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Well, seeing the expressed interest... Tom Send a noteboard - 09/02/2010 09:28:41 PM
...let's discuss it further.

I like the selections you suggested in general, particularly because most of them are not overly long (with War and Peace and The Brothers Karamazov being the exceptions).

Of course, I think that the Pushkin might be lost on anyone who doesn't speak Russian, since Evgeni Onegin is entirely in verse. Perhaps Kapitanskaya Dochka, since it's a prose work, or (a perennial favourite of mine due to its commentary on power in Russia) the play Boris Godunov?

With Gogol, I'd prefer to just bite the bullet and discuss Dead Souls since it's not that long, but The Nose and The Overcoat are good choices as well. Of course, Gogol could/should be read right before Bulgakov's Master and Margarita in my opinion, given the fact that both grew up in the Ukraine and both have a similar style.

The Turgenev, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky selections I am in complete agreement on. Bunin is good as well (and a Nobel laureate, for people who care about such things) - Sukhodol is one of his more famous works.

Pasternak and Bulgakov are good as well. I'm tempted to say that we should just get Zamyatin listed as a sci-fi/fantasy read for the month, not because I don't like him, but because there's very little "Russian" about his novel We, in contrast to all the other writers on the list. If you want to put another fantasy or sci-fi book in the list to compete with Bulgakov, you could put Alexei Tolstoy's Aelita. However, I would tend to pick someone else for Zamyatin's place (and Lukyanenko's, honestly - Night Watch isn't worthy to be mentioned in the same list as the others). For Zamyatin's place I would pick someone from the Soviet period - Solzhenitsyn, Shalamov or Rybakov, or even Shvarts or Zoshchenko, though they wrote plays (the former) and very short stories (the latter). For Lukyanenko's place, if you're dead-set on a post-Soviet writer I'd pick Pelevin, and I'd pick his strongest novel, Chapaev i Pustota, or perhaps Pokolenie P.

Also, I'd break it up along a non-chronological basis, something like this:

1. Doctor Zhivago
2. The Pushkin Selection
3. the Pelevin Selection
4. Dostoevsky I (whichever one we decide on)
5. Fathers and Sons
6. Soviet Selection
7. Tolstoy - War and Peace (first half)
8. Tolstoy - War and Peace (second half)
9. Gogol - The Nose and the Overcoat (a welcome break after Tolstoy)
10. Master and Margarita
11. Dostoevsky II
12. Bunin

Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.

ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius

Ummaka qinnassa nīk!

*MySmiley*
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Dare I ask about the book club's next selection and timing? - 09/02/2010 02:49:56 AM 1223 Views
You dare too much! - 09/02/2010 02:51:48 AM 973 Views
Based on the length of the last one, why not The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire? - 09/02/2010 01:29:13 PM 865 Views
At least that one would have a bit more depth to it - 09/02/2010 01:46:29 PM 881 Views
Does anyone agree with Gibbon's conclusions? - 09/02/2010 06:45:09 PM 843 Views
Currently, no. Not really. - 09/02/2010 06:57:14 PM 950 Views
I would have thought you would have enjoyed his ironic sendup of Christianity, though. - 10/02/2010 01:58:12 PM 1058 Views
His diction is lovely. - 10/02/2010 04:12:09 PM 893 Views
I'm enjoying it thoroughly. - 10/02/2010 05:54:20 PM 806 Views
I was wondering myself. - 09/02/2010 03:10:55 AM 840 Views
You know, I thought about doing that a long time ago - 09/02/2010 01:30:40 PM 896 Views
Oh, go ahead and do it. - 09/02/2010 06:51:35 PM 993 Views
That would be outstanding. *NM* - 09/02/2010 07:06:14 PM 436 Views
Well, seeing the expressed interest... - 09/02/2010 09:28:41 PM 859 Views
Re: Well, seeing the expressed interest... - 10/02/2010 12:26:06 AM 1019 Views
So how about keeping Zamyatin and replacing Lukyanenko with Pelevin? - 10/02/2010 02:45:33 AM 984 Views
Sounds good. - 10/02/2010 01:36:13 PM 937 Views
Чапаев и Пустота - 10/02/2010 01:44:23 PM 928 Views
It's called "Buddha's Little Finger" in English for some reason. See the amazon review as well. *NM* - 10/02/2010 01:51:02 PM 427 Views
Sounds interesting. I'd be interested in reading it. *NM* - 10/02/2010 05:44:20 PM 440 Views
Do we have a final list, then? - 10/02/2010 05:53:46 PM 943 Views
Well. - 10/02/2010 06:36:00 PM 992 Views
We're probably not choosing Master and Margarita for our first selection. - 10/02/2010 08:16:36 PM 982 Views
Super dooper. *NM* - 10/02/2010 09:08:47 PM 425 Views
Ah, I should have looked here first. - 10/02/2010 09:34:30 PM 829 Views
In regards to order, a slightly different proprosal. - 10/02/2010 09:41:38 PM 805 Views
At least I have an idea now of what books to watch for when I am out. - 10/02/2010 11:04:26 PM 830 Views
My gamble has paid off. - 21/05/2010 09:57:19 PM 786 Views
Hmm - 10/02/2010 12:20:52 PM 813 Views
I might be able to squeeze that in with my other readings - 10/02/2010 12:53:02 AM 984 Views
Have you read Pelevin? - 10/02/2010 03:16:22 AM 765 Views
No - 10/02/2010 04:44:18 AM 847 Views
I was wondering this as well. - 09/02/2010 01:25:09 PM 830 Views
We'll try to make sure the next book is even longer than this one was. - 09/02/2010 01:31:44 PM 825 Views
The choice is obvious, then. A la Recherche du Temps Perdu. *NM* - 09/02/2010 01:48:15 PM 408 Views
Oi, shush you. *NM* - 09/02/2010 02:16:19 PM 404 Views
Patience - 09/02/2010 02:15:14 PM 782 Views
Is Larry right? Are you ecstatic about the prospect of an independent book club? *NM* - 10/02/2010 03:18:44 AM 430 Views
The intent has always been to encourage people to hold and lead discussions. - 10/02/2010 04:29:23 PM 908 Views
I think Greg and I are 95% solid on our list. - 10/02/2010 04:33:12 PM 933 Views
I am fine with whatever order you guys choose. - 10/02/2010 06:25:31 PM 939 Views
I'm happy now. *NM* - 10/02/2010 08:15:07 PM 423 Views
Amen. - 10/02/2010 06:36:49 PM 882 Views
Lol. I figured it was put off for at least a month to let things cool down. *NM* - 10/02/2010 12:32:05 AM 444 Views
Let what cool down? The earth's core? Hell, perhaps? *NM* - 10/02/2010 03:19:24 AM 383 Views
No. Just no. *NM* - 10/02/2010 12:41:51 AM 404 Views
How about the три мушкетёра? - 10/02/2010 05:32:55 AM 778 Views
Wouldn't that be French? - 10/02/2010 12:21:50 PM 834 Views
Да - 10/02/2010 01:38:36 PM 762 Views
Yes. Королева Марго is French, too. *NM* - 10/02/2010 01:53:41 PM 397 Views
La reine Margot? *NM* - 10/02/2010 03:18:23 PM 369 Views
Oui. - 10/02/2010 04:34:25 PM 749 Views
I nominate The Road by Cormac McCarthy! - 10/02/2010 04:55:24 PM 991 Views

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