Novels set in revolutionary Russia?

[seagull]

Can anyone recommend me a good novel that is set at the time of the Russian revolution? I've read several non-fiction books on the subject and would like to read a novel.

[Andanzas]

I guess the main classic set at that period is Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. You probably have read it already.

I enjoyed Sashenka by Simon Montefiore. It is divided in three parts and only the first one is set at the time of the Russian Revolution, so I can recommend you only 33% of the book. Well, that's better than nothing, I hope.

The first part narrates how a rich schoolgirl, Sashenka, joins the Communist Party just before the Russian Revolution. In the second part, Sashenka, who now lives in the Moscu of Stalin, falls in disgrace. And in the third part her daughter hires a historian to investigate if Sashenka is still alive and what became of her after her disappearance.

Simon Montefiore is a reputed historian and I admire how he recreates the "feeling" of each period. I like his writing style, but it becomes rather conventional sometimes, especially when narrating the main love story of the book. I wouldn't say it's a great novel, but I enjoyed it, for the most part.

[smargo]

Not well known, but probably one of the best:
"Cynics" by Anatoly Mariengof - not sure if it's translated.

"White Guard" by Bulgakov
http://www.amazon.com/White-Guard-Mi...0732587&sr=1-2. Same Bulgakov as Master and Margarita.

"Red Cavalry" by Isaac Babel
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Cavalry-Is...ref=pd_sim_b_8

"The Rout" by Fadeev
http://www.amazon.com/Fadeev-Russian...0732833&sr=1-2 Approved soviet view on the civil war, but still a good novel

"Spelling" by Bykov
http://www.amazon.com/Orfografiia-Sp...732945&sr=1-18 contemporary view by one of the best young Russian writers

And of course Pasternak as in the previous post

[kaas]

Not during, but a bit before: Books by Boris Akunin (especially his Fandorin series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Akunin
Try it, you might enjoy them

cheers,

kaas

[K8Ereader]

'Snow White Blood Red' by Marcus Sedgwick is a fictionalised account of Arthur Ransome's love affair with Trotsky's Secretary. It is a young adult book so a fairly quick read. I'd also support the Boris Akunins as good romps against Tsarist background. Don't know availability as ebooks

[Madam Broshkina]

While not set in revolutionary Russia per say The Romanov Prophecy by Steve Berry often has flashbacks to that time. Here is the synopsis from his website:

Ekaterinburg, Russia: July 16, 1918. Ten months have passed since Nicholas II’s reign was cut short by revolutionaries. Tonight, the White Army advances on the town where the Tsar and his family are being held captive by the Bolsheviks. Nicholas dares to hope for salvation. Instead, the Romanovs are coldly and methodically executed.



Moscow: Present Day. Atlanta lawyer Miles Lord, fluent in Russian and well versed in the country’s history, is thrilled to be in Moscow on the eve of such a momentous event. After the fall of Communism and a succession of weak governments, the Russian people have voted to bring back the monarchy. The new tsar will be chosen from the distant relatives of Nicholas II by a specially appointed commission, and Miles’ job is to perform a background check on the Tsarist candidate favored by a powerful group of Western businessmen. But research quickly becomes the least of Miles’ concerns when he is nearly killed by gunmen on a city plaza.



Suddenly Miles is racing across continents, shadowed by nefarious henchmen. At first, his only question is why people are pursuing him. But after a strange conversation with a mysterious Russian, who steers Miles toward the writings of Rasputin, he becomes desperate to know more–most important, what really happened to the family of Russia’s last tsar? His only companion is Akilina Petrov, a Russian circus performer sympathetic to his struggle, and his only guide is a cryptic message from Rasputin that implies that the bloody night of so long ago is not the last chapter in the Romanovs’ story . . . and that someone might even have survived the massacre. The prophecy’s implications are earth-shattering–not only for the future of the tsar and mother Russia, but also for Miles himself.



Steve Berry, national bestselling author of the phenomenal thriller The Amber Room, once again delves into rich historical fact to produce an explosive page-turner. In The Romanov Prophecy, the authentic and the speculative meld into a fascinating and exceptionally suspenseful work of fiction.

[cigalex]

I will be posting my new translation of the first 14 sections, roughly a tenth of the book in my next month's column at http://dansemacabre.art.officelive.com/RussiaDesk5.aspx (you can read Alexander Blok's poem of the revolution, The Twelve, this month.) An anthology of my translations of Russian Silver Age miniature poems is also available at http://www.albany.edu/offcourse/issu...frontpage.html. All interested please drop by. Alex Cigale

[BookCat]

Did a quick google and came up with interesting results you may want to look at:

http://www.mantex.co.uk/2009/10/02/t...ussian-novels/

http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...ient=firefox-a

http://www.historicalnovels.info/Authors-A.html

in the previous link, take a look at Robert Alexander.

There were lots more.

[cheerio6414]

Originally Posted by Andanzas

I guess the main classic set at that period is Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. You probably have read it already.

I enjoyed Sashenka by Simon Montefiore. It is divided in three parts and only the first one is set at the time of the Russian Revolution, so I can recommend you only 33% of the book. Well, that's better than nothing, I hope.

The first part narrates how a rich schoolgirl, Sashenka, joins the Communist Party just before the Russian Revolution. In the second part, Sashenka, who now lives in the Moscu of Stalin, falls in disgrace. And in the third part her daughter hires a historian to investigate if Sashenka is still alive and what became of her after her disappearance.

Simon Montefiore is a reputed historian and I admire how he recreates the "feeling" of each period. I like his writing style, but it becomes rather conventional sometimes, especially when narrating the main love story of the book. I wouldn't say it's a great novel, but I enjoyed it, for the most part.

Doctor Zhivago is a classic, I remember reading that in high school

And Quiet Flows the Don by Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov.

[cigalex]

After an 18-month delay, I've published the first 14 short chapters of Imaginist poet's Anatoly Mariengof's deliciously lyrical novella Cynics (1918-1928). The publisher has offered to publish the completed translation in 2013: http://www.gobshitequarterly.com/issues/arkive.php. First few paras:

Very well, that you arrive before me bearing flowers. All the men are racing along Sukharev Boulevard buying up flour and grain with their tongues hanging out. They even haul flour and grain to give to their lovers. Under their beds of Karelian birch bark, canvas sacks are stacked like corpses.
She placed the asters in a vase. The vase shining silver, tall, shapely, in the form of a woman's hand chopped off at the wrist.
Under the windows, a fully-loaded truck trundled by. Soldiers focusing intensely on their task were transporting some people, all having the appearance of old, decrepit, outdoor furniture....

[sabredog]

Good Friends - Joe Poyer.

Not quite in the Russian Revolution but the aftermath of that and WW1.

[Avwriter]

We The Living - Ayn Rand

Heart of a Dog - M. Bulgakov

[quattro]

Originally Posted by seagull

Can anyone recommend me a good novel that is set at the time of the Russian revolution? I've read several non-fiction books on the subject and would like to read a novel.

Please feel free to send PM with titles of Tsar Nicholas II history eBooks you have read, and if you found them on mobilereads, thank you!

[drofgnal]

Check out Sam Eastland's books. Eye of the Tsar is the first. Its about a Russian investigator who works for Joseph Stalin. They are a series of three.

A classic read is Master and the Margarita by Bulokov.