Russian Literature – Rana the Reader

Tolstoy’s Resurrection

‘But human beings cannot be treated without love, any more than bees can be handled without care.’ (p 402). Tolstoy is my favourite writer ever since I read War and Peace when I was 16. It is a novel of great length and scope - I was 15 when I started reading it. There is … Continue reading Tolstoy’s Resurrection

‘O youth! youth! you go your way heedless, uncaring – as if you owned all the treasures of the world.’ Fathers and Sons by Turgenev

Fathers and Sons, as the title suggests, is a book about generation conflict set in early 1860s, an important transitional period in Russian history. Arkady and Bazarov return to their families after completing their education in St Petersburg. Their parents are of different backgrounds: Arkady’s father, Nikolai Petrovich, is a wealthy and educated landowner whereas … Continue reading ‘O youth! youth! you go your way heedless, uncaring – as if you owned all the treasures of the world.’ Fathers and Sons by Turgenev

When Satan Visited Moscow

The Master and Margarita is a complex, multi-layered satire of the Stalin era. Mikhail Bulgakov started writing the novel in late 1928, not long after the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, the Russian Revolution and Lenin’s reforms. The writer who had witnessed all these continued to work on this masterpiece until his death in 1940. … Continue reading When Satan Visited Moscow