Discovering Russian Literature discussion

Hello readers! Welcome to the October reading of Contemporary Russian readings. Our pick is "The Winter Queen" by Boris Akunin.

Use this thread for all the discussions and please mark spoilers either by warning the other readers with ***spoilers included**** OR by simply using the formatting tips in Goodreads,(some html is ok)

ENJOY!!!

The first in a series of detective stories? I had no idea. Another translation isn't it? I just saw the original title is Azazel.

Those who read this, please let me know how the translation is like.

The cover of the paperback edition is so beautiful and evocative. Unfortunately I am reading a library copy without the cover so I don't get the pleasure of holding the beautiful image in my hands.

Shanez wrote: "The first in a series of detective stories? I had no idea. Another translation isn't it? I just saw the original title is Azazel.

Those who read this, please let me know how the translation is like."

Shanez, it is a translation. Andrew Bromfield is an excellent translator, and he has done the whole Fandorin series, of which this is the first. About five books are now in English, as well as two or three of Akunin's Sister Pelagia series. There are more Fandorin books in Russian, though.

I've read this book twice already, but it's been a few years. And I've read the German translation, thankfully there are more of Akunin's books available in German than in English. I feel like the fourth in the series, "The Death Of Achilles" is the first great Fandorin novel though. "The Winter Queen" is good clean fun, but it doesn't have the sophistication of the later instalments yet. Also there was a movie version supposed to come out this year, but it seems to be trapped in development hell.

The fact that we're reading "The Winter Queen" confirms my belief that if you read a book that you really enjoyed, SAVE IT!!! I read this over a year ago (actually, maybe even two years ago), and it was before I got my Nook, so I have the paperback edition of it. I've given away quite a lot of books I've already read because I just don't have the space for all of them, but I haven't been buying any "actual" books since I got a Nook last year.

BUT, I really enjoyed "The Winter Queen" and I KEPT MY COPY OF IT, thinking that I will want to read it again sometime.

YAY!!!! Now I get to read it with this group. When I first read it, there were so many things I wanted to discuss with others, but I didn't know anyone else who read it.

I'm REALLY looking forward to rereading "The Winter Queen" and discussing it with all of you!!! (And don't worry -- even though I've read it already, I'm VERY careful about spoilers.)

By the way -- I read the English translation. Is anyone here reading the original Russian edition?? As an American who does not speak any Russian, the most difficult thing about this book were all THE NAMES!!! I didn't have a difficult time with the names in Anna Karenina, or in any of Chekhov's work, but "The Winter Queen" definitely had my head spinning over the names until I was maybe a quarter or a third of the way into the book.

I have finished chapter 3 already. The head-hopping (omniscient narrator) makes me a bit crazy: I don't remember noticing that the first time around. But the plot is picking up. And I don't think it counts as a spoiler to say that I love the reference to "American roulette" on p. 24. I knew that what we call Russian roulette was not Russian, but it's still fun to see Akunin highlight it.

As for the names—Russian names are always a problem for people who have yet to master the system (like me, when I read Doctor Zhivago years ago). But there is really no way round them, because the form of the name expresses the nature of the relationship....

In my own books I try to keep each character to one name as much as I can, but even then it is not always possible. And in a translation, you just can't—not if you want to remain true to the originals.

Would it help to give an overview of the system, or do most people here already know how it works?

I read two chapters yesterday and I'm planning on reading some more tonight after work. I read the book
about six years ago but I have no memory of it. So
far I'm liking it a lot. I was really surprised by
the use of "American Roulette", I always thought of it
as being Russian, so that was interesting for me. So
far the names aren't a huge problem although I did have to go back and check the name of the store owner
at the end of chapter two because I couldn't remember
who he was.

C.P. wrote: "Shanez wrote: "The first in a series of detective stories? I had no idea. Another translation isn't it? I just saw the original title is Azazel.

Those who read this, please let me know how the tra..."

Thanks, C.P. I just learned this is a part of a detective series? Is this detective someone like Sherlock Holmes in Victorian literature?

Can we call it a work of Russian literature?

Fandorin is a sort of Sherlock in the sense that his powers of perception are almost uncanny. He doesn't have Sherlock's quirks, although he is a martial arts expert à la Vladimir Putin. Fandorin is also very young—20, when we first meet him—and rather alarmingly passive. You'll see. I find him, on the whole, less interesting than the surrounding stories, not least because he is pretty improbable as a character.

Off to tackle chapter 4.

C.P. wrote: "I have finished chapter 3 already. The head-hopping (omniscient narrator) makes me a bit crazy: I don't remember noticing that the first time around. But the plot is picking up. And I don't think i..."

I thought the "American Roulette" was very funny. There are MANY funny moments in this book, but it's been over a year since I've read it. I've been meaning to reread it for this discussion, but I was caught up with an overwhelming amount of work over the past few weeks, and I see that this is a "short" read -- it looks like the discussion ends on October 31st, so I don't know if I'll have a chance to reread the entire book before the end of the month.

