/lit/ - Literature

>>15035851
Henceforth I will exclusively refer to the Communist Manifesto as the "Commie Mannie"

>[Commie]

>>15036043
No seriously the underlying theme is going to be about how communism is based on the idea of community but actually promotes predatory individualism

>>15036145
>the underlying theme is going to be about how communism is based
sounds good

>>15035851
If possible try to get in contact with people in Russia who lived in that time. If you just talk to Russian emigrants it will be way to bias.

>>15036145
>predatory individualism
How exactly does this work?

>>15035851
Read bulgakov

>>15035851
Gulag Archipelago

>>15037521
This, Master and Margarita is essential
>>15037530
Only do this if you want your writing to turn out like cold war tabloid rubbish. Avoid.

>>15036043
>[HorribleSubs]

>>15035851
"The Case of Comrade Tulayev" by Victor Serge is a good one.

>>15037746
>NOOOOO NOT THE HECKIN COMMURINOS! NOT MY GLORIOUS STRUGGLE

>>15035851
>Lenin by Lars Lih
Biography of Lenin which focuses on the historically-rooted emotional foundation for Lenin's politics. If you want to understand why the emotional roots of Bolshevism, this book is good.
>Prelude to Revolution, Bolsheviks Come to Power, and Bolsheviks in Power by Alexander Rabinowitch
Trilogy about the Russian Revolution. It's not necessary for understanding post-WWII era USSR, and is a deep dive, but the series is a must read for anyone that wants to understand 1917.
>Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
Anti-communist novel about the Great Purge. Great for understanding the generational gap between the revolutionary and post-revolutionary generations, from the perspective of a disillusioned ex-Communist.
>Everyday Stalinism by Sheila Fitzpatrick
Deals with the experiences of everyday people in the 1930s Soviet Union under Stalin. Excellent social history that demythologizes Stalinism both ways.
>Soviet Union after Stalin edited by Stephen Cohen
>Dilemmas of De-Stalinization edited by Polly Jones
Selection of academic essays by respected scholars that deal with the history and historiography on the shift in state policy after the death of Stalin and his denunciation.
>Marxism, Wars and Revolutions by Isaac Deutscher
Not really about the Soviet Union per se, but a series of articles from a Trotskyist fellow traveler on the politics and ideology of the Eastern Bloc. In include it here if you want to understand how the Western intellectual Left viewed Stalinism, which I think is important to understanding the USSR as an international ideological phenomenon.

>>15035851
Noon Universe by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

>>15037849
this is what a /lit/ book recommendation should look like.
Keep up the great work, king

>>15037826
Are you retarded? Master and Margarita is a critical book about the Soviet Union, in case you haven't heard of it. Solzhenitsyn is sensational rubbish, it belongs in an issue of Weird Tales.

>>15037849
>when you google these names and find out like 25% of them are jews

Based Stalin

>>15037861
>king
ghetto

>>15035851

>>15035851
>Communist Manifesto
nice bait fag, everyone knows that's a fucking meme book

>>15035851
look up Orlando Figes' books on Russia, he has a couple, but the really good one is "A People's Tragedy" which covers 1891-1924

>>15035851
>"An Economic History of the USSR"
https://b-ok.cc/book/2039288/9b6902
>"Why Russia Isn't Socialist"
http://www.sinistra.net/lib/pro/whyrusnsoc.html
>"Economic and Social Structure of Russia Today, Part 3"
https://libriincogniti.wordpress.com/2018/05/16/il-programma-comunista-economic-and-social-structure-of-russia-today-part-iii/
>"Bilan d'une revolution"
http://www.sinistra.net/lib/bas/progco/qini/qininlabef.html

This will give you a solid understanding of the material basis. Next you'll have to study Russian history, and after that you'll be ready to understand the culture.

Do you usually start writing books before you even research the topic?

>>15036145
Good lord

>>15035851
>Psued writing a book about the USSR who never lived or experienced the USSR
I'm sure this will go great

"Moscow Women: Thirteen Interviews" is a good book about the mundane things of people's lives in the USSR.

Gulag archipelago, it's 3 volumes long but perhaps has more informatiom than youll need

Is Leonard Schapiro's The Communist Party of the Soviet Union worth reading?

Also Gulag Archipelago seriously, ive been reading a little bit online and Solzhenitsyn doesnt seem as much like a blind anti-left as I thought. Mainly wondering if he has a fairly balanced take/view?

>>15035851
read svetlana alexievich, the nobel prize lady

>>15035851
read Soviet Polity by Reshetar, it'll be relevant