Slog - Comments on Russian Literature http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature This image got me thinking about the greatness of the Russian novel. To name a handful: Sologub's Petty Demon, Bely's Petersburg, Sokolov's School of Fools, Bitov's Russia House, Sinyovsky's The Trail Begins, Olesha's Envy. It's not surprising that the best American novel was written by a Russian.... Copyright 2007 Sat, 09 Sep 2006 10:29:32 -0800 Mon, 11 Sep 2006 23:06:16 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Sachi And which do you consider the best?

Pnin and Pale Fire still get my nod as some of the most underrated American novels of all time.

]]> Sachi http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460083 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460083 Sports Sat, 09 Sep 2006 10:44:14 -0800 Comment by charles mudede Lolita is # one. Two is Pale Fire. Three is Ada. Those are the top three American novels.

]]> charles mudede http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460140 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460140 Sports Sat, 09 Sep 2006 11:34:52 -0800 Comment by SeMe Russian novel? I have to go with WE. Orwell got the credit for 1984, but Zamyatin's "We" was the original dystopic novel.

I might not be a lit critic, but where is Dostievski?

]]> SeMe http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460176 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460176 Sports Sat, 09 Sep 2006 12:47:44 -0800 Comment by d Not obscure enough.

]]> d http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460200 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460200 Sports Sat, 09 Sep 2006 13:22:18 -0800 Comment by Sachi Ada was written in Russian, was it not? But yes, I tend to agree that Lolita is likely one of the very greatest of all American Novels. There's so much wonderful writing I hate to say that any novel is "#1" though. Who could say that Lolita is better or worse than Huckleberry Finn or Light in August or The Poisonwood Bible. They (and hundreds more) all have brilliancies that have engaged me and many other readers over the centuries.

]]> Sachi http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460207 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460207 Sports Sat, 09 Sep 2006 13:30:47 -0800 Comment by Eric I'm pretty sure Ada was written in English. Nabokov's earlier stuff was written in Russian, mostly for the emigre community, but Ada came later on. Ada is surely one of the greatest novels ever, and yet... I'm betting I'm not the only reader who succumbed to the temptation to blip over some of Van's longer meditations on the nature of time and shit.

]]> Eric http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460228 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460228 Sports Sat, 09 Sep 2006 14:06:10 -0800 Comment by Sachi Yes, I just checked; Ada was written in 1969. It's been a while -- too long, obviously -- since I have read that novel.

]]> Sachi http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460270 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460270 Sports Sat, 09 Sep 2006 15:10:43 -0800 Comment by z is for xylophone
that image just got me thinking of the greatness of hawt Russian women.

]]> z is for xylophone http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460299 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460299 Sports Sat, 09 Sep 2006 16:15:44 -0800 Comment by catalina vel-duray Charles, I think you're a bit confused. Jaqueline Susann was not Russian.

]]> catalina vel-duray http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460359 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460359 Sports Sat, 09 Sep 2006 19:01:58 -0800 Comment by Becca I didn't realize how much I loved Charles Mudede until now. Does he have a book I can buy? Maybe a marble bust?

]]> Becca http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460382 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460382 Sports Sat, 09 Sep 2006 19:34:03 -0800 Comment by Jameson The Master and Margarita. Best book ever.

]]> Jameson http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460453 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460453 Sports Sat, 09 Sep 2006 23:05:56 -0800 Comment by The Geist Russian literature, as well as Russian cinema, Russian art, and Russian culture in general seems to me to carry a superstructure in the Marxist sense. For example, Lolita is the greatest American novel, and yet, as literature in general, it is not any better than, say, a story by Matthew Stadler, whose pen is more perfect. However, because it is a superstructure, because, as a novel, it suggests the possibility of worldwide domination, it carries a power more significant in terms of finality or authority than Stadler or Diana George could ever produce.

On The Master and Margarita. I don't believe it is a superior novel, but the fairy tale aspect, the brilliant aesthetic and the idea of melding Jesus Christ with contemporary poetry/novelling, are all certainly significant...

]]> The Geist http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460780 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460780 Sports Sun, 10 Sep 2006 13:54:47 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Just so you know, the "Fnarf" above is an imposter. I am the real Fnarf.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460941 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460941 Sports Sun, 10 Sep 2006 20:21:25 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Oh, and Charles's list of the top three American novels is correct.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460942 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460942 Sports Sun, 10 Sep 2006 20:24:39 -0800 Comment by charles Russian novels don't have enough black characters, racists!

]]> charles http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460988 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c460988 Sports Sun, 10 Sep 2006 22:20:37 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Pushkin was (partly) black.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c461065 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c461065 Sports Mon, 11 Sep 2006 08:48:26 -0800 Comment by Becca I guess I'll have to buy a marble bust if Fnarf, too, although I'm not sure he's as qualified.

]]> Becca http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c461419 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c461419 Sports Mon, 11 Sep 2006 21:58:33 -0800 Comment by charles Then why didn't Pushkin have any black characters in his novels? He's just an uncle Tom! (granted Uncle Tom's Cabin wasn't written til after his death but..)

]]> charles http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c461441 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/09/russian_literature#c461441 Sports Mon, 11 Sep 2006 23:06:16 -0800