Classics of Russian Literature

By: The Great Courses, Irwin Weil

Narrated by: Irwin Weil

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 My Library section along with the audio.

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

Russian Lit Lovers' Enrichment

Great lecture series if you love Russian lit and can't take a college course. Rich stories of the writers and there historical times. Excellent.

Classics of Russian Literature

In these 36 lectures of Classics of Russian Literature delivered by Prof Irwin Weil of Northwestern University, he presented the great Russian authors with remarkable clarity. Prof Weil connected the dots regarding Russian history and famous works in Russian Literature. Personally, I have read the great Russian authors and appreciated the way he presented both in English and in Russian. He covered the following Russian authors: Pushkin (1799-1837), Gogol (1809-1852), Dostoyevsky (1821-1881), Tolstoy (1828-1910), Turgenev (1860-1904), Peshkov (1868-1936), Maiakovsky (1893-1930), Sholokhov (1905-1984), Zoshchenko (1895-1958), Pasternak (1890-1960), and Solzenitzyn (1918-2008).

Thoroughly enjoyable

This was a great introduction to Russian literature.
I have read bits and pieces, here and there, but hearing from someone as well-spoken and knowledgeable was a pleasure.

Amazingly Good

I loved everything about this course, the Russian (good that I understand it), the singing, the info and review, but most importantly the passion and love towards Russian literature that was felt through all the course!

This is really special!

Who was Gorky? What made Tolstoy tick? Why was Pushkin a great poet?
If you have any interest at all in great literature, get this course! Prof. Weil not only delivers a compelling study of these and many other authors, but does so in English and Russian (which he speaks so beautifully you might feel compelled to try it yourself). The history and literature of this tragic country has never been told with such understanding and respect ( governments not withstanding). I can not recommend enough! Get this book! But be ready, now its time to listen to War and Peace, Dr Zhivago, The Brother Karamazov, and The Gulag Archipelago, and about fifteen others! Can't wait!