Discussing Russian Lit. Challenge (Group Challenge)

[Amalie]

This group challenge is a new idea at Goodreads. I thought of doing something practical with it.

As you see, the challenge is to Join in for any 3 of our group reads in 2012! Which means you have to make sure the novels you want to read will be add to the polls. For that, make sure you nominate your favourites when the nomination threads are opened! Share you choices with us here!

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Here are my choices for this challenge:

A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - I just want a discussion!!!

[MountainAshleah]

This is a great idea. I am not a fan of reading challenges that are soooooooo detailed they needa rule book to follow.

I highly encourage:
The House of the Dead

[dely]

MountainShelby wrote: "This is a great idea. I am not a fan of reading challenges that are soooooooo detailed they needa rule book to follow.

I highly encourage:
The House of the Dead"

Already read at the end of 2011! So it can't be part of a challenge for me :(

This year I have some russian books I want to read:
The Brothers Karamazov
War and Peace
Resurrection

I wanted to read also something of Bulgakov (except The master and Margarita, already read) and perhaps something contemporary.

[[deleted user]]

Here's what I'd love to join for.

"Notes from Underground" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
"Life of Arseniev" by Ivan Bunin
"The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Anything for Chekhov, specially plays

Yes "War and Peace" as well.

[Silver]

I myself would love to read

A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

The House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy

And I will read anything by Dostoyevsky which I haven't already read. I would also like to read more Ivan Turgenev but I am not really familair with most of his works Fathers and Sons being the only thing of his I have presently read.

[Mayaluna]

I would like to read The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956 by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, and anything by Nikolai Gogol for the challenge this year. I would also happily reread Anna Karenina.

[Alex]

Let's see. I still need to read:


"Dead Souls" by Gogol
"A Hero of Our Time" By Lermontov
"Anna Karenina" by Tolstoy
"A Confession" by Tolstoy

[MountainAshleah]

I have not yet read Dead Souls or A Confession.

[Mary]

War and Peace
Fathers and Sons
White Guard

[Sonja]

War and Peace
Dead Souls
The Brothers Karamazov

[Amalie]

Sonja, Jackie and Alex we finished reading "Dead Souls" last year. You can still find the threads in "Group Reads Archives - 2011."

[Mayra]

well I'd like to read: Brothers Karamazov By dostoievski.
Ana Karenina By tolstoy.
and Fathers and Son By Ivan Turgenev.

[Parikhit]

Most definitely
War and Peace
Crime and Punishment
Mother
Quiet Flows the Don (I read an extract from this book in an anthology and I have searching for this book ever since)

[Lois]

I've selected 3 as my challenge number (for now, at least), and the books I'd really love to read with you all are:

Doctor Zhivago
Anna Karenina
Resurrection

Although, I'm quite happy to expand my literary horizons and read whatever else is voted as a group read!

[[deleted user]]

I didn't you we have to type in and add a shelf. I just wondered how come my name is not with the participants of the challenge :p silly me. I added five books however because I've already taken part in two.

[Barbara]

The Master and Margarita -- I've just joined this group, and I believe it's already been read here. (Perhaps quite recently.)

I entered the reading challenge -- does it count if I read a book AFTER it's already been read here in the group??? I've been wanting to read The Master and Margarita for quite some time.

Also -- Anna Karenina-- I'm currently reading this, and the group is reading it, so this is one of the three (or hopefully more than three) books which I will count toward my challenge.

Anton Chekhov -- I've read many of his plays a long time ago, and I would love to reread any of Chekhov's plays here with the group.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky-- I'd like to read something by Dostoyevsky, but I'm not sure which of his works I'd like to read this year. Once I've figured out which of Dostoyevsky to read, do I enter it as a nomination?? (I believe that's how it works, according to what I read in the "Group Rules" post.)

[[deleted user]]

Barbara wrote: "I entered the reading challenge -- does it count if I read a book AFTER it's already been read here in the group???..."

Hello Babara welcome! I'm not sure but why not, I think. A moderator will answer soon. I hope you'll join us to read "Anna"!

