Questions tagged [russian-language]
Questions about works of literature that were originally written in the Russian language, regardless of whether they were written or published in Russia or elsewhere.
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What exactly happened with the glasses?
The man who wrote the diary displays a very strange reaction to what (for me) appears to be a negligible accident - having his and his friend's (with whom he was kissing) glasses entangle and fall on ...
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What explains Maxim Kammerer's superhuman physical condition in "Prisoners of Power" (aka "The Inhabited Island")?
Throughout the novel, Maxim is shown to have an almost superhuman physical condition, easily performing unthinkable feats, which include, but aren't limited to
Being able to run for a very long time ...
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Is there a good English translation of "Foundations of Geopolitics" by Aleksandr Dugin?
This book is fairly geopolitically significant, because it describes a lot of the recent events in the world as driven by Russia and Russian disinformation campaigns.
I'm looking for an English copy ...
user80
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Is there a contrast between Trofimov and Lopakhin in Anton Chekhov's 'The Cherry Orchard"?
I am an intern who is teaching in high school in India. In the syllabus, I got across Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" in Hindi. After discussing the book with the students, I found out that there ...
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What is the significance of the Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazov?
In The Brothers Karamazov, Ivan tells a long story to Alyosha about the Grand Inquisitor. I have been trying to grasp its meaning for some time, but what is the significance of that story?
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Confusing list in Crime and Punishment
I have started to read some classic books and I am having some trouble understanding some parts of chapter 6 part 3 in Crime and Punishment, this is after Raskolnikov is called a "Murderer" by a man ...
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Who came to Rumata's house at the end, and why?
At the very end of Hard to Be a God, a group of men arrive at Rumata's house and
sending Don Rumata into a blind and murderous rage. But who were they, who sent them, and why did they come in the ...
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In the song "Ja is Playing Jazz" (Джа играет джаз), who is Ja?
While listening to Splean's last album Ключ к шифру (The Key to the Cipher) again, I've wondered about a particular line from the song "Джа играет джаз" ("Ja is Playing Jazz"):
Сегодня Джа играет ...
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In "Hard to Be a God", are "Sergei Kozhin", "George Lenny", "Sabine Kruger" real historical references?
The main character's internal monolog at one point reads:
You just want to kill. Yes, I do. And are you capable of it?
... the only thing I regret is killing her in vain. So they've almost ...
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Could Levin have a friend like Oblonsky in real life?
Levin was deep-thinking; Stiva was shallow. It is hard to believe there was long lasting friendship between these two. Exactly What qualities in Oblonsky kept this friendship alive?
Levin constantly ...
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How culturally mixed were the Earth ambassadors in Hard to Be a God?
Anton, aka "Don Rumata of Estor", is Russian.
Pashka, aka "Don Hug, first groom of the chamber of his lordship the Duke of Irukan", is Russian.
Alexander Vassilevitch, aka "Don Kondor, Supreme Judge ...
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Are "the meaning of life", art, and in particular "the life of an artist" themes in Chekhov's drama "The Seagull"?
Are "the meaning of life", art, and in particular "the life of an artist" themes in Chekhov's drama "The Seagull"?
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Should this word in Hard to Be a God be translated as "arbalest" or "crossbow"?
In this answer edit, someone changed my translation of a word "арбалет" as used in Strugatsky's Russian text of Hard to be a God from the one I used ("arbalest") to "crossbow".
In the context of ...
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What word was used for "anisotropic" in the original Russian text of "Hard to Be a God"?
In the beginning of Hard to Be a God, there is the matter of the skeleton chained to a machine gun.
"An anisotropic road," Anton explained. Anka stood with her back to
him. "Traffic can move only ...
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Are any of the countries in Hard to Be a God based specifically on particular real-life countries?
Arkanar, Irukan, Soan, ... there are several countries mentioned and given at least some description and fleshing out in the book. Are any of these intended to be direct parallels of specific real-...
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What does Father Gur mean by "And then you'll be given back!"?
