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Quote of the month: From Alone by Samuil Aleshin. |
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Guests by Leonid Zorin (1954).
Intergenerational conflict centered around an honest Old Bolshevik and his adult son, who has become an arrogant,
corrupt, materialistic bigwig, interested only in his position and
comfort. The bigwig engages in an arbitrary injustice and plots to ruin
the career of an innocent man. The Old Bolshevik uncovers the plot and
banishes his son. Even the bigwig's own son--a representative of the
younger generation--promises to wage tireless war on his father and all
like him. Published in Feb 1954, it is one of the first Thaw-era work.(more)
The Thaw by Ehrenburg, Ilya
(1954). The novel which gave its name to an entire era of Soviet
history, consisting mainly of interior monologues of a wide range of
characters who are living inner personal lives at odds with their outer,
public lives. Others struggle to keep love out of their souls because
it conflicts with their duties to the factory and to the Party. A
talented artist squanders his talent for the sake of glory and material
success. But as winter passes and the spring thaw comes, a change is
beginning--loves and childlike exuberances are blossoming out into the
open. (more)
Not By Bread Alone by Dudintsev, Vladimir
(1956). An inventor struggles against the invisible empire of
bureaucracy and self-servers in a courageous attempt to advance the
Soviet pipe industry. (more)Immortality by Bubennov, Mikhail (1940). The Whites operate a "death barge", full of prisoners--Bolsheviks and ordinary peasants--who are hauled out one by one to be shot or hung. The captives attempt a rebellion, partisans attempt a rescue, and everyone nearly drowns in a storm. After capturing Kazan, the Red Army finally shows up to liberate the barge.(more) Locusts by Budantsev, Sergei (1927). A remote area of southern Azerbaijan is threatened with an attack of ravenous locusts. Swindlers and saboteurs--both in and out of official positions--defraud the government, leaving the region without resources or equipment with which to battle the locusts. Natural disaster ensues, followed by arrests and trials. (more) White Guard by Bulgakov, Mikhail (1924). A family of White Guardists and their friends are forced to accept defeat as their side loses to Petlyura's Ukrainian nationalists in Kiev in December 1918. (more) The Rout by Fadeev, Aleksandr (1927). Red Army partisans flee from Cossacks and Japanese interventionists in Russia's Far East. (more) Cities and Years by Fedin, Konstantin (1924). A spineless Russian intellectual is interred in Germany at the start of World War I. After the war, he fails to find his place in Revolutionary society. He betrays his love and helps a counterrevolutionary escape Soviet justice.... (more) Chapaev by Furmanov, Dmitri (1923). The charismatic Red Army commander Chapaev, along with his faithful political commisar, Klichkov, fights a never-ending battle against Kolchak, Cossacks, and other enemies of Communism. But in the end, he gets caught with his pants down. .... (more) Cement by Gladkov, Fyodor (1924). True Communists fight White Guards, bandits, lust and corruption as they struggle to bring a cement factory and the Soviet economy back to life in post-Civil War days. .... (more) Fat-Faced Passions by Gorky, Maksim (1917). A kvas-seller meets an abused young woman and her 12-year-old crippled son, who have been driven into grinding poverty. Despite