The best modern books. New Classics: Top Writers of the 21st Century to Read

We talk about the most popular Russian books, from classics to modern literature.

From perestroika to the 21st century

Modern Russian literature has been developing dynamically since 1991, the year of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Four generations of writers of different genres fill its inner essence, creating the best Russian books.

Russian literature received a new round of development during the years of perestroika. Writers and books that graced that period:

Ludmila Ulitskaya "Medea and her children";
Tatyana Tolstaya "Circle";
Olga Slavnikova Waltz with a monster.

These books cover social and political issues.

Modern Russian prose of the 21st century also does not stand still. A whole creative galaxy of writers was formed, among which are such famous names as Daria Dontsova, Boris Akunin, Alexandra Marinina, Sergey Lukyanenko, Tatyana Ustinova, Polina Dashkova, Evgeny Grishkovets. These authors can be proud of the maximum circulation.

Modern literature is created by writers in various genres. As a rule, these are works within the framework of such trends as postmodernism and realism. Of the most popular genres, one can note dystopia, blogging literature, as well as mass literature (this includes horror, fantasy, drama, action films, detective stories).

The development of modern Russian literature in the style of postmodernism goes hand in hand with the development of society. This style is characterized by the opposition of reality and attitude towards it. Writers subtly draw the line between the existing reality and in an ironic way convey their vision of the change in the social order, changes in society and the prevalence of disorder over peace and order.

It is difficult to decide which book is a masterpiece, because each of us has our own ideas about the truth. And therefore, thanks to the fruitful work of poets, playwrights, science fiction writers, prose writers, publicists, the great and mighty Russian literature continues to develop and improve. Only time can put an end to the history of a work, because true and authentic art is not subject to time.

The best Russian detectives and adventure books

Fascinating and captivating stories in the detective genre require logic and ingenuity from the authors. It is necessary to think through all the subtleties and aspects so that the intrigue keeps readers in suspense until the last page.

Modern Russian prose: the best books for grateful readers

The top 10 most interesting books of Russian prose include the following works.

Russian literature has always been famous for its traditions. Domestic writers are included in school programs around the world, the authors of the best works receive international awards and recognition both among compatriots and abroad. Of course, not all books become bestsellers. We decided to tell you about the brightest books by modern Russian writers that you will like.

1. Vladimir Sorokin, Managara

@with_love_to_books_and_stitch

Publisher: AST, Corpus

Age restrictions: 18+

The 63-year-old writer has been writing since 1969. During this time, he has written 10 novels, 11 plays and published 10 collections of short stories, won many Russian literary awards, was awarded by the German Ministry of Culture and was nominated for the International Booker.

His latest novel is Manaraga. What will be the fate of the paper book in the world of smart fleas and holograms, viviparous fur and goldfish, after the New Middle Ages and the Second Islamic Revolution? In the novel "Manaraga" Vladimir Sorokin sets an unexpected vector for thinking about the relationship of humanity with the printed word. The unusual profession of the protagonist - an underground worker, a romantic, a professional in his field - makes us take a fresh look at the book. Sorokin's novel can be read as an epitaph to paper literature - and as a hymn to its eternal life.

2. Mikhail Veller, "Legends of Nevsky Prospekt"

@tatiana_begun

Publisher: AST

Age restrictions: 16+

The talented writer, journalist and publicist has written more than 10 novels and two dozen collections of short stories over the 70 years of his life. But his most famous collection is Legends of Nevsky Prospekt, which was first published in 1993. Incredibly hilarious stories with a special charm will give you a good time and will not let you off for a minute.

The amazing lightness of the ironic style and the combination of sarcasm with nostalgia made "Legends of Nevsky Prospekt" a truly national bestseller. Incredible stories from our recent past, told by the master, are increasingly perceived not as the writer's fantasies, but as if turning into a reality known to many.

3. Mikhail Shishkin, "Letter"

@lilyinbookishland

Publisher: AST

Age restrictions: 16+

Mikhail Shishkin is the only winner of three major Russian literary awards: Russian Booker (The Capture of Ishmael), National Bestseller (Venus Hair) and Big Book (Letter Book).The works of Mikhail Shishkin are incredibly subtle and piercing, touching the strings of the soul and captivating into the depths of the plot.

In the novel "The Letterman", at first glance, everything is simple: he, she. Letters. Country house. First love. But fate does not like simple plots. A sheet in an envelope blows up the world, the connection of times is torn. The past becomes the present: Shakespeare and Marco Polo, the adventures of a polar pilot and the capture of Beijing by Russian troops. The lovers go towards each other in order to bind together the torn time. This is a mystery novel. That death is as much a gift as love.

4. Evgeny Vodolazkin, Aviator

@jeannecojeanne

Publisher: AST

Age restrictions: 16+

Evgeny Vodolazkin is a living classic. He was awarded the Big Book Prize twice for his novels Laurel and The Aviator. In addition to Russian awards, he was awarded Serbian and Italian awards. According to the Guardian newspaper, the novel "Laurel" entered the top 10 books of world literature about God.

The hero of the novel "Aviator" is a man in a state of tabula rasa: once waking up in a hospital bed, he realizes that he knows absolutely nothing about himself - neither his name, nor who he is, nor where he is. Hoping to restore the history of his life, he begins to write down his fragmentary and chaotic memories that came to him: St. remembers exactly the details of everyday life, phrases, smells, sounds of that time, if the year 1999 is on the calendar?

5. Dmitry Bykov, "June"

@alina.valyaeva

Publisher: AST

Age restrictions: 18+

Writer, journalist and literary critic Dmitry Bykov, in addition to novels, wrote biographies of Boris Pasternak, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Bulat Okudzhava and Maxim Gorky. He has 16 Russian and international awards in his piggy bank. He wrote 19 novels, published 16 collections of poetry. His latest novel has been shortlisted for the Big Book Awards at the end of 2018.

