M.A. Reading List

Students taking the MA examinations should be familiar with all the texts on this list. They may, of course, choose to discuss additional texts on the exam. Students are also responsible for any
texts that they have considered in depth in a graduate seminar. We expect that students will be able to put these works into historical context and be able to speak and write about the works’
poetics, structure, genre and principle themes. Students should be able to discuss the place of a given work in the history of Russian literature, including its intertextual echoing of past texts or
its impact on texts of the future. There is no separate reading list for our Ph.D. exams, but we expect students to go well beyond this list, especially for the periods of their specialization.

18th Century
(for the purposes of the M.A., the 1790s only)

Derzhavin, G.R. (1743-1816)
Felitsa
Na smert’ kniazia Meshcherskogo
Evgeniiu. Zhizn’ Zvanskaia
Reka vremen…

Karamzin, N.M. (1766-1826)
Bednaia Liza
Extracts from Pis’ma russkogo puteshestvennika in Khrestomatiia po russkoi literature XVIII veka, ed. A. V. Kokorev (Moscow, 1965)

19th Century
l800s-l840s

Baratynskii, E.A. (1800-1844)
Finliandiia
Moi dar ubog i golos moi negromok
Poslednii poet
Vsio mysl’ da mysl’, khudozhnik bednyi slova!
Na smert’ Gete
Na posev lesa

Batiushkov, K.N. (1787-1855)
Vyzdorovlenie
K Dashkovu
Ten’ druga
Na razvalinakh zamka v Shvetsii
Moi genii

Gogol’, N.V. (1803-1852)
Revizor
Vechera na khutore bliz Dikan’ki: Predislovie (to both Parts I and II), Sorochinskaia iarmarka, Vecher nakanune Ivana Kupala, Strashnaia mest’, Ivan Fedorovich Shpon’ka i ego tetushka
Mirgorod
Nevskii prospekt
Nos
Shinel’
Zapiski sumasshedshego
Portret
Mertvye dushi

Griboedov, A.S. (1795-1829)
Gore ot uma

Zhukovskii, V.A. (1783-1852)
Sel’skoe kladbishche
Vecher
Na smert’ Andreia Turgeneva
Pevets vo stane russkikh voinov
Svetlana
Liudmila
Lesnoi tsar’
Lalla Ruk

Krylov, I.A. (1769-1844)
Vorona i Lisitsa
Lisitsa i vinograd
Lebed’, Shchuka i Rak

Lermontov. M.Iu. (1814-1841)
Net, ia ne Bairon, ia drugoi
Parus
Borodino
Smert’ poeta
Kogda volnuetsia zhelteiushchaia niva
Vetka Palestiny
Gliazhu na budushchnost’ s boiazn’iu
Ne smeisia nad moei prorocheskoi toskoiu
Duma
Poet
Ne ver’ sebe
Tri pal’my
Dary Tereka
1-oe ianvaria (“Kak chasto pestroiu tolpoiu okruzhen”)
I skushno i grustno
Est’ rechi—znachen’ e
Tuchi
Proshchai, nemytaia Rossiia
Rodina
Vykhozhu odin ia na dorogu
Son
Tamara
Spor
Prorok
Demon
Geroi nashego vremeni

Pavlova, K.K. (1807-1893)
Dvoinaia zhizn’

Pushkin, A.S. (1799-1837)
Vol’nost’
K Chaadaevu
Derevnia
K Ovidiiu
Pogaslo dnevnoe svetilo
Redeet oblakov letuchaia griada
Muza
Pesn’ o Veshchem Olege
Uznik
Demon
K moriu
Razgovor knigoprodavtsa s poètom
Vakkhicheskaia pesnia
Ia ponmiu chudnoe mgnoven’e
I9 oktiabria (“Roniaet les bagrianyi svoi ubor … “)
Prorok
Zimniaia doroga
Vo glubine sibirskikh rud
Stansy (“V nadezhde slavy i dobra”)
Arion
Poèt
19 oktiabria 1827
Niane
Vospominanie
Dar naprasnyi, dar sluchainyi
Anchar
Poèt i tolpa
Na kholmakh Gruzii lezhit nochnaia mgla
Ia vas liubil: liubov’ eshche byt’ mozhet
Zimnee utro
Brozhu Ii ia vdol’ ulits shumnykh
Chto v imeni tebe moem
Poètu
Elegiia (“Bezumnykh let ugasshee vesel’e”)
Moia rodoslovnaia
Klevetnikam Rossii
Osen’
Pora, moi drug, pora! Pokoia serdtse prosit
Vnov’ ia posetil
Iz Pindemonti
Ia pamiatnik sebe vozdvig nernkotvornyi

