Why is the stereotype that Russian literature is so bleak and depressing so common? I've started reading it chronologically (finished some Pushkin and Gogol, and now I'm on Goncharov) and yeah, sure, Russia is dark and cold and there are some tragic stories, but the overarching feeling I've gotten is humor. It's fucking hilarious, actually.
>>24677557I dont know man. People have weird prejudices. Its like how some people will describe old novels as being boring and stuffy when they are largely not.
>>24677557Either generalization is bad and doesn’t represent truth.
>>24677557What are some humorous russian books you’ve read?
>>24677641Not OP but Бecы
>>24677641Oblomov
>>24677646Sure, all of Dosto's books have some humorous bits, but Demons is not humourous in general
>>24677557Perhaps it’s the tendency towards some inevitable tragedy? Like the Idiot is for the most part a love triangle with some pretty kooky plot lines, that somehow eventually ends with a sickening murder and the main character fucking mind broken. The Russian house wives who read this stuff must have been something else.Though now that I think about it, modern female audiences are into some pretty sick shit themselves.
Redpill me on Anna Akhmatova
i love russian humor. gogol and limonov are both hilarious
>>24677641History of USSR in jokes
>>24677641It's been a long time since I read it but there's a scene in The Brothers Karamzov where Dmitri punches a servant in the face that had me laughing out loud
Nabokov is also very humorous.
>>246775571pbtid
>>24677613My comment isn't a generalization of Russian literature; it's a generalization of what I've read, which is only a part of Russian literature, and it's meant as a counterargument against that stereotype.
>>24677641Tales of BelkinVillage Evenings Near Dikanka and MirgorodThe NoseOblomov
What is your favorite unfinished Gogol work? >hard mode: no Dead Soulsmine would be Ivan Shponka and his Aunt
>>24678017Well, seeing as Dead Souls is the only one I've read... Dead Souls.
>>24678113well.. did you like it?
>>24677838I dont recall that soecific scene, but the scene where he rampages through town asking for handouts (especially from Grishenka's father figure) were very humorousAlso the party scene at the end of The Idiot Part 1 was hilarious - not sure if intentionally or not
>>24677557People who make that generalization have only read Dostoevsky (and maybe Tolstoy)
>>24678639I've only read War and Peace but that didn't seem dark at all. If anything it was a bit light hearted in the face of he tragedy of the napoleonic wars.
>>24677557Gogol has a kind of jumpscare creepypasta face here. Mfer looks like Jeff the Killer
>>24677641Moscow to the end of the line, by Erofeev, is tremendous
>>24678730Fitting for a person who was buried alive
>>24677838The Brothers Karamazov mixes tragedy and comedy really well, characters like Dmitry, Fyodor and Kolya have some really funny scenes. Lise's mother is a comic relief character.
>>24678121I liked it well enough (the story/themes, satire), but structurally and even stylistically I found it pretty inconsistent. You can tell Gogol was aiming at something different or new, but also that he wasn't entirely sure what he was making. And since it was supposed to be a trilogy, maybe the structure would have made more sense if we had the full thing and if he had lived longer to revise or flesh this one out. It's definitely unique and memorable, just uneven as a whole.
>>24679184>Lise's mother is a comic relief characterThe mines boy! you must go to the mines!
>>24679459I agree, it feels like a first or second draft. It was charming to read it for the first time to see how even this great writer just would let their pen wander about the page until it produced a miracle like Dead Souls.
>>24677732Is Limonov actually worth reading?
bump
>>24677641Third Rome by Georgy Ivanov was kinda fun
>>24680722>Georgy IvanovWhere do you guys find these dudes?
>>24678903Based and Venedikt-pilled
>>24679629Definitely
>>24681378Any recommendations in particular? I checked Goodreads and It's Me, Eddie: A Fictional Memoir is the top one, but it's some LGBT/Gay shit?
>>24678925W-what?
>>24682154>some LGBT/Gay shit?It's just in there for laughs. Those are the funniest parts of the book.
>>24677557probably because most self proclaimed literature fans only read like 2 books by dostoyevsky
>>24682872I see.
>>24677650Stavrogin tying up Fedka was funny.
What Dostoevsky works are worth reading, apart from the obvious ones?
>>24677641The Possessed
>>24678903Gotta read this one. What's so good about it?
>>24684760Dream of a Ridiculous Man is my favorite Short Story ever (also The Heavenly Christmas Tree is worth a mention), The Gambler is a really incredible Novella that I don't see many talk about, The Adolescent doesn't get the love of the other major novels in the West (and I do believe its his most simultaneously esoteric and soapy which puts off a lot of readers for some reason) but it is a perfect novel in the same form of Karamazov, Idiot, or C&P, and is as canonical in Russia as any of his other works
Russian absurdists are good like Kharms and Krzizhanovsky (sp). They're funny and zany and their stories sometimes feel like shitposts. However, because they aren't Dostoyevsky, they're never posted or discussed here.
>>24685391Forgot to mention Pelevin. He's more contemporary but he's also funny
>>24685021Alright, thanks man.
>>24685016It captures the hilarious yet holy desparation that runs through the traumatized russian spirit all the while exalting the vastness of this strange part of the world. I think you'd get a pretty good idea of what to expect by watching the BBC documentary they did on Erofeev at the end of his life, back when they had to put a voicebox in his throat because he ruined his vocal chrods with all the vodka he kept drinking. I personally don't drink at all, but I can understand the how and the why when it comes to russian alcoholism.
>>24684760I dislike intensely...
>>24677557Dead Souls was such a bangeralso the master and Magareta was legit hilarious
>>24677557I read my first Turgenev a couple of days ago (Home of the Gentry). And while I liked Tolstoy and Dostoevsky better, it was still pretty good and I enjoyed it. I especially enjoy devout characters, so Liza was my favorite.
>>24689107>Turgenevhe is like reddit compared to dostyoevksy or tolstoy. completely different league
>>24677557>Why is the stereotype that Russian literature is so bleak and depressing so common?Western propaganda
