ben545
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MOTM March '16
Ambition is the virtue of all great men.
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Post by ben545 on Jul 16, 2015 17:31:46 GMT
"The Penguin Book of Russian Short Stories" Classic Russian literature is so much easier to read than English literature. Some might even call it childish but I just think it's a good read.  Let's agree to disagree . Even though I love Dostoievsky, I think that almost every classic English author is easier to read (at least to me) I went through a stage of reading really dense heavy literature like, Trollope and Dickens and even Freidriche Nietzsche and I just started to get bogged down with it. As a general rule classic European literature is written by the aristocracy (or ruling classes) whereas Russian literature is written by people in lowly positions or the working classes, soldiers, that sort of thing. If you find reading English literature easy, good for you. Each to their own. I just don't like getting lost when I'm reading and Russian just seems a bit more straight forward.  ![]() |
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thyarchery
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Post by thyarchery on Jul 16, 2015 17:42:20 GMT
Let's agree to disagree . Even though I love Dostoievsky, I think that almost every classic English author is easier to read (at least to me) I went through a stage of reading really dense heavy literature like, Trollope and Dickens and I just started to get bogged down with it. As a general rule classic English literature is written by the aristocracy (or ruling classes) whereas Russian literature is written by people in lowly positions or the working classes, soldiers, that sort of thing. If you find reading English literature easy, good for you. Each to their own. I don't like getting lost when I'm reading and Russian just seems a bit more straight forward. I wonder what you call "classic" then. To me, classic Russian literature is basically Dostoievsky, Pushkin and Tolstoi and the three of them were born in noble families. Even if in Dostoievsky's case his father ran away from his home, he managed to get a good status himself as a hospital director. |
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ben545
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MOTM March '16
Ambition is the virtue of all great men.
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Post by ben545 on Jul 16, 2015 17:46:18 GMT
I've read a lot of Maxim Gorky, he came from a very poor family. Currently I'm reading loads and loads of different Russian authors and they're all pretty straight forward to read. Perhaps I meant the style of Russian literature celebrates the working man or the "poor hero" moreso than the European. That's why Russia has so many revolutions! Admittedly Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote novels popular in European literature but he sticks to the Russian tradition of story telling. Pushkin's life was cut short when he was killed in a dual and Tolstoy "renounced as harmful the bulk of his own literary work along with many of the beliefs and values of educated European civilization." I just think that a lot of classic European literature (particularly English and pre-war German) is too highly stylised which makes it difficult to read.
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ben545
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MOTM March '16
Ambition is the virtue of all great men.
Join Date: Jun 28, 2015 9:36:36 GMT
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Post by ben545 on Jul 16, 2015 17:56:27 GMT
I was going to say (knowing you're such a big fan of the Hobbit) that I live right next to where J. R. R. Tolkien lived and got his inspiration from. Sarehole Mill museum is dedicated to celebrating the life of J. R. R. Tolkien who lived there for a while and was inspired by the landscape apparently. You should come visit some time.  ![]() |
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ezzz
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Post by ezzz on Jul 22, 2015 16:12:30 GMT
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
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thyarchery
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Post by thyarchery on Aug 2, 2015 3:50:58 GMT
I've read a lot of Maxim Gorky, he came from a very poor family. Currently I'm reading loads and loads of different Russian authors and they're all pretty straight forward to read. Perhaps I meant the style of Russian literature celebrates the working man or the "poor hero" moreso than the European. That's why Russia has so many revolutions! Admittedly Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote novels popular in European literature but he sticks to the Russian tradition of story telling. Pushkin's life was cut short when he was killed in a dual and Tolstoy "renounced as harmful the bulk of his own literary work along with many of the beliefs and values of educated European civilization." I just think that a lot of classic European literature (particularly English and pre-war German) is too highly stylised which makes it difficult to read. Oh I see. In my opinion Gorki is revolutionary Russian literature and not classic-same as I don't consider Virginia Wolf as classic British literature- but I can see where you mean to go by using the term "classic". I have to agree with you in Russian literature being more centred on working-class characters than standard European literature, though. I've been thinking about it and maybe it's something I can't appreciate so much since a handful of my country's historic literature deals with lower class characters-so I'm kind of used . |
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ben545
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MOTM March '16
Ambition is the virtue of all great men.
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Post by ben545 on Aug 2, 2015 4:35:58 GMT
Maxim Gorky is my favourite Russian author, possibly my favourite author out right. I love his style of writing. He draws you into a world that simply no longer exists and it's so accessible and straight forward to read. I would like to read more of his work. Currently reading a short story by Chekhov at the moment.
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kremniushka
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Post by kremniushka on Aug 2, 2015 9:06:08 GMT
"50 Days Before My Suicide" by Stace Kramer (read the whole book in one day)
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Falling Into History
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Post by Falling Into History on Aug 4, 2015 21:16:55 GMT
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
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In Wonderland
Retired Staff 
MOTM May '16; MOTM Sep '16; MOTM Nov '17
... all things come to an end
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Post by In Wonderland on Aug 7, 2015 7:19:46 GMT
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
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ezzz
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Post by ezzz on Aug 8, 2015 17:26:08 GMT
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
I'm nearly finished it, and it's decent ... but there are quite a number of things about it that annoy me.
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avriladdicted7
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banned
Avril, please do p0rn
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Post by avriladdicted7 on Aug 9, 2015 4:34:29 GMT
The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer
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Kaiye
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Formerly Flop N Fold
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Post by Kaiye on Aug 9, 2015 6:42:54 GMT
Does my "Urology Lecture Notes" count as a read?  |
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Rawad
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Post by Rawad on Aug 9, 2015 21:28:41 GMT
The Language of Life - Francis S. Collins
I'm actually rereading it before I start my first premed year!
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thyarchery
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Post by thyarchery on Aug 9, 2015 22:38:44 GMT
Does my "Urology Lecture Notes" count as a read? If 50 shadows of Grey count, then it counts for me  |
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