Russian Folktales from the Collection of A. Afanasyev: A Dual-Language Book (Dover Dual Language Russian)

I purchased this book of folktales as an aid to learning Russian. The book is as described, and having both Russian and English versions present was a wonderful help. But, although I wasn’t expecting tales from “My Little Pony” (they’re Russian tales, after all), I must admit that I found the particular selection of tales to be pretty depressing. This is my fault, for failing to check a listing of the stories included before purchasing the book. But I do think that the book would be improved by the inclusion of more tales about people who aren’t miserable, desperate, and brutal. Not all of Russian life, nor literature, is characterized by those qualities! I’m very aware that my reaction to the choice of tales is unlikely to be universally shared. As a result, I awarded the book five stars because it deserves it on the bases of content, usefulness, and faithfulness to the product description.

What fun to be able to read the stories in English, and follow along with the Russian on the other side! It gives me a sense of accomplishment that I cannot get at my level of study when reading just the Russian. I'm very happy!

This book is nice as well but English and Russian texts are separated so it takes some more work and a frequent use of the dictionary to work through the stories. Hopefully slowly all this will become easier.

A marvellous collection of fantastic tales and folkloric stories!

i enjoyed it

I am learning Russian, and this volume seems to have a good English translation ofeach of the Russian tales.

Accented syllables should have been indicated.

nice

This is great! The stories are all different length. Some are half a page. So you get a sense of accomplishment straigtaway with those ones. Theyre pure russian, too. Good to get this insight. I thought it was harsh for one of the characters to 'fusillade' his wife rather than divorce her (look up fusillade, if youre interested); it was quite a surprise to read this in a folk tale. But, like i said, good to get an insight. 😶

Excellent dual language book. It is useful not only for the student of Russian who wishes to improve his or her Russian, but the English translation by itself is of a very high quality. The stories are engaging and interesting, and the specific points peculiar to Russian culture are very well explained. Many of these stories take me back to my childhood when I used to feast on Russian folktales. My favourite character, Baba Yaga, is an almost omnipresent character in the stories. The only thing that I missed is Ivan Bilibin's evocative illustrations - they have a sense of mystique that is impossible to define, but seem to encompass the Slavic soul. The print quality is of the highest quality, and I could not find any typographical mistakes either. The price is very steep, but the content is more than worth it in my opinion. Recommended for children and adults alike.

it would be better to read and study the russian lang if it was on the right side of pages

The folktales are interesting. The fact that you can read the Russian or English for each is nice. This book makes for a helpful collection for anyone studying world folktsled. The book arrived quickly and in good shape. No complaints with this purchade.

Great