Just finished reading The Slums of Saint Petersburg by Vsevolod Krestovsky in Russian.
(“Петербургские трущобы” by Всеволод Владимирович Крестовский).
At first, I decided to listen to the audio version of this book, but no, no, no! I realized almost immediately that this true masterpiece of Russian literature should be read with my eyes first.
It took me exactly two months to finish the book (March 23-June 23, 2022). The book was huge (more than 1,000 pages long), and also I needed to stop quite often to give myself time to reflect on what I have read.
But I’m not complaining! I loved this book!
This book is more than just a story. This is a book about life itself. The life of the city of Petersburg, and its inhabitants – fabulously rich and extremely poor.
What shocked me most about this book was the death of young woman named Masha. I sobbed when I read this… But no more words! I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone.
If you are interested in learning more about Russian culture and history, I highly recommend reading the book. This one is really good!
«Здесь нет нам свободного места! Здесь ни жить, ни дышать невозможно!»
– Всеволод Крестовский
“There is no place for us here! It is impossible to live or breathe here!”
– Vsevolod Krestovsky