This index is for Literature originally written in the Russian Language. See also Russian Reading.
Russian Literature can be clearly divided into several parts:
- semi-mythical ones from pre-Christian and early Christian times. Their original language is Old Slavic and even though they are readable for modern Russians, they are not easy reading. Usually are not written by one author.
- Folklore. Mostly fairy tales.
- Haikus. Traditional Russian 3-line poetry.
- Classical Literature. Written in the 19th (or early 20th) century. Surprising enough, there are no well-known authors from before the Classical Age. These books are school standards, and thus hated by the young. This is the best-known and most-read Russian literature in the West.
- Soviet Literature.
- Soviet Sci-Fi. It is mostly hard sci-fi, where Earth is often depicted as having a post-scarcity communistic society, but often depicts flaws of the USSR government.
- Post-USSR contemporary literature.
- Criminal thriller of different sorts.
- Contemporary sci-fi and fantasy. Ranges from very hard sci-fi to high fantasy and varies in quality.
- Humorous fiction is sci-fi/fantasy with emphasis on comedy.
- Romance novels.
The term "Russian novel" is often shorthand for "lengthy and turgid." While War and Peace probably created this cliche, it's less true than many think, at least for the stylistic aspect. (The length aspect is more or less accurate, at least for 19th-century novels). And ironically, Russian poetry is known to be very short.
- The Adventures Of Captain Wrongel
- Adventures of Dunno (or Adventures of Neznayka)
- Alice, Girl from the Future series
- Andrew Bruce series
- Anna Karenina
- Anna Snegina
- Aquarium
- Arcia Chronicles
- The Areal series
- Arrivals from the Dark series
- The Auburn Knight
- August 1914
- Autumn Visits
- Baba Yaga stories
- The Belkin Tales
- Beyond the Dawn
- Borderlands
- The Boy and the Darkness
- Brig Scarlet Flamingo
- The Brothers Karamazov
- Cancer Ward
- Captain French, or the Quest for Paradise
- Competitors
- The Country of Three Lands
- Crime and Punishment
- Dead Souls
- The Death Of Ivan Ilyich
- The Death of Koschei the Deathless
- The Death of the Vazir Mukhtar
- Death or Glory
- Definitely, Maybe
- Demons
- Dersu Uzala
- Despair
- Diary of a Madman
- Diamond Sword, Wooden Sword
- Doctor Pavlysh series
- Doctor Zhivago
- The Doomed City
- The Echo
- Eugene Onegin
- Erast Fandorin series
- Everyday Saints
- Everything Flows
- Fathers and Sons
- The Feather of Finist the Falcon
- The Fire-Bird, the Horse of Power, and the Princess Vasilissa
- The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship
- The Footfalls of Chess Horses
- For What
- "The Frost, the Sun, and the Wind"
- The Furry Boarding School
- The Future (2013)
- Generation P
- Genome
- Gleams of Aeterna series
- The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Buratino
- The Gospel of Afranius
- The Gray House
- Great Gusliar series
- The Great Opposition
- Great Ring
- Grinlandia series
- The Gulag Archipelago
- The Hackers
- Harsh Tales
- Heart of a Dog
- The Heir From Calcutta
- A Hero of Our Time
- The History of a Town
- The Idiot
- In the Last Days
- Inexhaustible Chalice
- Intergalactic Police series
- Invitation To A Beheading
- Journey to the Dream Land
- Journey to the Morning Star
- In the First Circle
- Keeper of the Swords
- The Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors
- Knights of the Forty Islands
- "Kolobok"
- Labyrinth of Reflections
- Labyrinths of Echo series
- Laughter in the Dark
- Line of Delirium series
- The Little Golden Calf
- "Little Master Misery"
- A Lord from Planet Earth
- The Lord of the Winds
- Loskutik And The Cloud
- Loyal Enemies
- The Master and Margarita
- Metro
- Midnight World series
- Monday Begins on Saturday
- Moon Rainbow
- Morozko
- Moscow - Petushki
- My Posthumous Adventures
- The Mystery of Urulgan
- My Wife Is a Witch
- The Newest Plutarch
- Night Watch (Series)
- Night Watcher
- Noon Universe
- Notes from Underground
- Oblomov
- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
- The Orphanage Girls
- The Petty Demon
- Phantom Server
- The Picture
- Plutonia
- The Post
- The Powerless Of This World
- "Prince Ivan, the Witch Baby, and the Little Sister of the Sun"
- Princess Dzhavakha
- Prostokvashino
- Quazi
- The Queen of Spades
- River Chronos series
- Roadside Picnic
- Romance with a Double Bass
- Rough Draft
- Ruler of the Magical Keys
- Ruslan and Ludmila
- Sannikov Land
- The Scarlet Flower
- Seekers of the Sky
- The Shooting Party
- Sister Pelagia
- "The Soldier And Death"
- The Sorcerer's Daughter
- Spectrum
- The Stars Are Cold Toys
- Sword with No Name
- Tale of the Troika
- The Tale of Tsar Saltan
- Tales of the Magic Land
- Tanya Grotter series
- A Terrible Vengeance
- Thais of Athens
- A Theatrical Novel
- There Would Be No Second Chance
- The Thief of Baghdad
- "This Is How Floods Begin"
- Tsar Gorokh's Detective Agency
- The Tsars Rage
- Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf
- Tsarevich Petr and the Wizard
- The Twelve
- The Twelve Chairs
- The Unwomanly Face of War
- Vasilissa the Beautiful
- The Valkyrie
- Viy
- Voices from Chernobyl
- War and Peace
- War For Survival series
- Way Home series
- We
- The White Duck
- Wind and Sparks cycle
- "The Wise Little Girl"
- The Wolfhound series
- Wolfish Nature
- Wrong Time for Dragons
- Xenos series
- The Year of the Rat