This session will be discussing Чапаев и пустота by В.Пелевин.

The post Русский книжный клуб: Чапаев и пустота first appeared on Russian Language Centre.

The post TRKI Webinar first appeared on Russian Language Centre.

В ходе сессии мы поговорим о стиле Газданова и его жизни на основе трёх романов: «Вечер у Клэр», «Призрак Александра Вольфа» и «Ночные дороги». Для участия в сессии необязательно читать все три книги.

Гайто Газданов (1903–1971) был одним из величайших писателей русской белой эмиграции. После революции, едва достигнув шестнадцати лет, Газданов присоединился к Белому движению, а позднее был вынужден навсегда покинуть Россию, разделяя судьбу многих русских эмигрантов. Большую часть жизни он провел в Париже и много лет работал ночным таксистом; с 1953 года Газданов был корреспондентом, а затем редактором на «Радио Свобода».

В глазах современников талант Газданова стоял вровень с талантом Владимира Набокова, Марселя Пруста и Ивана Бунина. Однако на родине первый роман писателя был опубликован только после смерти автора, в 1990 году.

The post Русский книжный клуб: Романы Гайто Газданова first appeared on Russian Language Centre.

This session will be discussing Тихий Дон by М. Шолохов.

As an introductory offer, if you sign up for two of the Russian Language Book Clubs, you can attend the third for free! Just sign up for any two Russian language book clubs and we will add you to the third.

The post Русский книжный клуб: Тихий Дон first appeared on Russian Language Centre.

Our first session will be discussing Доктор Живаго by Б. Пастернак.

As an introductory offer, if you sign up for two of the Russian Language Book Clubs, you can attend the third for free! Just sign up for any two Russian language book clubs and we will add you to the third.

The post Russian Language Book Club: Доктор Живаго first appeared on Russian Language Centre.

Each month we select a classic or contemporary Russian literary work to read in translation. While our discussions are held in English, we incorporate excerpts and quotes in Russian into the sessions to provide an authentic experience. The club is hosted by an experienced teacher, who will tailor the language element to the levels of the participants. So whether you’re an elementary or advanced learner of Russian, our book club welcomes all levels of proficiency.

Pelevin himself has described this as ‘the first novel in world literature which takes place in an absolute void’. In fact, the action cuts deliriously between Moscow in 1990-s and 1919, the era of the Civil War. At the same time, the boundaries between those worlds are blurry and intertwined. The name of the book has been translated variously as ‘The Clay Machine-Gun’ in Britain and ‘Buddha’s Little Finger’ in the USA.

British translation

The Clay Machine-Gun: Amazon.co.uk: Pelevin, Victor: 9780571201266: Books

American translation

Buddha’s Little Finger: Amazon.co.uk: Pelevin, Victor, Bromfield, Andrew: 9780670891689: Books

The post Russian Book Club: Pelevin. Chapaev and Void first appeared on Russian Language Centre.

Each month we select a classic or contemporary Russian literary work to read in translation. While our discussions are held in English, we incorporate excerpts and quotes in Russian into the sessions to provide an authentic experience. The club is hosted by an experienced teacher, who will tailor the language element to the levels of the participants. So whether you’re an elementary or advanced learner of Russian, our book club welcomes all levels of proficiency.

In this session we will talk about Gazdanov’s style and his life based on three novels An evening at Claire, The spectre of Alexander Wolf and Night roads. You don’t have to read all three for the session.

Gaito Gazdanov (1903–1971) was one of the greatest writers of the Russian émigré community. After the revolution, at just under sixteen years old, Gazdanov joined the White movement, and later was forced to leave Russia forever, sharing the fate of many Russian emigrants. He spent most of his life in Paris and worked for many years as a night taxi driver; from 1953, he was a correspondent, and later an editor, at RadioSvoboda.

In the eyes of his contemporaries Gazdanov’s talent was on par with that of Vladimir Nabokov, Marcel Proust and Ivan Bunin. However, in the writer’s homeland, the novel was published only after the author’s death, in 1990.

The post Russian Book Club: Gazdanov. An evening at Claire, The spectre of Alexander Wolf and Night roads first appeared on Russian Language Centre.

