Literary Region Nominations • November 2012

[sun surfer]

paola you're actually fourthing Purge.

And that makes two fully nominated works and a little under a day left to go.

[caleb72]

I'll fourth Doctor Zhivago.

[paola]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

paola you're actually fourthing Purge.

And that makes two fully nominated works and a little under a day left to go.

thanks sunsurfer
another little blunder is that I added a nomination by editing a message instead of adding another one, so I don't think you've seen my "Silent Steppe" nomination.

[sun surfer]

Ah yes, I missed that edit! I edit sometimes too like that, but somehow I always manage to catch mine.

And I'll use my last nomination to second Silent Steppe. Sounds pretty interesting, and using your link and clicking through to see all the "used & new" buying options, it's actually not that much for a used copy.

~

As and aside, I'm surprised at the lack of support for Off the Beaten Tracks. It's not a tome, it's new and fresh, it's a salt-of-the-earth Russian travelogue by Russian writers and it seems to have a literary slant, and it's available as an e-book in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

That's actually a splendid idea. Unfortunately I know of no such books myself. After I saw your post I posted a request for any such suggestions on the Facebook page of a friend. After he retired he joined the Peace Corp and spent a year in Kazakhstan. Since returning here he has regularly taken in exchange students from countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. I don't know that he reads that much, but maybe he will be able to suggest something, or one of his many Facebook friends from that area of the world may do so. Not that there's anything wrong with doorstoppers by Nobel Prize winning Russian authors.

Great idea and many thanks for trying; seems as if it's bearing out what the rest of us have also been discovering, that there's a dearth of non-Russian books in English. I found a few others from the Baltic states, but Purge was the only ebook I stumbled on and it's affordable.

Originally Posted by paola

Second that, also because there is a sense in which for these classic the comparative advantage of discussing them in the book club are lower (because of so much written on them) than for less known stuff. The problem is finding English translations (let alone ebook versions). I came across this article in the Guardian, but could not find much. I am not giving up just yet though...

EDIT: I'll nominate The Silent Steppe:


(from here)

Available as pbook only, I am afraid, and not cheap, e.g. here: wasn't quite sure whether this is too much, but I guess "secondments" will tell!

Thanks, Paola. That says it for me, too.

I'll second The Silent Steppe. Here in the US, libraries that borrow from WorldCat shouldn't have a problem obtaining a copy.

ETA: That would be a third for Silent Steppe. I was typing as sun surfer was posting.

[jemc]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

As and aside, I'm surprised at the lack of support for Off the Beaten Tracks. It's not a tome, it's new and fresh, it's a salt-of-the-earth Russian travelogue by Russian writers and it seems to have a literary slant, and it's available as an e-book in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia!

I've had my fill of Russian "tomes" - this looks interesting to me. I'll second Off the Beaten Tracks: Stories by Russian Hitchhikers.

...and it's now in my kindle and in the reading queue - thanks sun surfer for making me aware of it!

Originally Posted by paola

I am thirding Purge.



Second that, also because there is a sense in which for these classic the comparative advantage of discussing them in the book club are lower (because of so much written on them) than for less known stuff. The problem is finding English translations (let alone ebook versions). I came across this article in the Guardian, but could not find much. I am not giving up just yet though...

EDIT: I'll nominate The Silent Steppe:


(from here)

Available as pbook only, I am afraid, and not cheap, e.g. here: wasn't quite sure whether this is too much, but I guess "secondments" will tell!

Silent Steppe is the book that my friend suggested. It would now have four nominations if my last post had followed yours. Maybe someone else will do the honors? I was concerned not only about the price, but also that the Amazon link showing only one copy. That and my local library system not having any copies.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by jemc

I've had my fill of Russian "tomes" - this looks interesting to me. I'll second Off the Beaten Tracks: Stories by Russian Hitchhikers.

...and it's now in my kindle and in the reading queue - thanks sun surfer for making me aware of it!

Glad it interests you; hope you like it. I'm tempted to read it regardless as well.

[drofgnal]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

drofgnal, that's a great book and great nomination, but like Hamlet53 said it won already so it's ineligible - it was actually this club's very first selection!

Thanks, I did not know that.

[sun surfer]

Nominations are now closed. The poll will be up shortly.

