jenbrdsly Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I am looking for suggestions for classic Russian literature picks to check out from the library and read myself. I just finished reading a biography on Dostoevsky, and am now painfully aware of how limited my Russian Lit background is. I haven't even read any Pushkin! I did watch a miniseries once of Anna Karenina once. :tongue_smilie: Oh wait, I think I read the Cherry Orchard in high school, but I don't remember what it was about. See what I mean? Woefully ignorant! Please tell me what I should read, and where I should start. Maybe term your suggestions in "Easy", "Medium" and "Hard" so I can build up steam. I have a two year old and a first grader so I'm going to be reading in snatches. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orthodox6 Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Lermontov, Chekhov, Turgenev, Akhmatova (poetry), Mandelstam (poetry), . . . One enjoyable activity would be to obtain a DVD of the opera, "Eugene Onegin". Wonderful story, wonderful music! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I put a tag on your thread for "Russian Literature" so you could search for the other tagged threads. There was a good conversation on this topic last winter, I think. I don't care for Tolstoy myself, but I like Solzhenitsyn, although his "novels" border on "history" -- probably why I like him better :) I've always thought it might be fun to do an in-depth comparison of One Day In The Life of Ivan D. (Solzhenitsyn) to The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Tolstoy), since they are both short in length and more limited in scope, so easier to compare. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalmia Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 The Nobel prize winning Russian poet, Joseph Brodsky, Collected Poems in English. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsidian Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 You might find this thread helpful.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 Great ideas (and links). Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 For Tolstoy, I would start with his short stories. I liked them much better than I did Anna Karenina and I've never even attempted War and Peace because I've heard such negative reviews from people I respect about that. Do watch the Christopher Plummer/Helen Mirren film about Tolstoy called The Last Station. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Nyssa Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Of all thing things mentioned above my favorites are, for Tolstoy: War & Peace, and for Dostoyevsky: The Idiot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shifra Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 In the book Reading Lists for College Bound Students there are lists of the major works of Russian literature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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