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I've recently been reading books about Existentialism and seen many references to Dostoevsky as one of the founding fathers of this philosophical movement.

I have no experience in reading Russian novels and don't know where to start.

Could you suggest a "Dostoevsky" book list as to novels, short stories etc.

Thanks

Start with Notes from the Underground.
 
Tintin in Tibet. Awesome! :biggrin:

I LOVE Tintin books, I grew up on that stuff.
I'm currently reading "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown. I put it on hold at the library & for some reason, my hold came up 48 hours after the book was released even though I was #88 in line!
 
Could you suggest a "Dostoevsky" book list as to novels, short stories etc.

Get ready to be depressed in general. I liked Crime and Punishment, Brothers Karamozov is a difficult book to get through, it's especially difficult to grasp since he didn't finish the story (I believe he was going to publish a second book). Anyway, Dostoevsky is brilliant, and if you can't sit through Karamozov, read the chapter about the Grand Inquisitor, it was honestly the most important part of the book for me.
Karamazov is considered one of best, C&P one of his most famous. Yes, entertainment is not high on the list with Dos. But it is masterfully captured bleakness; think of Dickens without the laughs and wacky characters.

just finished Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
I finished this a while ago; great book in the same vein as Brave New World. Both echo the present modern captivation by media and TV.

I don't know about anyone else, but I track my reading via Google library. Great way to see where you've been and add book on you're want to read list. You can do your own reviews as well. Can make it private or public.
 
Karamazov is considered one of best, C&P one of his most famous. Yes, entertainment is not high on the list with Dos. But it is masterfully captured bleakness; think of Dickens without the laughs and wacky characters.

Yeah, Karamazov is spectacular, but Russians... Bleak. Still great though.
 
Start with Notes from the Underground.

Looks like I'll start with that one.

Thanks

FYI from Wiki...

Notes from Underground (Russian: Записки из подполья, Zapiski iz podpol'ya), also translated in English as Notes from the Underground or Letters from the Underworld while Notes from Underground is the most literal translation) (1864) is a short novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It is considered by many to be the world's first existentialist novel.
 
Beggars In Spain by Nancy Kress

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I've recently been reading books about Existentialism and seen many references to Dostoevsky as one of the founding fathers of this philosophical movement.

I have no experience in reading Russian novels and don't know where to start.

Could you suggest a "Dostoevsky" book list as to novels, short stories etc.

Thanks

I agree with AndrewWiggin. I'm just getting into Crime & Punishment, and although it's a very good book it is pretty depressing. If you're insterested in Dostoevsky I would recommend it.
 
Just finished The Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon, Interface, and Snow Crash all by Neil Stephenson. Reading Quicksilver by the same now. He's a great author but all of those books except Interface had rather marginal endings. It's like he was writing this great story and said "oh, crap, the publisher said I only have two more pages and I have to wrap this up."
 
I agree with AndrewWiggin. I'm just getting into Crime & Punishment, and although it's a very good book it is pretty depressing. If you're insterested in Dostoevsky I would recommend it.

Did pick up "Notes from the Underground" and I'm having a hard time getting into it. Decided to put it down for now and try it later.

I just may pick up another book about explaining Existentialism instead.

As in "Beginners Guide to Existentialism".

Thanks for the feedback.
 
Five Families by Selwyn Raab. Epic history of Cosa Nostra in the U.S. Not exactly a page-turner, but loaded with interesting facts leading to a cohesive history. Takes a pretty strong stand on the JFK assassination.
 
As in "Beginners Guide to

You might want to try Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus. The first and fourth chapters ("An Absurd Reasoning" and "The Myth of Sisyphus") do a great job of laying out the basic assumptions of Existentialism, at least its most central version: life is inherently meaningless, there are ways we can glimpse the absurdity of it, those glimpses are meaningful and liberating, we can invest life with whatever meaning we desire--it's an empty vessel.

I teach that stuff, and those chapters, along with some lectures & supplement, are the ones that flip people's light switches most often.
 
You might want to try Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus. The first and fourth chapters ("An Absurd Reasoning" and "The Myth of Sisyphus") do a great job of laying out the basic assumptions of Existentialism, at least its most central version: life is inherently meaningless, there are ways we can glimpse the absurdity of it, those glimpses are meaningful and liberating, we can invest life with whatever meaning we desire--it's an empty vessel.

I teach that stuff, and those chapters, along with some lectures & supplement, are the ones that flip people's light switches most often.

I did recently read Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" and "The Stranger".

Looks like my next book will be "Existentialism for Beginners".

I'll PM you about some the subject later.

Thanks
 
picked up some old Yale Shakespeare books from a thrift store a month ago and am currently giving them a go. just finished Macbeth and will probably read Richard the Third tonight
 
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