This year I took two Russian literature classes, both where broken down into centuries (nineteenth and twentieth). I was not sure what I was getting myself into. No really. I did not. But I am glad I did it!
The teacher was amazing! She did a good job of teaching us about the culture, history, and also what she could of the Russian language. I feel like her classes should have been longer, and also the semester should have been longer. I enjoyed being in class and sharing what my opinions where about the novels, and hearing my other classmates opinions too. Also just being able to talk about Russia, and the novels that came from this lovely country. It was the most relaxing thing to do during the school year, if I needed to relax and take my mind of things: go to Russian lit!
The class really made me fall in love with Russia more! I cannot wait to actually go there one day to explore this country. I feel like it has been caught off from rest of the world due to many things, like the history of it (Cold War, mainly, and also when people considered it the Soviet Union).
I am glad that my school offers a class like this, because you get to learn more about Russia through the authors. The authors are natives of Russia. They grew up in Russia before the Soviet Union, and during the Soviet Union... as of now just waiting on those authors who are post Soviet Union to come out with novels. In the class we got a massive time period of view points of what life was in Russia, through art. I feel like it was nice to have that because art does mirror life in a way. We got a little bit of the historical background too, from our instructor. But we also had some past history classes which taught us a little bit about Russian history, about the last Czar and the Russian Revolution.
But mainly it brought new light to Russia the country itself. Yes, it was backwards before the Russian Revolution. There was something that was not really backwards at all about it. If you have heard of the authors: Alexander Pushkin, and Mikhail Lermontov, you may know that some of their characters are quite modernized. In all the books I read in this class, it mainly dealt with questions everyone is trying to answers in life: can I find love, what is life's meaning, and many others. The themes are dealing with a society that is trying to catch up with the rest of the world, while trying to define where it stands on it's own.
These Russian literature classes I took made an impact on me. Here are some of the books and authors that made an major impact on me as well:
We are starting with poet, Alexander Pushkin (Александр Сергеевич Пушкин); he is known to be the father of Russian literature. He is what kicked started it all!
One of Pushkin's famous poems is called "The Bronze Horseman" (Медный всадник) this poem is considered one of the greatest poems in Russian history. All the little children when they go through school they learn the poem by heart.
He has also wrote some short stories. The ones I want to share with you will be: "The Queen of Spades" (Пиковая дама) this is about the main character wanting to really win at a Russian poker game. So he spends the whole story trying to get the main three cards to win down. He gets the answer, then tries to win games using the combination. Turns out he forgets the combination during the game, which leads him to go crazy trying to remember the winning trio of cards.
Another short story that Pushkin wrote that I want to share with you is "The Captain's Daughter" (Капитанская дочка). In this story we follow a boy who got sent to be in the army by his father. When the boy gets to the camp, he ends up falling in love with the captain's daughter. We follow the boy's adventures from there. I am not giving much away, just read it. It is very exciting story!
The next author and novel I want to share with you all is Mikhail Lermontov (Лермонтов Михаил Юрьевич), he wrote "A Hero of Our Time" (Герой нашего времени). This novel revolves the life and adventures of Pechorin. We get to see how he changes as a person through out the novel.
"A Hero of Our Time" would be consider what we would call a Western. It does not have John Wayne kind of cowboys in it, but it does have Russian soldiers roaming around the Caucasus. We learn about Perchorin as a person, and see him through out the novel in many ways. First through a story of someone who knew him, then through his own words in a journal, and back to another story.
Pechorin is an interesting character, we get to see many sides of him. We learn what drives him in the novel. We also learn what also drives him, ends up making him break. If you are looking for a story with well develop characters, this one is brilliantly is for you! He is probably the most mysterious characters in Russian literature, and all of literature (debatable).
Ah, that is right I am throwing in the famous "Crime and Punishment" (Преступление и наказание) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Федоров Михайлович Достоевский). I have assumed most of you have already read this. It is a classic, I could not resist!
