Anyone with a similar taste in books - feel free to add me. (:
Hi, I'm Jolanta. I'm focusing primarily on Russian folk stories and folklore. I've read Linda Ivanits' Russian Folk Belief, just finished Robert Chandler's Russian Magic Tales, and I'm working on Sibelan Forrester's Baba Yaga. I'm laboriously translating some Udmurt folk takes from Russian into English, and looking for other reading suggestions.I'd love to connect with people who also love Russian folk tales, and folk tales of other cultural groups inhabiting Russia and former Soviet Union.
Jolanta wrote: "Hi, I'm Jolanta. I'm focusing primarily on Russian folk stories and folklore. I've read Linda Ivanits' Russian Folk Belief, just finished Robert Chandler's Russian Magic Tales, and I'm working on S..."Hi Jolanta-
I recently bought a copy of Chandler's Magic Tales online and am really looking forward to reading it.
Who are the Udmurt? I've never heard of them.
Are you familiar with the Russian Pomor Stepan Pisakhov and his Senya Malina tales?
Hi Blackwell, I have not heard of Stepan Pisakhov, I'll try to find it. Has the story been translated into English or is it available only in Russian?
The Udmurt are a very small population (less than a million) of Finno-Urgric people living in the Udmurt Republic close to the Urals, and they seem to have had very interesting folk beliefs or mythology which included stories of vumurt - basically water folk, who lived in ponds and rivers.
You can read a bit more about Udmurt mythology at http://www.folklore.ee/rl/pubte/ee/us..., though this article translates "vumurt" into "water sprite" which doesn't seem to be right because according to the stories I'm reading, the vumurt basically were like people, looked like people, had families, and households, except they lived underwater. They were not like vodianois or rusalkas.
Dear Jolanta,Good luck with the Udmurt tales. One other book you might find useful is
Ivan the Fool: Russian Folk Belief, a Cultural History by Andrei Sinyavsky
It is well written and entertaining, as well as being informative!
Jolanta wrote: "Hi Blackwell, I have not heard of Stepan Pisakhov, I'll try to find it. Has the story been translated into English or is it available only in Russian?
The Udmurt are a very small population (les..."
Hi again Jolanta-
I checked out Udmurtia on Google Earth - a long way from Finland/Hungary/Mongolia... Do they still speak their own language or do they only use Russian these days? I assume the written tales only exist in Russian. What got you interested in translating them?
You can find Pisakhov's original Senya Malina tales online at:
http://www.lib.ru/PISAHOW/kolokol.txt
I might classify these as tall tales rather than folktales per se. They were written relatively recently and are primarily the products of Pisakhov's wild imagination (although rooted in the Pomor cultural and physical world). Also, Pisakhov was a wordsmith, and writing playful stories allowed him to play to his heart's content with language too.
To answer your question as to whether he has been translated into English - well, yes he has and no he hasn't. A CREATIVE translation of forty of Pisakhov's tales now exists. It's called Senya Malina Tells It Like It Was. (I am responsible for this work.)
Hello! My name is Alexandria. I'm from the U.S. I do not speak Russian (wish I could!) but I've been a fan of Russian literature since reading Dostoevsky's Notes From Underground. I'm open to reading more Russian authors and will take suggestions on what other authors I should read from. Other than that, I'm glad there is a place where I can meet other Russian Lit fans and discuss various works.
Hello Hello. I'm Daphne, and I'm not Russian. WHOA. lol. However I do like many Russian writers: Ayn Rand (who considers herself more American? lol), Anton Chekov, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Vladimir Nabokov. I think the habit all began when I read Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Idiot. It was so amazing that soon enough I began reading other Dostoevsky books, and pretty much I wanted to read more Russian but with another flair so I landed onto other writers. :)
Hello! My name is Taide. I like reading different authors and genres. Maybe Chekov is my favorite Russian author, so far. I'm currently reading The Master and Margarita (and loving it!), and Mother by Gorki is next on my list.
Taide wrote "Hello! My name is Taide....Welcome Taide. I love Checkhov also and his novella's (Three Years comes to mind) also are great if you have not yet ventured past his short stories. M&M - such a unique imaginative masterpiece. But Mother.....to me - that was one of the most painful reads I ever forced myself to get through. :( Hope you have a better experience with it :)
Todd wrote: "Taide wrote "Hello! My name is Taide....Welcome Taide. I love Checkhov also and his novella's (Three Years comes to mind) also are great if you have not yet ventured past his short stories. M&..."
