It’s just a penguin classics so not valuable, but I was wondering if there’s a way to tell when this exact copy was printed- as I’m assuming the dates listed here are when the general edition is printed and not this specific copy. Most books seem to have the print date for it, these generic print dates drive me crazy.

I think some of these might not be as well known, so I thought I’d share. Also, I’m new. Hi 🙂

The book doesn't necessarily need to be scary. "Horror" is hard to find in Russian literature (not impossible), but demons, creatures, and ghosts are pretty abundant in short stories. If you think the community would appreciate the book for Halloween, just suggest it below.

Hello!

At the moment, I’m not reading much Russian literature, even though it’s one of the richest literary traditions I know. For a long time, I limited myself to the classics, but now I’d like to read some contemporary writers. Do you have any novels you could recommend?

Thank you in advance!

Hello everyone! Im about to buy a used book of War and Peace. I find the cover is so nice. But Who’s the translator for this cover? Anyone care to share? Thx

Who is your favorite female character in Russian literature?

My mother recommended Fazil Iskander. Does anyone know where I can find a Kindle-friebdly version of "Rabbit & Boa Constructors?"

Hello!

My friend and I are challenging ourselves to read through Russian literature's greatest hits, essentially. I'm coming up with a "syllabus." I feel really good at the 19th century because I took a course on that in graduate school and was able to borrow from what we read in that class. But then I get to the 20th century and things get complicated. I'm trying to keep them somewhat in chronological order but even that gets a bit difficult in the 20th century. Here are the authors/poets I want to cover. How would you group them and which titles do you recommend we read?

NOTE: For Bulgakov, we are reading Heart of a Dog or White Guard because we both LOVE Master and Margarita, so we thought we should read something else. I have read Heart of a Dog but it's been a long time. Also, we bought copies of 20th Century Russian Poetry: An Anthology because poetry isn't my strong suit so I thought that would be the easiest.

Alexander Blok (selected poems from the anthology)

Anna Akhmatova (Requiem for sure)

Marina Tsvetayeva (selected poems from the anthology)

Vladimir Mayakovsky (selected poems from the anthology)

Isaac Babel (selected poems from the anthology, Odessa Stories?)

Maksim Gorky (I think he has one famous poem included in the anthology)

Ilf and Petrov The Twelve Chairs or The Golden Calf

Nabokov (Invitation to the Beheading maybe?)

Ivan Bunin (The Village?)

Mikhail Sholokov (Quiet Flows the Don)

Nikolay Ostrovsky (How the Steel Was Tempered)

Chingiz Aitmatov (I've heard good things from reading this subreddit and wanted to give it a try)

Isaak Babel (Red Cavalry)

Mikhail Bulgakov

Boris Pasternak (February and Dr. Zhivago for sure)

Varlam Shalamov (Kolyma Tales)

Platanov

Anything I'm missing? Anything on this list that you think we could do without? It's a long list so I'm sure some things will get cut or this book club will become it's own 5 year plan (See what I did there?)

Thank you in advance!

The Conflict Between Faith and Doubt

The major philosophical debate in The Brothers Karamazov is that between religious faith and doubt. The major characters represent the various types of conduct that these two places elicit. In the novel, faith refers to Zosima and Alyosha's positive, assenting conviction in God, which fosters an active love of humanity, generosity, forgiveness, and a devotion to goodness. Doubt refers to Ivan Karamazov's logical skepticism, which, in pursuing the truth via the rational study of evidence, leads to a rejection of God, a rejection of traditional morality, a coldness toward humanity, and a paralyzing inner despair.

Dostoevsky does not convey these positions objectively. He strongly advocates for religion and uses numerous examples to demonstrate how a life of faith is happier than a life of doubt. Doubt, as demonstrated by Smerdyakov's murder of Fyodor Pavlovich and Ivan's collapse, results in chaos and sadness. Nonetheless, the novel addresses the psychology of uncertainty objectively and rigorously. Dostoevsky presents an incisive case against religion, the Church, and God through the character of Ivan in chapters such as "The Grand Inquisitor," implying that the decision to embrace religious faith can only be made at great philosophical risk, and for reasons that defy a fully logical explanation.

The Burden of Free Will The novel convincingly argues that people have free choice, whether they want it or not. That is, each individual has the freedom to believe or disbelieve in God, accept or reject morals, and pursue good or evil. The condition of free will may appear to be a benefit, as it ensures each individual's spiritual independence and prevents any outside force from controlling the individual's faith choices. However, throughout The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky portrays free will as a misfortune, particularly for the people who choose to disbelieve God's existence.

Free will can be viewed as a curse since it forces humans to willingly reject the world's security, conveniences, and protections in favor of the uncertainties and pains of religious belief. Ivan contends that most people are too weak to make this choice, and as a result, they are doomed to wretched lives that culminate in eternal punishment. The Grand Inquisitor tale in Book V investigates Christ's biblical rejection of Satan's temptations and concludes that Christ was mistaken in rejecting them, as his rejection granted humans free will but removed security.

Hi is Dead Souls worth reading knowing that Gogol ended the book mid sentence and that it is unfinished? Supposedly it was meant to be the first of 3.

Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated

Forgive me for posting about an author who is not technically Russian (and mods, please feel free to delete), but I just finished James Meek's The People's Act of Love and would highly recommend it to any lovers of Russian literature reading in English! Both the themes and prose are very reminiscent of Andrei Platonov. The novel is set in revolutionary-era Siberia and tells the stories of a Christian cult, escapees from a brutal Tsarist prison, the divided members of a stranded Czech legion, Bolshevik revolutionaries, indigenous shamans, and a lone widow and her son, all colliding at the dawning of a new age.

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Link: https://discord.gg/P2BUppTG5r

We'll be hosting a read-along of Demons by Dostoevsky, starting tomorrow! Join this server if you'd like to participate and talk about Dostoevsky and the work of other authors!

What is the name of the Russian short story, in which a proud nobleman and a peasant/cart driver are travelling and get caught overnight in a blizzard. The peasant is prepared to die and lays himself down in the cart. In the morning, he awakes to find draped over him the nobleman's cloak and now dead body, which had kept him warm enough and alive.

Hello everyone, I'm trying to recall a certain Russian writer that I can't remember who wrote a sort of book or novel in 1910 (I believe) and it was somehow controversial at that time. If anyone knows who this is, it would be very helpful.

What could the notion of half a man or half a soul mean?

I have two examples but there are probably others.

From Demons:

“Oh, they do nothing but sentence to death, and all by means of sealed documents, signed by three men and a half. And you think they’ve any power!”

This reference to 3.5 men is made several times.

From Rudin by Turgenev:

"Something is left me there. Two souls and a half."

Saw it on my local 2nd hand bookshop for $5
There is barely any info online and internet achieve is down so cant check whats its about

If you want to read a modern classic of Russian literature, if you want to read a novel about existential crisis, about Russian immigrants in New York at 70s, want to read a novel about love, sex, gay. You should probably read - it’s me Eddy-baby by Limonov. He was maybe the biggest Russian classic at ending of 20 century. It will show you that Russian literature very changed since Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. ( you can find that’s novel easy on z library )

What Russian classic novel is with the most interesting plot?

Fiction writers? Google doesn't bring up anything of note

Hi! I've been trying to get into Russian lit but I lack the energy to read something like Crime and Punishment (even though I started reading it and loved it). So I need something shorter. I really enjoyed the Overcoat and Crime & Punishment but I disliked Anna Karenina and the Death of Ivan Ilyich (please no Tolstoy in general)if that helps.