I feel like everyone should read this in their life. It is a novel that deals with good and bad, and what should happen to you if you ever commit a horrible crime like, murder for an example. It is about the main character committing a murder, and then living life after he has done so.
It takes you on an adventure with the main character who has not really given himself up yet to the police. There are so many times where it his pretty hard for him to stay silent. We get to see him have a moral war going in his head to see if he will do the right thing.
His friends and family, are debating about the mental state of the murder. This makes a great novel about philosophy, and ethics. "Crime and Punishment" is beautifully written. It stands way past the time it was written (then it was ahead of it's time), it will always be relevant. This book will always bring up discussions of what we think of what is the true right and wrong, is there black and white areas of doing the right thing, or is all gray areas? That is up to you for yourself to decide.
Even though the book itself is long, and deals with great themes. Will seem like a daunting read, but I assure you it will be worth going through!
Another famous one, that I bet most of you have also read already: Leo Tolstoy's (Лев Николаевич Толстой) "Anna Karenina" (Анна Каренина). It is another long one and hard one to get through. I know, I know. Tolstoy loves to have a lot a detail in his novel. I have feeling he always wanted to make his work like paintings too, set the scene to have a picture in the reader's head.
"Anna Karenina" is about two characters: Anna and Levin. It is about their lives over three years, and they eventually meet each other (just briefly). The novel gives you an insight about what is happening with Russia during the time the novel was being written. You get a glance at it in the many themes that can be found in the book. But it mainly it's about how Anna and Levin fit into their world, and how they deal with their world around them.
The one major theme of the book would be, how you deal with what you life throws at you. You can either take it, or your life and world can take you with it. "Anna Karenina" also explores love, and if you can actually find your true love.
Anton Checkov (Антон Павлович Чехов) is a author who wrote short stories, and also a play-write too. We read some of his short stories in class. There where some that really stuck out with me.
"The Chorus Girl" (Девушка-хорус) it is about a girl who spent the night with a married man, and his 'wife' shows up at her door. It goes through the wife's visit, at the end we are left with one question: was that really the man's wife that came to her door? Or did she get robbed? It seems to be that somethings are not to be what they really seem.
Another one of Chekov's stories that really stuck out to me was "The House with the Mezzanine" (Дом с мезонином). This is about a young artist who comes across a house with two sisters living in it. We do not really get a sense of which sister he really likes. But the younger one does really like him. The older sister we do not really have a sense what she feels other than disliking the artist because he does not agree with her opinions about how Russian society should improve itself. It seems like the artist does have a soft spot for both sisters, and the house the live in before they move away.
I am not sure what the name of the trilogy he wrote. But it is three little stories about if one can really fall in what would be considered true love and be truly happy for the rest of their lives. The trilogy does give you insight to how three different characters feel about love, and what their experiences are with it.
Oh, this one is my absolute favorite of the reading lists, both of them! "The Master and Margarita" (Мастер и Маргарита) by Mikhail Bulgakov (Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков) it was written during the 1920's and during some of the 1930's, which was one of the darkest times in Soviet Union history. During Stalin's purges, that is when Stalin got rid of people he considered unfit or where against the Soviet Union. While this was happening art was being censored because Stain also did not want the Soviet Union to be viewed in a negative light, only a positive one.
Bulgoakov stopped writing the book because he did not want to finish it, or had the will too. He ended up throwing it into the fire to get rid of it, but his wife saved the manuscript from being burned completely. She helped him finish the book.
"The Master and Margarita" is about the devil haunting Moscow and causing havoc for it's citizens. During the devil's stay, he turns their world upside down. He shows them evil tricks that they cannot believe their eyes. Some may say that this is a commentary about was going on in the time that Bulgakov was writing this. Because like in real life and in the book people where disappearing out of nowhere, and where never to be heard from again due to the purges.
This book is really popular in Russia amongst it's teenage population. I think this is classic that has been hidden from the world, and that should be read by all. That is why I am recommending this book to all who are reading this. It is adventure that will take you to different places you would not have expected, and also gives you an insight on life and the society around you.
