Top 10. The best works of Russian classics

Many of us from school have remained convinced that, for the most part, Russian classics are a rather boring and unthinkably drawn-out work for several hundred pages about the hardships of life, mental suffering and the philosophical searches of the main characters. We have collected the best works of Russian classics, which are impossible not to read to the end.

10 Anatoly Pristavkin “A golden cloud spent the night”

“A golden cloud spent the night” by Anatoly Pristavkin – a story that is piercing in its tragedy, which happened to orphans, the twin brothers Sasha and Kolka Kuzmin, who were evacuated along with the rest of the children from the orphanage during the war years to the Caucasus. Here it was decided to establish a labor colony for land development. Children turn out to be innocent victims of the government’s policy towards the peoples of the Caucasus. This is one of the most powerful and honest stories about military orphans and the deportation of the Caucasian peoples. “A golden cloud spent the night” has been translated into 30 languages ​​of the world and is rightfully one of the best works of Russian classics. 10th place in our rating.

9. Boris Pasternak “Doctor Zhivago”

Novel Boris Pasternak “Doctor Zhivago”, which brought him world fame and the Nobel Prize – in 9th place in the list of the best works of Russian classics. For his novel, Pasternak was sharply criticized by representatives of the official literary world of the country. The manuscript of the book was banned for publication, and the writer himself, under pressure, was forced to refuse to present the prestigious award. After the death of Pasternak, she was transferred to his son.

8. Mikhail Sholokhov “Quiet Flows the Don”

“Quiet Flows the Don” by Mikhail Sholokhov in terms of the scale and scope of the period of life of the main characters described in it, it can be compared with Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”. This is an epic story about the life and fate of the representatives of the Don Cossacks. The novel covers the three most difficult eras of the country: the First World War, the 1917 revolution and the Civil War. What happened in the souls of people in those days, what reasons forced relatives and friends to stand on opposite sides of the barricades? The writer tries to answer these questions in one of the best works of Russian classical literature. “Quiet Don” – on the 8th place in our rating.

7. Stories by Anton Chekhov

Stories by A.P. Chekhov, a universally recognized classic of Russian literature, take 7th place on our list. One of the most famous playwrights in the world, he wrote more than 300 works of various genres and died very early, at 44. Chekhov’s stories, ironic, funny and eccentric, reflected the realities of life of that era. They have not lost their relevance even now. The peculiarity of his short works is not to answer questions, but to ask them to the reader.

6. I. Ilf and E. Petrov “The Twelve Chairs”

The novels of writers with a wonderful sense of humor I. Ilf and E. Petrov “The Twelve Chairs” and “The Golden Calf” take 6th place among the best works of Russian classics. After reading them, every reader will understand that classical literature is not only interesting and exciting, but also funny. The adventures of the great strategist Ostap Bender, the protagonist of the books by Ilf and Petrov, will not leave anyone indifferent. Immediately after the first publication, the writers’ works were ambiguously perceived in literary circles. But time has shown their artistic value.

5. Alexander Solzhenitsyn “The Gulag Archipelago”

In fifth place in our ranking of the best works of Russian classics – The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. This is not only a great novel about one of the most difficult and terrible periods in the country’s history – repressions in the USSR, but also an autobiographical work based on the author’s personal experience, as well as letters and memoirs of more than two hundred camp prisoners. The release of the novel in the West was accompanied by a loud scandal and persecution against Solzhenitsyn and other dissidents. The publication of The Gulag Archipelago became possible in the USSR only in 1990. The novel is one of best books of the century.

4. Nikolai Gogol “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is a universally recognized classic of world significance. The novel “Dead Souls” is considered the crown of his work, the second volume of which was destroyed by the author himself. But our rating of the best works of Russian classics included the first book Gogol – “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”. It is hard to believe that the stories included in the book and written with sparkling humor were practically the first experience in Gogol’s writing. A flattering review of the work was left by Pushkin, who was sincerely amazed and fascinated by Gogol’s stories, written in a lively, poetic language without pretentiousness and stiffness.

The events described in the book take place in different time periods: in XVII, XVIII XIX centuries.

3. Fyodor Dostoyevsky “Crime and Punishment”

Novel “Crime and Punishment” by F. M. Dostoevsky ranks third in the list of the best works of Russian classics. He received the status of a cult book of world significance. This is one of the most frequently filmed books. This is not only a deeply philosophical work in which the author poses the problems of moral responsibility, good and evil to readers, but also a psychological drama and a fascinating detective story. The author shows the reader the process of turning a talented and respectable young man into a murderer. He is no less interested in the possibility of Raskolnikov’s atonement for guilt.

2. Leo Tolstoy “War and Peace”

Great epic novel Leo Tolstoy “War and Peace”, the volume of which terrifies schoolchildren for many decades, is actually very interesting. It covers the period of several military campaigns against France, the strongest at that time, led by Napoleon Bonaparte. This is one of the brightest examples of the best works of not only Russian, but also world classics. The novel is recognized as one of the most epic works in world literature. Here every reader will find his favorite topic: love, war, courage.

Second place in the ranking of the best works of Russian classics.

1. Mikhail Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”

Topping our list of best classics is a marvelous novel. Mikhail Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”. The author never lived to see the publication of his book – it was published 30 years after his death.

The Master and Margarita is such a complex work that not a single attempt to film the novel has succeeded. The figures of Woland, the Master and Margarita require filigree accuracy in the transfer of their images. Unfortunately, no actor has yet managed to achieve this. The film adaptation of the novel by director Vladimir Bortko can be considered the most successful.