Kategoria BISAC: Foreign Language Study >> Russian

This book contains the Russian text of Lermontov's Demon, edited with an English language introduction and notes

Chayka (1896) is the first of Anton Chekhov's four celebrated plays. While its first performance was a fiasco, the play was revived in 1898 and staged by the newly founded Moscow Art Theatre, who 'adopted' Chekhov and built their own success on masterly performances of his plays, beginning with The Seagull. Produced by Nemirovich-Danchenko, with Konstantin Stanislavsky as Trigorin and Meyerhold as Treplev, it was a triumph for both the Theatre and the playwright. In this play Chekhov first demonstrated his innovatory technique of indirect action and new dramatic structure and...

This book contains the Russian text of Chekhov's Three Stories and is accompanied with an introduction and notes.

The three 'Sebastopol Stories' were based on Tolstoy's experience as a serving solider in the besieged Crimean city in 1854 and 1855. First published in book form in 1856, they consolidated the reputation the young Tolstoy had established with Childhood (1852).
In Sebastopol in December, cast in the form of a guided tour of the city, Tolstoy chronicles both the patient suffering and the undemonstrative heroism of the city's defenders and civilian population. Sebastopol in May focuses on the officer class, particularly the vacillating Mikhailov and the doomed...

Tolstoy is most famous for his two major novels, Anna Karenina and War and Peace, but he also produced several minor masterpieces, of which The Death of Ivan Illyich
is the most outstanding. In this tale he deals with the subject of
death, which for civilised people of our time has become a taboo.
Before
opening this book the reader should be warned: this is strong meat, not
to be tasted by the squeamish. Whether the reader finds the hero's
spiritual conversion convincing or not, he/she cannot fail to be
impressed by the sheer power and artistry of...

This dictionary provides a systematic analysis of Russian word derivations, describing the etymology of 1500 central words in the language. In the introduction, the author traces the development of Russian vocabulary and focuses on factors that have affected semantic and lexical change. In the main part of the book, a typical entry gives the present meaning of the word, the dates of the first appearance in the language and of subsequent meaning changes, and details of orthographical, phonetic and social factors that have affected its development. Cognate words in Russian and other...

From its posthumous publication in 1837, Pushkin's narrative poem, "The Bronze Horseman" has been regarded as a central text in Russian literature. This work considers the history of its composition, providing an excursus on the formal properties of the poem, extensive commentary, and an assessment of key thematic questions, with western and Russian responses and interpretations old and new.

This edition of Pushkin's tragedy "Boris Godunov" is part of the Bristol Classical Press Russian Texts series. The series is designed to meet the needs of the growing A Level and undergraduate market for texts in the Russian language. Each text comes with English notes and vocabulary, and with an introduction by an editor with an expert knowledge both of the work and of its literary and cultural context.

One of Pushkin's most famous works, "Eugene Onegin" has been called an "enclyclopaedia of Russian life," a definition which suggests the mass of ideas, impressions, thoughts and possibilities to be found in the story of the doomed love of two members of Russian high society in the 1830s. This study aims to offer an up-to-date guide to the text and to the critical debate, as well as providing easy-to-follow "readings." It takes a fresh look at its themes, ideas and intricacies, and suggests how scholars and non-specialists alike may gain greater understanding of Pushkin's work.

This edition contains three of Ta'tiana Tolstaia's stories: "Sweet Shura" ("Milaia Shura"), "Peters" ("Peters"), and "The Okkerril River" ("Reka Okkerril"). The book is in Russian language with English notes and vocabulary that explain Tolstaia's stylistic characteristics.

Designed for student of Russians at A Level and beyond, this book first provides guidance on the basics of writing Russian and then goes on to give practical assistance in writing essays and projects in Russian on a range of topics - ranging from climate to organized crime - included in area studies courses on post-Soviet Russia. Each topic is divided into sections on vocabulary, phraseology and useful background information adaptable for self-teaching and for oral conversation classes. Exercises are included on specific grammar points and related vocabulary, all Russian texts included as...

Chekhov's penultimate play has inspired a bewildering variety of
interpretations - both in criticism and in performance - since its
premiere at the Moscow Arts Theatre in 1901. Tri sestry has
been viewed both as tragedy and comedy, as a testimony for the eternal
yearnings for love, happiness and meaning, and as a devastating
indictment of the folly of inert gentility. Its characters have been
seen as worthy embodiments of the universal 'human condition', or as
passive products of pre-revolutionary Russian privilege. Either way,
the sisters are poignant...

Reflecting the author's deep interest in the mystical and the occult, this tale tells of a small boy's involvement with a seemingly harmless toy which has fateful consequences for him and for those he encounters. The text raises questions of a philosophical, moral and social nature.

This last and most brilliant narrative poem by Russia's greatest poet, Alexander Pushkin, should form an essential part of all courses in Russian literature. It combines praise of Peter the Great and his city of St Petersburg with a dramatic account of the devastating flood of 1824 and a lowly individual's resultant insanity. The political, historical, religious, ecological, and metaphysical-existential questions which Pushkin formulates with dazzling power and concision have been the subject of endless critical debate. This new student edition includes an interpretative introduction which...

Comprising of a collection of reading passages from the Russian press, this book is intended for students of Russian language who are interested in the process of change which took place in Russia in the decade following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Its central theme is culture, broadly understood as people's perceptions of themselves, their social and political environment, their personal circumstances, and the ways in which they react to them. The extracts aim to bring out specifically Russian attitudes, as well as those which Russians share with people in the West. The central...

This text is intended to help students of Russian and graduates considering employment to familiarise themselves with the Russian business environment, its concepts and practices. It assumes at least an A-level knowledge of Russian, but is self-explanatory after that. It will also introduce students to the vocabulary and register of language associated with this field. No prior knowledge of business practice or economic concepts is required: explanations, and in many cases, translations are provided. The return to a market system after a long period of centralised planning of the economy...

Mikhail Zoshchenko (1895-1958) was born in St. Petersburg and served in the Russian Army in the First World War. Invalided out, he traveled throughout Russia after the Revolution and saw a spell of service in the Red Army. He came back to St. Petersburg in 1921 and started to publish humorous satirical stories, which achieved considerable popularity. After the Second World War he was attacked by the Stalinist state and expelled from the Union of Soviet Writers. This marked the end of his literary career. This selection of short stories is confined to the 1920s, when Zoshchenko's talent...

"What's in a Russian Word" works its way from a presentation of the sound structure of Russian, through an examination of the spelling system, the interface between sounds and forms, and the issue of the Church Slavonic and East Slavonic components of the Russian language, to an exploration of over sixty word families. The book should help one to make connections both between Russian words and those in numerous other European languages and between extensive groups of Russian words themselves, greatly facilitating learners at various stages in their acquisition of vocabulary and their...