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May 2008 - Book Group Suggestions

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The waveguide said:
I am OK with Russians, but are there any happy (soviet) Russians? My grandparents, from USSR, has lots against Solzhenitsyn - also from talking to other Russians, not many like him (from people I know, so I am not trying to generalize.)... I never read him, thus I might. But again - are there any happier Russian authors?
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There are quite a few, but most depend on knowledge of the 'circumstances of their time' to fully appreciate them.

You could try Vladimir Voinovich as an example, he’s not very fond of Solzhenitsyn either. 'The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin' being his most famous, and IMHO best work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Voinovich

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_and_Extraordinary_Adventures_of_Private_Ivan_Chonkin


Regards,

K_S
 
Robert said:
Fathers and Sons by Turgenev and A Farewell To Arms by Hemmingway both sound good.
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Having read both of these I would suggest they'll make for a good discussion.

Although set in 19th century Russia, Fathers and Sons covers universal and timeless ideas. It also seems to split people into love and hate camps.

A Farewell to Arms is one of Hemmingways best efforts (that I've read) but again I suspect the ending may divide opinion.

The only other one on the list so far, that I've read is Dead Souls. I love that book, but somehow I feel it might get less 'buy in' from people than some of the other offerings.

Regards,

K_S
 
Kenny Shovel said:
Having read both of these I would suggest they'll make for a good discussion.

Although set in 19th century Russia, Fathers and Sons covers universal and timeless ideas. It also seems to split people into love and hate camps.

A Farewell to Arms is one of Hemmingways best efforts (that I've read) but again I suspect the ending may divide opinion.

The only other one on the list so far, that I've read is Dead Souls. I love that book, but somehow I feel it might get less 'buy in' from people than some of the other offerings.

Regards,

K_S
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I love Dead Souls too. But if one of the criteria is finding a book that can generate a lot of discussion i'd have to go with Fathers and Sons as well out of those books I have read from the list.
 
Kenny Shovel said:
Having read both of these I would suggest they'll make for a good discussion.

Although set in 19th century Russia, Fathers and Sons covers universal and timeless ideas. It also seems to split people into love and hate camps.

A Farewell to Arms is one of Hemmingways best efforts (that I've read) but again I suspect the ending may divide opinion.
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Sounds like the perfect book!
 
I went to my favorite bookstore today. I went in for Madame Bovary and I came out with:
Madame Bovary
The Historian
Blade of Fotriu
Opheilias Fan
The Witch of Cologne
two fairytales for my daughter
one fantasy swordbook for my son
and a husband who was pulling his hair!:D
I checked out for the rest of the books on our list and they can be ordered, there was nothing in stock.I liked now that all the bookstores are bringing all the classics back in affordable prices.
 
Libra said:
I went to my favorite bookstore today. I went in for Madame Bovary and I came out with:
Madame Bovary
The Historian
Blade of Fotriu
Opheilias Fan
The Witch of Cologne
two fairytales for my daughter
one fantasy swordbook for my son
and a husband who was pulling his hair!:D
I checked out for the rest of the books on our list and they can be ordered, there was nothing in stock.I liked now that all the bookstores are bringing all the classics back in affordable prices.
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I nice bit of shopping, Libra. I think you will enjoy The Historian.
 
Don't leave without me! I'm getting a copy of Madame Bovary through Bookmooch and hope it comes before the discussion is over.

I like Bookmooch and always have plenty of points, but some exchangers are slow. That's one reason I would like to have our BOMC choices well ahead of time.
 
Kenny Shovel said:
You could try Vladimir Voinovich as an example, he’s not very fond of Solzhenitsyn either. 'The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin' being his most famous, and IMHO best work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Voinovich

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_and_Extraordinary_Adventures_of_Private_Ivan_Chonkin


K_S
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Kenny,

Thank you for your suggestion! I just finished "Chonkin", it was a good laugh, but not really my style - a book that one reads and forgets. Entertaining, though.

But thanks, it was a new experience.

However, pay attenstion that Russians themselves carefully distinguish between a "Russian" writer and a "Soviet" writer. "Soviet" is clearly everybody who had been writing during the Soviet period, while "Russian" is everything else. So earlier I was aksing about any not-depressing Russian author, and I was quite surprized to discover this soviet-time story. But it was a good surprize!

Thanks a lot :)
 
The waveguide said:
However, pay attenstion that Russians themselves carefully distinguish between a "Russian" writer and a "Soviet" writer. "Soviet" is clearly everybody who had been writing during the Soviet period, while "Russian" is everything else.
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Voinovich has published a number of books since the end of the Soviet era, which would make him both, I would think.
 
Sandor Marai -Ember would be my suggestion-somehow the more the time pass since i read it,the more i love this book.it's short,not depressing,all people i gave it to(mostly my familly)have the same felling of growing love for this book.
 
Waveguide: Twice you've said you wanted non-depressing Russian writers, and earlier you lumped Solzhenitsyn in that category. While I can certainly understand how that might happen, I wonder what it is exactly you're after?
 
Well, I got my non-depressing read with Voinich, as Kenny proposed.

I do not think that there really exist "classical" russians who are not depressing. So I thought, what the hell, if it is already depressing, than Soljenitsin is as good as anything else.

So now I am open to any russian/soviet writer.

Hm, I am being not very logical but I guess that presently I simply do not care what to read. From the suggestions so far I hadn't read anything, so everything will do.
 
The waveguide said:
Hm, I am being not very logical but I guess that presently I simply do not care what to read. From the suggestions so far I hadn't read anything, so everything will do.
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Oh well, who said we had to be logical?;) Really, I'm open to anything on the list..maybe Stewart should write the titles on slip of paper and stick them in his hat and have his goldfish pick one for us.:)
 
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