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Please recommend l/r material for Russian | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| nakrian keegiat Diglot Groupie Thailand Joined 4905 days ago 70 posts - 172 votes  Speaks: English*, Thai Studies: Russian | Message 1 of 7 07 June 2012 at 10:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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Since I found this site:
http://www.bestrussianbuy.com/en/category20/Modern-Russian which sells downloads of Russian audiobooks for very reasonable prices I've been thinking about trying listening/reading. I initially thought about doing it with Harry Potter since I've read the books in English but I've heard that the Russian translation is poor (at least for the first book, don't know about the others). I would like to find a modern fiction book that has been translated to English and has an audiobook. I've done a bit of searching on the site and the Erast Fandorin books by Boris Akunin fit the criteria and have received excellent reviews but since they take place in the 1800's I'm worried that the dialogue won't be modern and it will be a difficult read. I'm looking for the Russian equivalent of a "beach book"...something that is fun to read and not very challenging. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Longinus Diglot Newbie United States Joined 4875 days ago 26 posts - 53 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Polish, Macedonian | Message 2 of 7 08 June 2012 at 7:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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Another issue I have discovered is that, for me personally, I need a fairly literal English translation to go along with the Russian audio. One book that has worked very well for me, surprisingly, is Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita." Not exactly a beach read, but a great book, and for some reason fairly easy to follow from the audio. Get the Pevear and Volokhonsky English translation--it works perfectly with the audio. You might try other translations of theirs; they have translated a number of classic novels and have a nice English style and render the Russian as literally as possible. I haven't tried to L-R their other translations yet, but I did read their new "Doctor Zhivago" translation, which was outstanding. I can't make it through Zhivago in Russian yet.
I have also tried some of the Fandorin books, and they work pretty well too. I tried to L-R "Twelve Chairs," but had a hard time with it. Anyway, think about having a go with the Bulgakov, even though it's not quite what you had in mind. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| nakrian keegiat Diglot Groupie Thailand Joined 4905 days ago 70 posts - 172 votes Speaks: English*, Thai Studies: Russian | Message 3 of 7 08 June 2012 at 8:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you for the suggestion.
Several years ago I tried to read M&M in English and I remember loving the first third of it before slowly losing interest and I quit reading it after about 350 pages, but I've always planned on giving it another try. I just checked my copy and it is the same as the one you recommended. The audiobook is available from the site I mentioned for $14.99, but when I did some more searching I found the unabridged version at audible.com for only $5.85. I can't believe it...16 hours and 40 minutes of audio for about the same price as I paid for the book secondhand. How is the language in the Akunin books? Is the dialogue antiquated? I don't want to sound like I just stepped out of a time machine when I speak. :) Which of the two is an easier read in your opinion? 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| vonPeterhof Tetraglot Senior Member Russian FederationRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4770 days ago 715 posts - 1527 votes Speaks: Russian*, EnglishC2, Japanese, German Studies: Kazakh, Korean, Norwegian, Turkish | Message 4 of 7 09 June 2012 at 1:46pm | IP Logged | ||
Edited by vonPeterhof on 09 June 2012 at 1:47pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| nakrian keegiat Diglot Groupie Thailand Joined 4905 days ago 70 posts - 172 votes Speaks: English*, Thai Studies: Russian | Message 5 of 7 09 June 2012 at 2:10pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you, vonPeterhof. I'm interested in the series but I don't think they're the best choice for me right now.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| s0fist Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5044 days ago 260 posts - 445 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: Sign Language, German, Spanish, French | Message 6 of 7 09 June 2012 at 5:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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If you like science fiction try Strugatsky (deeper concepts, slightly archaic nowadays since written in the communist era), Lukyanenko (try Nightwatch series or the diary duology) (contemporary sf/f, more adventure but still deep), or Bulychev (more youth oriented adventure) all three are very well known to Russian SF fans.
Bulgakov is another excelent choice and there's lots more to explore beyond M&M. Boris Akunin is a good choice, I haven't read much by him, but what I have read was good literary Russian and very engaging to boot. If you want lots of modern slang and poignant prose you can try Pelevin, though admittedly it could be hard on a nonnative. If you like humor you can try Erofeev (e.g., Moskva-Petushki or Valpurgiev night) (be warned lots of slang, dark humor), Ilf/Petrov (12 chairs), Exler (easier prose) just keep in mind that humor in general would constitute slightly harder level linguistically since you have to understand lots of slang/allusions/etc. Marinina, Doncova, etc are typical examples of detective novels written in very simple and clear Russian prose, while they wouldn't win any literary awards it's good enough for beach reading. If you like history try Kluchevsky, the language might be slightly dated, but his courses on Russian history (up 1900s) are still some of the best there are. I'd better leave it at that since I don't care to go through the entire list on that website, but feel free to ask for more info if you settle on something specific. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| nakrian keegiat Diglot Groupie Thailand Joined 4905 days ago 70 posts - 172 votes Speaks: English*, Thai Studies: Russian | Message 7 of 7 09 June 2012 at 6:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you for the list sOfist. I'm sure I'll look at some of those in the future.
I wanted a short, easy read and something longer and more challenging so I bought Le Petit Prince and Master and Margarita. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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