Evgenii Onegin
Kavkazskii plennik
Tsygany
Mednyi vsadnik
Skupoi rytsar’
Kamennyi gost’
Pir vo vremia chumy
Boris Godunov
Мotsart i Sal’eri
Povesti Belkina
Pikovaia dama
Kapitanskaia dochka (ed. Iu. Oksman, 1964)
Skazka o zolotom petushke
Skazka o tsare Saltane

1840s-l890s

Chernyshevskii, N.G. (1828-1889)
Chto delat’?

Chekhov, A.P. (1860-1904)
Smert’ chinovnika
Van’ka
Gusev
Anna na shee
Palata No 6
Uchitel’ slovesnosti
Trilogiia: Chelovek v futliare, Kryzhovnik, O liubvi
Dushechka
Dama s sobachkoi
V ovrage
Tri sestry
Vishnevyi sad

Goncharov, I.A. (1812-1891)
Oblomov

Dostoevskii, F.M. (1821-1881)
Bednye liudi
Dvoinik
Zapiski iz podpol’ia
Zapiski iz mertvogo doma
Prestuplenie i nakazanie
Idiot
Besy
Brat’ia Karamazovy

Fet, A.A. (1820-1892)
Pechal’naia bereza
Ia prishel k tebe s privetom
Kogda moi mechty za gran’iu proshlykh dnei
Shepot, robkoe dykhan’e
Osen’ (“Lastochki propali”)
Komu venets: bogine l’ krasoty
Odnim tolchkom sognat’ lad’iu zhivuiu
Zhizn’ proneslas’ bez iavnogo sleda
Na stoge sena noch’iu iuzhnoi

Leskov, N.S. (1831-1895)
Levsha
Ledi Makbet Mtsenskogo uezda

Nekrasov, N.A. (1821-1877)
Edu li noch’iu po ulitse temnoi
V den’ smerti Gogolia (“Blazhen nezlobivyi poet”)
Razmyshleniia u paradnogo pod”ezda
Rytsar’ na chas
Kogda iz mraka zabluzhden’ia
Poslednie elegii

Ostrovskii, A.N. (1823-1886)
Groza

Saitykov-Shchedrin, M.E. (1826-1889)
Gospoda Golovlevy

Tolstoi, L.N. (1828-1910)
Istoriia vcherashnego dnia
Nabeg
Sevastopol’ v mae
Svastopol’ v dekabre
Tri smerti
Detstvo
Kazaki
Voina i mir
Anna Karenina
Kreitserova sonata
Smert’ Ivana Il’icha
Khadzhi Murat
Ispoved’

Tiutchev, F.I. (1803-1873)
Bessonnitsa
Kak okean ob’emlet shar zemnoi
Silentium!
Tsitseron
Ne to, chto mnite vy, priroda
Dusha moia, Elizium tenei
Den’ i noch’
Mal’aria
Poèziia
Probleme
Ia liuteran liubliu bogosluzhen’e
Posledniaia liubov’
Ona sidela na polu
Umom Rossiiu ne poniat’

Turgenev, LS. (1818-1883)
Zapiski okhotnika
Rudin
Ottsy i deti
Dnevnik lishnego cheloveka
Pervaia liubov’

20th Century
1900s-1930s

Annenskii, I. F. (1858-1909)
Sentiabr’
Staraia sharmanka
Kolokol’chiki
Peterburg
Poètu