Each month we select a classic or contemporary Russian literary work to read in translation. While our discussions are held in English, we incorporate excerpts and quotes in Russian into the sessions to provide an authentic experience. The club is hosted by an experienced teacher, who will tailor the language element to the levels of the participants. So whether you’re an elementary or advanced learner of Russian, our book club welcomes all levels of proficiency.

The action of “Quiet Flows the Don” unfolds against the backdrop of the turning points in Russian history: the First World War and the Civil War, which changed not only the traditional way of life of the Don Cossacks, but also the face of the entire country. The novel fully expresses one of the main themes of Sholokhov’s work: war as a fratricidal massacre that goes against human nature.This novel is one of the most significant works in Russian literature, which earned the author the Nobel Prize and worldwide recognition.

“The main character of his works is the truth itself… He sees and perceives life as a realistic drama in which humanity plays the main role. This is one of the reasons for his worldwide fame.” Martti Lärni

This seems to be the fullest translation Quiet flows the Don : Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Quiet Flows the Don : Mikhail Sholokhov, Brian Murphy, Robert Daglish: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Here is an interesting review of the translations The Don Flows Again

Russian film adaptation  Quiet Flows the Don (Тихий Дон) 1957 with English subtitles

The post Russian Book Club: Sholokhov. And Quiet Flows the Don first appeared on Russian Language Centre.

Each month we select a classic or contemporary Russian literary work to read in translation. While our discussions are held in English, we incorporate excerpts and quotes in Russian into the sessions to provide an authentic experience. The club is hosted by an experienced teacher, who will tailor the language element to the levels of the participants. So whether you’re an elementary or advanced learner of Russian, our book club welcomes all levels of proficiency.

“With his first novel, White Guard, Mikhail Bulgakov reached deep into the Russian language’s toolkit to tell a classic tale of two brothers and a sister caught in the upheaval of the Russian Civil War. The original text teems with imagistic sights and sounds, which not only give the page an exciting, experimental texture but form a web of connections…” Marian Schwarz

We recommend the translation by Marian Schwartz

[White Guard] [By: Mikhail Bulgakov] [June, 2009]: Amazon.co.uk: Mikhail Bulgakov: Books

Or here

White Guard – Yale University Press London

The post Russian Book Club: Bulgakov. White guard first appeared on Russian Language Centre.

Each month we select a classic or contemporary Russian literary work to read in translation. While our discussions are held in English, we incorporate excerpts and quotes in Russian into the sessions to provide an authentic experience. The club is hosted by an experienced teacher, who will tailor the language element to the levels of the participants. So whether you’re an elementary or advanced learner of Russian, our book club welcomes all levels of proficiency.

“In the years before the Revolution, Teffi was a literary star. People quoted lines from her work in conversation. Strangers recognized her on the streets of St Petersburg. So broad was her appeal that her fans included such disparate figures as Vladimir Lenin and Tsar Nicholas II.” Robert Chandler

In 1918, a year after the revolution, she leaves a hungry Petrograd where the words “arrested” and “killed” had become far too common . Her Memories are a description of her long journey across the country which was torn apart during the civil war.

“I never imagined such a memoir could be possible, especially about the Russian Civil War. Teffi wears her wisdom lightly, observing farce and foible amid the looming tragedy, in this enthralling book.” Anthony Beever

Teffi’s short stories are light, witty and relatable, and also a reflection of her time.

We will discuss Duty and Honor (Долг и Честь), Subtly worded (Тонкие письма), Rasputin (Распутин), “And time was no more” (И времени не стало) and other stories.

Memories – From Moscow to the Black Sea: Amazon.co.uk: Teffi, Robert & Elizabeth Chandler, Anne Marie Jackson, Irina Steinberg: 9781782272991: Books

Subtly Worded and Other Stories (Pushkin Collection) eBook : Teffi, Jackson, Anne Marie, Kitson, Clare, Chandler, Robert, Wase, Natalia: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

The post Russian Book Club: Teffi. Memories & Short stories first appeared on Russian Language Centre.