I read mostly non-fiction, short stories in the languages which I've been studying, and textbooks. I've also been reading quite a few periodicals. In the recent years, while living abroad, I got more interested in the Russian literature.
Classical Russian literature - I like reading works of all our great authors: Pushkin, Chekhov, Turgenev, Bunin... These books re-create the atmosphere of the old Russia, which (alas!) has almost disappeared. For me it's also a pleasure to come across old-fashioned words and turns of speech, as it expands my vocabulary. Still, I haven't read much outside the school programme.
Recently I read Dostoyevsky. I first attempted to read his Crime and Punishment in the secondary school (it was required reading), but then the book seemed too heavy for me. I read it in Canada 22 years later - with great interest!
As for Tolstoy, I read only parts of "War and Peace" at school - about a half, though I also saw Bondarchuk's film several times. In Sweden I read with pleasure Anna Karenina and Hadji Murat
Not long ago I read Goncharov's Oblomov. What a masterpiece! This book is very useful to read for everyone, because there's an Oblomov in every person, not excluding me (alas!). Goncharov's thoughts on love and friendship are very profound too.
Modern Russian literature - Unfortunately, I do not know it much (my local library gets almost no new books nowadays). I like Dovlatov (his stories, and especially I enjoyed his programmes on Radio Liberty) and Voinovich (I read two of his novels, which are interesting and funny, but I prefer his satirical essays). Solzhenitsyn's "Odin den' Ivana Denisovicha" is, in my opinion, a great work; it also vividly reminded me of my stroibat time! I would like to read Andrei Makine (a Russian writer living in France), but it seems he is not published in Russia, even on the Internet!
Swedish literature - I need to read it more. As for the classics, I read a few novels in Russian translation: two novels by August Strinberg, one by Selma Lagerlöf , and Hjalmar Söderberg's novel Doktor Glas; I found them somewhat heavy going, but I got some insights in the Sweden of the past. Jonas Gardell's "Fru Björks öden och aventyr" was for me a true depiction of a family drama in the present-day Sweden. I found Stig Dagerman's "Att döda ett barn" very moving (and it contributed to my decision not to drive a car). As for poetry, I've read an anthology of a few Swedish poets, and was particularly attracted by Karin Boye, both by her poetry and personality (I've also read one half of her novel "Kallocain", which is a forerunner to Orwell's "1984").
English literature - I've read a few works by Dickens, Bronte and Orwell. George Orwell is my favourite writer. I've read his 1984 (three times), Animal Farm and essays. His view of totalitarianism is akin to mine, and his language is very concise and forceful.
American literature - "Catcher in the Rye" (by J.D. Salinger) and "Of Mice and Men" (by John Steinbeck) are my favourites.
I'd like to know about your favourite books. Please write to me!
"If you do not read books, you will forget letters".
2008
Non-fiction
From Start to Finnish by Leila White (Finn Lectura, 2007)
Finskan. Lättare än du tror av Sari Häglander och Marjut Vehkanen (Edita, 2001). In Swedish.
Norsk kurs (Norwegian Course) (Linguaphone, UK, 1986)
Teach Yourself German Grammar by Jenny Russ (Teach Yourself Books, UK, 1998)
2007
Non-fiction
Almgren, Hans La voix de René Lévesque (Radio-Livre). Fides, La Radio de Radio Canada,2002, 95 p + CD.
A selection of the best speeches and interviews of this famous Québec politician and founder of Parti Québécois. [March]
Almgren, Hans Reflex, samhällskunskap för gymnasieskolan. A-kurs plus. Gleerups, 2 uppl., Malmö 1998.
A very interesting book about all aspects of the Swedish society. [January]
Fiction
A few short stories in Spanish....
2006
Non-fiction
Boulet, Marc Dans la peau d'un Chinois. Editions Bernard Barrault, 1988; 188 p.
