this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2023
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Fiction Books
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That was me. I am now more than 80% through and don't want to finish it because I am loving it so much. I don't mind the philosophical stuff, some of it is quite interesting and thought provoking. Anyways, now I don't know what to read next. And yes, the main confusing thing I find with Russian literature is the names. Every character I would be reading of would have at least 3-4 versions of their name.
Personally, my advice would be: don’t go to Tolstoj expecting something similar! He is so preachy compared to Dostoyevski, the characters don’t ring nearly as human and interesting.
On the other hand, everything I read of Dostoyevski is great, with Crime and Punishment and Brothers Karamazov being at the top. I also find Victor Hugo to be similar (minus the weird naming conventions).
I got advised to read Master and Margherita, but I couldn’t get over the first dizen pages, but maybe it does it for you.
Years ago I read Anna Karenina and from what I vaguely remember, there was some amount of moralising; what you say kind of confirms that for me. Someone suggested Fathers and Sons by Turganev. What do you think about that? I have also heard about Master and Margherita. I can give it a try. I have already read and enjoyed Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and Demons. Demons was slightly disturbing from what I remember. There's still The Idiot and Notes from the Underground that I have still to read.
I know nothing of Turganev, honestly. I have read The Idiot and felt it was a little “less” than usual Dostoyevski, but I can highly recommend White Nights, a collection of short stories. I usually think of Dostoyevski as shining in long descriptions, but in White Nights he goes the other way and etches scenes with a minimal amount of details and still hitting the nail on the head. Notes from the Underground doesn’t have a good translation in my mother tongue, so I did not read it yet. Now that my English knowledge is good enough, I could look for a good English translation, but there are just too many books to read… what to read next is always a tough choice.
I will look into white nights. I am thinking of giving Turganev a try later. Let's see how I like it. If it's good I'll probably share about it here.
I’ll look forward to your comments, positive and negative!
Sure thing!