I love Russian literature and was very much looking forward to this challenge last January. Although I completed the challenge, I’m very disappointed in myself as I really wanted to read War and Peace and finish Crime and Punishment. Perhaps 2009 will be the year I get to them. One highlight of this challenge turned out to be Sofia Petrovna (five stars), which will be one of my best reads of 2008. Also, although I didn’t care for it, I’m glad I finally read Lolita. That’s one I’m happy to be able to cross off my tbr list.
Thanks so much, Sharon, for hosting this challenge!
Thanks, Joy, for hosting this challenge. I’m glad I finally read Xinran and some other authors I’ve been meaning to get to.
I cut it close, and I still have to write some reviews, but I finally finished this challenge with the completion of Zenzele. I was also successful in this as a personal challenge in 2007, so I’m not sure if I’ll do it again in 2009. I might actually attempt it one more time because I have a good handle on the books I would want to use for the most difficult letters. If I do, though, three years in a row will definitely be enough!
I read this book because I needed an ‘I’ author and another book that fit the Canadian Challenge. This short novel is essentially about two sisters’ obsession with Yoshi Takahshi, their Japanese concert pianist neighbor. I love classical music so I was hoping music would play a big part in the story. Although music obviously plays a role, the bulk of the plot centers around the girls’ adoration of Yoshi.
The girls use every excuse they can to visit him and even start to decorate their rooms in a spartan, Japanese style. Yoshi encourages the girls and even invites them to accompany him on an overnight trip to one of his concerts. As you can probably guess, a s*xual situation develops. The book flashes back and forth from when Jean and Collette were young teenagers and both had crushes on Yoshi to the present in which they are now grown. Even as adult women, their obsession continues.
I most enjoyed the parts of the book where it concentrated on Jean’s struggle to continue on with her own music — especially the conversation she has with her father, also a musician. This book was the basis for a Canadian film called The Pianist (different than the film with the same name starring Adrien Brody).
This slim book by Lydia Chukovskaya is a must read if you’re interested in Russian/Soviet history. It reminded me a bit of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, except that instead of the prisoner’s point of view, we get the view of the mothers and wives of the falsely imprisoned.
At the beginning of the book, Sofia is happily working as the supervising typist for a government publishing house. Her son Kolya is deeply committed to the Soviet party and is studying engineering. Then everything slowly goes downhill and ‘The Great Purge‘ begins. People start disappearing. Masses of people. Multitudes of women stand in line each day in front of government offices to determine the fate of their loved ones. All are convinced it is only a big mistake, but then they themselves are deported.
This book was actually written during the time of the purges (1937-1938), but it was hidden for several years for obvious reasons and then almost published in the Soviet Union in the early sixties. Political change occurred again, and it wasn’t published in Chukovskaya’s home country, but it was published in France and in the United States. The book was finally published in the Soviet Union in 1988.
I almost never read forewords, author’s notes, or afterwords, but I did in this case because I was fascinated by the author’s own struggle to get the book published. As I said, a must read for Russian history enthusiasts.
“There’s only one thing I want, just one thing I’m waiting for: to see my book published in the Soviet Union. In my own country. In Sofia Petrovna’s country. I have been waiting patiently for thirty-four years.
There is but one tribunal to which I wish to offer my novella: that of my countrymen, young and old, particularly the old, those who lived through the same thing which befell me and that woman so different from me whom I chose as the heroine of my narrative — Sofia Petrovna, one of thousands I saw all about me.“
1967 for the English translation, 120 pp.
Rating: 5/5
Although the challenge lasts until next June, I’ve read seven that qualify so I’m calling this one quits. I really liked all my titles but probably enjoyed the last two the most.
Some of us have been reading and reviewing books by Nobel winners at Read the Nobels, and earlier in the year Aloi challenged us to read and review 5 books before the end of the year. I squeaked this one out at the last minute, with two books in December! I enjoyed all the books I chose, but probably Detective Story the least.
The objective of this challenge was to read 5 classics during the last half of 2008. Trish also had participants nominate books that we thought would be future classics, and we were to choose one of those as a bonus book to the challenge. My nominee for this was The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman, and the book I chose to read was Life of Pi.
Of the classics I read, I absolutely loved all of them except Lolita. I grant that Nabokov is a great writer, and I would definitely like to read another work by him someday, but I didn’t expect to love the book and I didn’t. I was surprised at some of the comments I got on my review. The book is controversial after all. I’m not surprised some people like it as it does show Nabokov’s brilliance as a writer. However, I’m also entitled to not like the book. Just because I didn’t like this particular book doesn’t mean I won’t read another of his at a later date. I am glad that I read it so I can now cross this one off my list and move on.
As to the other classics, wow! Loved, loved, loved them. So glad I finally read Dracula this year. That’s been on my list for a long time. And of course I loved the Anne books and will be reading at least two more of the series next year. I plan on reading the last book of Kristin soon as well.
I read Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Wreath at this time last year. I also read the first half of the second book at that time but have just now finished it. I only put it down because I had some challenges and arcs to finish, not because I wasn’t enjoying it. Now that I needed a ‘U’ author, a classic, and a Nobel laureate for challenges, it was time to get back to it!
In this second volume, Kristin goes to Husaby with her husband to begin their new life together. She soon finds out marriage and motherhood can be exhausting, especially with her own family so far away. She has quite a few children and all the while struggles with past mistakes and new ones. Her faith is a comfort to her but she desperately misses her own family, especially her father. Finally she gets to go home when her younger sister gets married. Although elated to see Lavrans, there is also a bit of a strain put on their relationship which pains Kristin greatly.
There is a lot more to Kristin’s story that I’m not willing to spoil for you. Let’s just say I’m excited to read Volume III and complete the saga.
Sigrid Undset won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928, primarily for this trilogy. Kristin Lavransdatter is a book I highly recommend to you if you love classics or want to know more about Norway and/or this time period (the 1300s). It is a fascinating look at a woman with a strong Christian faith but one who is far, far away from being perfect.
1921, 401 pp.
Rating: 4.5/5
I love Russian literature and was very much looking forward to this challenge last January. Although I completed the challenge, I’m very disappointed in myself as I really wanted to read War and Peace and finish Crime and Punishment. Perhaps 2009 will be the year I get to them. One highlight of this challenge turned out to be Sofia Petrovna (five stars), which will be one of my best reads of 2008. Also, although I didn’t care for it, I’m glad I finally read Lolita. That’s one I’m happy to be able to cross off my tbr list.
I read this book because I needed an ‘I’ author and another book that fit the Canadian Challenge. This short novel is essentially about two sisters’ obsession with Yoshi Takahshi, their Japanese concert pianist neighbor. I love classical music so I was hoping music would play a big part in the story. Although music obviously plays a role, the bulk of the plot centers around the girls’ adoration of Yoshi.
This slim book by Lydia Chukovskaya is a must read if you’re interested in Russian/Soviet history. It reminded me a bit of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, except that instead of the prisoner’s point of view, we get the view of the mothers and wives of the falsely imprisoned.
I read 