During the dinner at the king's palace, Rumata has a conversation with Father Gur, the poet. Rumata offers him a copy of the poets work, in exchange for a promise to write something new:
“Very well ...
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Please help identify a fanfic-y apocryphal story based on Noon Universe
I've been trying to find this one for several years but somehow Google-fu was weak.
Pretty old - I think I read it in early/mid 90s. Internet-published.
Apocryphal mishmash of entire Noon universe
...
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Does the text support the theory that Arata the Hunchback killed this character?
The obvious implication from the text of Hard to Be a God is that
at the very least, Anton blames Don Reba and that triggers his meltdown. (this gets more obvious in the play based on the book).
...
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Given Anton's attitudes expressed to Budakh, why did Earth start Progressors?
In conversation with Doctor Budakh - and later Arata, Rumata (Anton) basically states the Earth's - and his personal - party line about non-interference with foreign cultures:
— Что ж, — сказал он, ...
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How does Earth manage to get so many highly placed agents?
It seems that Earth has very little trouble placing its people into extremely high positions all over in a variety of countries and societies, despite not having mind control technology - or for that ...
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What is the significance of the "suffocation scene" at Tchermashnya in Brothers Karamazov?
I'm re-reading The Brothers Karamazov and was struck again by a strange scene whose meaning isn't immediately clear to me.
In "Lyagavy", Part 3, Book 8, Chapter 2 of The Brothers Karamazov, ...
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Is Frou-Frou's death a foreshadowing of Anna's in Anna Karenina?
The only thing Vronsky loves more than Anna is Frou-Frou his horse.
In the race he rides her too hard, she falls, and her back breaks. He kicks her in a rage trying to get her up and then shoots her ...
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What parallels can be drawn between Don Reba and Beria?
From the afterword of Hard to be a God:
On the advice of I. A. Efremov, we renamed the Minister of the Defense of the Crown Don Reba (he had previously been Don Rebia—an overly simple anagram, in the ...
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Why doesn't Anka like to be called Anetchka?
From the prologue of Hard to Be a God:
"You know, Anetchka--" said Pashka.
"Don't you call me Anetchka," Anka cut in abruptly. She could not stand to be called by any other name than Anka.
Now I ...
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What details does the "Without Weapons" / "A Man from a Distant Star" stage play add to the lore of "Hard to be a God"?
It appears that Strugatsky brothers have written a stage adaptation of Hard to be a God, named Without Weapons or A Man from a Distant Star. Wikipedia claims that the play "reveals previously unknown ...
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How do they decide who to save/bring to Earth in Hard to Be a God?
In Hard to Be a God, the main character (Anton/Rumanta) falls in love with Kira and decides to take her with him back to Earth.
Since their task is to be as undercover as possible, it’s obvious that ...
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What is the relevance of the essays in Tolstoy's 'War and Peace'?
War and Peace is regularly interspersed with essays -- something that I have not seen anywhere else in literature. How significant are these essays? They obviously help in exploring the themes and ...
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Looking for a specific passage by Nabokov
I remember reading this specific (germanophobic, sorry about that) bit in one of Nabokov's works but I just can't find it now. It described several bürgers drinking beer and casually laughing at ...
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Political allegory in Lukyanenko's Watch series?
The Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko describes the often bloodless struggle between the Night Watch and the Day Watch. It's a sort of cold war in which each side is only permitted to attack members ...
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Short story in Russian about time travel and changing the history of WW2
I remember when I was a child (probably about 40 years ago), I read some story in a Russian book (I think its original language was Russian).
The story is as follows: a man read some documentary book ...
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How much "self-editing" did Nabokov do when his Russian novels were translated into English?
Several of Nabokov's early, Russian-language novels were translated into English in the 1960s, either by Nabokov himself (Despair), or by translators under his guidance (including his son Dmitri). To ...
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Why did the doctor give Count Bezukhov cream of tartar?
In War and Peace, Count Bezukhov's doctors gave him Cream of Tartar after his stroke. What purpose did that serve? I haven't been able to find anything about medical benefits of cream of tartar that ...
