Russian Literature

[Stewart]

Around the middle of the 19th Century, Russian literature went through its golden age, with the likes of Pushkin, Dostoevsky and Tolstory, and was promptly followed by a silver age, in which many more Russian writers, poets, and dramatists came to widespread attention.

It has a reputation for being bleak and serious (thanks, in part, to Dostoevsky) but behind the works of many there's an accomplished feel for satire and a sense of humour.

In total, Russia (including its time as the Soviet Union) has produced five Nobel laureates in Literature - these are Ivan Bunin, Boris Pasternak, Mikhail Sholokov, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Joseph Brodsky - and also produced one of the most famous never to take the honour, Vladimir Nabokov.

When it comes to Russian literature, I've had an aborted attempt at War And Peace, although I found Tolstoy's The Death Of Ivan Ilyich much easier to sail through. I've also read the sci-fi classic that is We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, which supposedly influence Orwell and Huxley in the creation of their own dystopias.

Yesterday I had an attempt at starting Mikhail Kuzmin's Wings, which was supposedly the first Russian novel, back in 1906, to deal with homosexuality. I got three pages in, thanks to distractions and not being in the right mindset. But I'm now finding myself happily working my way through Vladimir Nabokov's first novel, Mary.

So, what Russian literature have you read? What comes recommended?

[Bjorn]

I'd say Dostoevsky (who's one of my favourite writers and becomes more so with every re-read) has a healthy dollop of exactly that sort of sense of humour too; The Demons is a hilarious send-up of the politics of his day (and even more interesting considering what happened a few decades later).

But you're right, that mixture of the dark and the irreverent seems to be at the heart of many of the Russian writers who've made it abroad. To take one of Dostoevsky's own favourites, Gogol's The Overcoat, a story I'm sure Kafka wore out several copies of. Or one of my favourite books ever, Bulgakov's The Master And Margarita which is both a laugh-out-loud absurd satire of what happens when you follow leaders too blindly, and one of the most passionate defenses for freedom of thought I've read. The quote Рукописи не горят - "manuscripts don't burn" - became something of a mantra for writers working under Soviet censorship, I'm told.

I've been meaning for a long time to read up on more of the classics. After Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, I really should try and get through more by Gogol and Pushkin as well, and Solzhenitsyn, Ageyev and Pasternak too. Having read and loved Lolita I keep meaning to read more Nabokov, but frankly... he scares me.

Oh, and Leonid Tsypkin's Summer In Baden-Baden (which I reviewed on this site) is something of a masterpiece.

One contemporary writer I'm really curious about is Viktor Pelevin. I recently read The Helmet of Horror (his contribution to Canongate's myth project) and found it... shall we say "unique"? Not completely unique, obviously, nothing new under the sun, but a very interesting and very engrossing read.

Also, a while back I read Sergei Lukyanenko's Night Watch and will probably get around to the two sequels at some point; it's not great fantasy, but it's got a different tone than his US/UK colleagues.

[Stewart]

The Demons is a hilarious send-up of the politics of his day (and even more interesting considering what happened a few decades later).

The collector in me has this on the radar as a new translation has recently been published by Penguin Classics.

I've been meaning for a long time to read up on more of the classics. After Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, I really should try and get through more by Gogol and Pushkin as well, and Solzhenitsyn, Ageyev and Pasternak too.

Yes, me to. I've already decided that next year I am going to try and focus on Russian literature. (I should do better than my attempt at reading more Scandinavian literature this year.)

Having read and loved Lolita I keep meaning to read more Nabokov, but frankly... he scares me.

You could read Mary, it's nowhere near later Nabokov. But I'll post up my thoughts properly once I've finished it.

One contemporary writer I'm really curious about is Viktor Pelevin. I recently read The Helmet of Horror (his contribution to Canongate's myth project)...

I've skipped the Canongate Myths series, having been nonplussed by Margaret Atwood and Jeanette Winterson's contributions to it. I'm interested in the forthcoming Michel Faber offering, The Fire Gospels though. But, on the subject of Pelevin I have a proof of his latest, The Sacred Book Of The Werewolf. Flicking through it I see references to Mel Gibson, Lolita, and The Matrix. Should be...interesting.

Also, a while back I read Sergei Lukyanenko's Night Watch and will probably get around to the two sequels at some point; it's not great fantasy, but it's got a different tone than his US/UK colleagues.

I was under the impression that the books were a tetralogy and that only in film would the Watch series - or whatever name is given to it - be a trilogy.

[ions]

Chekhov! Ohhh Chekhov! Absolutely fantastic. That Golden age of Russian literature is exactly that. A Golden age. There aren't enough superlatives to describe that group. The Brothers Karamazov is a must. A must! Really all of Dostoevsky's major works are. In fact sitting here trying to think of what to say about the Russians frazzles me. There's so much to say. Superlatives that need applying and devotions to be stated. If I continued listing titles I'd be calling them all must reads.

Try not to be too surprised but I'm going to go on my translation tangent. Be careful with English translations of the Russians. Pevear and Volokhonsky I've found to be the best. I say this having done a decent comparison against Garnett and a mostly superficial inspection of a handful of the others, Maude etc. I also don't speak Russian so can't even begin to speak about the accuracy but I have found that Pevear and Volokhonsky make the most readable and enjoyable translations comparitively. And by no small margin.

[fausto]

I see a mention of Pelevin. I really like him, although his most recent books seem less good (The helmet of horror, Homo Zapiens). I have tremendoulsy good memories of The clay machine-gun, Omon-Ra, Life of insects and The Yellow Arrow. I sure hope more goodness is to come, but when his latest was published in Russia, it would seem reactions were mixed.

Other than that quite a few young Russians writers seem to be translated in French but have never tried them and don't even know what are the names to check out first. I've got a Sorokin somewhere.

[Eric]

I'm not a great connoisseur of Russian literature, but I get my dose of Russianness as a surrogate when reading Estonian things.

Have any of you read any of the books listed here:

INDEX of GLAS publication