4Real Forums: Russian Lit

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lapazfarm
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Posted: May 25 2011 at 5:16pm \| IP Logged

I am working up a European history/literature plan for next year and I want to include one work of Russian lit. This would be for my 16yo ds. He is a strong reader, but gets bored easily if a novel is not engaging enough.
Any suggestions?

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Theresa
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kristinannie
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Posted: May 25 2011 at 6:18pm \| IP Logged

I would definitely include Crime and Punishment. It is my favorite book of all time. I have a lot more recs, but am about to eat dinner. I will come back online later tonight!

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lapazfarm
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Posted: May 25 2011 at 6:44pm \| IP Logged

kristinannie wrote:

I would definitely include Crime and Punishment. It is my favorite book of all time. I have a lot more recs, but am about to eat dinner. I will come back online later tonight!

Wow! That's quite a hearty recommendation! Can't wait to hear the rest! Thanks!

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Theresa
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CrunchyMom
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Posted: May 25 2011 at 7:51pm \| IP Logged

I know a lot of people who say The Brothers Karamazov is their favorite novel of all time. Crime and Punishment is what my AP English class read, but after so many endorsements of Brothers K, it's on my "list."

My instinct for a teenage boy is definitely Dostoyevsky over Tolstoy.

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seeker
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Posted: May 25 2011 at 8:56pm \| IP Logged

Recommendations from my DH:

Pushkin's Eugene Onegin. However, it's romantic. DH had to translate this work in it's entirety from Russian into English during college.

Gogol's The Overcoat

Vulgakov's Master and Margarita. DH's favorite book of all time. Parallel's Pontius Pilate w/Satan.

Fathers and Sons can't remember the author

For historical purpose: Solzhenytsin's The Gulag Archipelago

Chekov's The Cherry Orchard

To get you started

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kristinannie
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Posted: May 27 2011 at 9:34am \| IP Logged

Sorry I didn't get back to you. My baby got sick and things spiraled out of control around here!

A lot of what I was going to recommend has already been recommended by seeker.

Pushkin's poetry

Vulgakov's Master and Margarita.

Chekov's The Cherry Orchard and other short stories

If he likes Crime and Punishment, The Idiot also by Dostoyevski is a great book. The main character is very Christlike and there are lots of religious discussions that you can have reading that book.

Tolstoy: War and Peace and Anna Karenina are wonderful books, but may be a little long for his taste.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. This wasn't my favorite book in high school lit, but it was a good historical portrayal of life in the gulags. The other book recommended might be better, but I have never read it!

I just reread the OP and saw that you were looking for ONE book. Sorry!

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lapazfarm
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Posted: May 27 2011 at 11:46am \| IP Logged

Thanks, everyone! Looks like I have some reading to do!

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Theresa
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kristinannie
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Posted: May 27 2011 at 4:15pm \| IP Logged

I also wanted to mention two historical books that are wonderful about Russia:

Peter the Great

Nicolas and Alexandra

They aren't fiction, but they are as readable as fiction and are very interesting books. A boy would really enjoy them, especially Peter the Great.

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