I am not really well read on Russian literature (work in progress), but my impression is that they are all over the place in terms of complexity and accessibili

I am not really well read on Russian literature (work in progress), but my impression is that they are all over the place in terms of complexity and accessibility. There's rube-goldberg contraptions of genius like Pale Fire, and at the same time short stories that are boiled down to the bare essence of a feeling like Chekov's In the cart. And Tolstoy can write a tome like War and Peace, while also writing Master & Man which approaches Hemingway in its brevity and efficiency. Nabokov's stories and reputation are intimidating, but if you drop your anxiety over missing the point, he's still a very entertaining, passionate writer. I definitely missed a lot when I read Pale Fire, but I still enjoyed it a lot, even being naive and taking everything at face value.