"Doctor Zhivago" (Доктор Живаго) by Boris Pasternak (Борис Леонидович Пастернак) would be a considered a romance novel movie... The novel has a story-line in it that does revolve around romance of different characters through out. But it is more than the romance.
Doctor Zhivago is where we follow the life of Zhivago from when he is a boy through his death. He experiences different parts of Russian history. We get to see different historic Russian events through his eyes. The reader also get a chance to see what it was like to be on Russia's side of the World Wars in this novel. We do not really get an inside look at that in our history classes.
Zhivago is a doctor, who also wants to be a poet too. At the end of the novel you can find Zhivago's poems, I would suggest you should not skip over this part. The poems are beautifully written. It would be a waste.
"Doctor Zhivago" is also a pretty big novel too, it has a lot a detail... so it is also a hard one to struggle through. But the struggle is worth it! Pasternak also takes the reader on a tour through out country of Russia. The reader travels with the characters through out the book during the characters life times.
In "Moscow to the End of the Line" (Москва до конца линии) by Erofeyev Yerofeyev (Венедикт Васильевич Ерофеев) is a satire about the end of the Soviet Union era. During this time, things where not going so great for the Soviet Union. It was falling apart, it was nothing like was originally planned or promised. Things where not looking great for the Soviet Union or it's people. This was Yerofeyev's novel or we can say epic about alcoholism in the Soviet Union. Well, maybe not intently... but it is about something. Literary people are debating about the actually meaning of this novel. The novel was written between somewhere in the late 1960's and the early 1970's.
We follow Venichka (main character) on a train to where he will head off to see his son and his girlfriend/lover/wife? We are not really drawn in to much on the personal details of his family life, other than he has a son and he is also visiting a woman too. On his way, we experience the train ride with him. We get to meet the people he meets on his way, we also get to listen to the thoughts ramble on in his head, and his view of the world. Also get to learn how to make some drinks he makes on his way to his location on the train. Russians has used this also as a cocktail cookbook.
Since this novel is relatively new, no one really knows how to go about and depict it. "Moscow to the End of the Line" has so many secrets waiting to be discovered. Yerofeyev has brought up the discussion of alcoholism in Russian society, and also the world. Gives you an insight to what makes a person become an alcoholic. Whatever the point of this novel or epic is, we are slowly learning the truth to it. It is a book worth reading, even though you may not have the slightest clue about what is going on, it will take you on an adventure anyways!
When people usually think about Russia they think of the 1980 CCCP team that got defeated by the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey team (Miracle on Ice), the harsh realities of the Soviet Union, Cold War, Space Race, or Putin. Russia is more than those things. Everyone should get a chance to pick up a book to see the who the true people of Russia are.
These novels I mentioned above will give you a more open mind about Russia. It is not just the place of what used to be the Soviet Union, this giant country, and also known for being very cold during the winters. These novels where ignored for so long, I feel like the deserve to be read. Also some may be still hidden away somewhere due to authors being scared to release their work because of the political climate of Russia.
Go out and read novels from Russia, or different countries around the world that do not get a enough light in the spotlight. You will learn new things about the country. There is always an obscure novel waiting to be discovered in our local library or your used book shop down the street. These books are looking to be discovered and passed on to person to person. Art should be viewed, not hidden.
“Manuscripts do not burn.” -- Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita
The teacher was amazing! She did a good job of teaching us about the culture, history, and also what she could of the Russian language. I feel like her classes should have been longer, and also the semester should have been longer. I enjoyed being in class and sharing what my opinions where about the novels, and hearing my other classmates opinions too. Also just being able to talk about Russia, and the novels that came from this lovely country. It was the most relaxing thing to do during the school year, if I needed to relax and take my mind of things: go to Russian lit!
The class really made me fall in love with Russia more! I cannot wait to actually go there one day to explore this country. I feel like it has been caught off from rest of the world due to many things, like the history of it (Cold War, mainly, and also when people considered it the Soviet Union).
