Top 10 Greatest Russian Novels

[Florestan]

Thanks for that BTW

I really liked it. You should post more.

[Jo498]

Dostoevsky is very different. He has his very special ("Holy Russia" reactionary, anti-Western, anti-catholic, anti-liberal etc.) stuff, but he has almost nothing of the "drawing room" atmosphere of lazy nobles bickering about fashions or whatnot. Neither are there any long descriptions of landscapes, battles or evening gowns.
"The Gambler" is rather short, quite funny and has most of the essentials. I highly recommend to try that one, or "Crime and Punishment". They are very readable and exciting.

[Florestan]

Dostoevsky is very different. He has his very special ("Holy Russia" reactionary, anti-Western, anti-catholic, anti-liberal etc.) stuff, but he has almost nothing of the "drawing room" atmosphere of lazy nobles bickering about fashions or whatnot. Neither are there any long descriptions of landscapes, battles or evening gowns.

All his books are essentially long descriptions of psychological landscapes and battles. The evening gowns are left to the reader's imagination. There's a Romanian contemporary poet who in one of his poems waxed lyrical about the unkown color of Nastasya Filipovna's panties.

Too bad Tchekhov did not write any novel.

[Jo498]

All his books are essentially long descriptions of psychological landscapes and battles.

Yes, but they are very explicit, mostly in dramatic dialogues and occasionally monologues. It is basically drama as a novel, that's why it can remind one of Tchekhov.

[Florestan]

Yes, but they are very explicit, mostly in dramatic dialogues and occasionally monologues. It is basically drama as a novel, that's why it can remind one of Tchekhov.

Actually, I like Tchekhov's novellas and short stories better than his plays.

[Brian]

I don't think it is too pedantic to point out that Eugene Onegin is a poem.

My original post said "It counts!!!" but I deleted that.

The first half of the Master & Margarita is sadistic, cruel, and repetitive and I almost put it down, but inexplicably the second half became wonderful.

[Parsifal]

My original post said "It counts!!!" but I deleted that.

The first half of the Master & Margarita is sadistic, cruel, and repetitive and I almost put it down, but inexplicably the second half became wonderful.

I agree with the first half of you comment on M&M. Clearly I'm missing something.

[Florestan]

The first half of the Master & Margarita is sadistic, cruel, and repetitive and I almost put it down, but inexplicably the second half became wonderful.

I agree with the first half of you comment on M&M. Clearly I'm missing something.

Do try The White Guard, folks! It's much better than M&M (which imho is vastly overrated).

[Spineur]

Do try The White Guard, folks! It's much better than M&M (which imho is vastly overrated).

Not IMHO.  Two other good Bulgakov:




He also wrote a play on Molière.  A dog's heart also inspired a contemoprary opera by Alexander Rastakov, which I saw and recommend highly.  I dont think it has be recorded so far.

[Florestan]

I saw a theatrical version of it and it was quite good, indeed.

[vandermolen]

I forget A Anatoli Kuznetsov's 'Babi Yar'. One of the few novels, along with 'Crime and Punishment' that I have read twice. My visit to Ukraine to see my daughter made me read it again (she is reading it now). I also visited the site of Babi Yar (massacre of Jews and others in World War Two) which I found incredibly moving.
The novel which Kusnetsov smuggled out of the Soviet Union is fascinating not only for the story itself, but because it features, in bold print, the sections which were originall censored in the USSR. So, for example, in a section which included: 'The Red Army were retreating in their rickety farm carts', the word 'rickety' was in bold, indicating that it had been removed by the Soviet censor. The book is a true story, based on the author's experience of living under the Nazi occupation of Ukraine as a child and teenager. One of my favourite characters is his cat 'Titus' who was about the only one to put on weight during the occupation of Ukraine.

[Ken B]

Life and Fate. Don't walk, run!

Dead Souls it is!

[BasilValentine]

Don't know about greatest, but some of my favorites, read in English translation:

Bulgakov -
The Master and Margarita

Solzhenitsyn -
August 1914

Grossman -
Life and Fate

Bely -
Petersburg

Dostoyevsky -
Crime and Punishment
Devils
The Idiot
Brothers Karamazov

Tolstoy -
War and Peace
Anna Karenina

[BasilValentine]

Do try The White Guard, folks! It's much better than M&M (which imho is vastly overrated).

The White Guard is excellent. Utterly different than M&M, but better? No folks, start with M&M!

My original post said "It counts!!!" but I deleted that.

The first half of the Master & Margarita is sadistic, cruel, and repetitive and I almost put it down, but inexplicably the second half became wonderful.

If by "sadistic, cruel, and repetitive" you mean by turns hilarious and moving, then I agree.

[mc ukrneal]

Lermontov's A Hero of our Time is conspicuously absent here. I remember my copy for its Edward Gorey cover and the novel for its fount of memorable quotations: "What of it? If I die, I die. It will be no great loss to the world, and I am thoroughly bored with life. I am like a man yawning at a ball; the only reason he does not go home to bed is that his carriage has not arrived yet."

I agree. The problem is finding a translation that does it justice. Too many miss the mark.

[Florestan]

Dead Souls it is!

Very good! You're in for a treat.

[Spineur]

I agree. The problem is finding a translation that does it justice.

Actually, many fantastic novels and stories from Russia and Eastern Europe have not been translated into English whereas they are available in a number of other languages.  A strange neglect.  One of the most powerful novel I have read in the last decade is Piotr Bendnarski, Zăpezile albastre, translated in french, italian, and a number of eastern european languages including Rumanian, I believe.  The french title is "Les neiges bleues".  A short book that knocks you off

[lisa needs braces]

I've never read a Russian novel. Wait, does Ayn Rand count? 

[Florestan]

One of the most powerful novel I have read in the last decade is Piotr Bendnarski, Zăpezile albastre, translated in french, italian, and a number of eastern european languages including Rumanian, I believe.  The french title is "Les neiges bleues".  A short book that knocks you off

Well, Zăpezile albastre is precisely the Romanian translation of the title.  The original title is Błękitne śniegi. Bednarski is Polish, not Russian. 

EDIT: Typo in author's name.

[Florestan]

I've never read a Russian novel. Wait, does Ayn Rand count? 

It counts, but for top 10 worst Russian novels.