Hello all, I’ve watched some movies that are either placed in the soviet era or Russian homeland, I know most are probably dramatized, but every time I come across the culture I am intrigued.
Ive watched Queens Gambit, Tetris (2023), Stranger Things, Murder Drones, Chernobyl, Pantheon, and all have some Russian aspect of some capacity.
Are there any books that might be similar themes to above, but have a theme or background of Russian/USSR culture? I’m talking everyday life, having the government feel like it’s watching you 24/7, housing blocs, etc.
Not really interested in WW2 books, but any reccommendations would be appreciated!
thank you!
by deltalew
5 Comments
You might like *A Gentleman in Moscow* by Amor Towles or *Gorky Park* by Martin Cruz Smith. This is a little different from what you are looking for, but if you are interested in literature that was written by Soviet authors, I would recommend *The Master and Margarita* by Mikhail Bulgakov and *The Day Lasts More Than A Hundred Years* by Chingiz Aitmatov. The latter book is set in a more rural part of Kazakhstan and is definitely not an urban Russian-SSR housing bloc vibe, but it’s a fantastic book so I’m reccing it anyway.
Also, this is a tv show, but I think you would love *The Americans* based on the shows you’ve watched so far!
I Must Betray You and Between shades of gray by Ruta Sepetys might fit your request at least partially.
Deathless by Catherine M. Valente
Some Russian books from Russians (and also a Belorusian):
*Other Worlds: Peasants, Pilgrims, Spirits, Saints* by Teffi (translated by Elizabeth Chandler and Robert Chandler) is a short story collection by a Russian writer from the late 19th/early 20th century. Surreal stories that contain a lot of Russian Folklore. Read the Afterword first as it will give you some needed context.
*Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets* by Svetlana Alexiévich (translated by Bela Shayevich) is an oral history of the last days of the Soviet Union, though it also includes peoples’ memories of earlier days as well, so there is some WWII stuff in it. She has other oral histories too, including one about Chernobyl.
*Monday Starts on Saturday* by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky (translated by Andrew Bromfield) is an odd, humorous, fantasy book about a sort of magic institute. I’ve heard it described as something Terry Pratchett might have written if he’d grown up in the USSR. The Strutgatsky brothers wrote a lot of other science fiction books as well, many of which have gotten new translations in the last 10-15 years. A much darker book of theirs is T*he Doomed City*, which, while it doesn’t technically take place in the USSR, might as well have.
And last, but definitely not least:
*The Master and Margarita* by Mikhail Bulgakov — an absolutely bonkers classic that will definitely give you the feeling of housing problems, the government watching you, etc. There are a lot of translations. I read the one by Katherine Tiernan O’Connor and Diana Lewis Burgin. But really just watch out that you don’t get some AI slop translation.
The Fortune Tellers of Rue Darue by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore is about Russian emigrés in 1920s Paris with flashbacks to 1900. It’s a novel but lots about Russian culture
The same author also has a novel called The Haunting of Moscow House about Bolsheviks taking over a house in the summer of 1921 with the family still living in it