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Russian literature or books based in Russia

57 replies

mixedmamameansbusiness · 07/06/2013 18:07

I have a particular course of study coming up in Russian history from about 1891-1991. The lecturer in the past has referred to works of literature to illustrate points, so Madame Bovary for example to illustrate French provincial life, The Leopard to depict the Italian nobility at unification.

The only thing that has sprung to mind is Doctor Zchivago, which I have read before but could probably re-read.

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BrienneOfTarth · 07/06/2013 18:17

read "The Siege" by Helen Dunmore - set in St Petersburg during the second world war, it's a brilliantly written book and really evocative

mixedmamameansbusiness · 07/06/2013 18:18

That looks great. Just added it to my list.

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Longtallsally · 07/06/2013 18:26

Pasternac is good - hmmm, may have to reread. You can also try anything by Solzhenitsin or poet Anna Akhmatova

Longtallsally · 07/06/2013 18:29
WipsGlitter · 07/06/2013 18:29

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
We / I
Animal Farm
The Brothers Karamazhof
Checkhov Plays

mixedmamameansbusiness · 07/06/2013 18:32

I have hot The Gulag Archepalego so will give that a go.

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mixedmamameansbusiness · 07/06/2013 18:34

Also have a Chekov selection so that pretty much sets me up I guess. I buy books when I see them in charity ships knowing I want to read them but adding to the pile. Great suggestions.

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englishteacher78 · 07/06/2013 18:34

You MUST look at Chekhov's plays very naturalistic and quietly funny in places. Stanislavsky wrote some drama theory and this is the method that the Moscow Arts Theatre used to put on Chekhov's plays. Chekhov also wrote some good short stories.

burberryqueen · 07/06/2013 18:39

Anna Karenina
War and Peace
And quiet flows the Don
Sketches from a Hunters Album
sorry cannot remember who wrote the last two, maybe Turgenev?

kotinka · 07/06/2013 18:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mixedmamameansbusiness · 07/06/2013 18:41

Thanks, the Guardian list interesting.

I have read Anna Karenina a few times and War and Peace is another on my shelf, slightly before the period I wi be studying this year but if I get time will squeeze it in.

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Oblomov · 07/06/2013 18:43

Agree with everything said. I love the comparisons between Karenina and Bovary, so would recommend reading those 2 together. Tolstoy is fab. War and peace is good for this. Obviously I am a bit partial to Goncharov's Oblomov.
I really hope you enjoy.

mixedmamameansbusiness · 07/06/2013 18:45

I do wonder how I might be able to do my dissertation on some sort of comparison between Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina. It is a history dissertation though, but I am sure I could find an angle.

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CatherineofMumbles · 07/06/2013 18:51

definitely second Oblomov by Goncharov! even if you don't use it, it is a must-read!

RussiansOnTheSpree · 07/06/2013 18:54

The Master and Margarita, by Bulgakov. It's amazing.

CatherineofMumbles · 07/06/2013 18:58

Master and Margarita - yes!

RenterNomad · 07/06/2013 19:25

Andrei Makine has written some rather impressionistic works, one of which, Once Upon the River Love, won the Prix Goncourt and Prix Medicis. It's also non-Moscow, non-St Petersburg, being set in Siberia. It's a bit of a memoir, based on his (I think) grandmother's life. He wrote another, The Crime of Olga Arbyelina, which is a bit more emigre in setting, but he manages that beautifully as well.

More modern stuff: do you read French? Gilles Leroi wrote an incredibly beautiful book about Leningrad/St Petersburg, covering the latter part of the 20th Century. I think it was L'Amant Russe. However, if you have any hang-ups about homosexuality, it might not be for you!

Boris Akunin's Fandorin series is an absolutely brilliant evocation of the late Tsarist period, but has clearly modern preoccupations (what is Russia? Is she in Europe? Is repression good, or is self-discipline the only worthwhile kind of repression?)

WRT the French, a lot of classic stuff, and particularly emigre literature is translated into French, and is in FNAC in a more mainstream kind of presentation than in the UK. Of course, most things are available online and second hand these days.

If you're near a Daunt's bookshop, they used to have literature organised by geography.

"Hammer and Tickle" (Ben Lewis) for jokes throughout the period

Viktor Pelevin (-perestroika and post-) is brilliant, but wait till you have a better idea of the background before tackling his stuff. (though if you are a Buddhist, that might be a way into his work)

mixedmamameansbusiness · 07/06/2013 19:33

I do have two Daunts nearby actually. I had forgotten about their geographic arrangement.

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yellowcrayon · 07/06/2013 19:49

Forever flowing by vassily Grossman - one of the best novels to capture Russia at the time. Also Faithful Ruslan. Both life changing.

Branleuse · 07/06/2013 20:01

the master and margarita

RenterNomad · 07/06/2013 20:05

Alrhough using literature to illustrate Russian/Soviet/Russian history is something to be very cautious about. There were real personnel and personal differences between the literature and history "wings" of my old Russian department, and rightly so, as an amoral approach is a particularly helpful one for the history: it helps strip away a lot of old/traditional interpretations. Also, almost anyone writing in/about the Soviet experience was doing so with imperfect knowledge even if, like Solzhenitsyn, it was knowledge others didn't have (i.e. about the "Gulag Archipelago")

maillotjaune · 07/06/2013 20:08

Definitely The Master and Margarita.

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mixedmamameansbusiness · 07/06/2013 20:17

RenterNomad that applies in all areas of history although I guess somewhat markedly in the case of Russia. I actually just love reading and one if my targets this year is to read more Russian literature. If when doing none uni reading I read sonething even slightly relevant it just kills two birds, I get to indulge and it is broadly relevant.

The lit comments I previously referred to were in passing comments and I then went and read the books, I would like this year to be able to "get" what he is referring to.

If nothing else I have a fantastic reading list for reading more Russian books.

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iseenodust · 07/06/2013 20:17

Cancer ward seriously good.

MiddleAgeMiddleEngland · 07/06/2013 21:55

How about some of Irina Ratushinskaya's poetry? Obviously she's near the end of your time span (I think she was released from prison in the late 1980s) but it might be something to add to the list.

Her autobiography Grey is the Colour of Hope is incredibly moving. I went to a bookshop event when this was published, will never forget the elderly ex-pat Russian couple who said they'd kept a candle burning for her for the 4 years she was in prison. They couldn't afford to buy her book, just wanted to see her, but the lovely bookshop owner gave them a copy Smile

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