A fascinating, first-hand account of life in China, written by a French journalist, who lived there under a faked identity of a Chinese. Though this book describes the Chinese society of the 1980s, many things, such as the political system, national character, etc., as still very relevant. [November]
Sayn-Wittgenstein, Catherine (princesse) La Fin de ma Russie. Journal 1. Noir sur blanc. 1990, 275 p.
In 1918 the princesse Catherine Sayn-Wittgenstein, aged 23, escapes from Russia to Roumania taking with her volumes 2 to 4 of her diary. [October]
Povey, Jane. Get it right. Москва, "Высшая школа", 1984 - 152 с.
A very useful book for Russian speakers learning English at an advanced level, written by a native British speaker who taught English in the USSR. It explains usage differences of words with similar meanings. For example: company - firm - enterprise; possibility - opportunity - chance, etc (58 groups in total).[July]
Пьянкова Т.М. ABC переводчика научно-технической литературы. (Les Essentiels Milan). Москва, "Летопись", 1994 - 74 с.
The book covers main differences between Russian and English scientific and technical prose, and it is very useful for a translator. [July]
Pinson, Claire. Les médicines parallèles. Un nouveau défi. (Les Essentiels Milan). Editions Milan, Toulouse, 1998 - 64 p.
A concise description of about 18 areas of non-traditional medicine. [July]
Moeglin, Doris, et al. L'allemand tout de suite! (Langues pour tous). Pocket, Paris, 1993 - 160 p.
After German Through Pictures I decided to systematise my notions of German grammar and learn more vocabulary. I continued to commute to work and could only study in a bus. So this book was very good for the purpose. The first 20 chapters explain and train basic structures, such as verbs haben, sein, können, question words, imperative, etc, while the next 20 chapters provide vocabulary lists for various topics, again with exercises. At the end of the book there is a short German grammar and French-German, German-French vocabulary. [June]
Richards, I.A., et al. German Through Pictures. Pocket Books, New York, 1953 - 254 p.
An excellent book for learning the basic elements of German. You do not need a dictionary to read this book - everything shown with pictures. The font is large and the setences are short, which makes this book a perfect reading on a bus. I read it twice - in May and in June. In the past I also read Spanish Through Pictures from the same series, it was also a very useful book. [May; June]
Castells, Manuel; Himanen, Pekka The Informational Society and the Welfare State. The Finnish Model. OUP, 2002 - 200 p.
Read a few chapters which were more interesting for me. The book contains interesting diagrams contrasting Finland with the USA and Singapore. During the years of the rise of the information society (1960-90) the general trend in Finnish social injustice and exclusion was downward, while in the USA this trend was reversed. [April]
Le Québécois. Guides de voyages Ulysse, 2004 (Canada)
The authors try to show Québec pronounciation, but I think they overuse it. [March]
Le Québécois de poche. Assimil, 1998 (France)
This book is written in a clearer and more interesting style. [March]
2005
Fiction
Dostoyevsky, F.M. Преступление и наказание (Crime and Punishment) - YMCA-PRESS, PARIS, no date, 587 p.
Great! Masterpiece! What a language! What profound characterisation and vivid atmosphere of St.Petersburg! Obviously, this is a book for adults, not for school children. Having read the book, I then saw a Soviet film of the same title, made in 1970, but it looked like a digest of the book. The plot is there but there is no much depth. Smoktunovsky as Porfiry is brilliant though. [August]
Non-Fiction
Lederer, Richard. The Miracle of Language - Pocket Books (USA), 1991, 254 p. - [January]
Ali, Tariq; Evans, Phil. Trotsky pour débutants (Original title: Trotsky for beginners) - Montréal: Boréal Express, 1982, 173 p. - [January]
Le grand guide de la Finlande - Gallimard, Paris, 1993, 303 p. - [July]
Soldatov (Soldatow), Sergei. Зарницы возрождения (Dawn of Ressurection) - OPI, London, 1984
I borrowed it from the Tampere Library, Finland. This is an autobiography of a Russian dissident in Estonia, in which he describes his fight with the Soviet system. A forceful book, becoming topical again in the conditions of the KGB rule in the present-day Russia. If you know where one can buy this book, please let me know. [July]