I am glad that my school offers a class like this, because you get to learn more about Russia through the authors. The authors are natives of Russia. They grew up in Russia before the Soviet Union, and during the Soviet Union... as of now just waiting on those authors who are post Soviet Union to come out with novels. In the class we got a massive time period of view points of what life was in Russia, through art. I feel like it was nice to have that because art does mirror life in a way. We got a little bit of the historical background too, from our instructor. But we also had some past history classes which taught us a little bit about Russian history, about the last Czar and the Russian Revolution.
But mainly it brought new light to Russia the country itself. Yes, it was backwards before the Russian Revolution. There was something that was not really backwards at all about it. If you have heard of the authors: Alexander Pushkin, and Mikhail Lermontov, you may know that some of their characters are quite modernized. In all the books I read in this class, it mainly dealt with questions everyone is trying to answers in life: can I find love, what is life's meaning, and many others. The themes are dealing with a society that is trying to catch up with the rest of the world, while trying to define where it stands on it's own.
These Russian literature classes I took made an impact on me. Here are some of the books and authors that made an major impact on me as well:
One of Pushkin's famous poems is called "The Bronze Horseman" (Медный всадник) this poem is considered one of the greatest poems in Russian history. All the little children when they go through school they learn the poem by heart.
He has also wrote some short stories. The ones I want to share with you will be: "The Queen of Spades" (Пиковая дама) this is about the main character wanting to really win at a Russian poker game. So he spends the whole story trying to get the main three cards to win down. He gets the answer, then tries to win games using the combination. Turns out he forgets the combination during the game, which leads him to go crazy trying to remember the winning trio of cards.
Another short story that Pushkin wrote that I want to share with you is "The Captain's Daughter" (Капитанская дочка). In this story we follow a boy who got sent to be in the army by his father. When the boy gets to the camp, he ends up falling in love with the captain's daughter. We follow the boy's adventures from there. I am not giving much away, just read it. It is very exciting story!
"A Hero of Our Time" would be consider what we would call a Western. It does not have John Wayne kind of cowboys in it, but it does have Russian soldiers roaming around the Caucasus. We learn about Perchorin as a person, and see him through out the novel in many ways. First through a story of someone who knew him, then through his own words in a journal, and back to another story.
Pechorin is an interesting character, we get to see many sides of him. We learn what drives him in the novel. We also learn what also drives him, ends up making him break. If you are looking for a story with well develop characters, this one is brilliantly is for you! He is probably the most mysterious characters in Russian literature, and all of literature (debatable).
I feel like everyone should read this in their life. It is a novel that deals with good and bad, and what should happen to you if you ever commit a horrible crime like, murder for an example. It is about the main character committing a murder, and then living life after he has done so.
It takes you on an adventure with the main character who has not really given himself up yet to the police. There are so many times where it his pretty hard for him to stay silent. We get to see him have a moral war going in his head to see if he will do the right thing.
His friends and family, are debating about the mental state of the murder. This makes a great novel about philosophy, and ethics. "Crime and Punishment" is beautifully written. It stands way past the time it was written (then it was ahead of it's time), it will always be relevant. This book will always bring up discussions of what we think of what is the true right and wrong, is there black and white areas of doing the right thing, or is all gray areas? That is up to you for yourself to decide.
Even though the book itself is long, and deals with great themes. Will seem like a daunting read, but I assure you it will be worth going through!
"Anna Karenina" is about two characters: Anna and Levin. It is about their lives over three years, and they eventually meet each other (just briefly). The novel gives you an insight about what is happening with Russia during the time the novel was being written. You get a glance at it in the many themes that can be found in the book. But it mainly it's about how Anna and Levin fit into their world, and how they deal with their world around them.
The one major theme of the book would be, how you deal with what you life throws at you. You can either take it, or your life and world can take you with it. "Anna Karenina" also explores love, and if you can actually find your true love.
"The Chorus Girl" (Девушка-хорус) it is about a girl who spent the night with a married man, and his 'wife' shows up at her door. It goes through the wife's visit, at the end we are left with one question: was that really the man's wife that came to her door? Or did she get robbed? It seems to be that somethings are not to be what they really seem.