It reminds me of those song lyrics, "It's sad, so sad; it's a sad, sad situation." The Silent Steppe was so close and only because of circumstances didn't make it. It turns out there's many copies of it available used, and at good prices too, but that's not obvious when one first looks at the Amazon page for it. But for the vote it still would've had only being a physical book against it anyway. I will say this - I like all the nominations including of course my own, but if The Silent Steppe had made it to the vote I was going to put all my eggs in one basket and only vote for it because it really piqued my interest.

[paola]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

Nominations are now closed. The poll will be up shortly.

It reminds me of those song lyrics, "It's sad, so sad; it's a sad, sad situation." The Silent Steppe was so close and only because of circumstances didn't make it. It turns out there's many copies of it available used, and at good prices too, but that's not obvious when one first looks at the Amazon page for it. But for the vote it still would've had only being a physical book against it anyway. I will say this - I like all the nominations including of course my own, but if The Silent Steppe had made it to the vote I was going to put all my eggs in one basket and only vote for it because it really piqued my interest.

well, thanks for the support
but then I should woken up earlier and proposed it from the start - indeed I am also very sorry I did not manage to fourth Off the beaten track..., that'll teach me for next time! As we say, "Chi ha tempo non aspetti tempo" (roughly, "Time waits for no man")

[issybird]

The Silent Steppe would have been a great choice; perfect for my purposes. People (I'm looking at you, Paola and Hamlet53) need to stop being so coy!

The silver lining is that now I know about it.

Originally Posted by issybird

The Silent Steppe would have been a great choice; perfect for my purposes. People (I'm looking at you, Paola and Hamlet53) need to stop being so coy!

The silver lining is that now I know about it.

Guilty. I did consider mentioning it though not actually nominating it. Like Paola lesson learned. Now that the nominating process is closed I will mention a couple of other books I considered putting out there, but I did not because these books are not recent and both are associated with the Ukraine, not Islamic countries that were once part of the USSR.

The first is Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel by Anatoly Kuznetsov. This is a very good book set in Kiev during the German occupation of WWII.

The second is And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov. I actually read this way back in high school, being inspired to it by taking an elective course in Russian history. This is actually the first half of a two novel epic about a family of Don Cossacks set over the crucial period from just prior to WWI through the following civil war in Russia.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by paola

well, thanks for the support
but then I should woken up earlier and proposed it from the start - indeed I am also very sorry I did not manage to fourth Off the beaten track..., that'll teach me for next time! As we say, "Chi ha tempo non aspetti tempo" (roughly, "Time waits for no man")

Thanks paola, but Off the Beaten Tracks only had two supporters so with yours added it still wouldn't have been fully nominated anyway, but I'm glad to hear someone else was interested in it.

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

Guilty. I did consider mentioning it though not actually nominating it. Like Paola lesson learned. Now that the nominating process is closed I will mention a couple of other books I considered putting out there, but I did not because these books are not recent and both are associated with the Ukraine, not Islamic countries that were once part of the USSR.

The first is Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel by Anatoly Kuznetsov. This is a very good book set in Kiev during the German occupation of WWII.

The second is And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov. I actually read this way back in high school, being inspired to it by taking an elective course in Russian history. This is actually the first half of a two novel epic about a family of Don Cossacks set over the crucial period from just prior to WWI through the following civil war in Russia.

Thanks for posting those as well, Hamlet53. Half the fun of nominations (for me, at least) is just becoming aware of other interesting books.

Did you also not nominate these because you were worried about their availability? Because looking on Amazon, And Quiet Flows the Don has many cheap used copies and is also available as an e-book. And Babi Yar has plenty of used physical copies for a good price (though again, the page doesn't make this clear for either one at first). Although, there are two editions of Babi Yar, and the older one with more used availability might be expurgated since the newer, more expensive one is listed as the "new, complete, uncensored version".

[paola]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

The first is Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel by Anatoly Kuznetsov. This is a very good book set in Kiev during the German occupation of WWII.

The second is And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov. I actually read this way back in high school, being inspired to it by taking an elective course in Russian history. This is actually the first half of a two novel epic about a family of Don Cossacks set over the crucial period from just prior to WWI through the following civil war in Russia.

I wasn't aware of Babi Yar, so that is another one in the TBR pile!