The new novel by Dmitry Bykov is, as always, a vivid experiment, a literary event. Three independent stories, three different genres. Tragicomedy, in which the poet, a student of the famous IFLI, gets into. The drama of a Soviet journalist: love and betrayal, emigration and denunciation, arrest and betrayal. A grotesque, conspiracy tale about a mad scientist who discovered the mechanisms of governing the world with the help of language and text. At the center of all stories is the twentieth century, a premonition of war and the fate of people in their collision with the era.

6. Victor Pelevin, "Secret Views of Mount Fuji"

Publisher: Eksmo

Age restrictions: 18+

Viktor Pelevin is the most enigmatic Russian author. A few years ago, TV presenter Alexander Gordon suggested that the author does not exist at all, but a group of authors writes on behalf of Viktor Pelevin. But this myth was dispelled thanks to the stories of people who are personally acquainted with the writer - his classmates, classmates, colleagues and teachers. He has 16 Russian literary awards in his piggy bank. The last, the Andrei Bely Award for the novel "iPhuk 10", he received in 2017.

Description of the novel: Are you ready to experience reality the way the ascetics and magicians of ancient India experienced it two and a half thousand years ago? And if so, do you have enough money for it?The Fuji experiences startup does not operate in Silicon Valley, but in Russian realities, where the requirements for a new business are much tougher. There are a lot of people who can finance a new project...But this book is not only about the problems of Russian startups. It's about the long and agonizingly difficult homecoming of Russian oligarchs. And yet - a story of genuine female success that takes the heart.For the first time in world literature, the esoteric secrets of Mesoamerican feminism are revealed with a detailed description of its energy practices. It also touches on some interesting aspects of classical Buddhist meditation.

7. Guzel Yakhina, “Zuleikha opens her eyes”

Publisher: AST

Age restrictions: 16+

Guzel Yakhina wrote only two novels, but both are required reading for those who are passionate about Russian literature. Her debut work - "Zuleikha opens her eyes" was awarded six Russian and foreign awards and nominations.

The novel "Zuleikha opens her eyes" begins in the winter of 1930 in a remote Tatar village. The peasant woman Zuleikha, along with hundreds of other settlers, is sent in a heating wagon along the eternal hard labor route to Siberia.Dense peasants and Leningrad intellectuals, the declassed element and criminals, Muslims and Christians, pagans and atheists, Russians, Tatars, Germans, Chuvashs - all will meet on the banks of the Angara, daily defending their right to life from the taiga and the ruthless state.

8. Leonid Yuzefovich, Lighthouse on Hiiumaa

@bestbook_sochi

Publisher: AST

Age restrictions: 16+

Yuzefovich is not only a writer, but also a historian. In his bibliography you will find historical novels, detective stories, as well as short fiction. Leonid Yuzevofich is the owner of Russian awards, such as the National Bestseller and the Big Book.

The book "Lighthouse on Hiiumaa" contains stories from different years, including those related to the author's many years of historical research. He meets with the grandson of the white colonel Kazagrandi, who died in Mongolia, talks about Ungern with his German relatives, feeds the former Latvian shooter with soup, investigates a complicated story about the love of an Ungern officer for a Jewess he saved from execution. The shadows of long-dead people come into our lives, and every story from the past has a continuation in the present.

9. Alexey Ivanov, "Bad weather"

Publisher: AST

Age restrictions: 18+

Almost every one of us knows about Ivanov's book "The Geographer Drank His Globe Away" or at least watched the movie. Alexey Ivanov is the owner of many nominations for literary prizes and awards, including those of the Russian government for the novel Bad Weather. By the way, on Monday, November 12, the TV series of the same name, based on the novel by Alexei Ivanov, began on the Rossiya TV channel.

Description of the novel: 2008. A simple driver, a former soldier of the Afghan war, single-handedly organizes a daring robbery of a special van that transports the money of a large shopping center. So in the million-strong but provincial city of Batuev, a long history of a powerful and active union of veterans of Afghanistan ends - either a public organization, or a business alliance, or a criminal group: in the dashing nineties, when this union was formed and gained strength, it was difficult to distinguish one from another. But the novel is not about money and not about crime, but about bad weather in the soul. About the desperate search for a reason why a person should trust a person in a world where only predators triumph - but it is impossible to live without trust. A novel that greatness and despair have the same roots. About the fact that each of us runs the risk of inadvertently falling into bad weather and never getting out of there, because bad weather is a refuge and a trap, salvation and death, a great consolation and eternal pain of life.

10. Narine Abgaryan, “Three apples fell from the sky”

@very_literary

Publisher: AST

Age restrictions: 16+

Narine Abgaryan became famous thanks to the autobiographical novel Manyunya, which she originally wrote on her blog. In 2015, she was awarded the Alexander Green Award for her outstanding contribution to literature. In addition to cute children's stories for children, the writer gave the world "adult books".

“Three Apples Fell From the Sky” is the story of one small village lost high in the mountains and its few inhabitants, each of whom is a little eccentric, a little grumpy, and each of which hides real treasures of the spirit.

11. Zakhar Prilepin, "Sin"

Publisher: AST

Age restrictions: 18+

Zakhar Prilepin is a graduate student and winner of many literary awards for his novel Abode? he received the Big Book Award, and the novel Sin won the Super National Best Award and was named the best book of the decade.

A small provincial town and a quiet village, lost in the troubled nineties. The imperceptible transformation of a boy into a man: from barefoot childhood with discoveries and tragedies, which is for life, to tender and fragile youth with first unrequited love, to a drunken and bad intoxication of youth, to surprised fatherhood - with responsibility already for their children and their woman . SIN is reflection and love, fun and courage, kidnapping dissolved in blood, and happiness, tight as a sail, ringing summer and greedy joy of life. A poetic, subtle, poignant, very personal story of a hero named Zakharka.

12. Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Jacob's Ladder

@books_o_clock

Publisher: Edited by Elena Shubina

Age restrictions: 18+

Ludmila Ulitskaya is the owner of the Big Book and Russian Booker awards, her books have been translated into 25 languages, her works are filmed, and the novels themselves will certainly become bestsellers.

"Jacob's Ladder" is a novel-parable, a bizarrely branched family chronicle with many characters and a filigree plot. In the center of the novel are the parallel destinies of Yakov Ossetsky, a man of books and an intellectual born at the end of the 19th century, and his granddaughter Nora, a theater artist, a self-willed and active personality. Their "acquaintance" took place at the beginning of the 21st century, when Nora read the correspondence between Yakov and Maria's grandmother and obtained access to his personal file in the KGB archive... The novel was based on letters from the author's personal archive.

Preview photo: @vanackercom

Modern domestic literature is rich in a variety of names. Many book resources make their own ratings of the most widely read authors, best-selling books, and top-selling books (RoyalLib.com, bookz.ru, LitRes. Ozon.ru, Labyrinth.ru, Chitai-gorod, LiveLib.ru). We present the "twenty" of the most popular contemporary writers of Russia, whose works can be found in the collection of the Centralized Library System of Volgodonsk.

Speaking of modern Russian literature, one cannot help but recall the masters of writing novels.

Ludmila Ulitskaya. A bright representative of Russian literature of the post-Soviet period. She began writing prose when she was over forty. In her own words: "First she raised children, then she became a writer." The first collection of short stories by the writer, Poor Relatives, was published in 1993 in France and was published in French. Ulitskaya's book "Medea and Her Children" brought her to the finalists of the Booker Prize in 1997 and made her truly famous. The "Big Book" awards were awarded to: a collection of short stories "The People of Our Tsar", "Daniel Stein, Translator", which soon received the status of a bestseller. In 2011, Ulitskaya presented the novel The Green Tent, which tells about dissidents and the lives of people of the generation of the "sixties". The autobiographical prose and essays of the writer were included in the book Sacred Garbage, published in 2012. Admirers of the writer characterize her work exclusively as bold, subtle, intelligent.

Dina Rubina. Critics often refer to her as a "women's writer," although her novel On the Sunny Side of the Street won the third Big Book Prize in 2007, when Ulitskaya's "Stein" won first. The 2004 novel Syndicate, which satirically describes the Moscow branch of the Israeli agency Sokhnut, quarreled her with many in Israel. But Russian readers are still big fans of her work. The story "When it snows" brought the author particular popularity. The work went through several editions, was filmed, played on theater stages. The writer's books are distinguished by colorful language, vivid characters, a rude sense of humor, adventurous plots and the ability to talk about complex problems and things in an accessible way. Of the latest works - the trilogy "Russian Canary". The plot, the character of the characters, the ruby language - it's impossible to tear yourself away from all this!

Aleksey Ivanov.High-quality Russian prose in the genre of realism. The words of one critic that "Alexei Ivanov's prose is the gold and foreign exchange reserves of Russian literature" are often reproduced on the covers of his books. The heroes of Ivanov, whether they are the mythical Voguls of the 15th century (“The Heart of Parma”), the semi-mythical rafters of the 18th century (“The Gold of Riot”) or the mythologized modern Permians (“The geographer drank away his globe”), speak a special language and think in a special way. All works are very different, but they are united by subtle author's humor, gradually turning into satire. The writer Aleksey Ivanov is notable for the fact that while emphasizing his “provinciality”, he nevertheless carefully ensures that the plot follows all the laws of a Hollywood action movie in any novel. His last novel, Bad Weather, was ambiguously received by the reading public. Some talk about the cardboard and lifelessness of the characters, the hackneyedness of the criminal theme, others speak with enthusiasm about the writer's ability to create a portrait of our contemporary - a man brought up during socialism, who received a solid Soviet education, and during the global breakdown of society, left alone with his conscience and questions. Is this not a reason to read the novel and form your own opinion about it?

Oleg Roy.A bright name among novelists. He lived outside of Russia for a little over a decade. It was at this time that the beginning of his creative career as a writer falls. The name of the debut novel, Mirror, was presented to post-Soviet readers as an Amalgam of Happiness. After this book, he became famous in book circles. O. Roy is the author of more than two dozen books of various genres for adults and children, as well as articles in popular print media. The writer's work will appeal to those who love just good prose. He writes in the genre of an urban novel - life stories, slightly seasoned with mysticism, which gives the author's work a special flavor.

Pavel Sanaev.The book "Bury Me Behind the Plinth" was appreciated by critics and readers - a story in which the theme of growing up seems to be turned upside down and acquires the features of surreal humor! A book in which the very idea of a happy childhood is parodied in a Homeric funny and subtly evil way. The continuation of the cult story was published only in 2010 under the title "Chronicles of Gouging".

Evgeny Grishkovets. He began as a playwright and performer of his plays, but then the dramatic scene seemed to him not enough. He added music lessons to this, and then went into prose writing, releasing the novel "The Shirt". It was followed by the second book - "Rivers". Both works, judging by the reviews, were warmly received by readers. Short stories and collections of short stories followed. Despite the fact that the author works very seriously on each of his works and then proudly notes that the “author’s position” in this book is completely different from the “author’s position” in the previous one, it seems that Grishkovets, with his plays, performances, prose and songs all his life he writes the same text named after himself. And at the same time, each of his viewers / readers can say: “He wrote it right about me.” The best books of the author: "Asphalt", "A ... a", collections of stories "Plank" and "Footprints on me."

Zakhar Prilepin.His name is known to the widest circle of readers. Prilepin's childhood and youth passed in the USSR, and growing up took place in the difficult 90s of the 20th century. Hence the frequent reviews of him as the "voice of generations." Zakhar Prilepin was a participant in the Chechen campaigns of 1996 and 1999. His first novel, Pathology, tells about the war in Chechnya, was written by the author in 2003. The writer's best books are the social novels Sin and Sankya, in which he shows the life of modern youth. Most of the author's books were warmly received by the public and critics, "Sin" received rave reviews from fans and two awards: "National Bestseller" and "Faithful Sons of Russia". The writer also has the "Supernational Best" award, which is given out for the best prose of the decade, as well as the all-China award "Best Foreign Novel". The new novel - "Abode", about the life of the Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp, became a bestseller due to its historical and artistic content.

Oksana Robsky.She made her debut as a writer with the novel "Casual", which marked the beginning of the genre of "secular realism" in Russian literature. Oksana Robski's books - "Day of Happiness - Tomorrow", "About LoveOFF / ON", "Oysters in the Rain", "Casual 2. Dance with Head and Feet", etc. caused numerous and contradictory reviews of critics. According to some observers, the novels faithfully reproduce the atmosphere of Rublyovka, testify to the lack of spirituality and artificiality of the world of the so-called Rublyov's wives. Other critics point to numerous inconsistencies and say that Robski's writing has little to do with the realities of everyday life of the business elite. The artistic merits of her works are generally not highly valued; At the same time, some critics emphasize that Robsky, in fact, does not pretend to high artistic goals, but sets out events easily, dynamically and in clear language.

Boris Akunin.Fiction writer. Akunin is a pseudonym, and not the only one. He also publishes his works of art under the names of Anna Borisova and Anatoly Brusnikin. And in life - Grigory Chkhartishvili. The novels and short stories from the New Detective series (The Adventures of Erast Fandorin) brought fame to the author. He also owns the creation of the series "Provincial Detective" ("The Adventures of Sister Pelagia"), "The Adventures of the Master", "Genres". In each of his “children”, a creative person surprisingly combines a literary text with cinematic visuality. Positive feedback from readers testifies to the popularity of all stories without exception.

Many readers prefer detective genres, adventure literature.

Alexandra Marinina. She is called by critics nothing less than the queen, the prima donna of the Russian detective. Her books are read in one breath. They are distinguished by realistic plots, which make the reader wholeheartedly experience the events that happen to the characters, empathize with them and think about important life issues. Some of the new works of the author, which have already managed to become bestsellers: "Execution without malice", "Angels on Ice Don't Survive", "Last Dawn".

Polina Dashkova.Wide popularity came to the writer after the publication of the detective novel "Blood of the Unborn" in 1997. During the period 2004-2005. the author's novels "A Place in the Sun", "Cherub" were filmed. The style of the writer is characterized by bright characters, an exciting plot, a good style.

Elena Mikhalkova. Critics say that she is a master "life" detective. The best books of the writer are detective stories in which all the characters have their own story, which is no less interesting to the reader than the main storyline. The author takes plot ideas for his works from everyday life: a conversation with a supermarket clerk, leaflet texts, a family conversation at breakfast, etc. The plots of her works are always thought out to the smallest detail, making each book very easy to read. Among the most popular books: "Whirlpool of Alien Desires", "Cinderella and the Dragon".

Anna and Sergei Litvinov. They write in the genres of adventure and detective literature. These authors know how to keep the reader in suspense. They have more than 40 novels to their credit: The Golden Maiden, Sky Island, The Sad Demon of Hollywood, Fate Has a Different Name, and many others. In their reviews, readers admit that the Litvinovs are masters of intrigue and an exciting plot. They harmoniously combine in their texts a mysterious crime, vivid characters and a love line.

One of the most popular literary genres among Russian readers is the female love story.

Anna Berseneva. This is the literary pseudonym of Tatyana Sotnikova. She wrote her first novel, Confusion, in 1995. Anna Berseneva is the only author who managed to populate modern women's novels with outstanding male characters. After all, it is precisely the absence of expressive male characters, according to sociologists, that is the reason why the female novel is practically absent on the domestic book market. A. Berseneva's cycle of novels about several generations of the Grinev family - "Unequal Marriage", "Last Eve", "The Age of the Third Love", "The Fisher of Small Pearls", "The First, Random, Only" - formed the basis of the serial television film "Captain's Children ".

Ekaterina Wilmont. Her books are loved by readers all over Russia. She wrote her first love story at the age of 49 (“The Journey of an Optimist, or All Women are Fools”). Then I tried myself in the genre of children's detective story. In her novels for women, Wilmont reveals the inner world of modern, mature, independent women who are able to control circumstances, talk about their failures and victories, tragedies and joys, and about what excites every reader - about love. The novels of Ekaterina Vilmont are humor, cheerfulness and witty titles: “In Search of Treasures”, “The Hormone of Happiness and Other Nonsense”, “Incredible Luck”, “With all the foolishness!” , "An intellectual and two Ritas". This is an ironic, light, lively prose that is read in one breath and charges readers with optimism and self-confidence.

Maria Metlitskaya. Her works appeared on the market of modern women's love literature relatively recently, but have already managed to win the respect of fans. The first novel was published in 2011. The best books of the writer are known for the accuracy of details, life-affirming mood and light humor. The reviews of her fans say that these books helped them find a way out of difficult life situations. To date, the list of the writer's works includes more than 20 novels and short stories. Among her latest works, it is worth highlighting the following: “Our Little Life”, “Mistake of Youth”, “Two Street Road”, “Faithful Husband”, “Her Last Hero” and others.

In modern Russian science fiction there is a whole galaxy of talented writers whose names and works deserve attention.

Sergey Lukyanenko. One of the most circulated authors among science fiction writers. The first print run of his book The Last Watch was 200,000 copies. Films based on his novels have become an important factor in increasing popularity. The release of the blockbusters "Night Watch" and "Day Watch" increased the circulation of books by this author by more than seven times.

Nick Perumov.He became widely known after his first publication in 1993 of the epic "Ring of Darkness", which takes place in John Ronald Reuel Tolkien's Middle-earth. From novel to novel, Nick's style becomes more and more individual and unique, and the initial opinion of critics and him as a Tolkienist has remained in the past. The best books of Perumov and his series are included in the treasury of Russian science fiction literature: Chronicles of Hjervard, Chronicles of the Rift, Soul Thieves, Black Blood and many others.

Andrey Rubanov.Fate was not easy: he had to work as a driver and bodyguard in the difficult 90s, live in the Chechen Republic at the height of the military campaign. But this gave him the necessary life experience and helped him successfully start his journey in literature. The most flattering reviews deserved the works that are rightly included in the list of the best science fiction books: "Chlorophilia", "Plant and it will grow", "The Living Earth".

Max Fry.The author's genre is urban fantasy. Her books are for people who have not lost faith in fairy tales. Stories about ordinary life and a light style can capture any reader. An attractive contrast makes the image of the protagonist popular and extraordinary: male external role and behavior and female motives for actions, a way of describing and evaluating what is happening. Among the popular works: "The Power of the Unfulfilled (collection)", "Volunteers of Eternity", "Obsession", "Simple Magical Things", "Dark Side", "Stranger".

These are far from all the names of modern Russian literature. The world of domestic works is diverse and fascinating. Read, learn, discuss - live in step with the times!

Text: Alexandra Bazhenova-Sorokina

Illustrations: Dasha Chertanova

GREAT WRITERS ARE TALKED MUCH MORE THAN WOMEN WRITERS- the latter are often associated with literature "for women". This, of course, is unfair - modern literature would not be itself without outstanding writers. We decided to recall ten of our writing contemporaries, who will certainly be read tomorrow and in a few decades.

Donna Tartt

Possibly the most successful intellectual writer of the 21st century, Donna Tartt made headlines with her third novel, The Goldfinch. It turned out that among postmodernism and post-irony there is a place (and a need has ripened) for an old-fashioned serious work. Weighty volumes of Tartt are snapping up quickly: both readers and critics appreciate it for its beautiful language, ingenious plots, humanism, and for that thoughtful slowness with which you read Dickens or George Eliot.

In The Goldfinch, the classic parenting novel, based on the tragedy of a boy and his long journey to adulthood and self-discovery, fascinates with both delicacy of style and plot twists. This is exactly the case when thinking about the text stretches like a train - it significantly exceeds the time, in fact, of reading.

Joyce Carol Oates

For some time, it was customary to make fun of the performance of Joyce Carol Oates, but the critics dried up, and the talent of the 78-year-old American did not. Dozens of novels, hundreds of stories and poems, of course, are not equal in size, but there are already articles on this that will help you understand the existing legacy of Oates.

Over the years, few people have been able to talk so consistently and with such subtlety about violence, about gender and racial inequality, about social problems, showing them not only as "problems of the environment", but as part of the inner life of the individual and, accordingly, as anthropological problems. . In Russia, Oates is primarily known for her programmatic novel The Garden of Earthly Delights, about the struggle between the destructive and creative principles in one woman.

Toni Morrison

At eighty-five, Toni Morrison is a living legend, a literary pillar, undeservedly little read in Russia. One of the main authors of American multiculturalism, like no other, claims to be the Marquez of the USA. She released her last novel only a year ago, actively lectures and is a loud voice of "black America", whose comments on the murders of African-American teenagers are no less important for many Western intellectuals than the statements of politicians or pop stars.

In his novels, Morrison talks about the identity of the African American population of the United States through the means of magical realism. For example, "Beloved" is the story of a woman, written in the best traditions of American Gothic, fleeing from slavery and forced to face her own past, which takes on flesh and blood. The writer's texts are structured in such a way that the author's reflections on human dignity, various types of oppression, myth and love are refracted through the multiple perspectives of the characters.

Ludmila Petrushevskaya

In modern Russian prose, women play a key role, and it is impossible to list all the important names. However, above all of them rises like a pillar, the Russian magician of the word Lyudmila Petrushevskaya. The author of novels, plays, stories, songs, fairy tales that have become memes (Peter the Piglet), and the script for Norshtein's mystical "Tale of Fairy Tales" is still actively writing, as well as singing, drawing and doing everything.

And the stories, and novels, and the story "Time is Night", which brought Petrushevskaya her first fame, are really hard to read, because what makes her prose frightening is not a fantastic component (where it exists at all), but Gogol's irony and the vitality of ongoing nightmares. However, the oppressive and magical world of Petrushevskaya is attractive, and not only for her compatriots: she managed to achieve recognition both in the post-Soviet space (and this after a long-term ban on her books) and abroad. To this day, she remains one of the most translated Russian writers.

Isabelle Allende

The most famous Spanish-language writer of the 20th century is Chilean, born in Lima, and lives in the United States, so she may well be considered Pan-American. In addition to the classic "House of Spirits" and the adventures of Eva Luna, the writer has, for example, an amazing autobiographical book "Paula", dedicated to her deceased daughter and tells about the coup in Chile, about Allende's personal life and vocation and motherhood.

Allende proved that a Latin American woman could become an internationally popular writer, and she herself began to set the rules for the relationship between magical realism, eroticism and historical narrative. Her wonderful book "Aphrodite", dedicated to aphrodisiacs, deserves special attention.

Ursula Le Guin

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, David Mitchell and Salman Rushdie, J. R. R. Martin and other greats of the world of literature openly acknowledge the undeniable influence of Ursula Le Guin on their prose. One of the main writers of science fiction and fantasy of the 20th century has the imagination to inhabit distant planets and to think through in detail the features of forms of culture that are alternative to human. But not only.

In her texts, she accurately and deeply, with the wise detachment of an anthropologist, analyzes the nature of gender, sexual and social inequality, reflects on otherness in all its manifestations, on the ecology and politics of the colonialists - and the author of The Left Hand of Darkness and the legends of the Earthsea began to ask these questions long before it became mainstream.

Olga Sedakova

Olga Sedakova was entrusted with "Moscow - Petushki" by Venedikt Erofeev, John Paul II corresponded with her, Sergey Averintsev taught her and studied with her. She translated Thomas Aquinas, Emily Dickinson, Paul Claudel and others, but most importantly, she wrote and continues to write poetry that in the 20th and 21st centuries does not speak funny or falsely about faith.

Sedakova started working when any work related to religion was banned in the USSR, and now, finding herself in completely different conditions and facing other difficulties, she continues to prove that spiritual heights and true art can still be combined and bring light, not destruction. The poetess is published in Russia and abroad, and her philosophical and philological works are no less interesting than poetry. The amazing purity and grandeur of the Russian language, which the author speaks at a level unattainable for most modern writers, is visible in any of her texts, including the last collection of poems from different years, The Garden of the Universe.

Svetlana Aleksievich

Controversy constantly burns around the figure of Svetlana Aleksievich, and even more so after she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature: after all, she does not write fiction. Indeed, Aleksievich is the first non-fiction author in the history of the award. If the political statements of the writer raise questions, then her works speak for themselves.

Aleksievich's texts give ordinary people the opportunity to write history, whether it's about women and children in World War II or about those who served in Afghanistan. Both in the programmatic book “War Does Not Have a Woman's Face” and in the new work about the 90s “Second Hand Time”, it is difficult to separate fiction and non-fiction literature. The emotional effect of the prose of the great Belarusian woman is no less than that of novels, and what she tells is both a document of the era and a universal monument to human suffering.

The stories are written in such a way that they want to be re-read, and each time in a small text she manages to fit a surprisingly rich narrative, creating a world that far exceeds the volume of the work. In the collections "Too Much Happiness" and "The Fugitive", published in Russian, one can feel all the characteristic features of Munro's prose. There are more understatements than clarity, time jumps back and forth, and the story can end in mid-sentence. Despite the sometimes famously twisted plots and unexpectedly changing characters in the eyes of the reader, you believe every word of the author, as if you are personally watching what is happening.

Joan Didion

One of the most influential non-fiction writers coming out of the "new journalism" school, Joan Didion is an exemplary writer who creates literature from life. Since the 1960s, Didion has been writing prose and journalism, exploring a wide variety of social phenomena and issues. One of Didion's most highly acclaimed works, the autobiographical book The Year of Magical Thinking, was written as a kind of therapy: the author describes the death of her husband, her daughter's illness, grief as a social phenomenon and as a personal experience.

Both literary and journalistic texts of the writer are thought out to the smallest detail: a student of Hemingway, Henry James and George Eliot preaches the value of the correct alignment of each sentence, because the syntax, like a camera in a movie, snatches from reality exactly what the author wants to show the reader.

Aleksey Ivanov

Yes, I had great discoveries that can be called artistic, although the books are non-fiction. One of them is the book of the laureate Pulitzer Prize Daniel Yergin "Production"(M.: Alpina Publisher, 2016), history of the world struggle for oil. It reveals the secret economic mechanisms of world history, and a lot of what, it turns out, in your mind "stood on its head", turns "on its feet."

Another discovery - a book by Dmitry Karasyuk "History of Sverdlovsk rock"(Yekaterinburg: Armchair scientist, 2016). It is written in beautiful language, and inside this book I see a genuine romance with plots, dramas, climaxes and denouements. I haven't decided on reading for the holidays yet. Yes, I don't have holidays.

press service of Alpina Publisher

Leonid Yuzefovich

Sebastian Hafner "The Story of a German"(St. Petersburg: Ivan Limbakh Publishing House, 2016). Written in the late 1930s, an autobiographical novel with moving reflections on the origins and nature of the Nazi regime in Germany. An excellent translation by the initiator of the publication, critic Nikita Eliseev.
Varvara Malahieva-Mirovich “The pendulum of my life. Diary. 1930-1954"(M.: AST, edited by Elena Shubina, 2015). A remarkable document of the era and the colossal work of the publisher, literary historian Natalia Gromova.

On New Year's holidays I am going to read a book by Ivan Prosvetov, just published by the author himself. "Ten Lives of Vasily Yan". I know that this writer, beloved by me since childhood, lived an extraordinary life, and I hope to learn a lot about him.

Sukhbat Aflatuni

Vladimir Martynov "Book of Changes"(M.: Klassiki XXI, 2016) — one and a half thousand pages of immersion in history, philosophy, music, life.
New book of poems by Gleb Shulpyakov Samet(M.: Vremya, 2017) is the realm of air and meaning, a multi-layered and minimalistic style.
"Great Ease" Valeria Pustova (M.: RIPOL Klassik, 2015) is literary criticism that is written—and read—like fascinating prose.

From the nearest "must-read" - Mark Z. Danilevsky, "House of Leaves"(Ekaterinburg: Gonzo, 2016), disturbing at the first scrolling. Fragments, cacophony of fonts...

press service of "Classics XXI"

Roman Senchin

I can’t say that I read some fresh books this year. But there were a lot of important ones. I will name three, although I am aware that my choice may seem unoriginal.

Firstly, "Winter road" Leonid Yuzefovich (M.: AST, Editorial Board of Elena Shubina, 2016). This book received several awards, which caused complete approval for some, irritation for others. Nevertheless, it sounded, and not without reason. The book is based on the campaign of Anatoly Pepelyaev's detachment against Yakutsk in 1922-1923... Even in the detailed history of the civil war in Soviet textbooks, only a few lines were devoted to this event, necessarily mentioning the word "adventure". Yuzefovich reveals to us the reasons for this campaign, and he is no longer seen as a gamble. History is not chronological, it is much, much more complicated. The author is trying to show this complexity - in my opinion, excellently - in the format of the declared "literary and artistic publication" "Winter road". Plus, it brings back to us a number of interesting personalities of that era.

press service of the Editorial Board of Elena Shubina

Secondly, Anna Kozlova's "film novel" "F20" published in the journal "Friendship of Peoples"(N10, 2016). This is a very heavy work - frank, cruel, terrible. In general, it is traditional for Kozlova. No wonder the critic Lev Danilkin called her the author of "ultrashock novels." But Anna Kozlova writes so brightly, fascinatingly and talentedly that it is impossible to break away from this horror.

Thirdly, the book "Shadow of Mazepa" Sergei Belyakov (M.: AST, Editorial Board of Elena Shubina, 2016). I'm not going to rate this piece. It seems that it is very controversial, but to argue, you need deep knowledge in the history of Russia, the history of literature ... The book did not come out yesterday, it has not caused much controversy yet, and this is bad. Such books can help us understand something important. Although - do we want to understand this something? ..

However, equally important were "Crystal in a transparent frame" Vasily Avchenko, "Girl in the Garden" Oleg Ryabov, "In the footsteps of Dersu Uzala" Alexey Korovashko, Trumpeter at the Gates of Dawn Roman Bogoslovsky, "Shukshin" Alexey Varlamov, "Valentin Kataev" Sergei Shargunov, "Blade Flame" Dmitry Novikov, "I want miracles" Elena Tulusheva, "Untranslatable play on words" Alexander Garros...

I want to devote New Year's days to reading books by Alexei Ivanov "Pitchfork" And "Tobol"(M.: AST, edited by Elena Shubina, 2016).

Members of the jury of the Yasnaya Polyana Literary Prize

Marina Moskvina

In Penza at the book festival I bought a volume of Roland Barthes "Fragments of a Love Speech"(translated by V. Lapitsky, M.: GARAGE & AdMarginem, 2015). Essay on the speech of lovers. Rather, this speech itself is intermittent, rough, impulsive. The plot is assembled from fragments. Here are the words of Goethe, mystics, Taoists, Nietzsche, many passing phrases and something accidentally read, friendly conversations and memories. All this splashes in a blurry imperfect stream, narrative voices come, go, fall silent, intertwine, it is not known at all who is speaking - no images, nothing but this confused speech, no bibliography, no systematics, only the heart beats faster, and you are with all the lovers you feel how reality recedes in the face of this world.

GARAGE & AdMarginem

I enjoyed reading the collection. (M.: AST, edited by Elena Shubina, 2016) — good modern writers talk about places in Moscow that are important to them, where they were born or were just happy. There is also my story about the Nirnsee House in Bolshoi Gnezdnikovsky Lane, on the roof of this house I spent my childhood.

And as a person who has been in the clouds since birth, for the New Year holidays she prepared for herself "Entertaining cloud science"(translated by O. Dementievskaya, M. Falikman, M.: Gayatri, 2015). Pure poetry, a unique guide to the clouds by Gavin Praetor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Society.

Alexander Grigorenko

In the past year there were many books, including new and good ones, for example, Evgenia Vodolazkina (M.: AST, Edena Shubina, 2016). But the main discoveries were "Winter road" Leonid Yuzefovich (M.: AST, Editorial Board of Elena Shubina, 2016) and "Stoner" John Williams (Per. L. Motylev, M.: AST, Corpus, 2015), who made the same impression on me as many, many years ago "Death of Ivan Ilyich".

The life of an ordinary person is really worth looking at under a microscope. I also really liked the book "At the origins of the world: Russian etiological tales and legends"(M.: ISl RAN; Forum; Neolit, 2014). And on vacation, it’s unlikely that I’ll be able to read something, because work has suddenly piled on - I’ll catch up later.

corpus press office

Marina Stepnova

Of the new products this year, I was especially impressed by "Animator" Andrei Volos (Moscow: EKSMO, 2016) is a tense, subtle novel in which reality magically mixes with fiction. Andrei Volos is generally an extraordinary author, each of his books seems to be written by a different writer, and all these writers have only one thing in common - an amazing talent.

Alexander Garros "Untranslatable play on words"(M.: AST, edited by Elena Shubina, 2016). A clear, intelligent, piercingly honest book, as if by itself gathered from many articles and essays. Garros is one of the few modern critics who honestly tries to understand what is happening in modern Russian literature (and in modern life at the same time). He does not make friends, does not quarrel, does not settle scores. He thinks and observes. And to follow the course of his thought is a great pleasure.

press service of the Editorial Board of Elena Shubina

Hanya Yanagihara "Little Life"(Translated by A. Borisenko, A. Zavozova, V. Sonkin, M.: AST, Corpus, 2016). A sensational novel that drew an equal number of rabid fans and equally rabid detractors. An amazing example of how skillfully and according to all the rules a book can make a lively and vivid impression even on sophisticated readers. Reading is difficult in every sense, sometimes even annoying - but the book is undoubtedly a success.

On New Year's holidays I want to finally read Narine Abgaryan (Moscow: AST, 2016). This book has been on my wishlist for a long time. In general, I really love Narine - she is a wonderful writer and a wonderful person. I just wanted to carve out as much time as possible for this book.

Evgeny Vodolazkin

Of the new publications, I would single out the story of Alexander Grigorenko "Lost the blind pipe"(magazine "October", No. 1, 2016) - bright and tragic. Alexander Grigorenko, whom we know from wonderful novels "Mabeth" And "Ilget", discovered a brand new writer's face. He showed himself to be a musician capable of playing in different registers.

I would also name the story of Narine Abgaryan Three apples fell from the sky(M.: AST, 2016). This is a wonderful text about the Armenian village, alive, real, and at the same time existing in a powerful literary tradition, represented primarily by the great Hrant Matevosyan.

AST press office

To these two stories, I would add another small text - the novel by Julian Barnes (Translated by E. Petrova, St. Petersburg: Azbuka-Atticus, Foreigner, 2016). This is a book about Shostakovich, but not only. With subtlety characteristic of Barnes, it explores the nature of despotism.

I'm going to read a novel by John Williams over the New Year holidays. "Stoner"(Translated by L. Motylev, M .: AST, Corpus, 2015) - everyone somehow did not reach his hands. And also - a novel by Mikhail Gigolashvili "Secret Year", which, according to my information, should be released soon.