the hopelessness of their situation and the alcoholism of his mother, the boy--who keeps a menagarie of cockroaches and other bugs--holds onto his dreams of a brighter future.... (more) Son of the Regiment by Kataev, Valentin P. (1946). An orphan boy is picked up by a Soviet front-line artillery unit. He becomes one of them, going on a secret mission behind German lines and taking part in a fierce and bloody battle. Stalin Prize winner, 1946.. (more) The Tanker Derbent by Krymov, Yuri S. (1938). The undisciplined and uncaring crew of an oil tanker gets swept up in the excitement of the Stakhanovite movement and completely transform themselves. A daring rescue on the high seas is featured, and the sanctity of marriage is upheld.... (more) The Forty-First by Lavrenyov, Boris (1924). A female sniper with Red partisans misses her 41st vicitim (a White officer), then winds up stranded with him on a desert island, where they fall in love. However, the White's essentially selfish, bourgeois nature becomes apparent and she shoots him, fulfilling her mission and her class destiny .... (more) The Week by Libedinsky, Yuri (1922). A peasant revolt rips through a remote town in the Urals. It is eventually put down, but not before the leading local Communists are brutally murdered. Frank portrayal of the hostility of the peasants to Soviet power and of many of the Party's failings .... (more) Siberia by Markov, Georgi (1973). A sweeping epic of love, revolution, and nature set in snow-swept Siberia. Bolsheviks, kulaks, Social Revolutionaries, honest hard-working peasants, and giant fish-creatures of legend all clash as tsarism crumbles. .... (more) The Bedbug by Mayakovsky, Vladimir (1929). A philistine from the NEP era gets frozen and is revived fifty years later in 1979. The moderns at first mistake him for an honest worker, but then correctly identify him as a bourgeoisus vulgaris, a blood-sucking insect similar to, but more dangerous than, the bedbug. He is put on display in a cage equipped with special filters to trap all the dirty words. .... (more) I Want To Go Home by Mikhalkov, Sergei (1948). In post-war Germany, the evil, murdering British keep displaced Soviet children captive, planning to turn them into wage slaves and spies. Honest Germans, driven into poverty and despair by the bullying, land-grabbing, greedy Americans, flee to freedom in the Soviet sector. .... (more) Marya the Bolshevik by Neverov, Aleksandr (1926). Women's liberation comes to a post-revolutionary Russian village. .... (more) Envy by Olesha, Yuri (1927). A successful Soviet food industry wizard gives shelter to an aimless drifter. The drifter comes to envy his host and, with the aid of his host's brother, plots a "conspiracy of feelings" against the new era. The plotters plan on using an "Ophelia machine" to annihilate their enemies. (more) Three Fat Men by Olesha, Yuri (1924). A fantastic fairy tale of revolution. A tightrope walker, balloons, very large pastries and a brave little girl help topple the dictatorship of three very fat men. (more) Snow by Paustovsky, Konstantin . New acquaintances, snow, and memories--real and imagined. (more) Happiness by Pavlenko, Pyotr (1947). A war veteran comes to the devastated Crimea, hoping for a quiet and peaceful life. Instead, he finds happiness working to rebuild the smashed economy. He also plays a part in the Yalta Conference. Churchill is a fat, drunken pig. U.S. Army officers are more interested in selling soap than in defeating the enemy. Stalin Prize