tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post7658813652956004782..comments2024-03-29T03:04:00.853-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Russian books are shortAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-86956945362182063292020-12-12T10:25:48.824-06:002020-12-12T10:25:48.824-06:00"Energetic chaos" is a good description...."Energetic chaos" is a good description. Of course, it describes Russia as well over the last few decades...Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-22122632524796933732020-12-12T10:15:51.430-06:002020-12-12T10:15:51.430-06:00A return to the Classics! The Wuthering Expectati...A return to the Classics! The Wuthering Expectations Classics. A simple-minded exercise in literary history. Whatever the subject, it is bigger than I think. Use modifiers, even if it weakens the rhetoric. "<i>Some</i> Russian books are long." Can't argue with that.<br /><br />Bunin is so good. I've read him, at least a little bit, since 2013.<br /><br />Contemporary Russian literature, even with Lizok's help, looks like energetic chaos to me (<a href="http://wutheringexpectations.blogspot.com/2018/11/demanding-novels-from-vladimir-sharov.html" rel="nofollow">for example</a>). Someday I'll have to take a closer look.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-86592915701374108882020-12-12T09:12:45.567-06:002020-12-12T09:12:45.567-06:00I'm sorry I missed this thread back when it wa...I'm sorry I missed this thread back when it was active, but since I've found it: I strongly agree with Sashura about Trifonov, and I would urge everyone to read as much Bunin as they can (shamefully, he hasn't been translated in full, even though as far as I'm concerned he's a better short-story writer than Chekhov -- maybe the best ever). There has been lots of great short fiction in recent decades -- off the top of my head, Nagibin, Tendryakov, Kazakov, Andrei Bitov, Tatyana Tolstaya, Lyudmila Petrushevskaya -- but much of it hasn't been translated.Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-80026422640358663712013-12-14T19:50:56.593-06:002013-12-14T19:50:56.593-06:00Good - I hope so, too. I am completely sympatheti...Good - I hope so, too. I am completely sympathetic to readers for whom length is an issue. Sometimes it is an issue for me. But that is no reason to skip Russian literature, or even Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Or for that matter Charles Dickens or James Joyce.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-76033449641278590272013-12-14T10:57:55.304-06:002013-12-14T10:57:55.304-06:00Wonderful list, thank you Tom! I love that you'...Wonderful list, thank you Tom! I love that you've included Gogol and Turgenev. I think one of my 2014 challenges will be to finish up Tolstoy's work and read some Russian authors that are new to me, so I'll definitely be bookmarking your post.<br /><br />Hopefully you'll get more people reading Russian literature!<br /><br />Best wishes,<br />LucyLucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15103141646225036708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-41311347936282830202013-07-26T00:09:21.168-05:002013-07-26T00:09:21.168-05:00This was a fun post to write - and look at how goo...This was a fun post to write - and look at how good the comments are!<br /><br />Your "readable" list is completely credible, although I have foolishly never gotten to Bunin.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-5772163745622504852013-07-25T17:33:46.988-05:002013-07-25T17:33:46.988-05:00This is an awesome and really useful post. And qui...This is an awesome and really useful post. And quite correct too. I remember not having any long works in the school program until the 10th grade (I went to school in Russia), and nevertheless those who actually read all the suggested stuff were very well acquainted with the scope of Russian literature by then. I think the most readable prose (which means even the laziest students in our class read some of these) is by Turgenev, Pushkin, Chekhov and Bunin, and that's what I usually recommend to my foreign friends when they say War and Peace is too mercilessly long :)Arenelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08646965847129179304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-68886965083524997092011-08-09T19:09:16.193-05:002011-08-09T19:09:16.193-05:00We all have a lot of reading to do, and it will ev...We all have a lot of reading to do, and it will ever be so.<br /><br /><i>The Petty Demon</i> does sound pretty great.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-56644106925534425842011-08-09T12:05:22.915-05:002011-08-09T12:05:22.915-05:00I have a lot of reading to do, thanks! I want put ...I have a lot of reading to do, thanks! I want put in a thumbs up here for Sologub's Petty Demon.Willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05799869059793681283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-67712067474481429982011-02-04T13:09:37.266-06:002011-02-04T13:09:37.266-06:00yes, I do, I'd recommend Lizok's Bookshelf...yes, I do, I'd recommend Lizok's Bookshelf as the best source of no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point advice on anything related to Russian literature, past and present. I've never seen anything as organised and common sense anywhere on the web. Whenever I visit there, I just leave a squeal of praise and quickly leave feeling humbled.Alexander Anichkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08716415983965000292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-7110793105076359632011-02-04T10:11:55.585-06:002011-02-04T10:11:55.585-06:00Thanks for those recommendations.
