5 Great Russian Novels

I love Russian Literature to the point that I just try to read as many Russian Novels as I can physically cram between the novels in my TBR pile. The fact that there are so many different types of Russian novels means that this list was incredibly difficult to make and so I would like to state that there will only be one novel per author or the list would just be Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and possibly Bulgakov.

Ever since the Golden Age of Russian Literature, Russia has put itself on the map as being one of the most important places in the world for literary tradition, literary culture and most definitely, philosophical literature. I love the entirety of the Russian culture: from the food all the way to the architecture and the philosophy, the Romanov history and everything in between. Russia has novels that you do not just read, you have to live and experience them. Some of them are so long that you become emotionally invested in them for days on end.

When it comes to Russian Literature and reading or experiencing it - it's not only that you become emotionally invested in them but also that you can never just read them once. Even though they are long and sometimes almost one thousand pages (or even over), there is a ton to learn from them about philosophy, human complexities, the lives of the Russian people both rich and poor, the geography of Russia, the contexts in which the characters live and so much more. You are always drawn back to the novels and you are drawn back to re-read them. It's like something magical: when you're inside the novel you are lost in this world of beauty, tragedy, crime, human complexity or whatever you are reading about. I don't know why, but you feel wholeheartedly like a different person when you wake up in your own world.

Here are five Russian Novels and why I love them, they are in no particular order and I may be back with another soon because trying to compress my favourites into a list of five has been difficult for me.

5 Great Russian Novels

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

I went through my mind trying to decide whether to put "War and Peace" or "Anna Karenina" on this list. I decided to go with "Anna Karenina" because I remember reading this book for the first time and being emotionally broken afterwards and really, it did not have much to do with Anna herself - it was to do with Levin. Levin seemed like this character that you half pity and half are angry with because he cannot make his mind up. When he falls in love with Kitty, there is so much racing through his mind and his head is a mess. It's written beautifully and Levin's character is one of those people you just don't forget.

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

I am actually writing a paper on this novel as we speak. I read it when I was about sixteen or so and it was like being hit in the face with a philosophy textbook. I have written multiple papers about this book in the past and I love reading parts of this book over and over, such as The Grand Inquisitor, or even the trial of Dmitri. I just adore the sheer darkness of this book and the whole atmosphere is just filled with these complexities between reason, religion, morals and the greater good.

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

The first time I read this I felt like it was one of the greatest books ever written. It was not just the characters, but the very image of Russia that we get. We are in the midst of one of the greatest and most turbulent times in modern Russian history and the atmosphere is absolutely brilliant. We have this layer of history and Russian social context and then on top of this we have a brilliant story of love, loss, war and so much more and then on top of that we have this incredible literary tradition which is intertwined into the story.

Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

I think I was most disappointed that this book is incomplete but the way in which it is written is something I related mostly to the atmosphere of "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I'm not going to lie, when I read it for the first time I was pretty confused because it was not like any Russian Novel I had ever read. I think the one thing that you will find when you read this book is the deep darkness of the developing story. The writing is brilliant.

Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

A sufferer of stomach cancer is on a ward with three women caring for him: Vera, Ludmilla and Zoya. I'm not going to lie, these three women were my favourite characters because each of them are so different. Vera seems heartbroken and determined, she has a job to do and covers her loneliness with working on making the patient better. Ludmilla is a woman who seems like something is wrong, but you honestly don't know what until much later (and I won't give away any spoilers here) and finally Zoya, the love interest of the main character. She is a brilliant character, made of many layers that remind me partly of Anna from "Anna Karenina" and partly of Maria Bolonsky from "War and Peace". This is possibly one of my favourite Russian novels because of the complexity of the characters.