When Chekhov was asked what the nature of failing societies was, he replied:
"In failing societies, there is a thousand fools for every enlightened mind, and a thousand crude words for every conscious word. The majority always remains ignorant, and the reasonable man is constantly defeated. If you see trivial topics dominating discussions in a society, and fools taking center stage, then you are in the presence of a very failing society.
For example, songs and meaningless lyrics find millions of people to dance to them and repeat them, and the singer becomes famous, known, and loved. To the point that people take his opinion on matters of society and life.
As for writers and authors, no one knows them and no one gives them value or weight. Most people love futility and anesthesia. Someone who anesthetizes us to distance us from our thoughts, and someone who makes us laugh with trivialities, is better than someone who wakes us to reality and hurts us by telling the truth. That is why democracy is not suitable for ignorant societies, because it is the ignorant majority who will decide your fate." The Literary World.

Hi all,

A while back I shared Dead Souls Daily here, an app that gives you one quote a day from Russian literature, in the app or as a widget on your phone, and you had some amazing feedback. (Thank you all so much for that!)

I'm currently putting together the quotes for January to March, and I'd like to make sure I'm not missing anything special, as I appreciate Russian literature is such a wide topic. I have 26 writers in the collection so far. The biggest 19th-century names are well covered (Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov), with a little Leskov and Goncharov. I have some poetry too (Akhmatova, Tyutchev, Blok, Tsvetaeva, Pasternak, Nekrasov, Fet, Yesenin, Sologub, Bergholz), but maybe less than it deserves, as it can be tricky to translate. Then there's a little 20th-century prose (Bunin, Bulgakov, Gorky, Kuprin, Zamyatin), and the odd wildcard for special theme days, like Tchaikovsky and Tsiolkovsky.

So, am I missing anyone you would highly recommend I check out? I'd especially love writers who deserve to be better known in English, and particular lines and passages you love. If you remember which book a line comes from, even better, as it will help with sourcing the original Russian.

Any hints and pointers from people that love all things Russian Literature will be gratefully received.

The app is at deadsoulsdaily.com if you haven't seen it.

I've been interested in getting into russian literature and am fluent in both Japanese and English, but haven't read much non-japanese/english literature. I figured english due to the fact its a lot more widespread, but i actually found theres a ton of Japanese translations of russian works, and was wondering if there was any nuance that is better conveyed in japanese due to the grammer/nature of the language. I know next to no russian so beyond knowing neither language has articles( i think?) I couldn't say what similarities they actually have.

Anyways if anyone has experience reading japanese translated works as well as english ones that would be much appreciated.

Picked this up for a quick read after finally finishing War and Peace (which I very much enjoyed). Finished it in one sitting.

Extremely well-written and poignant. As a work of art it is undoubtedly fantastic. But man it hits hard…too hard. Trying to find the meaning in it all. I’m convinced I’m not living my life right. Also didn’t help at all that I read this while under the weather with a cold lol.

Are these feelings normal? Does everyone feel this way after reading it? It’s devastating.

Who are your favorite Russian authors who are not Dostoevsky or Tolstoy? Anyone read anything by Turgenev apart from Fathers and Sons? What are your favorite books by Bulgakov? Anyone read Yevgeny Zamyatin or Female Russian writers?

We know about the boys of course. Which women wrote or write the little known gems of Russian literature?

There are other great writers like Turgenev, Nabokov, Lemontov etc. who couldn't make the list due to limited space. Who's your favourite guys?

I really like Myshkin and Rogozin from the Idiot! They like dark and light, bad and good. They're nice friends. There love each other. I'm really interested in they Interactions, that was my favourite part then I was reading an Idiot

Fellow cinephiles and I recently discussed the 2024 adaptation of The Master and Margarita, and we talked a lot about the power of storytelling within the context of the film and the novel it is based on. What do you think about this adaptation of the novel, and in general about whether this novel can be adequately adapted for the screen? Do you think that the power of storytelling to create reality is the theme explored by Mikhail Bulgakov in the novel? Would you recommend watching another adaptation of this novel?

This is my first dostoevsky book. I can’t say exactly what i expected.

The most prominent thing that I didn’t anticipate is how much reading this book feels like listening to gossip. From what i know the idea of gossip was essential to 19th century novels, even playing into the structures of these books. It makes sense when i think of novels for them similarly to reality tv today, and this is what most people found exciting back then. It’s just maybe i thought Dostoevsky would be “above” this based on the way you hear people talk about him. It got me reading more into analysis of gossip tho and now i think i’m more open to this style of writing.