Thank you Todd!
Actually Chekhov short stories are my favourite! Three Years looks like a great book, I'll add it to my to-read list.
I've been wanting to read Mother for a while now, since I've heard great discussions about the book coming from some friends who read it a while ago.
Hello!
My name is Gwen and I travel a great deal in my job. I also am a classical pianist,but more for pleasure. I adore Russian literature.
I am very happy to be a part of this group.
My name is Gwen and I travel a great deal in my job. I also am a classical pianist,but more for pleasure. I adore Russian literature.
I am very happy to be a part of this group.
I've been a well-intentioned member of this group for some time, but haven't yet gotten involved. Now I see that Dostoevsky's The Double was just voted in as the next group read. It turns out to be good timing for me. I'm just finishing up the first volume of Joseph Frank's biography on Dostoevsky and am about to start The Double. I'll try to drop by and participate in this next group read. On my first reading of The Double I found it kind of a weird read and thought maybe D was aping Gogol a bit much, but after having read Frank's bio and criticism on The Double I have a better understanding of its context—hoping that will give me something to share with the group during the read.Cheers,
Christopher
Hi I'm Alexandra, I'm from Spain and I've been a fan of Nabokov for a very long time and lately I've felt a passion kick for russian literature.
Hello, I am Vera! I was born in Republic of Moldova with Russian as a second spoken language. I consider Russian literature the best expression of the reality of human existence. I love Dostoyevsky and Toltoy for their perfect description of human struggle for peace and happiness.
Vera wrote: "Hello, I am Vera! I was born in Republic of Moldova with Russian as a second spoken language. I consider Russian literature the best expression of the reality of human existence. I love Dostoyevsky..."Beautifully put, Vera!
Hi! I am from Kazakhstan, therefore i am more or less acquainted with Russian literature. I suggest the stories of Ivan Bunin. And what i am up to is Soviet Union literature which i completely adore .
Hi! I am from Kazakhstan, therefore i am more or less acquainted with Russian literature. I suggest the stories of Ivan Bunin. And what i am up to is Soviet Union literature which i completely adore .
Hi! I am from Kazakhstan, therefore i am more or less acquainted with Russian literature. I suggest the stories of Ivan Bunin. And what i am up to is Soviet Union literature which i completely adore .
Hi! I am from Kazakhstan, therefore i am more or less acquainted with Russian literature. I suggest the stories of Ivan Bunin. And what i am up to is Soviet Union literature which i completely adore .
Hello, I'm Hilary from Ireland. I have read little Russian literature. I got as far as part 1 in Crime and Punishment when I got distracted by other group reads. I've currently just finished part 2 of Anna Karenina, but have other books on the go. I'm loving it so far! I have listened to some Chekov short stories and I confess that I as yet do not understand them. He is notoriously difficult to put on stage, in the English language at least.I am also a relatively slow reader, which has not been helped by the amount of proof reading I've done over the years! I'm hoping to be able to participate soon. Thanks for those of you who resurrected this group!
Hi I am, Van, a non-Russian speaking reader who has developed a fascination with Russian literature and related topics. You can see what I have and want to read on my profile. I guess the motivation for joining this group is that in planning a future reading series-Solzhenitsyn's The Red Wheel series I see that there is no english translation for books 3 and 4 and nothing appears to be in the works. Now I doubt if I could ever learn Russian good enough to read in the original so I am hoping someone here knows an english option...or is inspired to take up the task:)
Hey there, I am Katriina! :)I'm from Germany, but was born in Joensuu, Finland, which is really close to Russia. I am thus somewhat familiar with the Russian language, but I don't speak it well.
I really, really love Dostojevskij and I've hardly ever read another russian author apart from him, which is hopefully going to change soon :) That's what I'm here for at least.
Discovering Russian Literature
Books mentioned in this topic
Крокодил Гена и его друзья (other topics)A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1891 - 1924 (other topics)
Ten Days that Shook the World (other topics)
Hadji Murat (other topics)
Life and Fate (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Maxim Gorky (other topics)Nina Sadur (other topics)
Sergei Lukyanenko (other topics)
Leo Tolstoy (other topics)
Fyodor Dostoevsky (other topics)
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Hi MJ! If you want to look into Gogol, I would suggest to start with "The Petersburg Stories", which contains a selection of short stories (The Nose is included, and it's great) ;)
Looking forward to War and Peace!