I just sat down with my new copy of the works of Alexander Pushkin when it hit me. why the fuck am I reading this shit in English I fucking speak Russian . Problem is I haven’t actually read much in Russian for about 13 years or so.
What would be a good text to reintroduce myself to the Russian language ?
Im looking though my parents library and here is what I have to choose from
nikolai gogol - colected works
The Master and Margarita
the divine comedy (Dante)
Stefan Zweig - colected works
Alexander Pushkin - colected works
War And Peace
alexander griboyedov- colected works
ivan krylov- colected works
Velimir Khlebnikov- colected works
(there is more but its hard to reach without making a mess)
PS:im not asking which is the greater work, im asking Russian speakers which would be the best to start with
You should read the version that you'd get a fuller understanding from. If you're absolutely fluent in both, read the original text since It was good enough to be translated.
>>8036847
well that’s the thing im not fluent in Russian, I used to be but that was 10 years ago. Still it would be a waste for me to lose it .
>>8036862
Why don't you read it in Russian with an English copy near in case you need help. That sounds like a good way of brushing up.
A lot of Pushkin's short stories or Gogol's ones you should be able to read at a 13 year old level.
I'd read Pushkin in Russian, and then compare the translation in case you missed anything or fucked up.
>>8036877
the short format might be helpful but reading poetry in a language im not fluent in sounds painful.
It must suck to cease being fluent in your native language. I can't even imagine that happening to me
>>8036862
>speaks SOME russian
>all those sweet sweet Russian classic literature waiting for you
Just practice and read in the original
Its like if I could speak some spanish and wouldnt read Borges or 100y of solitude in original
>>8036802
I'd suggest reading something that gives an instant gratification page by page, to keep you motivated in reading on, and looking up words.
I've read Zapovednik by Dovlatov (Pushkin Hills is the eng. title) after years of abstinence from Russian literature. It's about 100 pages short, historicaly significant and very funny, Dovlatov's humor works especially well in Russian prose. Zapovednik is about emigration from Russia to the United States and about the literary lifestyle of soviet dissident writers, so perhaps you can relate.
From the stuff you listed I can read and can recommend Кaвкaзcкий плeнник by Pushkin, Mёpтвыe дýши by Gogol and Шaхмaтнaя нoвeллa by Zweig (although I read it in German and know nothing about how it reads in Russian).
Solzhenytsins' Life of Ivan Denisovich and Brodsky's essays come to mind if you want comprehensible prose.
>>8036802
From that you had listed i would advice you to start from Krylova Ivana because he's poems we basically read during our middle school classes and Gogol' works like "Beчepa нa Хyтope близ Дикaньки" or "Peвизop" after that move to Griboyedov. because "Гope oт Умa" is definately a masterpiece, and Pushkin, If you got tired of poetry, than go to Zweig. Bulgakov and Tolstoy maybe pretty hard at the beggining, but their language is amazing, so i gues after War and Peace, your russian will improve greatly.
Don't read now Klebnikova, beacause he was a futurist poet and that's why there are a lot of made up words. He's not sometimes understandable in russian, so it's not good to read for you.