Do you know Liz...Thanks for those recommendations.<br /><br />Do you know <a href="http://lizoksbooks.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Lizok's Bookshelf</a>? She keeps up on contemporary Russian fiction and will have a thousand ideas.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-48626527975216804302011-02-04T05:59:04.297-06:002011-02-04T05:59:04.297-06:00The 1960s-70s novels are mostly short. I'd esp...The 1960s-70s novels are mostly short. I'd especially recommend Yuri Trifonov's 'city novellas' or 'Moscow novellas' with 'The Exchange' as the best in my opinion.<br /><br />Does anyone have modern writers to recommend? I am reading Письмовник (Sample Letters) by Shishkin, very impressed.Alexander Anichkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08716415983965000292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-42447418670813888702010-12-08T21:21:53.983-06:002010-12-08T21:21:53.983-06:00Oh, I have a long list before I get anywhere near ...Oh, I have a long list before I get anywhere near Stendhal. I see nothing like the formal perfection of <i>Dead Souls</i> or <i>Eugénie Grandet</i> or <i>The Entail</i>. Stendhal is off in some other aesthetic universe that I do not really understand.<br /><br />Feel free to dismiss this as a blind spot.<br /><br />I completely agree about Constance Garnett. English-language readers owe her a lot.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-76111506161929365852010-12-08T17:59:16.342-06:002010-12-08T17:59:16.342-06:00"And then the Greatest Novel of the First Hal..."And then the Greatest Novel of the First Half of the 19th Century, in any language, Dead Souls (1842)"-main possible competition seem to be 1830-The Red and the Black or-1839 Charterhouse of Parma?<br /><br />I am currently reading a great new biography of Katherine Mansfield-I am coming to the conclusion that one of the most influential writers of the first two decades of the 20th century was Constant Garnett-her son Bunny Garnett was a member of the Bloomsbury setMel uhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08714473754458914681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-43024535181871927132010-08-01T21:44:55.459-05:002010-08-01T21:44:55.459-05:00Thanks or reading it! I'm going to follow my ...Thanks or reading it! I'm going to follow my own advice, with Turgenev, soon.<br /><br />There is a certain sense of satisfaction associated with completing a fat novel, regardless of quality. And when the quality is that of <i>Anna Karenina</i>! I see how it would stick with a reader.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-52592477896321243092010-07-31T12:42:53.113-05:002010-07-31T12:42:53.113-05:00There is so much to like in this post. And the com...There is so much to like in this post. And the comments. And everything around here.<br /><br />I had this short period where I tried to educate myself with all the classics, and found myself diving into the fattest books I could find. I succeed with <i>War and Peace</i>. I got stuck with Dostoyevsky (and this with several chunksters on the shelf...). And then I felt like a failure.<br /><br />Meanwhile, I've read Turgenev and Chekhov. I desperately want to dive into Pushkin already, I've got Gogol on hold somewhere, and I absolutely loved Tolstoy's shorter works. But with the exception of Chekhov's major works, I came to all of these options kind of in shock. "What? These aren't famous books!" What qualifies as famous? I didn't recognize the authors or titles as a kid, unlike Tolstoy and Dosteyvsky. It was a little weird.<br /><br />I think the reason Russians are associated with "fat Russian novels" is more because people like the idea of a fat Russian novel. Sometimes it seems like reading big books gives people a sense of superiority, the same way maybe that kids like bigger books because it shows that they're old and mature enough to tackle them... As for the "Russian" part... I'm not sure. I'm just guessing here, anyways.<br /><br />Thanks for writing this.Meytal Radzinskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15805413335735169073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-48045722862541445132010-07-20T09:41:05.415-05:002010-07-20T09:41:05.415-05:00I could not possibly agree more with your first pa...I could not possibly agree more with your first paragraph. But you knew that.nicolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17532641082944082516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-76180866149525396782010-07-19T21:03:49.748-05:002010-07-19T21:03:49.748-05:00Sense - that's just it. Moby-Dick, aesthetical...Sense - that's just it. <i>Moby-Dick</i>, aesthetically, as I understand that word, is a substantially superior book to <i>Karamazov</i>. Dostoevsky <i>demands</i> engagement with his Big Ideas. Melville contains so many other pleasures.