Who is your favourite Russian author? What are some authors you wished more people read? Favourite book?

>>24555446 (OP)
Russian literature is my absolute favourite and has been since I was a teenager. Dosto and Tolstoy are the peaks but there are so many others that are incredible like Gogola and Chekhov. One of my personal favourite books that I wished more people were aware of is Bulgakov's The Country Doctor's Notebook. Fantastic little book.

I'm currently reading Moscow-Petushki which I'm enjoying and I just started Buddha's Little Finger, my first Pelevin, and already I am enjoying it

>>24555446 (OP)
Chekhov having a generic "chad" picture seems lazy. But he's my favorite.

>>24555553
Chekhov is great. His little trilogy and Ward No. 6 are my favourites

Chekhov is my favorite.

Next I want to read A Country Doctors Notebook, All Quiet on the Don, and Roadside Picnic

Reading a few of Turgenev's stories in Memoirs of a Hunter, or whatever it's called in english. Reads a bit like the short stories of Maupassant I think, only gloomier, it's Russia after all. Won't read all of them, I just wanted to get a taste.

>>24555446 (OP)

>>24555446 (OP)
Andrei Platonov
He was somebody that was a true believer in the Bolshevik cause but moderated his views as time passed and the revolution did not live up to its promises. His works have very surrealist qualities.

All this is to say: read Chevengur. I will not rest until everybody on this board has read Chevengur and we have a Chevengur thread up 24/7.

>>24555446 (OP)
Chekhov was the only good Russian
Turgenev was a westaboo so his work is Russian in name only

>>24556412
>Turgenev was a westaboo so his work is Russian in name only
Retarded take

In my eyes, if you are Russian, you are automatically a good author

>>24556418
Have you ever heard of Maxim Gorky?

>>24556421
He's pretty good

>>24556418
Have you ever heard of Nikolai Starikov?

>>24556445
No

I'm studying Russian for Russian literature
My favourite Russian author is Lermontov
Anyway Russian poetry is practically unknown in the West but is there much worth reading if you learn Russian?

>>24556464
isn't eugen onegin a long narrative poem? i only know that one, sorry

I'm studying Russian for Russian white hotwife trafficking

>>24555677
Just picked this up during the NYRB sale. Had no idea what it was but sounded interesting, give me reasons why I should move it up on my backlog

After reading through the highlighted, with war and peace, a hero of our time, master and marg, heart of a dog, the double
The deepest impressions were turgenov- fathers and sons and many of the stories, chekovs the boring story and others, oblomovs dream, the first half of dead souls, and nabokovs invitation to a beheading
Some of disappointments were dostoy- writes neatly and trimly, but not beautifully like turgenov or gogol
I found tolstoys prose even duller, not bad, just without nuence, and couldnt finish war and peace, though i will eventually

I hold turgenov and gogol in the highest regard, though reading more of nabokov could elevate him past that

>>24556786

>>24555446 (OP)
Pushkin

lermontov was shit
the only thing that made it even barely tolerable was the commentary and translation by nabokov

>>24555446 (OP)
My favorite is Isaac Babel if that counts
Favorite book is Time, Forward! by Valentin Katayev

>>24555446 (OP)
Schedrin

>>24556429
Is he? Not what I've heard.

>>24555446 (OP)
I like Turgenev a lot. I was very much a Bazarov-type character when growing up, and Fathers and Sons taught me a lot.
Turgenev also has some interesting takes on relations between men and manipulative, impulsive women. IIRC, very much driven by IRL mommy issues. Kind of like what Sacher-Masoch would write if he was more intellectual and not a degenerate coomer.
Turgenev's Smoke is also pretty amazing as a parody of the Russian "polite society". As someone with some firsthand experience, I can tell you it is very accurate to this day. It really is all exactly like this (if you wrote it now it would be not in Germany but I guess in Dubai or something).

>>24556429
Naw he isnae

>>24555446 (OP)
Boris savinkov is amazing. The pale horse is must-read

>>24555446 (OP)
Dmitry Puchkov, expert Quake gamer

>>24555553
they're all regular generic wojacks

>>24556418
>he doesn't know about russian isekai

>>24555600
>All Quiet on the Don
I don't know what you're refering to. Sholokhov has the novel And quiet flows the Don and my dad has a short stories collection roughly translated as The Quiet Don.

