Discovering Russian Literature discussion

Nominate a book you would like to read in March. New members, please check the 'Rules of Picking Group Reads' thread.

And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov

The Little Man: a novel by Liza Alexandrova-Zorina

Janith wrote: "And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov"

Wonderful book! We have read it in 2012 as a group read. If it won't win the poll I however suggest you to read it by your own and if you want you can follow the old discussion: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

dely wrote: "Janith wrote: "And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov"

Wonderful book! We have read it in 2012 as a group read. If it won't win the poll I however suggest you to..."

You bet Dely!! the book which won Sholokhov the nobel prize. After reading his short story colletion "Tales of the Don", Im craving to read this masterpiece. I've already ordered my copy

Janith wrote: "dely wrote: "Janith wrote: "And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov"

Wonderful book! We have read it in 2012 as a group read. If it won't win the poll I however s..."

Be sure to buy the complete edition, it has 4 volumes. The first one is the most read and sometimes it isn't easy to find the other volumes. Not every publisher adds all the four volumes in one single edition. I had to look for them on the internet because here in Italy they are out of print and buy used copies but it was really worth.

dely wrote: "Janith wrote: "dely wrote: "Janith wrote: "And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov"

Wonderful book! We have read it in 2012 as a group read. If it won't win the p..."

Oh.. I ordered the Penguin edition. Usually Penguin books come with the "complete and unabridged" title. BTW, thanks for that Dely. I'll anyway download the e book just in case

Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov

Oblomov

by Ivan Goncharov

Beth wrote: "Oblomov

by Ivan Goncharov"

Read it last year. I really liked it though I gave it only 4 stars. As soon as I finished it I had the strange feeling as if something was missing but I don't know why. However a must read for who loves Russian literature.

dely wrote: "Beth wrote: "Oblomov

by Ivan Goncharov"

Read it last year. I really liked it though I gave it only 4 stars. As soon as I finished it I had the strange feeling as if something was missing but I d..."
I thought it was quite unique. I've never seen a protagonist like Oblomov before. the nobleman who rarely leaves his bed.. Russians created the term 'Oblomovism' after Oblomov to define his level of laziness so you can imagine how much this book has influenced Russian lifestyle .. So as you correctly said, its a must read for everybody who loves Russian literature.

Janith wrote: "dely wrote: "Beth wrote: "Oblomov

by Ivan Goncharov"

Read it last year. I really liked it though I gave it only 4 stars. As soon as I finished it I had the strange feeling as if something was mi..."

You wrote,
"..you can imagine how much this book has influenced Russian lifestyle.."

I read the book very very long ago. Indeed, I'm due to reread it. But then there was a movie and a lot of reference to 'oblomovism' in general within the Russian culture. (By the way, in the original Russian term, a harsher suffix than neutral '-ism' is used.)

But anyway, a quick point i want to make here is that, according to what i've heard and remember, the role of the book in the Russian literature and history is the other way around: When it came out it was a very deep reflection of the current socio-historical formation shift taking place in the 19th century Russia. Oblomov was a tragic figure of the dying formation. And his friend (not accidentally half German)Andrei - a typical representative of the coming new age. In a word, the term oblomovism turned out to be a catchy phrase describing a phenomenon that was already taking place in Russia at the time.

Janith wrote: "I thought it was quite unique. I've never seen a protagonist like Oblomov before. the nobleman who rarely leaves his bed.. Russians created the term 'Oblomovism' after Oblomov to define his level of laziness so you can imagine how much this book has influenced Russian lifestyle .. So as you correctly said, its a must read for everybody who loves Russian literature. "

It is and I really liked it. I can't explain why I had this feeling of something missing. I found the last part dragging. The author wanted to say everything about Oblomov's last years of life but without deepening it. So the author jumps forward in Oblomov's life of 3-4 years but without adding details. The end arrived too fast. I would have preferred that the book had mantained the same pace though it could have been much longer. I had the feeling that Goncharov was tired to write but wanted however follow Oblomov till his death.

Bigollo wrote: "Janith wrote: "dely wrote: "Beth wrote: "Oblomov

by Ivan Goncharov"

Read it last year. I really liked it though I gave it only 4 stars. As soon as I finished it I had the strange feeling as if s..."

I've heard the words Oblomovism and Oblomovitis refer to the fatalistic slothfulness that Oblomov exhibits . Nikolai Dobrolyubov wrote an article in 1859 called "What is Oblomovism?". There he described Oblomovism as an integral part of Russian avos' saying that Oblomov's death was the result of "Oblomovism". And as you correctly said, it was something took place in Russia for real in those days. to be more specific, this phenomena portraits the lifestyle of Russian land lords of the 19th century. Oblomovism was eating them inside out.

dely wrote: "Janith wrote: "I thought it was quite unique. I've never seen a protagonist like Oblomov before. the nobleman who rarely leaves his bed.. Russians created the term 'Oblomovism' after Oblomov to def..."

I hated what happened to his affair with Olga for starters. And it was a very gloomy book wasn't it . If you're working on a resolution or something , this is not the book to read, It's that much discouraging. No need to do it today when you have tomorrow. But I ended up giving it 4/5 as I remember. Only gave 2/5 for Anna Karenina.

Janith wrote: "If you're working on a resolution or something , this is not the book to read, It's that much discouraging. No need to do it today when you have tomorrow. But I ended up giving it 4/5 as I remember. "

Yes, you are right. I liked Oblomov so much and sometimes I felt pity for him; I couldn't stand that much his perfect friend though he was often right but it seemed to me he wasn't able to understand and accept Oblomov as he was.
Me too, I gave it 4,5 stars.

This would be a very interesting book for a group read, there is so much to talk about.

Has the poll been started yet? I can't remember if I saw an email about it.

I don't think so. As far as I'm aware, you can still make suggestions.

dely wrote: "Janith wrote: "If you're working on a resolution or something , this is not the book to read, It's that much discouraging. No need to do it today when you have tomorrow. But I ended up giving it 4/..."

True.. I even suggested it last month. Cant wait to start a conversation on the good book

Sorry for not being active in the group. I went to teach (I'm a teacher) full-time again and there were lots of things occupying me.

I'm not sure if I should add these books to a poll, as most of you might've finished reading them due to a month's delay. Perhaps we may start again...

Maybe we could just use these suggestions for April's poll?

I agree with Rachel.