Russian Book Club | The best Russian books, from fiction to biographies to language reference books

Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov

Humbert Humbert's destructive obsession that he calls love with young Dolores Haze has been fascinating readers since it was first written by Vladimir Nabokov in 1955. The novel is certainly full of very uncomfortable, and sometimes cringe-worthy, issues. Does Humbert Humbert really love Lolita? Does a 12 year old girl even known what sexual love is? Where are the police? Is there any redeeming quality in this story whatsoever or is it just a sickening look into a disturbed mind?

I first read Lolita in college and when I got to the part with Humbert Humbert fantasizing about Lolita in her bathing suit, I threw the book into the wall. As a female myself, the book just plain creeped me out. There are erotic parts to this book, but they are deceptively written. While this book is sometimes categorized as a piece of erotic literature, I disagree. Erotic writing is meant to lure and entice. Lolita doesn't do that. It bumbles and it fumbles, much like Humbert Humbert, through the evolution and dissolution of a destructive relationship. By the end, the reader is often left feeling overwhelmed.

Also, once the reader understands that Humbert Humbert himself is quite insane, the book is truly funny. Nabokov is an excellent writer, and since English wasn't even his first language I am more than impressed by his writing. The book is full of puns, wordplay, and misleading diatribe. Even as one of the characters begs for his life at the end of the novel, the scene is humorous in its dark intensity.

I don't claim to completely understand Lolita. There are deeper parts of this novel that I think speak to some universal human truths, but since we see the world through the ruby-tinted lenses of Humbert Humbert, who can say how valid these points are. Reading Lolita might not be the most comfortable experience, but sometimes I've found the best novels force the reader to leave the comfortable and the secure behind. Only then it is possible to get lost in the wonderful, vivid writing of Nabokov. In the surreal world of Humbert Humbert, who has lost all sense of right and wrong, the fiery prose of Nabokov truly shines.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

A classic Russian work

Out of all the Russian writers, I've always favored Fyodor Dostoyevsky for several reasons. There are a dark humor to his work that remains even when translated from the original Russian, and strangely enough reminds me of the writing of Kurt Vonnegut. This dark humor provides a sharp edge to his more philosophical works, such as Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov. His novels have more than a touch of Dickens' about them, but they are undeniably Russian. Besides, Dostoyevsky himself was almost executed at the hands of Tzar. How many other writers can say that?

Crime and Punishment is probably his best known work in English. It follows the adventures of a man with the memorable name of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov who is going crazy in his room. In his psychopathic madness he decides the best way to end his craziness is to kill an evil old pawnbroker with an ax to prove he doesn't have feelings. Of course, the entire plan utterly unravels and nothing turns out like Raskolnikov has planned.

Probably the best character in the novel is Saint Petersburg. Readers are treated to this imperial city as it existed during the time of the Tzars and there is plenty of sightseeing porn that will give any casual adventurer the travel bug to stroll along Saint Petersburg's canals. There's also many wonderful Russian characters, including Raskolnikov's drunken friends. The sweet prostitute Sofia is one of Dostoyevsky's greatest inventions, and we come to understand Raskolnikov's growing admiration of her even as he struggles with madness.

The ending of the novel is sometimes criticized because it is basically an appeal to God. I won't spoil the end for you, but suffice to say that there are religious tones in the novel. However, any Dostoyevsky work has religious tones, because Dostoyevsky struggled with this issue all his life. The Russian Orthodox Church was a big part of Russian life before the Soviet period, and even afterward some people continued worshiping the church in secret. For me, the ending meshes with the rest of the novel, religious overtones and all. The novel offers blunt reality combined with the hope for better days, a prevalent theme in Dostoyevsky's time that is no less strong in our own.

The Master and Margarita

Mikhail Bulgakov

If there was ever a book that made me wish I could read Russian, than Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita would be it. The book takes place during the height of Stalinist rule in 1930's Moscow, when the Devil comes calling into town disguised as a professor of black magic. This is quite unfortunate for many of the people who live there, since they don't believe in anything outside of what the Communist Party tells them to believe and they most certainly do not believe in the Devil. In fact, the only person who understands who the Devil is, is the Master, who is currently languishing in a madhouse because he had the audacity to write a book on Pontius Pilate. The reader is treated to snippets of the book the Master wrote on Pilate after he decided to crucify Jesus, and this smaller story is intertwined with the larger story on the fate of the Master and his lover, Margarita. There is also a large cast of questionable characters, such as the giant black cat Behemoth and the fanged Azazello, who is likely supposed to represent the demon Azazel.

From this description it may seem like this book could be labeled a religious one, but Bulgakov's work, like many great books, is difficult to fit into any genre. It is also satire and the writer is openly critical of who passes as an author under the Soviet Regime. When Stalin ruled the Soviet Union, a writer could only be successful if they toed the party line, didn't question anything, and wrote acceptable books about Communist propaganda. But the novel goes deeper than that, and examines themes as old as mankind, such as love, greed, good and evil.

This is one of those rare books where the reader can pick up and read over and over again, and still find new things every time. Since it is a Russian book, I do want to make a quick note about the translation. I first read this book when it translated by Mirra Ginsburg, and while I do adore this version it is faulty because it apparently left out parts of the novel. The newer version is translated by Burgin and O'Connor and is more complete.

The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners

Nicholas J. Brown (Author)

Amazon is offering The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners for only $11.63 with FREE shipping if you spend over $25.

"Whether you're learning alone or attending classes, you'll find this complete Russian language course for beginners both accessible and indispensable. Designed to provide the student with an excellent command of basic Russian (the equivalent of A level standard) this book features thirty lessons punctuated by revision exercises to ensure you have fully understood what you have learned. The emphasis is on acquiring vocabulary, experiencing conversational language and learning useful grammar. This book also includes a vocabulary of 1,500 words and a glossary of grammatical terms."