I've read the novel, it's a monumental work. It ate a lot of time from start to finish but I loved it. I'm really surprised it was published and praised in Soviet Russia. Though it doesn't insist upon it but the Reds are depicted as being as bad as the Whites, bloodthirsty, pitiful and malicious. No side being better than the other, propagandists are shown as being petty and sawing distrust even in communities in which there was peace and agreement between people.
But I guess it only goes to show you that Sholokhov embraced his flawed characters, showing them with all their good and bad sides, making them compelling not only as characters but as humans.

>>24555446 (OP)
If you are alluding to Dostoevsky’s worst novels, then, indeed, I dislike intensely The Brothers Karamazov and the ghastly Crime and Punishment rigamarole. No, I do not object to soul-searching and self-revelation, but in those books the soul, and the sins, and the sentimentality, and the journalese, hardly warrant the tedious and muddled search. Dostoyevsky’s lack of taste, his monotonous dealings with persons suffering with pre-Freudian complexes, the way he has of wallowing in the tragic misadventures of human dignity – all this is difficult to admire. I do not like this trick his characters have of ”sinning their way to Jesus” or, as a Russian author, Ivan Bunin, put it more bluntly, ”spilling Jesus all over the place." Crime and Punishment’s plot did not seem as incredibly banal in 1866 when the book was written as it does now when noble prostitutes are apt to be received a little cynically by experienced readers. Dostoyevsky never really got over the influence which the European mystery novel and the sentimental novel made upon him. The sentimental influence implied that kind of conflict he liked—placing virtuous people in pathetic situations and then extracting from these situations the last ounce of pathos. Non-Russian readers do not realize two things: that not all Russians love Dostoevsky as much as Americans do, and that most of those Russians who do, venerate him as a mystic and not as an artist. He was a prophet, a claptrap journalist and a slapdash comedian. I admit that some of his scenes, some of his tremendous farcical rows are extraordinarily amusing. But his sensitive murderers and soulful prostitutes are not to be endured for one moment—by this reader anyway. Dostoyevsky seems to have been chosen by the destiny of Russian letters to become Russia’s greatest playwright, but he took the wrong turning and wrote novels.

>>24555446 (OP)
Kuprin, Belyi and Bunin are all magnificent authors who more than rival the writers of "the golden age".
My favorite russian book is from the soviet era though; Envy by Juri Olesha.
Andrei Bitov is also very good if you're into post-modernism.

>>24555446 (OP)
Yevgeny Zharinov, often regarded as the Russian Umberto Eco. He wrote a trilogy of novels: The Voice, The Library of Don Quixote, and The Spirit of Mercury.

I hope these works will one day be translated into English, allowing you to discover the best Russian author of the 21st century.

>>24555446 (OP)
could someone suggest me pulp sloppa similar to picrel? i asked grok but the answers were inconsistent.
Pls suggest smthng.
I also loved Moskva-Petushki btw.
>>24559164
>Reds are depicted as being as bad as the Whites
Rumor has it the 'Quiet Don' novel was a war trophy (and misha koshevy was a self-insert)
>I'm really surprised it was published
check out the first publication date, 1922 iirc, the cat was out of the sack, no use censoring it afterwards.

>>24562092
>@grok is this true??
kill yourself

I really liked Gogol, and found lots of good quotes in Chekhov's short stories. Dostoevsky imo has the most 'depth' to his stories.
I'm about to read pic related. what am i in for?

>>24562092
>pulp sloppa
Akunin, maybe? His Fandorin novels are slop (Sherlock Holmes, but with a bit more espionage elements), but entertaining and sort of pulpy. I loved them when I was 16.
There's no gory and visceral medical stuff like with Lomachinsky, though, so if that's what "pulp" is to you, I don't really know.

>>24560662
What do you recommend to get into Bunin?

>>24555666
Sam Hyde?

>>24559164
>I'm really surprised it was published and praised in Soviet Russia
Stalin liked "Quiet flows the Don" and met Sholokhov many times. That probably played a part

>>24555541
Pelevin is great. Give homozapiens a shot.

>>24560722
Damn I would love to give that a read. I wish more people read daniil kharms. Really funny stuff.

>>24562172
Wait, this is a real book? I thought it was a meme from the rick and morty copypasta.

>>24555446 (OP)
currently reading Bulgakov's Master and the Margarita and must say it's one of the few comedic books that's genuinely funny. besides the plot and characterization, all the parts that are meant to be funny are structured like jokes

>>24555446 (OP)
>Lermontov
What is that wojak supposed to convey?

>>24555446 (OP)
Is there seriously not a single anon who can recommend any particular Bunin books...

>>24564272
your mistake anon. people here seldom read, let alone be able to recommend something.

>>24562092
Didn't expect a fellow Lomachinsky enjoyer here. There's another book with forensics anecdotes by Alexei Reshetun (didn't read it, but I used to follow his livejournal a decade ago, he posted some fascinating stuff). Also, check out Bayan Shiryanov. Maybe Nikonov's 'Khuyovaya Kniga". You can also use the keyword 'chernukha' to find gruesome stories about war (Nikolai Nikulin), army (Valery Primost), prison (Nekras Ryzhiĭ aka Vyacheslav Mayer) and so on. A lot of it is made up, but it can still be interesting. You can probably get a lot more recommendations on Russian 2ch's /bo/.

>>24562325
>>24564272
'The Gentleman from San Francisco'. Or maybe 'Dark Avenues' if you're looking for something bigger.

>>24564619
Sadly those aren't available as German epubs. Anything else you can recommend by him?

>>24564647
Dunno, I haven't read anything else. Maybe 'Dreams of Chang' or 'Cursed Days', both seem popular.

>>24555446 (OP)
Roadside picnic by Strugatsky brothers is a good book, it was used as an inspiration for the movie Stalker of Tarkovsky

>>24564672
Hard to be a God is also a book by them. The movie inspired by the book is omega levels of disgusting though.
I think I prefer Snail on the Slope overall. It doesn't feel like anything natural is happening in that novel.

>>24564692
Hard to be a God is great. It's only too bad that German and not someone more dedicated to the book's literal context was chosen to film it. It would make a great film if someone stayed close to the text instead of making their own artistic twists.

>>24556464
how is Lermontov your favorite author if you didn't read his poetry
A Hero of Our Time is based and one of the novels of all time but still a weird pick

>>24564954
totally agree

>>24555446 (OP)
Of what I've read

The Nose is one of the funniest short stories I've ever read.
First Love has some beautiful prose
Crime and Punishment is cringe
The Death of Ivan whatever-his-name-was, is ok

>>24555446 (OP)
Rusisters please help me out
what would be Russian equivalent for flashman papers? Something rather contemporary.
No, not Lermontov.
I'll appreciate the suggestions.

>>24565255
Preface every future post you make here with the text from this post so that other anons know not to take you seriously

>>24565873
Gerri Phleishchmenii

>>24565873
> Russian equivalent for flashman papers
Does not really exist, to my knowledge (I am a native speaker of Russian, I read the Flashman papers by way of wh40k "Commissar Cain" novels). It's way too sexual to have made print in the 20th century or earlier.

>>24566048
strange bc i thought that alot has been published since the fall of soviet state. I recall stumbling upon paperback of Chechnya memoirs somehow similar to the 'flashman at the charge' where there's a lot of noise and heat in the action, suicidal stupidity and imbecile hubris, a lot of loss and the protagonist manages to survive only by being extreme coward, by lying low, playing along and only thanks to Fortuna. Cant recall the title/author though.

>>24562172
>I'm about to read pic related. what am i in for?
I felt like it was a more grounded Demons with far less characters, Dead Souls is far better imo

>>24555446 (OP)
Pushkin>Tolstoy>Lermontov>Chekhov>Nabokov>Else

>>24557581
Bro! My bro!
I am currently reading his Collected Works in 20 volumes. I am currently studying volume 9. In general, I discovered the world of Russian journalism of the 40-80s of the 19th century.

>>24557706
I find his views disgusting, but he was a talented writer.
>>24564258
Elegance and barely concealed psychosis. Good.
>>24564619
>You can probably get a lot more recommendations on Russian 2ch's /bo/.
No. Dead board. I tried it.
>>24565873
I suspect
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%83%D1%87%D0%B8%D0%BA_%D0%A0%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9#%D0%9B%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B0
But these are more anecdotes (but there are also books), and without the colonial element.

>>24555446 (OP)
Russian literature is for children, literally. Their “best” are actually some of their worst. Russians are like the Chinese in that aspect, they stick too much to the old ways. But even russias “best” are completely eclipsed by other nations writers, Russia has no Byron, Goethe(greatest man to ever live btw) and no Shakespeare. You can really see this in their philosophy, or lack of it. The Russian is after all part of the asiatics, he is logic oriented unlike the Germanic who is soul oriented, or the Mediterranean who is pleasure oriented. This is also why the Russian man is so good at physics and mathematics, they exchanged their European soul for the Asian logic. That’s not to say their writers are bad but they will never be great. When you someone like Byron or Ben Johnson or even Marlowe you can feel the soul oozing off the pages, but the Russian on the other hand reading one of his books is like trying to solve a math problem.

>>24556418
Hey, thanks

>>24566803
>The Russian is after all part of the asiatics, he is logic oriented unlike the Germanic
Are you serious?
>This is also why the Russian man is so good at physics and mathematics
These were mostly Jews, in the 20th century. Lobachevsky, if I don’t take into account his supposedly Polish ancestors.
>they exchanged their European soul for the Asian logic
It's hard for me to understand about "Asian logic" (among Asians, only the Indians had logic). Secondly, this sentence contradicts "Russian is after all part of the asiatics". Choose one thing.
>Byron or Ben Johnson or even Marlowe you can feel the soul oozing off the pages, but the Russian on the other hand reading one of his books is like trying to solve a math problem.
Tы читaeшь пo-pyccки? Seriously, I wish Russians would be more about logic or math and physics, which I don't understand. This is not our case.

>>24562172
>I'm about to read pic related. what am i in for?
One of my favorite books, for one.
It was a book that pissed off both conservatives (because Bazarov, the sort-of-protagonist, is a nihilist and they thought Turgenev agreed with him) and liberals (because they saw Bazarov as a parody).
If you empathize with Bazarov as I did when I first read it, it is a warning to pragmatic, realistic people on not falling in love (really messes with your mental stability), not being unprepared for complex tasks (or you'll end up performing autopsies without access to an antiseptic) and, generally, learning to manage yourself better than "I can simply suppress my emotions" (because that's too naive and if your willpower is anywhere like that of most people it won't work).

>>24555446 (OP)
>Who is your favourite Russian author?Kalashnikov

>>24566752
>I felt like it was a more grounded Demons
Interesting that you say that since Part 1 of Demons is very clearly a tongue-in-cheek parody of Fathers and Sons

>>24555446 (OP)
Is Sorokin actually worth getting into?

>>24566821
well put. it really teaches you how naive it is to want to be a cool guy like bazarov. reality is far gayer and some unexpected bs will rock you.

my fav part from the book is definitely when they gather and the seductress hoe cuts the nice kid who found a chance to talk about music, something she adored, in favor of giving more room for bazarov to keep babbling about plants and some other faggot science shit that she found boring as hell but she was into him and not the loser so pretended to be interested in his speech instead. it's peak NTR.

if I read that book when I was growing up I would've been emotionally more ready to a lot of shit that was coming my way. turgenev in many ways is what I thought dostoevsky would be. it's a shame I found about the man way later than that worthless dostoevsky.

>>24567024
Is Bazarov a chad?

>>24567282
Bazarov does not neatly fit into the modern anglophone strereotypes of "virgin weak numale" vs "trad chad".
On one hand he's very "I heckin love science" and 100% an atheist materialist.
On the other hand he's not particularly concerned with being correct or respectful of anyone, and there's also this funny passage (my translation, so it may be slightly off):
> - And if you do not fully get it, I will tell you this: in my opinion - I'd rather pound sand, than let a woman own even a tip of my finger. All this is… - Bazarov almost said his favorite word "romantism", but stopped himself and said instead: - horseshit. You will not believe me now, but I tell you: me and you were just now in female company, and we did enjoy it; but to leave such company is like a hot shower on a cold day. A man has no time for such trifles; a man must be ferocious, as the Spaniards wisely say. Hey you, - he added, addressing the coachman - you, smart man. You've a wife?
> The man turned to the two friends his flat and mole-eyed face.
> - A wife? I do. How can I not?
> - You ever beat her?
> - My wife? Uh, sometimes. Not for no reason.
> - Excellent. She ever beat you?
> The man pulled on the reins.
> - Some things you're talking, sir. You're all jokes… - The coachman must have been offended.
> - You hear that, Arkady Nikolaevitch? And we did get beat. That's what comes of being cultured men.
If I was looking for a stereotype familiar to the western audience that Bazarov is trying to embody (and not managing that well, because he's a little naive), it would not be a modern "chad" but rather something like a model Stirnerite egoist.
>>24567024
> turgenev in many ways is what I thought dostoevsky would be.
To be fair, Fathers and Sons is one of his best. He's a little hung up on the whole "men being ruined by seductive and impulsive women" thing. Smoke, Torrents of Spring, First Love are all this. (Smoke is somewhat rescued by being good and still relevant political satire, but only Russians will really get it.) Man had some issues, I guess.