[Wanda]

Hi. I'm a librarian in San Juan, Puerto Rico and right now I'm reading Anna Karenina. I have only 200 pages left to finish it. So, its not going to be part for my challenge for this year. The challenge for 2012 wil be : Doctor Zhivago, The Brothers Karamazov and Resurrection.

The reading of Anna Karenina has been an extremely wonderful experience. Extremely well written and easy to read. Two parallel love stories (Anna and Kitty), I recommended it.

[Amalie]

Barbara wrote: "I entered the reading challenge -- does it count if I read a book AFTER it's already been read here in the group??? I've been wanting to read The Master and Margarita for quite some time...."

Hello Babara! You can take part in Master and Margarita by responding where you feel like in the threads we used for the group read, I hope some one who is reading it now will join you, then you can include it as a reading in 2012 why not? Meanwhile do take part in the future readings of your choice.

Once we finish "Anna Karenina" and "Resurrection" (War and Peace is a different project)the polls will be set for the books mentioned here by the members who participate in the challenge.

We will not call for monthly nominations for the remaining months of 2012. The books for group readings will be selected from here. The members will be notified.

[Barbara]

Shanez wrote:

Hello Babara welcome! I'm not sure but why not, I think. A m..."

Hi Shanez! Thank you!! Yes, I am definitely planning on taking part in the Anna Karenina discussion with the group.

[Barbara]

Amalie wrote: "Barbara wrote: "I entered the reading challenge -- does it count if I read a book AFTER it's already been read here in the group??? I've been wanting to read The Master and Margarita for quite some..."

Hi Amalie! Thank you for your reply. I'm so glad to know that I can post in the thread for Master and Margarita even though the group has finished reading it. I actually may not get to read it before the middle of the summer, so I hope by then there are some others that may want to join in a discussion.

As far as the reading challenge, I have joined the challenge and have finished Anna Karenina, so I have already completed one book toward my "three book challenge" here!!

I'm very new to this group, and I need to look through the books the group has already read so that I can pick some books that I would like to read with the group for my "challenge."

I listed some authors I'd like to read in an earlier post, but I did not list any specific books. Is it too late for me to enter two or three books here?? (Your post says that the remainder of the group readings for 2012 will be chosen from here.)

AND, I would also like to ask you if we can list "collections" of short works for our challenge books, for example, Four Plays of Anton Chekhov or Short Stories of Anton Chekhov, or are we only supposed to list full-length novels for our challenge???

One more question -- in terms of "shorter works" can we list a specific play or short story as our challenge book?? Instead of Four Plays of Anton Chekhov, could an individual play not yet read here -- maybe Three Sisters or Uncle Vanya, be listed, and, if so, would it have a chance of being chosen as a "short" group read???

SORRY for all the questions!!! I like the idea of reading some great Russian works with this group, so I'd love to throw some titles into the "hat" so that they have a chance of being selected as a group read.

[Amalie]

Barbara wrote: "I listed some authors I'd like to read in an earlier post, but I did not list any specific books. Is it too late for me to enter two or three books here?? (Your post says that the remainder of the group readings for 2012 will be chosen from here.)..."

Babara it's great to have you join the challenge, as for any book you'll read join in our discussions, share your thoughts! That's the idea of the challenge. It's an encouragement to the members to read with the group, broaden their understanding and just to have fun. As you see Anna Karenina discussions taking place now, I myself have read it before. Join us, otherwise it'll not fit with the challenge.

As for the readings, the readings will be selected from here. The play/poetry and short story readings are currently on pause because there weren't enough participants last time.

If you really want to read some of them while taking a feedback from the group, try personal reading option. Here's an example:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...

Hope to see you at "Anna Karenina" threads! :)

[Barbara]

Amalie wrote: "Barbara wrote: "I listed some authors I'd like to read in an earlier post, but I did not list any specific books. Is it too late for me to enter two or three books here?? (Your post says that the r..."

Thanks Amalie! Yes, I definitely plan on joining in on the Anna Karenina discussion here in this group. I'm completely overwhelmed with work at the moment due to an upcoming deadline, but hopefully sometime this week I will be able to go back through my copy of Anna Karenina (just to refresh my memory regarding what happens in the specific part that's being discussed in the group), and then I will absolutely join in.

