Anna Karenina is a timeless masterpiece by Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set in nineteenth-century Russia, it tells the story of Anna Karenina, a beautiful and charismatic socialite who risks everything for a passionate love affair. The novel explores themes of love, marriage, societal expectations, and the consequences of desire. Through vividly drawn characters and richly detailed settings, Tolstoy delves deep into the human condition, offering a...

Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" is a gripping psychological masterpiece that delves deep into the tormented mind of its protagonist, Raskolnikov, and explores themes of morality, guilt, and redemption. Set in 19th-century St. Petersburg, Russia, the novel follows the impoverished and intellectually gifted former student, Raskolnikov, who becomes consumed by a radical idea. He believes that by committing a morally justifiable murder of...

First published in 1862, Ivan Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons" is widely considered to be the author's greatest literary achievement. It is a novel about the clash of ideologies of two generations. The older generation, the fathers, represents an upper class whose power and influence is fading and giving way to the younger generation, the sons, who represent an increasing objection to the status quo. This conflict is embodied in the characters of Arkady...

Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov (1812-1891) was a Russian novelist who achieved literary fame later in life, after a career in the civil-service which spanned more than thirty years. His first novel, "A Common Story", was a definitive success and his notoriety was cemented with the publication of his second novel, "Oblomov", in 1850. Based on a short story written a year prior, "Oblomov" is about a cultured, intelligent, upper middle class man experiencing...