What we’re about
Bookclubs in ENGLISH+ Les discussions littéraires en FRANCAIS.
<br> Eager to educate yourself on Russian literature, history and culture ?
<br> We focus on the literary, cultural and social impact of the book:
<br> - how did it influence the literary scene?
<br> - what was its novelty in terms of characters, themes and techniques?
<br> - what legacy did it build upon?
<br> - how did the society react to the book?
<br> - how is the book typical of Russian literature and culture?
Join us on a journey into Russian literature, from its headwaters in the 19th century until its current representatives. We'll follow its flow downstream, chronologically, to discover the underlying continuity and development of recurrent themes and characters, covering both world-renowned works and the ones that are equally important but little-known outside Russia.
Monthly book discussions in small groups, occasional theatre outings; literary birthday celebrations and daytrips. We organise English- and French-speaking bookclubs but read books in any language we like.
Our reviews goo.gl/mLscKw
Our requirements https://goo.gl/cGn8z1
Zero-tolerance towards no-shows: repeated no-shows and last-minute dropouts will be banned (Russian style).
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Our Outline
In January we're starting with Woe from Wit by Alexander Griboedov, a Russian classic unknown outside Russia but crucial for understanding other 19-century Russian literature. We'll go on to tackle the major works by Pushkin, whose importance for the Russian language and literature can be compared with those of Shakespeare for English with the exception that thanks to his modern and vivid language he is still regarded as Russia's greatest poet and just "our everything" but is barely known abroad, - the why and wherefore of which we'll try to find in his works. Then come Mikhail Lermontov, Alexander Ostrovsky, Nikolai Nekrasov to name a few and we'll arrive at the epitome of the 19th-century Russian literature: Ivan Turgenev, Lev Tolstoy and Fedor Dostoievski. This alone will take us 2-3 years or more and then we'll be ready to enter the 20th century with Anton Chekhov.
