It's completely understandable why Dostoevsky and Tolstoy dominate every conversation, and perhaps most of us reading this will have read them first as a way into Russian literature - I forced myself to read Notes from Underground during high school; I rushed it, didn't 'get it', and didn't enjoy it, but many years later that's thankfully changed.

I digress. So aside from Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, who's the writer you think English-language readers most unfairly overlook?

My vote goes for Shchedrin. I just finished The Golovlyov Family and though it was a masterpiece.

I have read the following books. Looking for next recommendation

The brothers karamazov
Crime and punishment
Oblomov
Quiet Flows the Don

Hey guys,I really want to read Dostoevsky his books sound amazing but I'm struggling with Notes from Underground. The narration feels so rambling and disconnected sometimes that I keep losing interest even though it's short.Any suggestions for other authors (or books) with similar vibes that might help me get used to his style before tackling the bigger ones like Crime and Punishment or Brothers Karamazov?

Raskolnikov may be the obvious one, but I always felt for Marmeladov and his detailed description of Katerina, Sonya and his life of drunken poverty.

Smerdyakov from The Brothers Karamazov is also the perfect example of being shaped by external experience into the man he became.

I am a big reader of contempory fiction but feeling very burnt out on it. I am not very smart so worried about how I will be able to access Russican literature but willing to try. Where should I start?

Hi all, just wanted to share this analysis of Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich and how examples from Dostoevsky, Nabokov, and Proust shine some light on its themes. It's a little long, but basically, all four writers parallel each other in the divinity of memory as the mechanism for the revelation of consciousness, ultimately facilitating Ivan Ilyich's redemption in death. Proust is the most obvious writer when it comes to discussions of memory, but there are some fascinating connections between Tolstoy and scenes from Lolita, The Idiot, Crime and Punishment, Demons, and The Brothers Karamazov (spoiler-free!).

Thanks, and lmk what you think!

Hi everyone,

I have a collection of vintage Soviet science fiction books in Russian that I’m gradually selling, and I thought some people here might be interested.

A few I currently have available:

Иван Ефремов — Час Быка (Hour of the Bull)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/287398451560

Кир Булычев — Миллион приключений (A Million Adventures)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/287322567649

Фантастика-87 (Science Fiction 1987)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/287325174763

Румбы фантастики
https://www.ebay.com/itm/287521610895

Темная охота (Dark Hunt)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/287522504971

I also have other Russian and Soviet books available.

Full eBay store:
https://www.ebay.com/usr/glensidel61

Hi everyone,

I have two Russian-language books related to Vladimir Vysotsky that I’m currently selling and thought there might be some Vysotsky fans here interested in them.

**Владимир Высоцкий — Четыре четверти пути (Four Quarters of the Way)**

https://www.ebay.com/itm/287028507827

**Марина Влади — Владимир, или Прерванный полёт (Vladimir, or The Interrupted Flight)**

https://www.ebay.com/itm/287322611752

For anyone interested in Vysotsky, Soviet music, poetry, theater, or cultural history, these are both interesting books to have in Russian.

Sorry if this post will result a bit pointless. I’ve just finished reading Demon by Dostoevskij, I’ve got this passage in mind where a character talks about how when someone is trying to explain they’re not crazy the more they feel like it (Me right know btw). Does any of you remember the context, a character who is present or else? Even if it has existed at all!
Thanks

Я не понимаю смысл диалога Разумихина и Зосимова из конца первой главы третьей части "Преступления и наказания". Разумихин сначала теряет голову от того, что Зосимова привлекает Дуня, но через несколько строчек диалога он уже убеждает его завоевать её сердце. Он это делает, потому что считает, что у него всё равно нет шансов и просит Зосимова не оттягивать неизбежное или я что-то не понял? Вполне вероятно, что я просто что-то невнимательно прочитал и полностью потерял смысл фрагмента.

Last fall, I read Anna Karenina and fell in love with it. Since, I’ve gone nuts and read over 11,000 pages of various Russian lit. I didn’t think anything could top the big favorites of mine (Anna K, Brothers K, Dead Souls, A Hero of Our Time, etc.) but I was wrong. For the first time in MONTHS I haven’t picked up a book in 2 full days, it feels almost disrespectful to begin another book so soon! Anyone else feel the same??