Akhmatova, Anna (1889-1966)
Pushkin (“Smuglyi otrok brodil po alleiam”)
Muze
Nastoiashchuiu nezhnost’ ne sputaesh’
Vse my brazhniki zdes’, bludnitsy
Vecherom
Vse raskhishcheno, predano, prodano
Lotova zhena
Godovshchinu posledniuiu prazdnui
Rekviem
Poèma bez geroia

Babel’, I.E. (1894-1941)
Konarmiia
Istoriia moei golubiatni
Pervaia liubov’
Giui de Mopassan

Belyi, Andrei (l 880-1934)
Peterburg (M. “Nauka”, 1981)

Blok, A.A. (1880-1921)
Devushka pela v tserkovnom khore
Neznakomka
Noch’, ulitsa, fonar’, apteka
Shagi Komandora
O doblestiakh, o podvigakh, o slave
Na pole Kulikovom
Skify
Pushkinskomu domu
Dvenadtsat’
O sovremennom sostoianii russkogo simvolizma

Bulgakov, M.A. (1891-1940)
Sobach’e serdtse
Master i Margarita

Bunin, I.A. (1870-1953)
Gospodin iz San-Frantsisko
Legkoe dykhanie

Gippius, Z. N. (1869-1945)
Ona
Ia (ot chuzhogo imeni)
Boginia
Pauki
Shveia

Gladkov, F. (1883-1958)
Tsement

Gor’kii, Maksim (1868-1936)
Na dne
Mat’

Il’f i Petrov [Il’f: I. A. 1897-1937; Petrov, E. P. 1903-1942]
12 stul’ev

Kataev, V. P. (1897-1886)
Vremia, vpered!

Kharms, D. I. (1905-1942)
Sluchai
Khlebnikov, V.V. (1885-1922)
Zakliatie smekhom
Chisla
Veter – penie
Odinokii litsedei
Eshche raz, eshche raz
Ladomir

Khodasevich, V.F. (1886-1939)
Ballada
Pered zerkalom

Kuzmin, M.A. (1875-1936)
Moi predki
О, byt’ pokinutym – kakoe schast’e
Iz gliny golubykh golubok
Fuzii v bliudechke
Rozhdenie Erosa
Forel’razbivaet led

Mandel’shtam, O.E. (1891-1938)
Dano mne telo
Silentium
Notre Dame
Admiralteistvo
V raznogolositse devicheskogo khora
Sumerki svobody
Ia slovo pozabyl, chto ia khoteI skazat’
Tristia
V Peterburge my soidemsia snova
Vek
1 ianvaria 1924
Den’ stoial o piati golovakh. Sploshnye piat’ sutok
Ia skazhu èto nacherno, shepotom
O prirode slova

Maiakovskii, V.V. (1893-1930)
A vy mogli by? (1913)
Oblako v shtanakh
Lilichka. Vmesto pis’ma
Nash marsh
Oda revoliutsii
Prikaz po armii iskusstv
Pro èto (1923)
Razgovor s fininspektorom o poèzii
Vo ves’ golos (“Pervoe vstuplenie v poèmu”)
Ia znaiu silu slov, ia znaiu slov nabat (Neokonchennoe)

Nabokov, V.V. (1899-1977)
Dar
Zashchita Luzhina
Vesna v Fialte
Lolita, Pnin (in English)

Olesha, Iu.K. (1899-1960)
Zavist’

Ostrovskii, N.A. (1904-1936)
Kak zakalialas’stal’

Pasternak, B.L. (1890-1960)
Posle dozhdia
Marburg
Slozha vesla
Sestra moia – zhizn’ i segodnia v razlive
Zerkalo
Gamlet
Zimniaia noch’
Zemlia
Gefsimanskii Sad
Veter
V bol’nitse
Doktor Zhivago

Pil’niak, B.A. (1844-1938)
Golyi god

Platonov, A.P. (1899-1951)
Kotlovan
Reka Potudan

Sologub, Fedor (1863-1927)
Melkii bes (SPb. Nauka, 2004)

