Any one else read the Russians? Don't know if anyone else produced the quantity and quality of literature and playwrighing that Russia produced in the 19th century. They are my favourites :)

Tolstoy's sweeping epics Anna Karenina and War And Peace.

Dostoevsky's psychological studies Crime And Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot.

Turgenyev's pastoral Fathers And Sons.

Gogol's thoroughly humorous Dead Souls.

Checkov's masterful The Cherry Orchard and Uncle Vanya.

Pushkin's nation forming poetry and his Eugene Onegin that inspired movies, operas and ballets.

And countless others.

What a place it must have been.
What a tme it must have been.

Sorry, the closest to Russian Literature I've read is Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith and I'm sure that doesnt; count

Originally posted by Caligula
Sorry, the closest to Russian Literature I've read is Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith and I'm sure that doesnt; count

Great movie though. :) Was the book good too?

I've read Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. Absolutely brilliant book.

What about Vladimir Nabokov's infamous Lolita? He wrote this in English (not his native language) and then translated it into Russian. This novel represents the english language at it's best. Every phrase is poetic.

Hehehe. I was trying to stick to one century so I wouldn't bore everyone so much. lol

Nabokov was one of those rare people, wasn't he? Like Joyce. Capable of doing many things with many different languages. It's a bit of a lost art now. Their primary-school education would have included at least Latin and Greek in addition to their native tongue. We're lucky now if we graduate high-school with a decent knowledge of our own language. :)

If you're interested in modern russian literature / philosophy / madness - try Victor Pelevin .. anything .. "Generation P" (Pepsi) or "Babylon" (in English version) to start with. That's not an easy reading though. :rollin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Pelevin

Bogie,

I have read many classics, both American and English, but never any Russian lit. I've been considering reading Tolstoy and/or Dostoevsky. I have a friend who translated War and Peace back into Russian in college. He thinks it is the best books ever written. If you had to pick one book by these two authors to start with, what would it be? I have both War and Peace and The Brothers Karamazov right here, just never got around to reading them.

Thanks.

Josh

and here I was thinking the thread might be about Sacha B. Cohen. :rolleyes:
:lol: