The Modern Scholar: The Giants Of Russian Literature

by Liza Knapp

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Literature, History, Russia, Russian Literature, Classics

Audiobook

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have listened through these excellent lectures by professor Liza Knapp three times so far and have thoroughly enjoyed them on each occasion.They are probably better appreciated if the listener reads at least one work of each author being studied.I personally chose Turgenev's Fathers and Sons,Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment,Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and a compilation of some of Anton Chekhov's short stories-but there is a lot more to be explored,here-Enjoy!

[Laurel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whenever I feel like I've completely exhausted my library's audiobook collection, I tend to turn to their Modern Scholar audio lecture series instead. I'm a nerd that way. Anyway, this was a pretty good overview of the lives and works of some of the most well-respected authors in Russian literature: Ivan Turgenev, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, and Anton Chekhov. It helped that most of the selections the professor chose to analyze were ones that I had read (such as Anna Karenina, Crime and Punishment and Chekhov's short story The Lady With the Little Dog. Her analysis definitely gave me a greater appreciation for and understanding of each work. 3.5 stars.

[Ulla Sperber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this lecture series as I am planning a reread of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy and this is such a great introduction. I really enjoyed listening to it. Scholarly, yet not too complicated. Liza Knapp brings these authors and their works to life.

[Ana-Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is beautiful to feel like a student again. This course offered by Lisa Knapp, professor at Columbia University in the City of New York, was easy to follow yet complex. It focuses on love and death in Russian literature, specifically in the works of Ivan Turgenev, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, and Anton Chekhov. What this lecture emphasizes is that (unlike French or English literature in the XIXth century), Russian literature is "specialized" in compassion and non-sexual love (although we do find romantic love and adultery in Russian books, of course). But, in addition to those classic plots, these four great writers talk about the love of neighbor, love of God, filial love, and so on. Knapp argues that these masterworks prove that we may love differently in the face of death and that love becomes a changing agent of death itself. Love gives a reason to live despite the absurdity of life or the implacable nature of death.
One other note that I took during this course was referring to how Russians changed Pascal's saying. Instead of saying that man is a thinking reed, these literary masterworks offer the alternative of man as a loving reed.

[Laurel Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent short series of lectures on nineteenth-century Russian authors, especially Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov. I was especially intrigued by Professor Knapp's analysis of Crime and Punishment. Must read that again soon--I haven't read it since I devoured it as a teenager. Also interesting was her treatment of how these authors affected other authors, including English and American, who came after them. She mentioned several times Forster's Aspects of the Novel, which I need to read soon, and Woolf's and Nabokov's treatments of the Russians, which I also want to read.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Понял в процессе чтения, что почти ничего не знаю о жизни Чехова. Стоит исправить

[Riq Hoelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author suggests that Woody Allen's film Love & Death (which every Russophile should see) got that title because those two topics are what 19th century Russian novels are all about. But I'm skeptical. I think he wanted to suggest a parody of War & Peace. So, like War & Peace, he chose a double-barreled title separated by an ampersand. Like War & Peace, both are grand concepts. War & Peace signals an initial bad time followed by a good time, but like any satirical work, he wants to say thing only get worse, hence, Love is followed by Death.

Says that the great conflict in Russia since Peter the Great has been between those who want to Europeanize and those who want to build on Slavic traditions. Turgenev was part of the former group, while both Tolstoy and Dostoevsky at times would lean toward the latter, without fully embracing that ethos, however.

It was interesting that at one point Dostoesvsky was in such dire straits that he promised a publisher to write a novella within a certain short time span or else give up the rights to all his books for eight years. He wasn't writing and it was becoming dangerous when a friend suggested he try this new thing called stenography. By dictating the book he was able to complete it in time and collect the reward. The fact that he was speaking rather than writing changed the nature of his narrative, making it more fluid and conversational. Then he married the stenographer as well.