White on Black: A Boy's Story

by Ruben Gallego; ISBN-10: 0719561361, ISBN-13: 978-0719561368

In the Ruben Gallego story, White on Black: A Boy's Story, a terrifying - yet in some ways comforting picture is painted. What makes this book so unique is that Russian born Ruben Gallego was born without the use of his hands or feet.

This story paints a grim picture of what it was like being handicapped and being left in a Soviet orphanage. It also shows how the spirit of one man, with so many things against him, can beat the odds and live a normal life - well relatively "normal" anyway. With all of the pain the book brings out I was surprised to see a little sliver of humor in his writings, but then again, if I was in the same situations there would certainly be times when I would have to use humor - just to survive.

Nabokov's Final Book Published Among Controversy In Spite of Writer's Wishes

In the final years of his life, the Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov composed a collection of notes on what would have been the final book of his life but died before it could be completed. One of his final wishes upon his death included his instructions to both his wife Vera and son Dmitri to destroy the notes of the would be novel; a request that they ignored. Not only did they not destroy the notes aws instructed, but Nabokov's son has now published the notes from The Original of Laura against the final wishes of his father.

Nabokov worked on The Original of Laura from 1975 to 1977 and gathered most of the notes by writing on white index cards. Nabokov's son wrote the preface to the recently released book and made the claims that he did not think that his father would be against the move to publish the collected pieces of the work in progress; however, this statement is being met with a great deal of skepticism and controversy given the fact that Nabokov was quite clear about his desire for the notes to be destroyed upon his death.

The book has been released in two different versions. The first is a reproduction of the original note cards as they were written in the English language. The second version of The Original Laura has been reworked to fit a more conventional text form and appears in the Russian language. Scholars and followers of Nabokov have so far had mixed reactions to the release of his final work. They have been both concerned that his son has so blatantly dismissed his father's last wish and dying instructions about his own work yet also find themselves intrigued by this chance to have an inside look at the inner workings of the mind of one of Russia's greatest writers.

During the course of his life, Vladimir Nabokov wrote in both English and Russian and saw a tremendous amount of success with his work, most notably his wildly popular 1955 novel Lolita. His writings were known for rather complex and intricate plots along with well crafted word play and a reoccurring use of alliteration through out his work. Among his own writing, Nabokov was also a noted critic having compiled over four volumes containing commentary on and translations of Alekzandr Pushkin's epic work Eugene Onegin which Nabokov published in 1965.

In addition to his literary talents, Nabokov had other passions to which he devoted himself including entomology, a field in which he saw equal success. He was also greatly devoted to the art and craft of chess and wrote a number of sophisticated chess problems during the course of his life.

Just as Vladimir Nabokov made his home on different continents, both in the United States and in Europe, so to has his worked reached around the globe to inspire scholars and readers alike and while his wishes may not have been honored by his family, his memory shall none the less be untarnished among those who were entranced by his work.

A Review of 'Contemporary Russian Poetry: A Bilingual Anthology'

The unique voice of contemporary Russian poets shine through in this anthology collected and translated by Gerald Stanton Smith. In Contemporary Russian Poetry: A Bilingual Anthology Smith has collected the well crafted poetic works of over 20 Russian poets including Bulat Okudzhava, Vladimir Kornilov, German Plisetsky, Natalya Gorbanevskaya, Aleksandr Kushner, Yunna Morits, Bella Akhmadulina, Lev Loseff, Joseph Brodsky, Dimitri Prigov, Elena Shvarts, Ivan Zhdanov, and Aleksei Parschikov among others and includes a wondrous display of nearly two hundred poetic works.

The selections chosen by Smith span four decades since the 1970's and covers three generations of Russia's most talented poets, giving a stage to both the world renown poets such as Joseph Brodsky but also includes the lesser known artistic talents among Russia's contemporary poetic writers. Much of the poetry included in this 392 page anthology is written in the technical formal type of style that so much of Russian poetry has adopted over the years and like many of the literary predecessors, their work is a voice of metaphysical thought and existentialist explorations into the human condition among the plight and role of modern society.

Fittingly, Smith has began this collection of poetry with the somewhat infamous words of Boris Slutsky:

Any beginning is the beginning of the end.

That's why we begin with an egg,

but end up with a broken shell,

and this is the way we crown any beginning.

And so this journey into the minds and soul of Russia's contemporary poets begins and carries us through themes of philosophy, existentialism, forgiveness, religion, emotion, parenthood, relationships, and being.

Gerald Stanton Smith is a professor of Russian at Oxford University and has authored several previous books including Songs to Seven Strings: Russian Guitar Poetry and Soviet Mass Song and the now out of print The Stanza Typology of Russian Poetry 1735-1816: A General Survey. In this anthology he has done an excellent job of providing a literal translation of the Russian works and presents the poetry in English as well as in its native form for those who wish to explore the finer nuances of the work. By presenting the original Russian works along side the English translation, Smith adds a depth to the book that will delight poetry fans and language students alike.

In addition to the fine selection of Russian poetry found in this anthology, Smith has done an excellent job in including a number of well written and informative introductions and biographical materials which polish this book and makes Contemporary Russian Poetry: A Bilingual Anthology a must have for any serious student or connoisseur of fine poetry, Russian Literature, or contemporary Russian cultural studies. So whether you are looking to improve your Russian language skills, wish to learn more about the works of contemporary writers in modern Russia, or simply wish to enjoy well crafted poetry with a depth of thought and character written in the unique voice of Russian poets, Contemporary Russian Poetry: A Bilingual Anthology is a must have for your library.