<br /><br />"Nervous" is, I'm afraid, just the right word for me. I'm working on it, I'm working on it!Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-53492701263132111832010-07-19T16:16:16.229-05:002010-07-19T16:16:16.229-05:00Aesthetically, this is absurd, and a challenge for...<em>Aesthetically, this is absurd, and a challenge for me, since Profound Meaning makes me nervous.</em><br /><br />Yeah. I wouldn't say it makes me nervous, per se, but it's not my favorite thing, not by a long shot. I mean am I going to go around saying Profound Meaning makes me nervous after a week of posting on <em>Moby-Dick</em>? Of course, I didn't exactly talk a lot there about the usual litany of Profound Meaning. But it works for me there in a way that it doesn't in <em>Brothers Karamazov</em>.<br /><br />Okay, I'm not sure how much sense I'm making anymore.nicolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17532641082944082516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-35506088013724849542010-07-19T15:40:42.077-05:002010-07-19T15:40:42.077-05:00Yeah, and the Russian short story is a metaphor fo...Yeah, and the Russian short story is a metaphor for the short Russian summer. And <i>The Cherry Orchard</i> is the Russian autumn.<br /><br />I'd phrase it a little differently, but I suspect you're both right. Modernists saw the Four Big Books as models for The Novel of Ideas. Chekhov and <i>Dead Souls</i>, and Hugo and Richardson, were something else, something lesser.<br /><br />Aesthetically, this is absurd, and a challenge for me, since Profound Meaning makes me nervous. I also want to put quotes around "deep" and "depth".Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-30591638811793224352010-07-19T14:45:41.872-05:002010-07-19T14:45:41.872-05:00Isn't the long Russian novel just some kind of...Isn't the long Russian novel just some kind of metaphor for the long Russian winter? Lots of moodiness, "deep" psychology, cold, long names, vodka, no sunlight...<br /><br />Kidding, of course, but I certainly get the sense that it's all wrapped up in a sense of "Russian" "intensity" or whatever. With no knowledge of when this actually became the case, I blame Dostoevsky.nicolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17532641082944082516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-70482801756183728202010-07-19T11:05:05.280-05:002010-07-19T11:05:05.280-05:00Thanks for the mention on Hadji Murad. I think ano...Thanks for the mention on Hadji Murad. I think another dimension usually attacheed to Russian literature, in addition to its length, is its depth. Especially with the reputation of some writers like Tolstoy and Dostoevsky you always hear about the depth which I guess is supposed to imply additional slogging through a book in order to "get it".<br /><br />While all of the writers you list do have "depth" or deeper meanings, most of them can be read at any level you choose, even just a 'surface reading', and provide enjoyment.Dwighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13688525659034403580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-78970573880759222802010-07-19T10:08:57.481-05:002010-07-19T10:08:57.481-05:00Rebecca, perhaps that's what I'm arguing. ...Rebecca, perhaps that's what I'm arguing. Readers should make Russian literature less foreign. <i>Minimal</i> knowledge dispels a lot of nonsense.<br /><br />Feel free to try an abridgement of <i>Clarissa</i> - there are a couple of good ones. It's not a difficult book, except that it's so insanely long.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-54796116281844057422010-07-19T06:46:23.606-05:002010-07-19T06:46:23.606-05:00forgot to subscribe to commentsforgot to subscribe to commentsRebecca Reidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06062252252301802298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-30269774751238224522010-07-19T06:46:07.156-05:002010-07-19T06:46:07.156-05:00Ah, this is a great list!
A Thought on why Russia...Ah, this is a great list!<br /><br />A Thought on why Russian literature is known as the long novels: they are Foreign, so add in the unfamiliar history and tradition, add in the three names each character has and it's much more intimidating than even Les Mis, which has more familiar names to English reader, and a more familiar history. <br /><br />AT least, when I say more familiar, I mean to me. That said, I'm still very intimidated by Clarissa, and I tend to like English lit a lot!Rebecca Reidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06062252252301802298noreply@blogger.com