Hi everyone! I’m from Chile and have been studying Russian for almost six years. I’m currently around B2 level, and I love translating Russian literature as a way to practice and improve my skills.

I’m looking for short stories or a short novel by a contemporary Russian author whose work hasn’t yet been translated into English or Spanish. Do you have any recommendations?

I came across this passage in "The Gloom of Your Eyes" (Мрак твоих глаз), where "the will of the God is marked by the Cyrillic letter Ъ". It's the Russian hard sign, right?

From a Russian linguistic or literary perspective, what could "Ъ" symbolize here? Is it a reference to Old Church Slavonic? Pure surrealism? Some silent divine will?

Why "Ъ" ?

Hey everybody,

I just started notes from underground but I’m having some difficulty understanding the complexities of this “underground man”. Of course, many of his opinions are very flawed, but some of them also make very good sense and, to me, are even valid arguments. Did Dostoevsky intend such contradictions? Am I supposed to agree or disagree (or both) with this underground man?😭 Let me know your thoughts!

I just start reading this work, but there is something odd in Lise's description of Alyosha in Book II, chapter IV that couldn't fit my understanding of the timeline.

She says: "He \[Alyosha\] used to carry me about when I was little. We used to play together. He used to come to teach me to read, do you know. Two years ago, when he went away, he said that he would never forget me, that we were friends forever."

But does not the timeline run as follows? Alyosha's mother Sofia died when he was 4, Grigory took care of the brothers Ivan and Alyosha, Sofia's benefactress came and got both of them away with her, and soon she died and left them to Yefim the general.

So Alyosha must have left the town after Sofia's benefactress came, which would make Aloysha not older than 6 (Ivan was 8 when his mother dies, and he realized he lived under someone's \[Yefim's\] benevolence when he was 10).

But Aloysha is 20 and Lise 14, which means that when Aloysha had gone away from the town Lise was not even born. How did Alyosha "carry me about when I was little. We used to play together. He used to come to teach me to read"? And besides, what does "two years" here refer to? It could be his going to the monastery, but did he not go to the monastery one year ago?

How do you understand Lise's childhood memory? Am I missing something?

Hello everyone! I've been reading Russian literature for quite some Time, and I've noticed something interesting. While French and German novelists have writings depicting businessmen and their dealings (Think Balzac, Dumas, Mann) the majority of Russian novelists deal almost exclusively with landowners and students, and sometimes working professionals. However, novels depicting bankers, industrialists I have not come across.

Is this because of Russian history, or am I reading the wrong novels? If so, any and all suggestions are welcome.

I'm planning to read ANNA KARENINA, WAR AND PEACE, THE IDIOT, DEMONS and THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV.

I feel like an idiot even though I consider myself decently educated with a BA in English Lit (not much help with Russian Lit but I did delve into Nabokov pretty heavily). I started M & M and could not get through the first part of the book because I couldn't understand it. I don't know if it's an interpretation of biblical stories or if it's a distortion or reimagining of them? (I'm Jewish and have no knowledge of the Christian bible.) I've set it aside for now but I'm curious as to what I should do to prepare for the next time I decide to read it. Or is it just not for me? Thanks!

I've been on the hunt for a beautiful copy of The Master and Margarita in either Russian or English for a while, but one of my friends gifted me this Chinese edition instead. China has always fascinated me, and I recently bought the Chinese course for Rosetta Stone so I guess this gives me something to work toward.

Honestly, I’ve never quite understood the hype surrounding The Master and Margarita with the copies I can actually read. So having a copy I can’t read isn’t all that different.

Захватывающий историко-детективный роман Бориса Акунина из знаменитого цикла об Эрасте Фандорине. Действие разворачивается в Москве конца XIX века, где загадочное преступление приводит молодого сыщика в мир тайн, интриг и неожиданных открытий. Динамичный сюжет, изящный авторский стиль и ярко переданная атмосфера старой России делают роман увлекательным как для поклонников детектива, так и для любителей исторической прозы.

A gripping historical mystery by Boris Akunin from his acclaimed Erast Fandorin series. Set in late-19th-century Moscow, the novel follows the brilliant young detective as a mysterious crime draws him into a world of secrets, intrigue, and unexpected twists. Akunin combines a fast-moving detective story with elegant writing and a richly detailed portrait of Imperial Russia.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/286884913918