C.P., in your post you mentioned that there's a "system" for Russian names. I think when we read Anna Karenina here someone had explained it, but I don't remember how it works.

If it's not too much trouble for you, would you explain it?

I'm out, using wi-fi right now, and don't have The Winter Queen with me, but I'll have it with me the next time I come to this thread. I'd love to go through the book and share some of the moments that I thought were funny, and there were also some moments in the book that I found confusing.

C.P. wrote: "Fandorin is a sort of Sherlock in the sense that his powers of perception are almost uncanny. He doesn't have Sherlock's quirks, although he is a martial arts expert à la Vladimir Putin. Fandorin i..."

:) Thanks. Hope you are enjoying it!

Barbara wrote: "C.P. wrote: "I have finished chapter 3 already. The head-hopping (omniscient narrator) makes me a bit crazy: I don't remember noticing that the first time around. But the plot is picking up. And I ..."

The basic system is First Name Father's Name Family Name, with everything having male and female variants and women taking or not taking their husband's family names depending on the period. The main signal marking a woman's name is that it ends in -a.

So, Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov but Maria Ivanovna Ivanova. Vladimir Vladimirovich (son of Vladimir) Putin but Marina Vladimirovna Putina. People are referred to by first name and father's name (patronymic) as a gesture of respect, where English speakers would say Mr. or Ms. So if someone calls Fandorin Erast Petrovich, it's the same as calling him Mr. Fandorin.

Where it really gets complicated is that most first names have multiple forms that reflect how the speaker feels about the other person at any given moment. So Natalya becomes Natasha, Natashenka, Tasha, Tashenka, and so on. If you are writing fiction about Russia in English, as I do, you can either find names without so many variations or ignore the possibilities, but in a translation, that's hard to do.

Hope that helps.

Just finished, with mixed feelings. I loved the idea of a Russian who-dunnit, and I'm always hopeful of discovering a new writer with a series of books I can enjoy, but... I found this a bit hectic, a bit madcap. However it was a quick, easy read and I think I will try another Akunin/Fandorin story some time.

C.P. wrote: "Barbara wrote: "C.P. wrote: "I have finished chapter 3 already. The head-hopping (omniscient narrator) makes me a bit crazy: I don't remember noticing that the first time around. But the plot is pi..."

Thank you, C.P. -- you've really made it all make sense for me!!!

Have you finished the book yet??? I've already read it, so I'm afraid I may accidentally post spoilers (without putting them into a "spoiler" folder.)

I agree with Laurie's post -- message #14 in this thread. It's definitely a quick, easy read, and I also found parts of it very funny. AND, Laurie found it a bit hectic and madcap -- I absolutely agree. In fact, some of it was So "hectic" that it was almost difficult to believe.

I'm looking forward to the discussion when everyone finishes reading it.

Barbara wrote: "C.P. wrote: "Barbara wrote: "C.P. wrote: "I have finished chapter 3 already. The head-hopping (omniscient narrator) makes me a bit crazy: I don't remember noticing that the first time around. But t..."

I read it when it first came out in English, but I am old enough to have no memory :-) so am re-reading it for this group. I am about halfway through. Not sure if I will finish by tomorrow, but I will finish.

Fandorin seems very flat to me. Many of the characters do. That's not rare in mysteries, though. Look at Lord Peter Wimsey, one of my favorites, in his early adventures. Other than that, it's a decent tale.

Finished Winter Queen last night, just one day late, mostly by skimming the entire last quarter.

It's funny: I liked it the first time I read it, but this time I found myself really bogged down in the long passages (I'll keep this general to avoid spoilers) where Character X confesses how s/he planned and committed the crime of the moment while pointing a weapon at Fandorin, who has figured out just enough to be considered dangerous but not enough to protect himself and who then blabs, "So you're the one" or words to that effect, thus further sealing his fate. And although the love object is introduced early, the actual romance begins on p. 205 (of a 242-page book). Development, anyone?

The ending is tragic, even so. And the writing itself is often lovely. But I have to say that I am really looking forward to revisiting Evgenii Onegin now. Especially since it gives me an excuse to watch the film with Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler again.

C.P. wrote: "But I have to say that I am really looking forward to revisiting Evgenii Onegin now. Especially since it gives me an excuse to watch the film with Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler again...."

I hope you'll join us soon. Though I've already read it, I do have a question or two I always wanted to ask.

Amalie wrote: "C.P. wrote: "But I have to say that I am really looking forward to revisiting Evgenii Onegin now. Especially since it gives me an excuse to watch the film with Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler again......."

Thanks, Amalie. Ask away (in that thread, maybe). I have read Onegin several times. I just want to read it again with the group—and will, starting tomorrow.