Chekhov was a generation or more later than Tolstoy and while he was at first impressed with him, over time he felt more critical. His short stories that have a heroine named Anna are actually critiques of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.

This book was not bad, but really depends on one having read the books recently. At times I would have preferred it concentrate more on larger themes rather than assume we know all the plot details it depends on.

[Brenden Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice quick introduction to the great Russian writers. Might be a little challenging or less experienced readers but it is a joy and gets you excited to dive into the greats.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr Knapp reads (I don't believe she lectures) about the personal lives and writing careers of four great Russian authors who lived around the same time in the 19th century. I am somewhat acquainted by a few of their works: Tolstoy's Anne Karenina, and Dostoevsky's War and Peace. I never realized that Anne Karenina had multiple story lines with multiple parallels and opposites. A good reason to look at that book again. I could not make it through War and Peace, because I got confused that killing could come so easy and so soon in the book for a main character. Perhaps I will look at this book later, too.

The other two authors Dr Knapp introduces to me I have never even heard of: Anton Chekhov (short stories only), and Turgenev. All four knew each other and might influenced each other as well.

All these authors dealt with love and death, and not in the traditional man and wife romantic love and death sense. Varied family and social relations get juxtaposed in a complex compare and contrast exercise. Dr Knapp calls that (double) binary opposition.

[Stephen Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent audio overview of nineteenth-century Russian literature. Knapp doesn't present any stunning new insights, but her summaries and analyses of the most widely read Russian authors gave me a more solid idea of their unifying themes and spoke to what I personally enjoy in them. Although she covers many themes and formal elements of the works, she doesn't encumber her survey with too much theory. Her main focus is on the treatment of compassionate, selfless love and how it can develop in the face of death. The course is probably most useful if you've already read at least the main works under discussion: Turgenev's Fathers and Sons, Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground and Crime and Punishment, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, and Chekhov's Kashtanka, Lady with a Dog, Peasants, and Rothschild's Fiddle (the course motivated me to read the last two stories for the first time). My one quibble is that there is a wide world of Russian literature apart from the work of these "giants" that also merits significant attention.

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I deeply enjoyed this. It was pretty much exactly what I was hoping for. I wanted to learn a bit more about about this culture (19th C. Russia) that produced such unbelievably great writers and enduring works of fiction. Was kind of wanting to enroll in a university course, but opted for listening to this on my own time over less than two weeks instead, and didn't regret it. Knapp covers the writers and their works and milieu in an admirably mostly unbiased way, which was a meaningful point for me. And she clearly has a passion for her subject matter, which always makes for the best teaching. I learned a lot, and enjoyed it.

[Pat Rolston · Rating 4 out of 5]

The insights gained into those authors I have read very much made this a worthwhile program. I had read the works of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy the professor discussed and where I was unfamiliar with the subject author there is still enough background provided to realize some benefit. Ideally one would read those works by Chekhov and Turgenev discussed, but I now know I do want to read these books in time and then I will revisit this series. Very much recommended for deeper insight into great literature and the biographies of the amazing authors.

[Sam Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this lecture series. Although, the themes of "Love & Death" seem too broad to be specifically important to Russian literature, it seems like it would span all of literature.

Before listening to the series my favorites were: Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, and Turgenev.
After listening, I felt Tolstoy's idealism was a bit too much and I admired Chekhov's love of progress and his practical nature. Now it's: Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Tolstoy, and Turgenev.

[فلاح رحيم · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listening to these lectures is a real pleasure and insight to both readers who know the giants of Russian novel and those who need an introduction. The enthusiasm and depth of Dr Liza Knapp make the old texts quite new and relevant.

[Tyler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not love this, but it was good in that it was short and helped me identify a book of these four that I think I might like (Notes from the Underground). I wasn't dying to hear more though.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview. If you don't know where to start this would be a good book for you. Russian lit. can take a lifetime to study.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I need to read Crime and Punishment again. It's about compassion.

[Chuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit of a Hogan. Too scripted.