Shklovskii, V. B. (1893-1984)
Zoo, ili pis’ma ne o liubvi

Shvarts, E. L. (1896-1958)
Drakon

Tsvetaeva, M.L (1892-1941)
Moim stikham, napisannym tak rano
Nikto nichego ne otnial
Beloe solntse i nizkie, nizkie tuchi
Khvala bogatym
Toska po rodine! Davno ..
Liubov’! Liubov’! I v sudoroge, i v grobe
Poèt – izdaleka zavodit rech’
Bich zhandarmov, bog studentov (“Stikhi k Pushkinu,” I)
Popytka revnosti
Poèma gory

Vaginov, K. K. (1899-1934)
Kozlinaia pesn’

Vvedenskii, A. I. (1904-1941)
Mne zhalko chto ia ne zver’
Znachen’e moria
Elegiia

Zamiatin, E.N. (1884-1937)
My

Zabolotskii, N. A. (1903-1958)
Merknut znaki Zodiaka
Gde drevnei muzyki figury
Gde-to v pole vozle Magadana
Proshchanie s druziami
V etoi roshche berezovoi

Zoshchenko, M. M. (1895-1958)
Iz “Rasskazy Nazara Il’icha gospodina Sinebriukhova”:
Predislovie
Aristokratka
Bania
Administrativnyi vostorg
Obez’ianii iazyk

1940s -1991

Aitmatov, Ch. Т. (1928-2008)
Belyi parokhod

Baranskaia, N. V. (1908-2004)
Nedelia kak nedelia

Berggol’ts, O. F. (1910-1975)
Tvoi put’

Brodskii, I.A. (1940-1996)
Ia pamiatnik vozdvig sebe inoi!
Bol’shaia elegiia Dhzonu Donnu
Ia vas liubil. Liubov’ eshche (vozmozhno, [No. 4 of the 20 sonetov k
Marii Stiuart]
Konets prekrasnoi epokhi
Liubov’ (“Ia dvazhdy probuzhdalsia ètoi noch’iu”)
24 dekabria 1971 goda
Predstavlenie

Dovlatov, S. D. (1941-1990)
Filial

Erofeev, V. V. (1938-1990)
Moskva-Petushki

Evtushenko, E.A. (1932-2017)
Babii iar

Ginzburg, L. Ia. (1902-1990)
Zapiski blokadnogo cheloveka

Grossman, V. S. (1905-1964)
Vse techet

Iskander, F. А. (1929-2016)
Sandro iz Chegema, selections: Sandro iz Chegema, Prints Ol’denburgskii, Piry Valtasara

Limonov, E.V. (1940-2020)
Eto ia – Edichka

Petrushevskaia, L.S. (b. 1938)
Novye Robinzony
Gigiena
Vremia noch’

Prigov, D.A. (1940-2007)
Vot v ocheredi tikhon’ko stoiu
Kogda mne devushkoiu byt’
Ne khochet Reigan nas liubit’
Tam, gde ptentsom Katull, so snegirem Derzhavin
Kogda zdes’ na postu stoit Militsaner

Rasputin, V. G. (1937-2015)
Proshchanie s Materoi

Shalamov, V.T. (1907-1982)
Iz knigi “Kolymskie rasskazy”:
Po snegu
Na predstavku
Sherri-brendi
Sgushchennoe moloko
Tatarskii mulla i chistyi vozdukh
V bane

Shvarts, E. A. (1948-2010)
Chernaia Paskha
Elegiia na rentgenovskii snimok moego cherepa
Ia rodilas’s ladon’iu gladkoi

Siniavskii, A.D. (1995-1997)
Chto takoe sotsialisticheskii realizm?
Pkhents

Sokolov, Sasha (b. 1943)
Shkola dlia durakov

Solzhenitsyn, A.I. (1918-2008)
Odin den’ Ivana Denisovicha
Matrenin dvor
Selections from Arkhipelag Gulag:
Pt 1: Prolog, Arest, Istoriia nashei kanalizatsii
Pt 2: Korabli arkhipelaga
Pt 3: Tuzemnyi byt, Zeki kak natsiia

Sorokin, V.G. (b. 1955)
Tridtsataia liubov’Mariny

Strugatskii, A. N. (1925-1991) i Strugatskii, B. N. (1933-2012)
Piknik na obochine

Trifonov, Iu.V. (1925-1981)
Dom na naberezhnoi