So -- I see that War and Peace is an upcoming group read. I haven't read War and Peace yet, so maybe I will read it with the group.

Are there any other books that are already scheduled as "group reads" for the rest of 2012?? War and Peace is the only one I saw.

You mentioned in your post that the readings will be selected from here (this thread). I'm guessing that you mean the group readings for the remainder of the year.

SO, in other words, are you going to look through the books that people have mentioned in this thread and choose the next group reads based on the books listed by members in this thread??? (SORRY FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS!!!)

I completely understand that the idea of the challenge is to read our "challenge books" with the group, so I will look to see which books you choose as upcoming group reads and from your list I will read and discuss some of the books and participate in the discussion.

In addition, as I mentioned in my previous post, I plan on looking for some good books the group has not yet read and I will post them in this thread so that maybe they can be chosen as upcoming group reads.

Sorry for the confusion, and again, I am definitely planning on participating in the Anna Karenina discussion!!!

[dely]

Barbara wrote: "Are there any other books that are already scheduled as "group reads" for the rest of 2012?? War and Peace is the only one I saw."

Yes, we will read Resurrection but I don't know when. Surely after Anna Karenina but I don't know if also after War and Peace.
Amalie will tell you!

[Cleo]

Hi everyone (and Barbara),

I've just joined the challenge. Thanks for all your questions, Barbara; they were very helpful.

I'm waffling about War and Peace ...... I would love to read it but I am dealing with a sick mother and I'm just not sure I can do it justice at this time. Can anyone tell me how long you are going to take to read through it?

I have, however, just finished Anna Karenina with another group so I will try to join in on the discussion.

While I have been really enjoying the Russian authors, at times I feel it's a little bit of a struggle to get my head around how they think.

I'm looking forward to great discussions with this group!

[Amalie]

Barbara wrote: "Are there any other books that are already scheduled as "group reads" for the rest of 2012?? War and Peace is the only one I saw."

Yes, we will read Resurrection but I don't know w..."

We'll be starting "Resurrection" after "Anna Karenina". War and Peace is a different project which will start, I'm not sure yet but, while it is read, there will be other group readings. As for the selection, I'll be adding the novels included here in this thread by the members taking part in the reading challenge, for the polls. Everyone will be notified.

I'd love more encouragement too. I hope more readers will join readings or join the discussions :) Everyone's welcome!

[Barbara]

Cleo wrote: "Hi everyone (and Barbara),

I've just joined the challenge. Thanks for all your questions, Barbara; they were very helpful.

I'm waffling about War and Peace ...... I would love to read it but I ..."

Hi Cleo! I hope your mom is doing better!! I'm glad you've joined the challenge. You've already read Anna Karenina, so you can count that as one book toward your challenge (which is what I've done.) We just read it, and as long as we participate in the discussion here I don't see why it can't count toward the challenge.

I really want to read War and Peace with this group, and I'm hoping that I'm ready to read it when the group starts. Work has been keeping me so busy, so it will probably take me a long time to read War and Peace.

I'm looking forward to seeing what other books will be on the upcoming "group reads" list here.

[Barbara]

Okay, so I'm ready to throw some suggestions into the "hat" for books to read toward the challenge. I only challenged myself to three group reads here, but I thought if I put a handful of books I'd like to read on the list, maybe some of them will be chosen as group reads (and maybe I'll increase my "challenge number.")

I'm pretty sure most of these have not been read in the group yet. There are two that have been read, The Master and Margarita and Eugene Onegin which I would love to read, but I'd like to read along with the group, so here's my list:

A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

There are four Vladimir Nabokov novels that I'd love to read with the group. (Actually, I did not check to see if any of these have been read here.)
They are:

Pale Fire

Pnin

Lolita

Invitation to a Beheading

AND, if there is any interest in a group read of short stories as a monthly read, where we would choose a book of short stories and maybe pick three or four stories to discuss over the course of the month, my suggestion is:

The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov

The story "The Lady with the Dog" was inspired by Anna Karenina, so I thought it would be interesting to read it here, since Anna Karenina is the current group read. But since just ONE short story wouldn't be enough to make a monthly "group discussion" I thought maybe we could pick two or three other stories from the book and discuss them all. Same with Chekhov's plays -- picking three or four as a monthly group read, in which case I suggest:

The Four Major Plays: The Seagull / Uncle Vanya / Three Sisters / Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov

OR

Five Plays: Ivanov / The Seagull / Uncle Vanya / The Three Sisters / The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov

THANKS!! I'm looking forward to some great readings with this group!!!

