Does Russia have the greatest literary tradition?

Does Russia have the greatest literary tradition?

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theguardian.com/books/2003/oct/12/features.fiction
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No, that would be France or Italy.

It’s pretty good. I’m a fan of American and English literature moreso.

>Italy
They got writers?

*had

Sorokin is still alive, lad.

>no philosophy
Nah.

No, Britain and France do

No, they have some great realists and existentialists from late 19th/early 20th century, but before that their literature isn't particularly remarkable. France has the most notorious literary tradition in both essayists and fiction writers, followed by Britain, Germany and Spain.

>Spain
Wrong.

*laughs in terza rima*

Yeah, kinda.
We surely had great poets, but not as many good novelists as other countries.

Nice ignorance lad.

>virgin shitalian wannabe-Virgil vs chad Russian literature creator

From Boccaccio to Calvino, there's no shortage of major fiction writers either.

Name five (5) great Spanish novels. No Don Quixote.

I like English literature more but gotta say American stuff is impressive in its contemplative simplicity

Nabokov said that Hemingway is shit. I pretty much agree.

*blocks your path*

Russia has some great authors but they like writing tomes, they don't really have a lot of solid novella writers.

Novels are a pleb genre, please hide your ignorance.

>and don't name the founding work of the genre btw!!! :^)

Okay, so: Lazarillo de Tormes, El Criticon, La Galatea, Guzman de Alfarache, and El Buscon. Happy?

>the red and the BLACK
Truly a visionary

>Implying Hemingway wasn't a better version of Turgenev

>Does Russia have the greatest literary tradition?

Dunno. Was Thomas Mann Russian?

I didn't say there weren't any good novelist (major fan of Calvino here, despite his political ideas) but some countries have a more considerable tradition in novels.

>No, that would be France or Italy

Italy? Hasn't been relevant in the /lit/ world for about 380 years boyo.

>comparing one of the greatest writers of 19 century to a third-rate murrican journalist

Gogol? Chekhov? Turgenev? Pushkin? etc.

Pushkin, more like Pushmyshitin lmao

>>comparing one of the greatest writers of 19 century to a third-rate murrican journalist
>to a third-rate murrican journalist
>Hemingway

I disagree.
Really interesting poets not even a century ago (Ungaretti for example)

I get that you wouldn't really know any great novelist, since they are famous only in their homeland and weren't translated in your language.

Yes. America and England are close seconds.

>Pushkin?
He didn't write novels. But there's many novelists beside him. In 20 century also.

Yep, that's his real place in literature. A third-rate journalist and a meme. Nothing more.

Sure, but a country like Italy also has a massive tradition in poetry, essays, short stories, religious literature, dialogues, unclassifiable stuff (Zibaldone), in various eras going to Middle Ages to Contemporary... while other countries mostly have novels, and just from one century. Thus Italy is leading the way.

But he did. Captain's Daughter is a novel.

Well, the one and only. If we not consider "Evgeny Onegin" (titled "a novel in verse") the second.

>he hasn't read Pasolini, Svevo, Ungaretti, Calvino, Pirandello, etc.

Can you get more plebeian than that?

Yeah, l would agree with that.
Are you a fan of italian literature perhaps?

>Pasolini
That's the dude who made "Salo"? Who is the others, anyway.

We were talking about novellas (i.e. longer short stories), not novels.

Dumb cunt

Ah, really. I'm just sleepy, misread because of that.

Charles Dickens and William Faulkner >>>>> Edgy Russian Authors

I can read Italian and I love Italian literature, but I haven't read as much as I would like to, desu.

The authors I named in another post (Calvino, Pirandello, etc.) are considered classics in France, they are widely translated and the cultured public knows them.

>That's the dude who made "Salo"?
Yes. I've actually never seen any of his films, but Pasolini was a major writer for sure.

On the contrary, I'm a huge fan of his films, but it happened so I've never even heard that he's a writer also, lol.