winner, 1947. (more) The Volga Falls To The Caspian Sea by Pilnyak, Boris (1931). Sabotage and betrayal on the construction site as true communists struggle to alter nature and establish a new morality. (more) Callow Youth by Rekemchuk, Aleksandr (1962). In Siberia, a young worker named Nikolai is dispatched to a nearby town to demand bricks for his construction team. He quickly succeeds and also helps convert the brick factory to new technology. A friend narrowly avoids involvement in a shady money-making scheme; Nikolai gets a kiss; repressed Old Bolsheviks live happily ever after; and, inspired by Yuri Gagarin, practically everyone volunteers to go to the moon. (more) Iron Flood by Serafimovich, Aleksandr (1924). A squabbling, undisciplined, and disorganized rabble of Red fighters and refugees attempt to flee from some pursing Cossacks and join up with the main Red Army units. They escape annihilation only by finally uniting and submitting to the iron will of their newly elected commander, who promises death as punishment for the slightest insubordination. (more) Two Deaths by Serafimovich, Aleksandr (1926). Street fighting rages on in Moscow. A young woman volunteers to spy on the Whites and has to pay the ultimate price. (more) Mess Mend, or a Yankee in Petrograd by Shaginyan, Marietta (1923 - 1924). Amusing spy thriller, comedy, and science fiction novel all rolled into one. Western capitalists and members of the deposed nobility plot to assassinate Lenin and the entire Soviet government. But they are foiled by a secret American workers organization, the Soviet government, and nature itself, which afflicts the deposed princes, capitalists, etc., with a bizarre degenerative disease, literally turning them into beasts.(more) Snowball Berry Red by Shukshin, Vasily (1973). An ex-con moves to the countryside, hoping to start a new life. He gets side-tracked with a bit of debauchery, but eventually settles down as a tractor driver. Unfortunately, his old gang, unhappy about being abandoned, catch up with him for a final, fatal confrontation. (more) Days and Nights by Simonov, Konstantin (1944). A batallion commander and his troops defend three apartment buildings (or rather the rubble of three buildings) for seventy days during the Battle of Stalingrad. They suffer incredible casualties, demonstrate incredible bravery, and get lots of medals. And during it all, the hero even finds time to fall in love, get married, and have a bachelor party. (more) Chocolate by Tarasov-Rodionov, Aleksandr (1922). A local Cheka chief is falsely accused of bribery and corruption. Revolutionary justice demands that he be shot, despite his innocence. (more) Azure Cities by Tolstoy, Aleksei N. (1925). Utopian socialism clashes with everyday reality, leading to murder. "A passionate tale of a tormenting, impatient, and feverish imagination." (more) House on the Embankment by Trifonov, Yuri (1976). Revolves around life in a famous Moscow apartment house which served as the home of many of the Soviet elite.... (more) Sisters by Veresaev, Vikenty (1933). One of two Komsomol sisters is ruthless in rooting out kulaks and forcing peasants into the kolkhozes. The other sister defies Party orders and works instead for "voluntary" collectivization. She is about to be purged but is saved when Stalin publishes his "Giddy From Success" article denouncing the excesses of forced collectivization. (more) The Life and Amazing Adventures of the Soldier Ivan Chonkin by Voinovich, Vladimir. At the beginning of World War