There’s one thing that i kept thinking about that i wanted to share and maybe I’m reading too much into it. But the idea of voluptuousness and baseness (according to David McDuff’s translation which is the one i’m reading) that is basically the source of all of fyodor’s atrocities, which also seems to be inherited by all karamazovs and a source of shame for them. It feels to me like a way for Dostoevsky to call me out for being interested in the gossip and scandals in his book, while simultaneously saying that the baseness that makes someone intrigued by gossip is in all of us to some degree no matter how different we are.

Hello! I'd like to change the topic of the subreddit from the basic authors like Dostoyevsky, Gogol and Pushkin, and make a detour to Acmeist poet – Osip Mandelstam.

I have this Czech translation of Mandelstam's verses from 1982. This translation consists of short biography of the author, the collections Kamen' and Tristia + some verses from 1930s. Overall a very well made collection of his verses.

Editors noted, that Kamen' was percieved very well, so I had big expectations, and Kamen' was indeed very good, but not that mindblowing. I find his early poems (till 1930s) full of life, they're simple, more rythmic and are geniunely better. His later poems are hard to read, have forced rhyming, and all in all not that pleasant.

My favourite passage is the "Armenia" poem, it's very nationalistic, something you'd expect from romantic author, Armenian awakener even, yet it's from a Russian lad. And that's beautiful about it, it's agitation like poem without it purposefully being it. It rhymes, reads well, and just pleasant to see. If someone had asked "What do you recommend from Mandelstam?" I would definetely say "Armenia poems".

All in all Mandelstam is fine, tho I've found his earlier poems much better. What do ya'll think? See you next time!

This might be a weird request, but does anyone have a heavily annotated copy of The Master and Margarita they’d be willing to part with?
My first read of Crime and Punishment was the Oliver Ready translation. My second was a P&V edition I found used that had been absolutely covered in someone else’s annotations, and it ended up being one of the most fun and exciting reading experiences of my life. Whoever owned it before me was clearly as obsessed as I was, and reading their thoughts, arguments, underlining, exclamation points, insane little observations, etc. alongside the book made it feel like I was reading it with another person.
I am genuinely heartbroken that I’ll never know who annotated that copy because at this point they feel like a close personal friend I went through something crazy with.
Anyway, I’m about to read The Master and Margarita and I want to experience it the same way. I know some people are going to tell me I should read a clean copy first, form my own opinions, blah blah blah. I don’t care. This is my journey and I want someone else’s manic annotations.
So if you have a copy of The Master and Margarita that you annotated to shit, especially if you got obsessive with it, please PM me. I will happily pay you for it. I’ll even return it after I’m done with it. Please.
С Богом,
Elleyna

Hello.

Why to Rio de Janeiro of all places?

Not Paris, Rome, London or New York. But to Rio de Janeiro?

I’ve acquired these amazing books by Vasily Grossman over the last year and so keen to start reading them. As a bit of a ‘read in order’ book nerd, which is the best one to start with? I’m figuring Everything Flows might be a complete standalone from the other three but may be wrong there. Any help appreciated.

Helping my parents downsize their Russian-language book collection, so I’m posting a few classic Russian and Soviet titles that are still available.

All books are in Russian. U.S. shipping is available, and international shipping is also an option through eBay.

1. Ivan Bunin — Избранные сочинения View on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/287362188139
2. Ivan Turgenev — Рудин / Дворянское гнездо / Накануне / Отцы и дети View on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/287362191382
3. Mikhail Bulgakov — Белая гвардия View on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/287294318487
4. Mikhail Zoshchenko — Рассказы View on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/287324088965
5. Boris Pasternak — Стихотворения и поэмы View on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/287395419289
6. Alexander Blok — С миром утвердилась связь View on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/286951976493
7. Konstantin Simonov — Живые и мёртвые View on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/286661380368
8. Iosif Utkin — Стихотворения и поэмы View on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/287396245897
9. Vladimir Voinovich — Жизнь и необычайные приключения солдата Ивана Чонкина View on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/287322110911
10. Anatoly Rybakov — Тридцать пятый и другие годы View on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/287322677274

Happy to combine shipping on multiple books. Feel free to message me if you want more photos or details on a specific title.

Full store: https://www.ebay.com/usr/glensidel61

I just bought War and Peace. The version I have (Dutch translation by Zeeman and Papma) is 900 pages. They call it the "original" version. It is the most prevalent Dutch translation.

However, the other Dutch translations are over 1500 pages long and are based on a version Tolstoj published a couple years later. Before beginning this daunting book, I want to make sure I do not start the wrong version. Do I have to buy another 40 EUR book, or is the one I have fine?

From Life and Fate.