Help us choose the November 2012 selection to read for the MR Literary Club! The poll will be open for two days.
The vote is multiple choice. You may vote for as many or as few as you like.
A discussion thread will begin shortly after a winner is chosen.
In the event of a tie, there will be a one-day non-multiple-choice run-off poll. In the event that the run-off poll also ends in a tie, the tie will be resolved in favour of the selection that received all of its initial nominations first.
Select from the following works:
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, Russia
Spoiler:
This book has been called the grandfather of dystopian fiction, directly influencing George Orwell's
1984, Aldous Huxley's
Brave New World, Ursula Le Guin's
The Dispossessed, Ayn Rand's
Anthem and Kurt Vonnegut's
Player Piano.
Although the Russian work is probably in the public domain, the English translations are (probably) not. However, there are 3 different versions that seem commonly available at different prices.
Amazon US (1)
Amazon US (2)
Amazon US (3)
B&N (1)
B&N (2)
B&N (3)
Kobo (1)
There is also a German version of "Wir" in our MobileRead library:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41815
(other formats also available)
Purge by Sofi Oksanen, Estonia
Spoiler:
A 2008 novel by Estonian author Sofi Oksanen. Available in ebook.
Briefly,
Purge is a story of two women forced to confront their own dark pasts, of collusion and resistance, of rape and sexual slavery set against the backdrop of the Soviet occupation of Estonia. (from Wikipedia).
A review from
The Guardian.
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, Russia
Spoiler:
From Amazon-
First published in Italy in 1957 amid international controversy, Doctor Zhivago is the story of the life and loves of a poet/physician during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. Taking his family from Moscow to what he hopes will be shelter in the Ural Mountains, Zhivago finds himself instead embroiled in the battle between the Whites and the Reds. Set against this backdrop of cruelty and strife is Zhivago's love for the tender and beautiful Lara, the very embodiment of the pain and chaos of those cataclysmic times...A classic of world literature.
“One of the very great books of our time.” —The New Yorker
“A welcome opportunity for anyone who has already read Dr. Zhivago to revisit it and experience a richly rewarding fresh take on an epic tale. For those coming to it for the first time it is a chance to read one of the greatest novels of all times.” —New York Journal of Books
“As well as a gripping story, Doctor Zhivago is a work of meditation and quiet challenge. Pasternak meant every word of it. I believe he would be pleased with the powerful fidelity of the translation now before us.” —Angela Livingstone, The Times Literary Supplement (London)
About the Author:
A poet, translator, and novelist, Boris Pasternak was born in Moscow in 1890. In 1958 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature but, facing threats from Soviet authorities, refused the prize. He lived in virtual exile in an artists’ community near Moscow until his death in 1960.