Another one of Chekov's stories that really stuck out to me was "The House with the Mezzanine" (Дом с мезонином). This is about a young artist who comes across a house with two sisters living in it. We do not really get a sense of which sister he really likes. But the younger one does really like him. The older sister we do not really have a sense what she feels other than disliking the artist because he does not agree with her opinions about how Russian society should improve itself. It seems like the artist does have a soft spot for both sisters, and the house the live in before they move away.
I am not sure what the name of the trilogy he wrote. But it is three little stories about if one can really fall in what would be considered true love and be truly happy for the rest of their lives. The trilogy does give you insight to how three different characters feel about love, and what their experiences are with it.
Bulgoakov stopped writing the book because he did not want to finish it, or had the will too. He ended up throwing it into the fire to get rid of it, but his wife saved the manuscript from being burned completely. She helped him finish the book.
"The Master and Margarita" is about the devil haunting Moscow and causing havoc for it's citizens. During the devil's stay, he turns their world upside down. He shows them evil tricks that they cannot believe their eyes. Some may say that this is a commentary about was going on in the time that Bulgakov was writing this. Because like in real life and in the book people where disappearing out of nowhere, and where never to be heard from again due to the purges.
This book is really popular in Russia amongst it's teenage population. I think this is classic that has been hidden from the world, and that should be read by all. That is why I am recommending this book to all who are reading this. It is adventure that will take you to different places you would not have expected, and also gives you an insight on life and the society around you.
Doctor Zhivago is where we follow the life of Zhivago from when he is a boy through his death. He experiences different parts of Russian history. We get to see different historic Russian events through his eyes. The reader also get a chance to see what it was like to be on Russia's side of the World Wars in this novel. We do not really get an inside look at that in our history classes.
Zhivago is a doctor, who also wants to be a poet too. At the end of the novel you can find Zhivago's poems, I would suggest you should not skip over this part. The poems are beautifully written. It would be a waste.
"Doctor Zhivago" is also a pretty big novel too, it has a lot a detail... so it is also a hard one to struggle through. But the struggle is worth it! Pasternak also takes the reader on a tour through out country of Russia. The reader travels with the characters through out the book during the characters life times.
We follow Venichka (main character) on a train to where he will head off to see his son and his girlfriend/lover/wife? We are not really drawn in to much on the personal details of his family life, other than he has a son and he is also visiting a woman too. On his way, we experience the train ride with him. We get to meet the people he meets on his way, we also get to listen to the thoughts ramble on in his head, and his view of the world. Also get to learn how to make some drinks he makes on his way to his location on the train. Russians has used this also as a cocktail cookbook.
Since this novel is relatively new, no one really knows how to go about and depict it. "Moscow to the End of the Line" has so many secrets waiting to be discovered. Yerofeyev has brought up the discussion of alcoholism in Russian society, and also the world. Gives you an insight to what makes a person become an alcoholic. Whatever the point of this novel or epic is, we are slowly learning the truth to it. It is a book worth reading, even though you may not have the slightest clue about what is going on, it will take you on an adventure anyways!
When people usually think about Russia they think of the 1980 CCCP team that got defeated by the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey team (Miracle on Ice), the harsh realities of the Soviet Union, Cold War, Space Race, or Putin. Russia is more than those things. Everyone should get a chance to pick up a book to see the who the true people of Russia are.
These novels I mentioned above will give you a more open mind about Russia. It is not just the place of what used to be the Soviet Union, this giant country, and also known for being very cold during the winters. These novels where ignored for so long, I feel like the deserve to be read. Also some may be still hidden away somewhere due to authors being scared to release their work because of the political climate of Russia.
Go out and read novels from Russia, or different countries around the world that do not get a enough light in the spotlight. You will learn new things about the country. There is always an obscure novel waiting to be discovered in our local library or your used book shop down the street. These books are looking to be discovered and passed on to person to person. Art should be viewed, not hidden.
“Manuscripts do not burn.” -- Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita
