Discovering Russian Literature discussion

Hello! Sorry about neglecting the duties. Work kept me away from GRs and reading altogether.

Group work will now continue as usual. Here's a reminder of what to do:

you can give just ONE nomination. If you feel your book may not get selected, you can vote for another person's nomination and can still join this month's reading.

e.g. I nominate The Living Corpse by Leo Tolstoy (a play)

If you see another book you like has been nominated by someone else, cast your vote.

Just type : I vote for "name of the book". This means, you are willing to take part in either of readings if one of them gets selected.

Check the thread: 'Rules of Picking Group Reads' for more information.

My vote goes to One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn).

Life and Fate by Vassily Grossman. A book that was banned in the Soviet Union, it is one of the greatest book on the Great Patriotic War (as it was know in Russia). To me it is the best on this subject. Often compared to Tolstoy War and Peace in its scope and length. Grossman was himself one of the participants of the Stalingrad battle, a scientist and war correspondent. One of the best books of the 20th century.

I will cast my vote for The Double by Dostoyevsky.

I second Twelve Chairs

I vote for my book "Fort Ross". To know classic is good, but to know the modern literature is necessary to understand current trends and events. "Fort Ross" is historical novel about early, 19th century, Russian-American releshionship with the elements of sf (time travel).

I second Life and Fate by Vassily Grossman

I second Life and Fate by Vassily Grossman

Third for Twelve Chairs.

I second One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich.

I vote for Envy by Yury Olesha

Twelve Chairs gets my vote.
Also, Cancer Ward would be a nice one.

I second The Double.

I vote for Envy

Calligraphy Lessons by Mikhail Shishkin. A collection of short stories by one of Russia's premier contemporary writers.

@ Ritam, Patrick and Amanda

We have read 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich'. How about another?

Btw, We read "Twelve Chairs" as well.

Everyone, check the "read shelf" of the group to avoid re-nominating. There's still plenty to read.

Amalie wrote: "@ Ritam, Patrick and Amanda

We have read 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich'. How about another?

Btw, We read "Twelve Chairs" as well.

Everyone, check the "read shelf" of the group to avo..."

Amalie, how long ago does a previous read have to be to nominate the book again? I'm just curious - we read Ivan Denisovich in early 2013, I believe, which isn't really that long ago, but I'm wondering how far back is long enough.

Oh. I wasn't in the group back then. (If re-reading is not done, I'll vote for Dostoyevsky's Double.)

Cancer Ward has my vote then.

I just went through the previous read and saw Cancer Ward. So that's out.
What about Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky Brothers? Also the book Pnin by Nabokov is an amazing view of what it means to be Russian in the 20th century.

Rachel wrote: "how long ago does a previous read have to be to nominate the book again? ..."

Not for a very long time. There's still a lot of books in the to-read shelf and a lot more to add.

I second Calligraphy Lesson: The Collected Stories by Mikhail Shishkin

I also vote for Calligraphy Lesson. (If I hadn't already read The Double though....)

I vote for "The Double" as well

I vote for "November 1916: A Novel" by Solzhenitsyn.

Counts so far, for suggestions with multiple votes:

Life and Fate: 3
The Double: 6
Calligraphy Lessons: 3

(Maybe after this, we can do a Solzhenitsyn? Was November 1916 done as well?)

EDIT: Envy: 2 (I missed the second vote)

I vote for "November 1916: A Novel" by Solzhenitsyn

I vote for "The Double"

So many great books!! I must suggest "The Overcoat" Nikolai Gogol :D

I third Envy by Yury Olesha.

Revised counts (entries with multiple votes):

Life and Fate: 3
The Double: 7
Calligraphy Lessons: 3
Envy: 3
November 1916: 2

Just out of curiosity, wouldn't November 1916 be better split over two months?

I vote for "The Double."

VOte for November 1916 (just started it anyway).

And yes, Ritam, it is worth 2 months!

Ritam, I' would like 2 months for November, 1916!

Seems like The Double is going to be picked.

Too bad it's by far Dostoevsky's worst book. A shameless rip-off of Gogol's "The Nose".

@Niklas - Really? How disappointing. I was planning to read The Double after finishing a re-read of Notes from Underground. I was wondering why the description seemed almost familiar...Maybe because I read The Nose about 10 years ago.