II, a not-too-bright Red Army soldier, abandoned and forgotten by his superiors, bravely defends a Soviet airplane, gets a girlfriend, arrests the entire local apparatus of the secret police, and beats back the attack of an entire regiment...all by accident. (more) From the Point of View of Eternity by Zagrebelny, Pavlo (1971). Given the task of creating special pipes for a secret project, a young Ukrainian worker and his team battle a stagnation-bent careerist and defy official orders to develop a fundamentally new pipe-rolling technique. The breakthrough comes following a literal and figurative marriage of brains and brawn. (more)
Abduction Of The Sorcerer by Bulychev, Kir (1981). Time travelers from the future stop off in the present on their way to the past to kidnap a 13th-century sorcerer. (more) |
"On Sincerity in Literature" by Vladimir Pomerantsev (1953) Appearing in the December 1953 issue of the journal Novy Mir, this essay attacked insincerity and the varnishing of reality in socialist realism. It provoked a firestorm of controversy and marked the beginning of The Thaw in Soviet literature. "Just say NO to tractors!" | |||||||
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1,000+ Mini-Summaries By Author By Year
Abramov, Fyodor Aksenov, Vasily Alekseev, G. Alekseev, G. Aleshin, Samuil Alieva, Fazu Antonov, S. Argunova, Nora Arosev, A. Astafev, Viktor Avaliani, Lado Azhaev, Vasili Babel, Isaak E. Baklanov, Grigori Bakunts, Aksel Bednii, Boris Bek, Aleksandr Beliaev, Sergei Beliayev, Aleksandr R. Belov, Vasili I. Berestov, Valentin Bieliauskas, A. Bitov, Andrei Boldyrev, S. Bondarev, Yuri V. Bryl, Yanka Bubennov, Mikhail S. Budantsev, Sergei F. Bulgakov, Mikhail A. Bulychev, Kir Bykov, Vasili V. Chapygin, Aleksei P. Chernyonok, Mikhail Ya. Davydov, Yuri Dombrovsky, Yuri Dorosh, Efim Drabkina, Elizaveta Drozdov, A Dudintsev, Vladimir Dumbadze, Nodar Ehrenburg, Ilya G. Ekimov, Boris Esin, Sergei Evdokimov, I. Fadeev, Aleksandr A. Fedin, Konstantin Fedoseev, Grigori Fomenko, Vladimir Forsh, Olga D. Furmanov, Dmitri Gaidar, Arkady Galshoyan, Mushegh Ganina, Maya Gelman, Aleksandr Genatulin, Anatoli German, Yuri P. Gladilin, Anatoli Gladkov, Fyodor V. Glebov, Anatoly Godenko, Mikhail Golovin, Genadii Gontar, Avram Gorbatov, Boris L. Gorky, Maksim Granin, Daniil Grekova, I. Grin, Aleksandr Guk, Gennady Gurevich, Georgi Gussein, Mekhti Ilf, Ilya & Petrov, Evgeny Ilin, Yakov Ilus, V. Iskander, Fazil Ivanov, Vadim Ivanov, Vsevolod Karavaeva, Anna A. Kataev, Ivan Ivanovich Kataev, Valentin P. Katerli, Nina Kaverin, Veniamin A. Kazakevich, E. Kazakov, Yuri P. Kazantsev, Aleksandr Kekketyn, Ketsai Keshishian, G. Ketlinskaya, Vera Khalafian, Z. Khalov, Pavel Khansadian, S. Kharms, Daniil Khodzher, Grigori Kim, Anatolii Kimonko, Djansi Kireev, Ruslan Knorre, Fyodor Kochar, R. Kochetov, Vsevolod Koltsov, Mikhail Kondratev, Vyacheslav Konetsky, Viktor Kononov, Aleksandr Koptelov, Afanasi Korneyuchuk, Aleksandr Kozakov, Mikhail E. Krasnobryzhy, Ivan Krupin, Vladimir Krymov, Yuri S. Kungurov, Gavriil Kuraev, Mikhail Kurchatkin, Anatolii Kuusberg, P. Kuznetsova, Agnia Latynin, Leonid Lavrenyov, Boris A. Lavrov, Ilya Leonov, Leonid M. Libedinsky, Yuri N. Lidin, Vladimir Lipatov, Vil Loginov-Lesnyak, P. S. Lyashko, N.N. Makanin, Vladimir Makayonok, Andrei Maksimov, Vladimir Malyshkin, Aleksandr G. Marcinkevicius, J. Markov, Georgi M. Matevossian, H. Mayakovsky, Vladimir V. Melezh, Ivan Merilaas, K. Mikhalkov, Sergei Mozhaev, Boris Muguev, Khadzhi-Murat Mustafin, Yamil Nagibin, Yuri