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Why is Pechorin a hero of our time?
In Mikhail Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time (Герой нашего времени), the main hero is Grigory Pechorin, a cynical noble army man, an example of superfluous Byronic hero.
The title of the novel has to ...
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How old was Tatiana during the main events of "Eugene Onegin"?
Eugene Onegin is a novel in verse, by the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. The main characters are Eugene Onegin, a young and bored man, and Tatiana, an even younger girl who falls in love with ...
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What concept of love does Tolstoy suggest in Anna Karenina?
I know one of the characteristics of realistic works is they are mostly formulated as some independent studies of the life of society but, at the same time, I realise that the dominant approach to art ...
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Was Dostoyevsky atheist or Christian?
We see atheist and Christian heroes in Dostoyevsky's books. In many cases the works of an author reflect elements of their own life. However, the extent to which this occurs vary by author. Especially,...
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Was Pyotr Stepanovich in "Demons" really connected to the international?
In the noval Demons (by Dostoyevsky), there was a character, named Pyotr Stepanovich Verkhovensky, who claimed that he was connected to the international.
Did Dostoyevsky mention anywhere in the book ...
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Is there symbolism in Vronsky going bald in Anna Karenina?
As I am reading Anna Karinina I notice how as the story continues Vronsky is going bald.
As characters meet him it is noted how he tries to hid his increasing baldness. For instance when Dolly goes ...
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What is the significance of the anisotropic highway and the skeleton of a fascist chained to a machine gun?
In the beginning of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's novel Hard to Be a God, the protagonist, Anton, goes down a country road, disobeying a "wrong way" sign, and finds a skeleton of a fascist chained to ...
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Had people related the work of Gogol before "The Nose"?
In The Nose, an opera by Demitri Shostakovich, Shostakovich combines many of Nikolai Gogol's stories, including The Nose, for which the opera is named, into a single story. Had previous critics or ...
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Did the Strugatsky brothers ever comment on "predicting" the Kasparov-Karpov World Chess rivalry?
In the foundational novel of their Noon universe, Noon, XXII century (Полдень, XXII век), published in 1961, the Strugatsky brothers "predicted" the notorious Kasparov-Karpov World Chess ...
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What was a "prince" in Dostoevsky's times, i.e. mid-late 19th century?
In Dostoevsky's The Idiot, the main character is Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin. Sometimes the word "prince" almost seems an honorary title, e.g.
"Here you all are now," the prince began, "looking ...
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In The Bet, why does the lawyer willingly stay fifteen years instead of five years for no extra reward?
In The Bet by Anton Chekhov, the lawyer voluntarily accepts to stay in prison for 15 years, instead of the original agreed upon 5 years. Here's the relevant passage:
"The death sentence and the ...
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Was Nabokov's Pale Fire intended to be read non-linearly, i.e. jumping to each line reference?
Did Vladimir Nabokov ever indicate on record whether he intended Pale Fire to be read non-linearly, i.e. jumping to each line reference?
A friend and I read the book together last summer. He read the ...
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Did Pushkin ever deliberately copy the style of anyone else?
Beginning, or less talented, writers often consciously or subconsciously imitate the style of earlier creators.
Are any works by Pushkin (past the age of 20) known to copy someone else's style, ...
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Is there evidence of anti-Semitism in Dostoyevsky's books?
It's well known that Dostoyevsky as a person didn't like Jews.
But is there clear evidence of that in his books?
Ideally, I'd prefer evidence of things that arise above things that were commonplace ...
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How did the Strugatsky Brothers' experience with Soviet literary publishing censorship reflect on their books?
It's well known that the Strugatsky brothers were affected by the censors overseeing the publishing of their work.
How did those experiences reflect in their books?
The question is about the ...
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Is there anything that definitely confirms that Svidrigailov actually committed murder in "Crime and Punishment?"
Is there any proof that Svidrigailov actually committed murder in Crime and Punishment, of either Philip (his servant) or Marfa Petrovna (his wife)?
By proof, I mean either a nuanced passage I might ...
JNat♦
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