Vasily Golovanov

This year I read only three books that can be called relatively new. The first is a novel by the Chinese writer Mo Yan "Tired of being born and dying"(Translated by I. Egorov, St. Petersburg: Amphora, 2014). A grandiose epic, all, like Marquez, built on the history of one village - only not Macondo, but Ximengtun. This is truly powerful literature.

The second book is a novel by Sergei Solovyov "Adam's Bridge"(M.: Russian Gulliver, 2013). I don't know how many have read it. Personally, I met Solovyov at the Krasnoyarsk Book Fair, and he shocked me with his stories about India. And the book he wrote is amazing. This is not a travel novel, this is an attempt by the author to regain his beloved through the recollection of their joint journey, everything that they found there was beautiful and important for the further existence of both of them. This is the bridge of love, through which the beloved will unmistakably find the way to the one who is waiting for her. Crazy, but beautiful and very brightly written book!

2016 Boslen

The third book is a study by Andrey Baldin "The New Bukvoskop, or the Transcendent Journey of Nikolai Karamzin"(M.: Boslen, 2016). Andrei is one of the most original thinking people I have ever known. And I'm interested in his argument when he derives the modern Russian language from Karamzin's long foreign voyage. In fact, for the birth of the language in which Pushkin, Zhukovsky and everyone after Karamzin later wrote, almost everything was ready. But abroad, he was the first to catch some kind of wave, some kind of rhythm of modern literary legend and, returning to Russia, wrote the first modern story. "Poor Lisa". This bringing language out of the wandering was extremely curious to me.

In general, this year my old dream came true - I bought the twenty volumes of Leo Tolstoy. And here I really read ... All the novels, all the novellas and short stories anew - and everything is like the first time ... Bunin read Bunin with the same voraciousness in the spring. I am not at all convinced that it is necessary to read exclusively new items. Therefore, I reread so much what was printed a long time ago. We had the highest, first world-class literature. I don't think it's all that optimistic right now.

During the holidays I will read the autobiography of Vasily Vasilyevich Nalimov "Rope Walker"(M .: Progress, 1994) - an outstanding, although so far only a relatively well-known philosopher. I hope I have a lot of work to do on Nalimov next year: I need to somehow "get used" to the atmosphere and the meanings that this amazing person lived - a mathematician, freethinker, anarchist, mystic, who made a real revolution in philosophy, that the philosophers themselves are just beginning to understand.

Ludmila Saraskina

Vasily Aksenov. "Catch pigeon mail..." Letters (M.: AST, Editorial Board of Elena Shubina, 2015). The richest correspondence with parents, friends, comrades in the literary profession, extracted from the American archive, provides the most valuable material not only for understanding the fate of the Russian writer, who was forced to become an emigrant, but also for the perception of the Russian emigration of the “third” wave itself.

Vladimir Ermakov In Search of the Lost Metaphysics. The Book of Doubts"(Eagle: Spring Waters, 2016). A book of deep reflections of a man for whom philosophizing is akin to breathing.

Butterflies and chrysanthemums. Japanese Classical Poetry of the 9th-19th Centuries". Translated by A. Dolin, V. Markova, A. Gluskina, T. Sokolova-Delyusina. (St. Petersburg: Arka, 2016). An amazingly beautiful book to read and contemplate. “How good, / When you open at random / An ancient book - / And in combinations of words / You will find your own soul”. Hokku and tanka side by side with color photographs and woodcuts of birds, flowers, animals, rivers and waterfalls from old albums. Magic lantern.

Press office "Arka"

Guzel Yakhina

The beginning of the outgoing year was successful - it presented two very good books at once. In winter I read the long-awaited Lyudmila Ulitskaya (Moscow: AST, Revision of Elena Shubina, 2015) is a large multi-layered novel-parable, where fiction is imperceptibly intertwined with genuine documents from the family archive of Lyudmila Evgenievna - letters from her grandfather. What was unexpected in the text was that Ulitskaya acted not only as a writer, but also as a production designer - on behalf of the main character Nora, she described the stage keys to solving several plays. Reading - and as if watching performances staged by Ulitskaya.

Irakli Kvirikadze "Boy Chasing a Wild Duck"(M.: AST, edited by Elena Shubina, 2015). Collection of short stories, scripts and memoirs. Remarkably capacious, concise, outwardly simple and unexpected texts, striking with the ease of transitions from funny to tragic, from farce to parable, from everyday authenticity to absurdity.
Antoine de Beck "New wave: a portrait of youth"(Translated by Irina Mironenko-Marenkova, Moscow: Rosebud Publishing, 2016). A fascinating study of the revolutionary movement in French cinema that has preserved for us the image of the “greatest decade in the history of mankind”, as in one later film ( "Withnail and Me", 1987) were called the sixties. And in many ways, and formed this image.
Igor Levshin "Petrusha and the Mosquito"(M.: Russian Lessons, 2015). Tough absurdist stories, among which there are very successful ones. Others simply do not know which side to approach: puzzling, unsettling, irreconcilably opposed to the inertial flow of descriptive literature.

Pleased with the charming collection of essays by Evgeny Lesin “And immediately drank. Viktor Erofeev and others."(M.: RIPOL Classic, 2016). The book is not only about the author "Petushkov", but also about Arcadia Severny, the Marquis de Sade, Edgar Allan Poe, Yuri Olesha, Tatyana Beck, editor Alexander Shchuplov and others. There is also a surprisingly lyrical alco-local study - a guide to wine glasses with prices and related details. And funny, and serious, and, as they say, atmospheric.

But on the upcoming New Year holidays, I'm going to pleasantly enlighten myself by reading "Dark Matter and Dinosaurs" physicist Lisa Randall (M.: Alpina non-fiction, 2017) The name is promising.

We thank the Yasnaya Polyana Literary Prize for their help in preparing the material.