He isn't my number 1, but a new one that's very good: Yevgeny Vodolazkin

>>24567331
>western audience
Hиcaм зaпaдњaк дpyжe.

>>24562315
>>24564619
thanks for suggestions. I mostly enjoyed the student memoir part of Lomachinsky's work.
I was being suggested a similar book called "the students" about the life of a law student in tsarist Russia. The book was concluded with student failing the exam shamefully due to bad Fortuna. The same author also had book "the engineers" as a continuity of previous story.
I tried to look for author/ books, but could't find any.

>>24567331
>If I was looking for a stereotype familiar to the western audience that Bazarov is trying to embody (and not managing that well, because he's a little naive), it would not be a modern "chad" but rather something like a model Stirnerite egoist.

"edgelord" - I think it suits him best. He impresses all sorts of simpletons who start a larp "nihilism", scares the rural landowners' alittle peas, fights a duel with a retired dandy of the Pushkin era and almost becomes the lover of the local Hot Widow. He himself begins to throw around beautiful phrases, that is, his nihilism becomes posing. Needless to say, in the early 60s Russia was filled with I-want-to-be-Bazarov. Pisarev was probably one of the most famous, he really lived by the method “what would Bazarov do?”

>>24565873
Haven't read Flashman, but after skimming through the summary - it's a tough question. Soviet literature didn't favor selfish protagonists (although we did have two books about Ostap Bender) and writing about sex was completely banned. And post-Soviet writers would hate writing about a loveable Russian doofus traveling around the world and fucking local women - this sounds too chauvinist for our intelligentsia. Unless they make him non-Russian, in which case you get Fazil Iskander's stories. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are tons of books about Russian Flashman-like heroes, but all of them are considered extremely low-value literature, they don't have big advertising budgets and none of them left a mark in public consciousness. Respectable bookstores don't even carry them and they are relegated to being sold on the streets along with literature about popadantsy and Dontsova. https://fantlab.ru/bygenre offers a large database of Russian genre fiction, maybe you can find stuff there by using keywords.
>>24567521
This has to be Garin-Mikhailovsky. He's one of those authors that got published with insanely huge print runs during USSR and later drifted away from public consciousness. Doesn't mean that he's necessarily bad, but I am naturally distrustful of any writers that were popular in USSR.
To be honest, I don't remember what Lomachinsky wrote about his student days. but if you're interested in raunchy stories about pre-Revolution nihilist students, check out Mikhail Artsybashev. For more modern stories, see aforementioned Nikonov (Жизнь и yдивитeльныe пpиключeния Hypбeя Гyлиa, Хyёвaя книгa) https://lib.ru/NEWPROZA/NIKONOW/

>>24568156
imho the angle of flashman papers is less about sexual debauchery and more about actor - Gary that finds himself way above his head in a pinnacle of some historic event (for a want of nail the battle was lost etc) where a selfish or cowardly act of his dupes him ito some grand scheme (that usually collapses miserably) and his only chance is to ride the tiger to the very end. Like if you crossed James Bond with Mr Bean.
Can Flashman papers be considered extremely low-value literature? Yes and no. The book is too caustic,cruel and truthful for a pure slop. I think many would defend it. Boris Johnson has said that Flashman papers are one of his favourites.

>>24568268
You know what? This is actually very similar to Bulgakov's 'Ivan Vasilievich'. Except that most Russians (including me) never even read it and instead watched Gaidai's film adaptation which is easily among top 5 most beloved Soviet films ever. The book is probably also good, just not as popular.
Another thing that came to mind if Voynovich's 'Ivan Chonkin', although the character there isn't exactly selfish/cowardly, more lazy/naive.

>>24568268
>Like if you crossed James Bond with Mr Bean
So, Johnny English?

Bump.