Category Archives: Russian Literature

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Synopsis: A boy marked for termination and organ harvesting escapes into a world where he has no legal right to live. Review: I heard about Unwind from the Queens Library, in an email newsletter talking up good new young adult books. I’m so glad that I did, because it’s a dystopian thrill ride in the same vein as Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies trilogy, only with the same intellectual depth and emotional heart that you find in Lois Lowry’s The Giver. Here’s the deal with unwinding. Anyone…

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War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Translated by Anthony Briggs)

Synopsis: The lives, romances, and fortunes of 3 prominent Russian families play out against the backdrop of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. Review: It’s absurd to blog about War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy’s sprawling behemoth of a novel. The title alone is ludicrous and unfathomable. People laugh when you say you’re reading it, not because they think it’s not worth reading, but because of its reputation as one of the longest books ever written. Nevertheless, I, the Superfast Reader, who read this book for the Summer…

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The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Synopsis: The tangled fates of Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov and his four sons, three legitimate, one a bastard, culminating in a trial for murder. Review: I’d be a fool if I tried to pretend I were anywhere up to the task of critiquing The Brothers Karamazov. I can honestly say I’m a little freaked out by what I’ve just been through. Karamazov is a rollicking glory of human depravity shot through with tastes of the divine. Dostoevsky doesn’t hesitate to put theology and intellectual arguments adjacent…

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Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (translated by Joel Carmichael)

Synopsis: The tale of a society woman and her unconventional love affair contrasts with that of a landowner struggling with faith and duty. Review: Anna Karenina. The very words have struck me with fear and awe ever since a disastrous Russian History class in 12th grade, where I discovered my superpower’s limits for the first time. I elected to read Anna for my final paper because I wanted to read Anna, but I had four AP exams happening at the same time and should’ve chosen…

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