A sight in camp in the daybreak gray and dim,
As from my tent I emerge so early sleepless,
As slow I walk in the cool fresh air the path near by the hospital tent,
Three forms I see on stretchers lying, brought out there untended lying,
Over each the blanket spread, ample brownish woolen blanket,
Gray and heavy blanket, folding, covering all.

Curious I halt and silent stand,
Then with light fingers I from the face of the nearest the first just lift the blanket;
Who are you elderly man so gaunt and grim, with well-gray’d hair, and flesh all sunken about the eyes?
Who are you my dear comrade?

Then to the second I step—and who are you my child and darling?
Who are you sweet boy with cheeks yet blooming?

Then to the third—a face nor child nor old, very calm, as of beautiful yellow-white ivory;
Young man I think I know you—I think this face is the face of the Christ himself,
Dead and divine and brother of all, and here again he lies.

l didn't know that!
l thought that those authors were read just here in Italy.
Good to know that many people around the world are reading them.

China.

We don't have a lot of bulk, but we're definitely one of the best per capita.

What do you guys think of Moby Dick?

Give it a try, his writings (poetry or non-fiction) are really interesting.

Italian authors from the 18th or 19th century are much more obscure here, but the 20th century was a success, with at least a dozen well-known Italian writers. (Italian films by Ettore Scola, Antonioni... are also very well considered.)

On top of that, Buzzati's "K" and "Desert of the Tartars" are mega-hits that are usually studied in school.

Cesare Pavese is good

france-user you seem really knowledgeable
I'm just trying to get into literature. Do you have some recommendations for good french literature? I've mostly been reading English novels, but I'm looking to try other forms such as poetry

It depends on the language in which you're reading and your experience with literature. I'll assume you're reading in English and only have moderate experience, so:

>poetry
Skip the classics like Racine or Corneille, they are almost unreadable in translation. Jump straight to the 19th century with Baudelaire's Flowers of Evil, and Rimbaud's Poems (Hugo is the major poet of the era, but he doesn't seem very popular in the English-speaking world). If you want even more advanced stuff, try Lautréamont's Maldoror.

>novels
The usual entry-level novels are The Stranger and The Plague by Camus... or Candide by Voltaire. Wider and stronger stuff is found among the classics of the 19th century, so Victor Hugo, Flaubert, Balzac, Dumas, Stendhal... will not disappoint. Try Stendhal's The Red and the Black if you want high-end literature, or Monte-Cristo by Dumas if you just want a good story.

In the 20th century, In Search of Lost Time by Proust is very strong, but it's quite advanced too. Another ambitious and original work is Céline's Journey to the End of the Night, which is easy to read, but it loses a lot of flavor in translation (still good though).

Contemporary novels: the most important French writer is Houellebecq, and any of his novels will do, but don't think it's going to be like Victor Hugo. It's nearer to /r9k/ on steroids desu.

>philosophy and other
Diderot, Voltaire, Rousseau... are the usual classics. But for anyone wanting to learn French, the best way would be to read the aphorisms of La Rochefoucauld, La Bruyère, Pascal or Vauvenargues, as everything is contained in one sentence.

All this is very basic and incomplete, but there are worse ways to start your exploration of French literature...

Bump.

good taste

Pretty basic actually but he's right, it's a good way to start.

While Chinese literature compares favorably and even in many cases surpasses Western literature in its usage of language, character depth, plot,and other literary techniques. Chinese literature, philosophy, and poetry do not deal in metaphysical matters to the same degree as western literature and usually have simpler less creative themes. This is true when comparing Chinese novels, poetry, music, and art. In my opinion Chinese literature is roughly equivalent to Western Literature and Chinese poetry is clearly superior to Western Poetry, however western art and music is clearly superior.

If you look at the four greatest examples of Chinese literature: Journey to the West, Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Dream of the Red Chamber, they all are extremely well written from a literary point of view with complex characters, but most (except the Dream of the Red Chamber) prioritize exciting plots and heroic characters over any "deeper meaning". For this reason, even though I deem Chinese literature as being roughly equivalent to Western Literature but still prefer Western Literature from authors like Dostoevsky for there more philosophical themes.

Yes I think so

every country must be good at at least 1 thing I guess

cont.

In terms of "literary tradition", Chinese literature has another benefit. The stories above are ingrained in the cultural consciousness of the Chinese people. Everyone knows how Liu Bei, despite being one of the most powerful people in China, had to personally visit Zhuge Liang's thatched cottage three times before Zhuge Liang finally agreeing to serve as Liu Bei's chancellor. Everyone knows how Sun Wukong (the monkey king) threw the heavenly court of the Jade Emperor into chaos and was only subdued by the intervention of the Buddha himself. Almost all Chinese people can tell you the story of how Zhao Yun (pic related) raced back to Liu Bei's deserted camp alone when the rest of the army and Liu Bei was fleeing in terror after the disastrous defeat at Changban. And how he went to rescue Liu Bei's wife and infant son, and how to not be a burden Liu Bei's wife handed the child to Zhao Yun and to not burden him commited suicide by leaping down a well. And how Zhao Yun wrapped Liu's son in a sling around his chest and fought his way through Cao Cao's ranks while Cao Cao watched his men get butchered and marveled at his skill saying how much he wished that he could Zhao Yun to defect to him.

cont.
They can tell you how when Liu Bei raged at his generals when they suggested that Zhao's absence was due to him deserting and how he when he got his son back he almost threw him to the ground in anger that his son had almost cost him the life of one of his most talented generals. In contrast how many people in the west can even list the main characters in the greatest works of Western Literature. Many stories in Chinese literature have transcended mere literature and have entered into the oral tradition of Chinese culture. People in China know these stories not because they have read the books (which are written in archaic language and when compared to modern writing is more like Beowulf than Shakespeare), but because they are told these stories when their parents put them to bed as children, they are constantly refereed in their textbooks, and are even refereed to in everyday conversation through the use of idioms.

>Britain
>One their greatest/most recognized writer wrote pulp for a magazine
Wew

Is Demons his best book?

>no philosophy
Berdyaev, Lenin, Ilyin, Bakunin

No, Russia like any third world country produced one or two great authors (like pickrelated) but overall russian literature is trash.
theguardian.com/books/2003/oct/12/features.fiction

But everyone in the West will know:

>what Ulysses did to the Cyclops
>the sad fate of Romeo and Juliet
>the enduring friendship of the Three Musketeers
>the fact that Oedipus killed his father to fuck his mother
>how Don Quixote assaulted windmills

You're taking the most famous works of a civilization, so obviously their basic stories are well-known by everyone. It's the same thing here.

>vastly overrated Anglo shit is the best thing in the world, according to Mr. Anglo

Hilarious list. Happy to know that Goethe, Voltaire and Musil didn't make it in the list, while Disraeli, Toni Morrison and John Le Carré are solidly here.

Karamazov is generally regarded as the best, but everyone has his favorite Dostoevsky novel for some reason (it can be The Idiot, The Demons...).

...

>and weren't translated in your language.
All great ones get translated.

>bla bla bla we whites are superior, i mean c'mon do you really expect us to learn chinese lol?

Bongs surely have the best literature.

Although Lenin is very important, he doesn't really count as a philosopher.

English translations can be very lacking. It seems that Victor Hugo, the greatest French poet, barely has any of his poetry books translated in English. And it's not unusual to see a demanding writer that's translated in German, Italian, even Turkish or Hungarian... but not English.

But op question is provocative
>Does Russia has a great literary tradition?
Yes.
>Does Russia have THE GREATEST literary tradition?
No

>Although Lenin is very important, he doesn't really count as a philosopher.
He didn't created a new philosophy school only expanded on Marx views, but unlike Marx Lenin actually started implementing his views in real life.

Anyway, Russian literature is underrated in the West, because Russian poetry is barely known. It's all about muh novels.

Fug Russia is West.

...

>Russia is West

yes. next question

>mfw this includes multiple people who wrote literally nothing
Why not? He wrote a lot of texts that can be considered philosophical. If Marx is a philosopher then so is he

t. John Johnovich Popov