Russian July

My mood has still been a little up and down lately, as it has been for awhile now, and I haven't been able to focus much on reading or anything, really --but this morning I had a desire to go back to basics. So I'm going to be having what I'm calling a Russian July, where I will read nothing but Russian, or Russian-inspired, literature, to get me back into the swing of things. Instead of viewing Russian literature as an anxiety-inducing thing-I-should-be-doing, I'm going to use it as a comfort blanket or a home.

I'm not going to push myself too hard with it, I only have three books on my list (with some back-up options in case I do manage to finish all of them), and these will be my summer dachas!

 

First, I've got Lolita, and this year is just going to have a lot of Nabokov in it (which I am 100% okay with). This is one where I've been putting it off, even though I know I'm going to enjoy it. I'm not really sure why it's working out that way, but whatever.

Then we've got Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente --I don't know if she's Russian or not? But the novel itself is inspired by Russian folklore and mythology, and I hear it has a vague plot/story-line, so it has all the makings for a book I'm hopefully going to love.

And then of course The Master and Margarita. Another summer cannot slip by without me reading this novel. 2017 is the year, I refuse to let this one go again!

I do have an entire week off work in July, so in case I do manage to finish these three, here are some other Russian contenders: rereads for Zamyatin's We or Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time, Doctor Zhivago by Pasternak, or Farewell to Matyora by Rasputin. (Gogol's Dead Souls was a little bit of an afterthought, but I think I might save that one for November around Thanksgiving --I feel like it would make a better cosy, autumn-on-the-brink-of-winter read).

So that will be my July! I'm really excited for it, and I hope it all goes well. x

Well that's it for now, much love,
Lizzie. x