I mean, sure there’s a lot of Pushkin online, but I just discovered (via a comment in Avva) the mother lode: the entire 10-volume edition, with bad language supplied in angle brackets (it’s never printed in Russian editions, thanks to lingering prudery), the originals of things he wrote in French (linked to Russian translations), very reader-friendly format… bless this newfangled internet!
And I’ve just hit the “rvb” link and discovered it’s only part of an online library that includes full editions of Dostoevsky (15 volumes), Derzhavin, and Khlebnikov, not to mention works by Bely, Remizov, and others, as well as Gnedich’s 1829 translation of the Iliad. It may well be that every other Russian-reading person in the universe has long known of this resource—it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been behind the curve—but I’m very glad I finally caught up.
Addendum. Anatoly, in the comments, sent me to another Russsian literature site that has more material, including the 16-volume edition of Pushkin used by scholars. Unfortunately, it uses an annoying frames interface, so I can only link to the main Pushkin page; to get to the edition you have to click on the + next to Произведения Пушкина on the left, then on the + by Собрания сочинений Пушкина, then on the one by Полное собрание сочинений в шестнадцати томах. — 1937—1959, at which point you get the list of volumes. Furthermore, the alphabetical index is a text file, so if you’re looking for a particular poem you have to go to the index, find the page number, then go back to (say) Volume Two and estimate where that page number would be in the list of entries. Contrast with the RVB site above, where the index has links that take you right to the desired work. But it’s still good to have all this stuff online.
Further addendum. This site has all of Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, &c. in transcription. Most useful.
Mighty, mighty resource. Thank you for the reference. You probably already know of Moshkow’s Lib.Ru — a less scholarly and definitive but more varied and inclusive collection.
Yes, I use Moshkow all the time, but it is, as you say, a different kettle of fish.
Just went to see the Kirov Opera perform Eugene Onegin. Unfortunately I can’t read the original in Russian. Any recommendations for good translations?
Kerim, James Falen’s translation of Eugene Onegin is my favourite. Here’s a link.
Another large library which contains scholarly editions is http://www.feb-web.ru .
It carries the “large” 16-volumed edition of Pushkin, indispensable for scholarly uses, and many other valuable editions of various authors. Its interface is much fancier than that of rvb.ru, but less user-friendly in some ways.
Thanks, Anatoly! But you’re right about the user-friendliness. Trying to get to the Pushkin edition, I get stuck at this page: when I click on any of the links on the left, say ПРОИЗВЕДЕНИЯ ПУШКИНА, I get a new description (with no links) on the right and the same links on the left, so I can’t see how to get to the works themselves.
Kerim: I saw Onegin too, Thursday night! Wasn’t it great? Except for the mingy sets, that is; every scene took place between a couple of bare walls. And where was that duel fought, in a courtyard or plaza or something? Don’t they know duels were illegal and had to be fought out of town, say on a deserted island? But the singing was terrific, especially Tatiana Pavlovskaya. And Friday night I saw The Invisible City of Kitezh, at 4+ hours a bit long but an overwhelming experience. These Kirov visits are a tremendous cultural boon.
Anatoly: OK, I figured out how to access the texts (keep clicking on the + signs at left until you get to the lowest level). But it’s very annoying trying to find individual poems. On the RVB site you go to the index, find the first line, click on it, and get taken directly to the poem. Here, the index is a text file, so when I find, say, “Орлов с Истоминой в постеле” it says it’s on page 37, and I have to go back to vol. 1 and hope I can figure out where to look. Still, a great resource, and I thank you for pointing it out.
Anantoly – thanks for the suggestion!
LH – Yes, it was great. Singing and performance was amazing. What amazed me, though, was how many Russians were in the audience. Felt like I was in Russia! And I hear it is like that even when the Opera company isn’t from Russia as well.
Hi Guys!
I am searching an English translation of Ruslan and Lyudmila. Any translation(s)! Any clues?
Lev