Can people suggest a translation? i guess the Pevear
would be the one of choice, but I find their stuff
a little stiff. Are there any thoughts?

I vote for Demons by Fyodor!

There's an introduction by Richard Pevear in my version that discusses the criticism it received for being a rip-off of Gogol, in this case it was in reference to both "The Nose" and "Diary of a Madman", but then there's a quote by Mikhail Bakhtin comparing the two authors that states "Dostoevsky is already depicting not the 'poor government clerk' but the self-consciousness of the poor clerk… That which was presented in Gogol's field of vision as an aggregate of objective features, coalescing in a firm socio-characterological profile of the hero, is introduced by Dostoevsky into the field of vision of the hero himself and there becomes the object of his agonizing self-awareness."

Then apparently in regard to "The Double" Dostoevsky later wrote that he had "never given anything more serious to literature" and it's then described as being the precursor of "Notes from Underground", Velchaninov in "The Eternal Husband", Stavrogin in "Demons", Versilov in "The Adolescent" and Ivan Karamazov of "The Brothers Karamazov". So I don't know, it's up for debate as to whether or not it's his worst novel, it's definitely heavily influenced by Gogol but then my own interpretation of at least the introduction is that it's still important in its own right. And it might even be interesting for its comparison, or again for its relevance to later novels. Anyway I find it compelling enough and wouldn't mind reading it next month, but then I understand the complaint as well and it has been heavily criticized for plagiarism, even if Dostoevsky regarded it as something monumental.

Update: Reading some of the reviews it seems like Dostoevsky also admitted to it being one of his lesser books, so hmmm I'm not sure. I'll still vote for The Double since I'm interested in reading it but there seems to be a few contradictions in terms of his own thoughts about it. Maybe he recognized it as one of his most serious contributions but then had other issues with it. Anyway I'll leave it there and wait until a reading is chosen for next month.

I think The Double has already been read in Oct '14 and not the worst one of Dostoyevsky. Nabokov claims it is a rip-off but his favorite also.

White Nights or The Insulted and Humiliated maybe?

Ömer wrote: "I think The Double has already been read in Oct '14 and not the worst one of Dostoyevsky. Nabokov claims it is a rip-off but his favorite also.

White Nights or The Insulted and Humiliated maybe?"

No, I don't think we've read The Double. At least, it's not showing up on the read shelf.

Actually, we did read it in Oct '14 -

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It's just that there wasn't much of a discussion and moderators apparently didn't bother to mark the book as 'read'. This time there seems to be more enthusiasm on the book so it does not hurt to read it again if the vote shows for it.

@ Ömer, Rachel , Bigollo

Yes. It got voted but no one took part in it. That's why there's only a 'schedule' thread. Without a discussion, even only among two members of the group, I wouldn't consider it was an actual reading.

There were problems with setting up polls for selecting the monthly reading. Random members will cast votes and then disappear, so the ones who actually wanted to read never got the chance because those individuals ended up voting for random books they actually never wanted to read in the first place.

Where I come from, it's 25th. Here are the results:

Life and Fate: 3
The Double: 8
Envy: 3
Calligraphy Lessons: 3
November 1916: 3

There were few others with single votes.

So, I guess, we'll be reading Dostoevsky's The Double. However, as few members have mentioned above, we once almost read "The Double". ( pls. read message 47)

Therefore you get the chance to select a second book from these.

Life and Fate: 3
Envy: 3
November 1916: 3
Calligraphy Lessons: 3

Anyone can change his/her vote and break the tie. This give all of you a chance to read another book in October.

**** Btw, the above selecting ends on 30th of September.

My second selection is November1916.

Um, Amalie? Calligraphy Lessons got 3.

Rachel wrote: "Um, Amalie? Calligraphy Lessons got 3."

Where's the 3rd one? I only see 2. You and Laura.

Amalie wrote: "Rachel wrote: "Um, Amalie? Calligraphy Lessons got 3."

Where's the 3rd one? I only see 2. You and Laura."

The third was by Natalie, immediately above Laura's vote.

My second vote goes to Envy.

@ Calligraphy Lessons got 3.

Just fixed it.

Envy: 4 votes and leading.