# Russian Lit. Anyone else obsessed?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-lit-anyone-else-obsessed/193016>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 5, 2003, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-lit-anyone-else-obsessed/193016 "2003-08-05T00:35:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MemoryGongs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58f4c7/32.png) [@MemoryGongs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MemoryGongs)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-lit-anyone-else-obsessed/193016/1 "2003-08-05T00:35:37Z")

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i have spent the whole summer reading dostoevsky, well rereading actually and I am amazed at how russians can grab character motivations and the human psyche so well.

im now on The Golovlyov Family by Shchedrin…amazing

anyone else with the same tastes?

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**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-lit-anyone-else-obsessed/193016/2 "2003-08-05T01:13:18Z")

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I’m not obsessed, but I did go through a phase where I steeped myself to the eyebrows in Dostoevksi, Gogol and Tolstoy. Haven’t read 'em in awhile, though.

What surprised me is how much _humor_ there was in the books; hadn’t expected that.

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**Author:** ![benthames](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/58f4c7/32.png) [@benthames](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benthames)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-lit-anyone-else-obsessed/193016/3 "2003-08-05T06:21:51Z")

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I like to read The Gulag Archipelago in the summer and The Seven Pillars of Wisdom in the winter. Yes, I know The Seven Pillars were not written by a Russian. Anyway, after throwing “Crime and Punishment” across the room 17 times (just cant seem to get past that scene with the guy in the tavern) and dropping Anna Karenina three times because i fell asleep, Solzhenytsin is the only Russian Lit I can handle.

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**Author:** ![toque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@toque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toque)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-lit-anyone-else-obsessed/193016/4 "2003-08-05T12:17:05Z")

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I’d sort of given up on Russian literature, it mostly either went over my head, or my cultural sensibilities were just too different. I’ve started a book called “The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov, though, which I am just _loving_. Check it out if Rus. Lit’s your thing.

Could someone explain Gogol’s “Dead Souls” to me? I was really looking forward to it, but just found it tedious and pointless, which shames me deeply. Any thoughts appreciated.