Russian Literature: Learn from Masters

In this course, I will tell you the story of Russian Literature. By the end of this course, you will know all the major Russian classic novels, as well as some of the most influential novelists from the Russian-speaking world.

In the first 5 videos, I will talk about 5 classic novels of Russian literature written by the first generation of the Russian writers. First, I will talk about Eugen Onegin by Alexander Pushkin, the father of modern Russian Literature, who single-handedly revolutionised the Russian Literature as wells the Russian language. Then I will discuss A Hero of Our time by Mikhail Lermontov, often considered the second most beloved poet of Russia. Then I will move on to Nikolai Gogol’s satirical stories, mainly his masterpiece, the Dead Souls as well as Ivan Gonacharov’s novel, Oblomov is another classic of Russian satire. Finally, I will talk about Ivan Turgenev, one of the most artistic of Russian writers. His masterpiece Fathers and Sons inspired both Tolstoy and Dostoevsky to write their greatest novels.

In the second 5 videos, I will talk about Fyodor Dostoevsky, perhaps the most psychological Russian writer who influenced later generations of writers from around the world. I will talk about his most influential novels, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Demons, Notes from Underground and his magnum opus, the Brothers Karamazov. Dostoevsky combined crime genre with philosophy to dissect the human psyche and asked psychological as well as existentialist questions as to what makes us tick.

In the next 2 videos, I will look at the works by Leo Tolstoy, the giant of Russian Literature. I will discuss his two main novels, War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Unlike the psychological tales of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy was more concerned with the sociological questions concerning what forces move history and civilisation as well as the role of an individual within a society. I will also discuss Anton Chekhov, the father of short stories whose tales have been immensely influential in cinema.

This course will take you on a journey of Russian Literature that’s incredibly psychologically deep, sociologically profound and artistically beautiful. This course is for anyone interested in literature in general or someone who wants to lear about Russian Literature in particular. This course is good for anyone who wants to be a writer so you can learn writing and storytelling from these giants of literature.