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Classics of Russian Literature

Written by: The Great Courses, Irwin Weil
Narrated by: Irwin Weil
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Publisher's Summary

Russian literature famously probes the depths of the human soul, and in this series of 36 insightful lectures prepared by a frequently honored teacher legendary among educators in both the United States and Russia - you probe just as deeply into the extraordinary legacy that is Russian Literature itself.

Professor Weil introduces you to masterpieces such as Tolstoy's War and Peace, Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, Gogol's Dead Souls, Chekhov's The Seagull, Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago, and many other great novels, stories, plays, and poems.

In all, you plunge into more than 40 works by a dozen writers, from Aleksandr Pushkin in the 19th century to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in the 20th century. You also investigate the origin of Russian literature itself, which traces its lineage back to powerful epic poetry and beautiful renderings of the Bible into Slavic during the Middle Ages.

All of these works are treated in translation, but Professor Weil does something very unusual in the literature-in-translation arena. For almost every passage that he quotes in English, he reads an extract in the original Russian, with a fluent accent and an actor's sense of drama.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2006 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2006 The Great Courses

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An intelligent and enjoyable tour

I have been wanting to get an overview of Russian literature for many years, but I found the breadth of the source material challenging. Where should I start? What separates Gogol from Chekhov? How do I understand the subtext? Irwin Weil's style, knowledge and understanding really helps break down the subject matter. Thanks to the author I feel impassioned to undertake my journey, knowing where I might like to start. Please don't be put off by the length of this course, you get value out of each and every lecture!

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прекрасна

I admire the passion of this teacher, it shines through him onto us. I like his intonations and his voice, the parts in russian and when he sang different songs. It's terribly interesting and it made me even more eager to read russian classics and learn this beautiful language. I just hope for a brighter and safer future with russia because i long to visit this country someday and visit the places that Weil talked about. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Irwin Weil.

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