Eastern European/Russian Literature

the dice man

in the last year or so i've read a few really good books from eastern europe along the lines of

kundera, kafka, harbal, dostoevsky, solzhenitsy

can anyone recommend anything else similar? and maybe from the new EU states like poland etc.

from lists on amazon its looking like Nikolai Gogol and Leo Tolstoy

although i've heard war and peace is a bit of a mouthfull!

eclectichoney

the engineer of human souls by josef skvorecky is very very good. he is czech (i think!)

John

I really recommend "The Tin Drummer" by Gunther Grass. It's set in Danzig (now Gdansk) and is absolutely amazing. Seriously, get this book!

carpocrates

Check out poetry but Anna Akhmatova and Marina Tsveteva. Also Yvgeny Yevtushenko.

As for novels, Turgenev is also well worth checking out, not to mention Brodsky and, of course Bulgakov, loads of whose works are really top notch aside from the obvious.

Pitseleh

War And Peace is a must if you've any interest in history - once you make a start into it (the first 50 pages are tough), it's far more readable than is implied. There are longer books and I'm sure far more convoluted ones too.
I'm starting Anna Karenina at the moment, I hope it'll be as good.
As for Dostoyevsky, I've read Crime And Punishment - I recommend it. The Idiot and the Brothers Karamazov are on my all too lengthy "to do list"

Rredwell

Personally, I would recommend Milan Kundera. I am reading my way through all of his works at the moment. They are pretty hard to find (apart from The Unbearable Lightness of Being), but that adds to the satisfaction when you do get your hands on one.

supersheep

I didn't think much of Crime and Punishment - I found it overwrought and turgid. Maybe that was the translation, I don't know. Solzhenitsyn, however, I would wholeheartedly recommend. I need to read more Russian and Eastern European authors myself, so any further suggestions wouldbe welcomed by me too.

John

Pitseleh wrote:

The Idiot and the Brothers Karamazov are on my all too lengthy "to do list"

I read the Idiot and finished it but it was tough going. I wouldn't recommend it at all. Put me right off Dostoevsky for life. I don't think I'll ever be persuaded to read any of his other books.

simu

Nah - the Karamazovs rock! Also, Mikhail Bulgakov is another Russian worth checking out - plenty of his books available on amazon.

davros

simu wrote:

Also, Mikhail Bulgakov is another Russian worth checking out - plenty of his books available on amazon.

Yeah, The Master and Margarita is an absolute riot. Hugely popular in Russia too - it's strange he's not as well known as Tolstoy and friends.

According to a professor of Russian literature, this version is a particularly fine translation.

ionapaul

Read War and Peace and Anna Karenina many years ago, will have to resurrect War and Peace again. Enjoyed both. Read Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov last year, they are both excellent, absolutely amazing. Read Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago and Turgenev's Fathers and Sons recently last year, loved both of them. Russian novelists are astounding! Just bought The Idiot for €2.20 downstairs in Easons on Saturday