My Russian spring (gimme some reading tips!)

[sealwhiskers]

Lately I've been trying to read some Russian/Slavic writers, since my Russian is barely existent and I am too slow a reader in Polish, I read them translated into those languages I am a completely fluent reader in, so that I can do it somewhat swiftly

Comments

[st_rev]

I haven't found any recent prose novels that really grabbed me in a long time. On the graphic novel front, I have been recommending Carla Speed McNeil's Finder and Gillen and McKelvie's Phonogram at every opportunity, my favorite books of the '00s.

[sealwhiskers]

Wow, thank you, I'm really glad for graphic novel recs, and I've been looking at Finder since they came out in volumes, but didn't know anyone who had read them. I'm putting them on my wish list now. Phonogram I hadn't even heard about, but those look great too. I feel like I've lost track on what's happening on the graphic novel scene and am a bit stuck in the late 90's on that (when I bought the bulk of my stuff in that genre)

[st_rev]

I think print comics reached a high point in the late 90s and have kind of stagnated; I stopped buying them a few years ago, partly because I'm broke but also because there just isn't much coming out that I enjoy any more. A lot of the most interesting work in comics these days is in webcomics.

[sealwhiskers]

The Mouse an his Child sounds interesting. I grew up with Frances the Badger and all those cute illustrated little books and loved them, but according to Amazon reviews this book is quite different.

If you want to pick anything from this post to read, then maybe try Lukyanenko's Nightwatch series is a good choice, they are the ones best translated into English and easiest to find to. Well worth a read.

[sealwhiskers]

The books are different from the films..but if you were very disappointed by them, maybe something else would be a better fit. What kind of books did you enjoy when you had more time to read?

[sealwhiskers]

Wow, Matthew, Shaking the Pumpkin is going on my birthday/wishlist right now, that sounds so amazingly interesting, and I need more poetry! Let me know how you find the Calasso book, usually classical languages are way better translated into English than other language families, so it's probably interesting.

[usuakari]

I was going suggest Max Frei's The Stranger, but someone's beaten me to it. I can't say that I loved it - irritating Mary-Sueing on a par with Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller novels, far too much waffle about food* and cigarettes, and an overall feel of a series of clunky novellas jammed together with chewing gum and tooth picks. However, other reviewers seem to have loved it, and suggested that it may have lost something in translation, which is entirely possible. It was still good to read some more Russian fantasy again though.

I loved all of Lukyanenko's Watch series, especially the Machievellian antics of Gesser and Zabulon (or Gesar and Zavulon depending on who's doing the translating). It would appear that there's a fifth one coming out soon (in Russian at least), which is a surprise after The Last Watch, but also great news! I really should see if I can hunt down some of his SF in English as well.

I'm currently working my way through a history of duelling and fencing, which is beautifully put together but still surprisingly

[alecto23]

I second Steven Brust. And The Phoenix Guards and Five Hundred Years After are just a masterpiece - an homage to Dumas' The Three Musketeers and follow-ons, but also awesome fantasy novels in their own right. And very funny.

[sealwhiskers]

I think that Slavic writers really do lose a lot in translation if the translator isn't skilled and has a keen ear, because the language styles are so different from English. Slavic languages are so damn rich and detailed and filled with puns and nuances, it's an art form to do it, but it is also an art form that *should* be mastered by translators, but sadly isn't always.

Are you into fencing and dueling, and that's why you read that book? I have a friend who does a lot of sword-fighting, so that if you think that book is good, she may enjoy it too.

I'm gonna pick up An Ocean of Air for my kindle probably, thanks for the tip, I needed some science!

(oh, and I follow Brust's blog through his LJ, been reading the man since the 90's, he's an old favorite)

[usuakari]

Are you into fencing and dueling, and that's why you read that book? I have a friend who does a lot of sword-fighting, so that if you think that book is good, she may enjoy it too.

Hmmm... I've done a little fencing with foil, an intro to kenjutsu (as distinct from kendo which these days means a sport to most people, like fencing) as part of aikido, and dressed up in leather and steel and attempted to beat people up with a great sword made out of rattan. I wouldn't say I was particularly good at any of it though. Don't know quite how to answer whether I'm "into it", as a result. I've done it. I found it interesting. But I'm hardly committed to it.

It's a good read though. if your friend is interested in the history of poking at people with sharp, pointy things, she'll probably enjoy it. :)

I'm gonna pick up An Ocean of Air for my kindle probably, thanks for the tip, I needed some science!

On that note, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and The Poisoner's Handbook have both been on my 'to read' list for a while now. If you want

[cowboyjesus]

Embarrassingly nothing. I am lucky if I spend a minute cruising past the New Non-Fiction at the library at night. I can't remember anything noteworthy of late.

[sealwhiskers]

I hope you get more time or energy for reading again, sounds like you could need it.
Any old favorites you can come to think of? Maybe some art books?

[cowboyjesus]

I really enjoyed a novel, "The Great Man" by Kate Christensen quite a few years ago. It was more about three women than what the subject infers in the title, all connected to a scoundrel artist by being his wife, his mistress, and his sister. It was one of those reads that seemed to me the way great sex ought to be, where everything is going right emotionally, physically.

[sealwhiskers]

Good analogy, I'm always on the hunt for books equivalent to great sex! (eeh, and by that I don't necessarily mean porn..)