4 ms·

You ask about _literature_ specifically: Depends on what you're teaching. I think novels like Cement and How the Steel was Tempered are hard sells in the classr

by tuke 11y ago

You ask about _literature_ specifically: Depends on what you're teaching. I think novels like Cement and How the Steel was Tempered are hard sells in the classroom. And Quiet Flows the Don is so long. Having said that, a well-designed cultural studies course in literature, painting, sculpture, film, and propaganda would be amazing, and I think would be intellectually stimulating. Maybe like this: http://registrar.princeton.edu/course-offerings/course_details.xml?courseid=006292&term=1154 http://registrar.princeton.edu/course-offerings/course_detai...

huhtenberg 11y ago
"Cement" is so out there it reads like a farce. My grandmother had one of the first editions and it was clearly meant for people that were limited to the entry level school education, if that much. The book was basically printed in large letters, the sentences was generally short and the storyline was as flat as it was obvious. It's a "working man" novel about "working man" subjects written in a "working man" language. Propaganda all the way. It's certainly worth a read to get an idea of what the early Soviet literature was like. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cement_%28novel%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cement_%28novel%29
- ceasarby 11y ago
  "Cement" looks like an odd choice to me, it's not even in a school program in Russia itself. Perhaps, they limited by the books translated into English..
  - tuke 11y ago
    I don't know why, but in my Soviet literature course in college (early 1980s) we read Cement. Maybe it was on syllabi back then because there was also an English translation. (Now that I look at Amazon, maybe there wasn't a translation back then.)
    - ceasarby 11y ago
      I was born and raised in Belarus and all these books: Evgeny Zamyatin, We Mikhail Bulgakov, Heart of a Dog Andrei Platonov, Foundation Pit Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Valentin Rasputin, Farewell to Matyora were in high school program for Russian Literature in 10-11th grades. Except for "Fyodor Gladkov, Cement". Never heard of it until today, had to look it up. Appears that this writer was in his prime in Stalin's times. Without reading his books can't say it's 100% crap, but the fact that he received 2 Stalin's Awards makes me think that the quality of literature there is not that good and he was more ideologically right for the communists than got recognition for writers talent. You can check http://www.briefly.ru/school/ http://www.briefly.ru/school/ for list of mandatory Russian Literature for School Program. I'm sure, that for Foreign reader it will be more than enough to start with these books first, because they quality is tested by ages.
- tuke 11y ago
  Maybe the "entry level" vocabulary, etc., is exactly why it was taught in my Russian class in college. As for it's doctrinaire qualities: At least it's not Alexander Dovzhenko's film, "Earth."
- gyardley 11y ago
  Aw, Cement is charming in its own way, as an artifact of Soviet Russia in the 1920s. I wouldn't read it on it's own as a literary masterwork, but it's useful for understanding early Soviet culture. It also came out during the height of Soviet Russia's 'ликбез' campaign against illiteracy, so it doesn't surprise me that you think the Russian is basic. It's funny that I didn't notice that when I originally read it - I guess my Russian was pretty basic too!

by tuke 11y ago

huhtenberg 11y ago

"Cement" is so out there it reads like a farce. My grandmother had one of the first editions and it was clearly meant for people that were limited to the entry level school education, if that much. The book was basically printed in large letters, the sentences was generally short and the storyline was as flat as it was obvious. It's a "working man" novel about "working man" subjects written in a "working man" language. Propaganda all the way. It's certainly worth a read to get an idea of what the early Soviet literature was like. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cement_%28novel%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cement_%28novel%29

ceasarby 11y ago
"Cement" looks like an odd choice to me, it's not even in a school program in Russia itself. Perhaps, they limited by the books translated into English..
- tuke 11y ago
  I don't know why, but in my Soviet literature course in college (early 1980s) we read Cement. Maybe it was on syllabi back then because there was also an English translation. (Now that I look at Amazon, maybe there wasn't a translation back then.)
  - ceasarby 11y ago
    I was born and raised in Belarus and all these books: Evgeny Zamyatin, We Mikhail Bulgakov, Heart of a Dog Andrei Platonov, Foundation Pit Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Valentin Rasputin, Farewell to Matyora were in high school program for Russian Literature in 10-11th grades. Except for "Fyodor Gladkov, Cement". Never heard of it until today, had to look it up. Appears that this writer was in his prime in Stalin's times. Without reading his books can't say it's 100% crap, but the fact that he received 2 Stalin's Awards makes me think that the quality of literature there is not that good and he was more ideologically right for the communists than got recognition for writers talent. You can check http://www.briefly.ru/school/ http://www.briefly.ru/school/ for list of mandatory Russian Literature for School Program. I'm sure, that for Foreign reader it will be more than enough to start with these books first, because they quality is tested by ages.
tuke 11y ago
Maybe the "entry level" vocabulary, etc., is exactly why it was taught in my Russian class in college. As for it's doctrinaire qualities: At least it's not Alexander Dovzhenko's film, "Earth."
gyardley 11y ago
Aw, Cement is charming in its own way, as an artifact of Soviet Russia in the 1920s. I wouldn't read it on it's own as a literary masterwork, but it's useful for understanding early Soviet culture. It also came out during the height of Soviet Russia's 'ликбез' campaign against illiteracy, so it doesn't surprise me that you think the Russian is basic. It's funny that I didn't notice that when I originally read it - I guess my Russian was pretty basic too!