Russian Reading Classics

RUSSIANS REREADING THE CLASSICS

SURVEY

By Stephen Wilson

"Thank God I'm getting out soon. I won't have to read any more of this Tolstoy

crap. I can read some Marvel comics," stated the boxer Mike Tyson on the

eve of leaving prison. {Or so the story goes because Tyson adores military

history so much it is difficult to imagine he'd hate War and Peace} But the

boxer bluntly reminded me of the expressed feelings of so many Russian

school children I have encountered. Again and again they spoke of how they

loathed reading long passages of Tolstoy's prose which they found long, weary

and at worse, torture. Many school students don't return to the classics. And

many teachers lament at the perceived falling interest in reading the classics

as well as the decline in writing and speaking Russian. However, a

recent survey of 4th June 2019 , conducted by The All Russian Study of Social

Attitudes, which interviewed 1600 respondents,  later published on the anniversary

of the poet Pushkin's birthday , may console some. Although it found that

almost one in three Russians have not read a Russian classic after school, the

rest expressed a love for Pushkin, Tolstoy and Yesenin. As many as 28% of

Russians have reread Alexander Pushkin, 27% Tolstoy and 18% Dostoyevsky.

There is a commonly held view that school children are not 'mature' enough

to appreciate the classics and that most of them will grow into them when

they reach early middle age. I recall that when I was 12 the school librarian

refused to let me take out Tolstoy's War and Peace' because it would be too

difficult for me. Instead, she offered me Peter Pan which I subsequently

never read. I could never fathom how any kid would not want to 'grow up'

and remain in some enchanted wonderland. I wanted to be in Russia and 'not

away with the fairies' .

The survey, if assumed at face value, indicates things have improved compared

to one 5 years ago. The number of those readers was twice less interested

in the classics with only 13% reading Tolstoy and Pushkin and 7% Dostoyevsky.

And compared to other countries Russians may represent  the most

enthusiastic readers of books. Just drop into the local Moscow metro and make

an observation. Yes, you will find some passengers absorbed with their gadgets,

but what is more striking is how many people are reading a classic such as

Bulgakov's 'The Master and Margarita' or Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye.'

If you travel by train you might be pleasantly surprised to find the whole train

is turned into a kind of education show piece promoting either art, the theater

or even reading habits. The idea is to encourage a lively interest in the arts

everywhere.

I spoke to a Scottish art teacher who works in a Russian school. David O Hare

told me: "I was astounded about how well educated my Russian school students

were. They could talk about anything and at very deep level. " Thomas Beavitt,

a teacher from Britain who currently works in Russia states, "One of the reasons

I remain in Russia is because i enjoy highly intelligent discussions here". Both

teachers were struck by how well educated and familiar with the classics their

students could be.

However, for all the well intended efforts of teachers and parents it is worth asking

why are so many Russian school students  alienated from the classics ? It might

simply be that there is huge difference between reading a book for pleasure and

studying a book for an exam. The latter can be a stressful experience linked

to exams which may influence your future. Another reason is that the school

program can insist that there is only one interpretation of a classic which thus

renders this study a dull and stifling experience. A good teacher of Russian

literature will at least make his or her students aware of the vast variety of

interpretations.

Does it really matter? Many people in Britain adopt an almost anti-intellectual

approach where they think it is a waste of time studying the classics and it

won't get you a job. Such a utilitarian attitude was not alien to Russia. A

philosopher called Dmitri Pisarev claimed a pair of boots is more useful to a Russian

peasant than a book of Pushkin's poetry. But this short sighted and myopic view

forgets that the knowledge of the classics which prisoners retained helped them

to retain their sanity and a lot of poetry and songs boosted the morale of soldiers

who fought in the Great Patriotic War. There are even cases where soldiers wore

a poem as a magic talisman to protect themselves from being killed in battle.

A poem is not always just a poem, but can be a form of therapy, a prayer or a

charm for protection.

Of course, whether Mike Tyson returned to read Russian classics after prison

is an open question. You would have to ask the man himself. But it is beyond

doubt that he is very interested in Russian culture and enjoys reading a good

military history book. So Tyson might well have returned to the classics for

all we know. A Russian English teacher told me that she could only get her

young school student to speak English when she asked him to talk about his

favorite Marvel heroes. As a result, some Russian teachers forced themselves

to 'read' or rather 'reread' old Marvel comics. Teachers will reread Marvel comics

if children read or reread Pushkin. It seems a fair bargain!