M. Nagishkin, Dmitri Nekrasov, Viktor Neverov, Aleksandr Nikandrov, N. Nikiforov, Georgi Nikitin, B. Nikitin, Nikolai Nikolaeva, Galina Nikulin, Lev V. Nizovoi, Pavel Nurpeisov, A. Ognyov, Nikolai Okudzhava, Bulat Olesha, Yuri K. Orlov, Vladimir Ostrovsky, Nikolai Ovechkin, Valentin Panfyorov, Fyodor V. Panova, Vera F. Paperny, Zinoviy Paustovsky, Konstantin G. Pavlenko, Pyotr A. Permitin, Efim Petrossian, V. Pikul, Valentin S. Pilnyak, Boris Platonov, Andrei Podlyashuk, P. Pogodin, Nikolai Pogodin, Radii Pomerantsev, Vladimir. Popov, Valerii Prishvin, Mikhail Pristavkin, Anatoli Promet, L. Proskurin, Pyotr Prozorovsky, Lev V. Rasputin, Valentin G. Rekemchuk, Aleksandr E. Rimkevicius, V. Rogal, Nikolai Romanov, Panteleimon S. Romashov, B. Roshchin, Mikhail Rozov, Viktor Rudnev, Oleg A. Samadoglu, Yusif Sartakov, Sergei Savchenko, Vladimir Savich, Ovady Seifullina, Lidia N. Selvinsky, Ilya Semushkin, Tikhon Z. Semyonov, Georgi Semyonov, Julian Semyonov, Sergei A. Serafimovich, Aleksandr Shaginyan, Marietta S. Shatrov, Mikhail Shestalov, Yuvan Shimkevich, M. Shishkov, Vyacheslav Ya. Shklovsky, Viktor B. Shmelyov, Nikolai Sholokhov, Mikhail Shpanov, Nikolai Shtein, Aleksandr Shudnik, Nikolai Shukshin, Vasily Simonov, Konstantin M. Sirge, R. Sletov, P. Sluckis, M. Smirnov, A. Smirnov, E. Smuul, J. Snegov, Sergei Sobolev, Leonid Soloukhin, Vladimir Stein, Aleksandr Stelmakh, Mikhailo Stonov, Dmitri Strugatsky, Arakdy & Boris Surov, Anatoli Sverchkov, D. Tamarin, V. Tarasov-Rodionov, Aleksandr I. Taurin, Franz Telgupov, Viktor Tendryakov, Vladimir Tkachenko, Antoli Tokareva, Viktoriya Tolstaya, Tanya Tolstoy, Alexei N. Toomaspoeg, A. Totovents, V. Trenyov, K. Trifonov, Yuri Troepolsky, Gavriil Troyat, A. Truu, S. Tvardovsky, Aleksandr T. Tynyanov, Yuri N. Vampilov, Aleksandr Veresaev, Vikenty V. Vesely, Artem Vigdorova, Frida A. Virta, Nikolai E. Voinovich, Vladimir Volodin, Aleksandr Yampolsky, Boris Yashin, Aleksandr Ya. Zadornov, Nikolai P. Zalygin, Sergei P. Zamyatin, Evgeny I. Zavadovsky, Leonid Zhdanov, Nikolai Zhigulin, Anatoli Zhitkov, Boris Zorian, S. Zorin, Leonid Zoshchenko, Mikhail Sort List by Year, beginning in: 1917 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 |
Features Texts Depts. Encyclopedia of Soviet Writers Links Comrade of the Month 
"Snow House" by Aleksei N. Tolstoy
Analysis of the thematic and stylistic similarities of the two poets. (1952) Konstantin Fedin Comments on Ilya Ehrenburg "...His genre is words that act...." From the Notebooks of Andrei Platonov Material which Platonov himself wanted suppresssed, liberated in 1973 by his widow and offered up for the world to read. Mikhail Bulgakov Remembers Gudok Excerpt from an unfinished manuscript by Bulgakov in which he recalls his work at the newspaper Gudok. He calls the work there "odious" and "a nightmare"; the sketches he wrote for the paper he describes as full of "stereotypes" and "coarseness". I Remember Mayakovsky. Lydia Seifullina recalls her first sighting of Mayakovsky. Konstantin Fedin on the State of Soviet Literature, 1957 Short excerpt from an interview in which Fedin comments on the "invigoration" of Soviet literature and its renewed willingness to present the conflicts and ugliness of life. Young Soviet Writers About Themselves (1962) Vasili AKSYONOV, Vasili BYKOV, Andrei VOZNESENSKY, Ivan DRATCH, Yevgeni YEVTUSHENKO, Yuri KAZAKOV, Justinas MARCINKEVICIUS, and Anatoli PRISTAVKIN respond to a questionnaire circulated in 1962 by the journal Voprosi Literaturi (Problems of Literature).
