Russian literature

Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union. With the break up of the USSR different countries and cultures may lay claim to various ex-Soviet writers who wrote in Russian on the basis of birth or of ethnic or cultural associations.

Post-Soviet era

The end of the 20th century and the early 21st century has proven a difficult period for Russian literature, with relatively few writers raising above the mass of pulp fiction, such as Victor Pelevin or Vladimir Sorokin. Of course, only history will reveal the final worth of this period.

Related Topics:
Victor Pelevin - Vladimir Sorokin - This period

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In the early 21st century the reading public in Russia has shown considerable interest in new quality literature. Many new authors have emerged, along with new publishing companies, new brands and new literature series. Traditional Russian prose remains popular, and distinctive work has come out of the Russian provinces: for example Nina Gorlanova from Perm has written stories about the everyday problems and joys of the provincial intelligentsia.

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Detective stories and thrillers have proven a very successful genre of new Russian literature: note the interesting phenomenon of the huge interest in ironical detective stories by Darya Dontsova. She has written about 50 novels, and her books have appeared published in millions of copies and even translated in Europe.

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Generations of winter ( in Russian: ?Moskovskaya saga? ), a novel by the Russian writer Vasily Aksyonov, has appeared in the USA. Many critics have praised this novel as a new Doctor Zhivago large-scale Russian novel, which tells the story of the Russian Gradov family struggling to survive in the Stalin era.

Related Topics:
Generations of winter - Vasily Aksyonov - Doctor Zhivago

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Several Russian writers have become rather popular in the West, such as Tatyana Tolstaya and (especially) Lyudmila Ulitskaya. Detective-story writer Boris Akunin, with his series about the 19th century sleuth Erast Fandorin, publishes in Europe and in the USA. Alexandra Marinina, the most popular female detective-story writer in Russia, has succeeded in publishing her books around Europe, especially in Germany.

Related Topics:
Tatyana Tolstaya - Lyudmila Ulitskaya - Boris Akunin - Erast Fandorin - Alexandra Marinina

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The 2003 Frankfurt Book Fair selected Russia as its special guest of the year.

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See List of Russians and List of Russian authors for more names.

Related Topics:
List of Russians - List of Russian authors

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