I’m in a book club with varying interests but predominantly people who enjoy the likes of Sally Rooney, and Lisa Tadeo. We enjoy when someone picks books that are outside the genres people in the book club generally read. I want to pick a Russian literature book for my choice. We have a month to read the books and I’m struggling with most Russian novels being quite large. I’m scared of people giving up or skimming the book to get through it – as I know for example Tolstoy really loves to go on and on about certain topics (which is a delight to read for some people, but maybe not for others who prefer a more punchy storyline) Do you have any recommendations for a good gateway book? I have these three as potential candidates based purely from lists of recommendations and their lengths
The death of Ivan Ilyich
Notes from the underground
Fathers and sons
by leafycurtain
3 Comments
If you’re open to something a longer, either Anna Karenina or Crime and Punishment are both really good. (One way to tackle a longer book in a book club: split it into a few gatherings — one covering part of the book and the second covering the rest.) They’re longer but worthwhile.
Anton Chekhov short stories. Most of them are brief, but extremely impactful.
one day in the life of Ivan denisovich by Solzhenitsyn is short and deceptively “simple”. it’s more modern (Stalin’s gulag), but definitely still literature.