Mad Boy by Dudintsev, Vladimir (1958). A cruel boy taunts a friendly dog and gets bitten. The boy's intellectual, Volga-owning father complains to authorities, but the neighbors defend the dog. The boy gets his comeuppance in the form of painful rabies shots. (Beshenii Mal'chishka) (Complete Text in Russian) Cherry Seed by Olesha, Yuri (1929). A dreamer, who spends most of his time in the invisible world of his imagination, plants a cherry tree in honor of his unrequited love, without first asking the permission of the Five Year Plan. (Complete text in English) I Want To Live by Shukshin, Vasily (1966) An escaped convict tries to make it out of the Siberian taiga in winter. Luckily for him, he comes across an old hunter, who shares his remote cabin and his wisdom. The convict repays this kindness with brutality. (Complete text in English) A Midsummer Day's Game by Soloukhin, Vladimir. A grandfather teaches his granddaughter a game from his youth. The girl enjoys the game, then updates it to modern conditions and modern technology. (Complete text in English) A Political Battle by Veresaev, Vikenty (1933). In an excerpt from the novel Sisiters, two teams of factory workers engage in a type of "Trivial Pursuit" to see who knows the most about the Five Year Plan. They answer burning questions such as: "What is the fundamental idea of the Five Year Plan?" and "What will happen to the kulaks when the collective farms have taken over the whole agricultural domain?" (Complete text in English) The Lion by Zamyatin, Evgeny (1935). The great king of the jungle, the lion, is dead drunk. In order to win the love of Leningrad's first policewoman, a fire fighter from Ryazan offers to take the lion's place. (Complete text in English) Death of Dolgushov by Babel, Isaac (1924). Cowardly, bespectacled intellectual (just like Babel) refuses to put a fatally wounded Red Army soldier out of his misery, preferring to keep his hands clean no matter the cost. (Complete text in English) Flying Carpet by Beliyaev, Aleksandr A scientist is convinced that fleas are superior to humans--at least in terms of leaping ability. He sets out to right this injustice of nature and nearly ends up stranded in the stratosphere. Science-fiction comedy. (Complete Text in English) Interplanetary Chess Congress by Ilf, Ilya & Petrov, Evgeny In an excerpt from "The 12 Chairs", con man Ostap Bender transforms a backwaters Volga River town into the chess capital of the universe. (Complete text in English) Pushkin and Gogol by Kharms, Daniil Pushkin and Gogol are falling all over each other. A short play. (Complete text in English) Ivan Ivanych Samovar by Kharms, Daniil. A friendly samovar dispenses tea. Late risers, however, are in for a surprise. (Complete text in English) Tale of the Military Secret by Gaidar, Arkady (1935). The peaceful Soviet motherland is subjected to a perfidious sneak attack by bourgeois forces. As the Soviet fathers and older brothers are killed, little children have to join the battle. One such child is the Malchik-Kilbachish. He is captured and tortured, but remains true to his word and does not reveal the great military secret of what makes the motherland and the workers of the world so strong. His bravery gives the Red Army the time it needs to ride to the rescue. (Complete text in both English and Russian) Blood Knot by Dumbadze, Nodar (c. 1984) An old man and an old woman battle each other to win the custody of their less-than-perfect grandson. (Georgian) (Complete text in English)
Short biographies of 60+ Soviet authors. SovLinks Links to over 500 web sites related to topics of Soviet Literature.
The Party does not need me to lie. The Party needs me to be honest, to work honestly, to have a family life based on love.
Sure, you're heard of Laika, the first dog in space. But what about Bobik, Snezhinka, Lisichka, Belka and Strelka? These are just a few of the the Soviet Hero-Dogs who literally rocketed the Soviet Union into the space-race lead in the 1950s and early 1960s. Many bravely gave their lives in this great struggle. Others survived to a ripe old age, producing many offspring. One such space pup--Pushkina--was presented as a gift to U.S. President John Kennedy. Despite suspicions that Pushkina was equipped with a microphone, the U.S. President graciously allowed her to live and even mate with the family dog. To learn more about these Communistic Canine, visit Melissa Snowden's site on Space Dogs! Previous Comrades of the Month: SovAvto - Soviet Automobiles E-Library of A. Belousenko Nashe Kino (Our Cinema) Comrade Kosmonaut Museum of Soviet Calculators. Songs From the Soviet Past. |
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