[[deleted user]]

Barbara wrote: "Okay, so I'm ready to throw some suggestions into the "hat" for books to read toward the challenge. I only challenged myself to three group reads here, but I thought if I put a handful of books I'd..."

Nice! Babara I hope you still ready for "War and Peace" as well :)

I think we read "Cherry Orchard" and the group had read "Lolita" even before I joined.

[Barbara]

Shanez wrote: Nice! Babara I hope you still ready for "War and Peace" as well :) I think we read "Cherry Orchard" and the group had read "Lolita" even before I joined.

Thanks Shanez!! I keep going back and forth on War and Peace. Believe me, I would LOVE to read it, but I just read Anna Karenina and although I absolutely loved it, it took me a long time to read it. I probably mentioned this here before (so I'm sorry if I keep saying the same thing) but I've been working long hours (now that I FINALLY am working again), so I've only been able to read when I get home late at night, leaving me with a maximum of one, or MAYBE two hours of reading per night.

SO, Anna Karenina and War and Peace so close to each other means two LONG books, which wouldn't leave much time for some other shorter (not "short" -- just shorter, like 400 or 500 pages) novels that I've been wanting to read. I've been thinking maybe one Tolstoy novel per year is sufficient. HOWEVER, this is a great group, and I have really been wanting to read War and Peace (believe it or not, I have NEVER read it) so I'm thinking "What's the harm in reading two of the greatest novels of all time within the same year???"

Having said all that, now I am leaning toward joining the reading of War and Peace with the group (are we really starting on May 1st???) And since it's long, maybe I'll try to juggle it along with one of the shorter books I've been wanting to read.

I'm not surprised that the group has already read Lolita. I have a book called
The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books by J. Peder Zane. He asked one hundred (or maybe more than one hundred) living and well-established authors to list their ten favorite books of all time, and in the book you can see each author's "top ten" list, but he specifically asked them to list their ten faves in order, starting with their number one favorite.

Then he used a scoring system, giving the highest points to the books that were listed as the number one favorite, and he went through all of the picks of all the authors.

SO, based on the lists (and you know how opinionated and "picky" authors can be of other authors and books), here are some of the "top ten" of all the "top ten" lists:

Anna Karenina was NUMBER ONE, I believe War and Peace was number three, and Lolita was also on the "main" top ten list -- I don't have the book with me, but I think Lolita may have been number 6 or 7.

The Brothers Karamazov and Pale Fire also scored pretty high (in fact, The Brothers Karamazov may have even made the top ten list as well).

It's an interesting book to browse through at the library or at a book store, just to see which of the favorite books of contemporary writers you've read.

I guess the point I'm making is that of the "main top ten" list, three, or maybe even four of the ten "favorite books of all time" are by Russian authors. This group knows the best of the Russian novels, so it's not a surprise that Lolita has already been read. I'm glad I joined in time for Anna Karenina and War and Peace!!!

Hopefully we'll read one of Nabokov's other novels sometime soon!!

Sorry for the LOOOOONG post!!!

[George]

I'd like to read

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

as I've read all other books in the original list.

[George]

I would also read and join a group for other Russian writers/books I haven't read such as:

Ivan Bunin, Maxim Gorky, Anton Checkhov, Ivan Shmelev, Andrey Bely, etc.

[[deleted user]]

I too would love to read Bunin! "Life of Arseniev" if I can find a decent translation.

[dely]

I had read a collection of love stories by Bunin and it was really good! Of course love stories without a happy ending; they were so real, they were amazing.