Showing titles in Russian & Soviet

Using, or rather mimicking, traditional forms of storytelling, Gogol created stories that are complete within themselves and only tangentially connected to a meaning or moral. His work belongs to the school of invention, where each twist and turn of the narrative is a surprise unfettered by obligation to an overarching theme.

Madame Ranyevskaya and her daughter Anya have returned home from Paris to discover that their family estate – which includes their beloved cherry orchard – has to be sold to cover the family’s debts. They believe a miracle can save their orchard. But will their stubborn pride and fond...

Step into the rich history and culture of Mother Russia with this classic collection by esteemed writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky. With his penchant for gripping prose and powerful themes that unmasked the social struggles and intellectual clashes of his day, this audiobook collection brings his work to life for the contemporary listener.

Chekhov's masterful last play, The Cherry Orchard, is a work of timeless, bittersweet beauty about the fading fortunes of an aristocratic Russian family and their struggle to maintain their status in a changing world. Alternately touching and farcical, this subtle, intelligent play stars the incomparable Marsha Mason.

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a profound philosophical and psychological novel that explores deep questions of faith, doubt, free will, and the nature of evil through the lives of the Karamazov family in 19th century Russia. The narrative delves into the moral struggles and inner turmoil of the three brothers and their relationship with their father, leading to a dramatic and tragic conclusion. This masterpiece is celebrated for its exploration of the human condition, morality, and the search for truth.

In 1851 Leo Tolstoy enlisted in the Russian army and was sent to the Caucasus to help defeat the Chechens. During this war a great Avar chieftain, Hadji Murád, broke with the Chechen leader Shamil and fled to the Russians for safety. Months later, while attempting to rescue his family from Shamil’s prison, Hadji Murád was pursued by those he had betrayed and, after fighting the most heroic battle of his life, was killed.

The story is an absurd, comic, surreal, and sometimes grotesque send up of Major Kovalyov, who wakes up one morning to find his nose missing. The story has three parts. In part one, Kovalyov's barber finds his client's nose in his breakfast and is nabbed by the police when he tries to throw it off a bridge. In part two, Kovalyov awakes to find his nose gone.

The Seagull is Anton Chekhov's first major play, originally produced in 1896. It dramatizes the romantic and artistic conflicts between four characters: the famous middlebrow story writer Boris Trigorin, the ingenue Nina, the fading actress Irina Arcadina, and her son, the symbolist playwright Constantine Treplef.

Братья Карамазовы - последний роман Ф. М. Достоевского, который автор писал два года. Роман был напечатан частями в Русском вестнике. Достоевский задумывал роман как первую часть эпического романа "История Великого грешника". Роман был окончен в ноябре 1880 года.

À la suite du traité de Tilsit, la paix semble à nouveau s'établir durablement en Europe. Et chacun de retourner à ses occupations d'avant-guerre. Les bals, les fêtes, l'insouciance des vies reprennent de plus belle, d'autant que beaucoup ont vu la mort de près et sont revenus auréolés de gloire. Les alliances entre les familles se nouent et se dénouent au gré des amours. Chacun pousse ses pions pour trouver le bon parti au mépris des autres même de ses anciens camarades de guerre.

L'immensité de la steppe, l'avidité et la fatuité française précipitent la Grande Armée vers la défaite. Koutousov, en fin stratège, ne fait qu'accompagner la décomposition de l'adversaire. À la suite de plusieurs défaites dues à une totale impréparation, les Français n'ont d'autre choix que de quitter Moscou et de se replier dans le plus grand désordre, harcelés par des groupes de partisans, suivis de près par les troupes russes et abandonnés par leur empereur.

The Cherry Orchard is Chekhov's final play, first performed in 1904 at the Moscow Art Theatre and directed by Konstantin Stanislavski. It takes place on the Ranevsky family's country estate, which boasts a large cherry orchard that is in bloom as the play opens. The family is gathering at the estate for a reunion but also to decide how to handle their debts, which have reached a crisis point.

One of Russia's most iconic poets, Alexander Pushkin is often described as the 'father of Russian literature'. A gambler, playboy and social reformer, he was exiled by the Tsar for his controversial poetry and died aged 37 in a duel defending his wife's honour. This BBC Radio anthology includes dramatisations and readings of Pushkin's most famous works - plus biographical programmes and an original play based on his life.

«Хаджи-Мурат» — произведение одного из величайших писателей мира, русского прозаика и мыслителя Л. Н. Толстого (1828–1910). Герой повести Хаджи-Мурат — реальное историческое лицо. Он перешел на сторону русских в Кавказской войне. Автора привлекала сила духа и жизнелюбие этого человека, поставленного в тяжелейшие условия. Писатель мастерски создал достоверный, точный портрет Хаджи-Мурата, ибо он владел пониманием «человека вообще». Толстой написал много выдающихся произведений: «Детство», «Отрочество», «Юность», «После бала», «Анна Каренина».

Преступление и наказание — произведение классика русской литературы и одного из лучших романистов мирового уровня Ф. М. Достоевского (1821–1881).Герой книги Родион Раскольников решил проверить свою теорию о существовании людей, которым разрешено совершать убийства, и тех, кто этого делать не может. Роман называют энциклопедией жизни России 60-х годов XIX века. Произведение является обязательной частью школьной программы. Достоевский написал много замечательных произведений: Идиот, Братья Карамазовы, Бесы, Бедные люди, Униженные и оскорбленные, Игрок, Белые ночи, Кроткая, Мальчик у Христа на елке, Неточка Незванова.

Roaming from Tashkent to San Francisco, this is the true story of one budding writer's strange encounters with the fanatics who are devoted - absurdly! melancholically! ecstatically! - to the Russian classics. Combining fresh readings of the great Russians from Gogol to Goncharov with the sad and funny stories of the lives they continue to influence, The Possessed introduces a brilliant and distinctive new voice: comic, humane, charming, poignant and completely full of an infectious love for literature.

«Смерть Ивана Ильича» — произведение одного из величайших писателей мира, русского прозаика и мыслителя Л. Н. Толстого (1828–1910). Над этой повестью автор тщательно работал четыре года и даже вносил поправки и штрихи уже во время корректуры. В ней рассказывается о мучительном расставании с жизнью судейского чиновника. Повесть признана одной из вершин мировой литературы и величайшим свершением Толстого в области малой литературной формы.

Russia's forests account for nearly one-fifth of the world's wooded lands. The Oak and the Larch is the first-ever English-language exploration of this vast expanse—a dazzling environmental history of Russia that offers an urgent new understanding of the nature of Russian power, and of Russia's ideas of itself.

This short but powerful novel was acclaimed by Vladimir Nabokov and Mahatma Gandhi as the greatest in the whole of Russian literature. It is one of Tolstoy's most celebrated pieces of late fiction. At the center of the story is an examination of the nature of both life and death and how man can come to terms with death's inevitability. It was widely acclaimed when it was published in 1886 and remains a compelling narrative today.

Premier des romanciers modernes, Fiodor Dostoïevski est parmi les plus grands écrivains russes du XIXe siècle. Dans "Les carnets du sous-sol", il fait le récit d'un homme reclus qui depuis son sous-sol observe le monde en contre-plongée. Le narrateur crache ses mots avec aigreur, son refus obstiné du bonheur, déverse ses angoisses et sa haine envers l'humanité. Écrit en 1864, on y retrouve un condensé de la fureur barbare qui fait l'œuvre de l'auteur et les bases des grands romans à venir.