Russian by audiobooks with matching texts

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Eafonte
Orange Belt
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Languages: Portuguese (N), english (B2-ish), german (B1), russian (intermediate), spanish (reading and listening).
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Re: Russian by audiobooks with matching texts

Postby Eafonte » Mon Feb 21, 2022 1:10 am

February 19, 2022: I finished reading and listening the book "Сокровища Улугбека". This book, whose title can be translated as "The treasures of Ulugh Beg", is a historical novel originally composed in the Uzbek language and first published in 1973 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Ulugh Beg (1394-1449) was a sultan which until his untimely death headed the Timurid Empire, a large central Asia muslim State, whose capital was Samarkand, in present day Uzbekistan, a gorgeous place to reign over:

Image
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samarkand ... ssance.jpg

But Ulugh Beg wasn't an ordinary ruler. He also happened to be an accomplished astronomer and mathematician, having built an observatory and painstakingly composed a catalogue of 1,018 stars after many years of careful observations. So the treasures of Ulugh Beg the novel is about aren't gold bars/bullion and jewelry, but his astronomy and mathematical works as well as a vast library comprising science books from all over the known Ancient World (China, India, Arabia, Persia, Europe etc) which he amassed or copied during decades of his ruling tenure. The novel is about the last days of this odd astronomer-sultan, overthrown and slain by a son of his, and how did this treasure of amassed written knowledge manage to be rescued from the wrath of the new ruler, which viewed these books as blasphemous, anti-islamic, and had decided to burn all of them. AFAIK there isn't any English version of the novel.

I found the history fascinating, being about an exotic place and an obscure era, but the novel proved to be hard for me to read. The text abounds in uzbek/persian words, for many of which there is an explaining end note, which demanded a tiresome flip-back-and-forth and some memory effort (as these mysterious uzbek/persian words could pop over again without an adjoining end note), and some were simply left untranslated without any note! And on top of that the translator strewed many archaic Russian words all over the text.

Some words I've met and looked up:

больша́к = большая дорога
ота́ра = large flock of sheep
ру́бище = рваная одежда
У него нет ни кола́ ни двора́ = он крайне бедный человек
наторе́лый = имеющий навык, опыт
кишла́к = селение в Средней Азии
мздои́мство = bribery
раде́ть = У нек-рых сектантов: совершать обряд с песнопением, беганьем, кружением.
всу́е = взря, напрасно = in vain
надоу́мливать/надоу́мить = to advise
се́ча = сражение
пе́стовать = Заботливо, любовно выращивать
шпале́ра = Ряд деревьев, кустов по сторонам дороги
тёзка = namesake
бу́де = если
наве́т = клевета
семени́ть = идти частыми, мелкими шагами
сель,-а = Мощный грязевой поток с камнями, возникающий в горах во время ливней или в период таяния снегов =
mudflow, mountain torrent
годи́на = Время, ознаменованное важными общественными событиями
до́лу = вниз, книзу
дря́зги = squabbles
изго́й = outcast
третьего дня = позавчера́ = the day before yesterday
подело́м ему = it serves him
вити́йство = красноречие

February 20, 2022: I started reading and listening the 1906 novel "Мать", 383 pages, by russian writer Maxim Gorky (1868-1936).

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Books read: 23.
Pages read: 6,483 pages.
4 x

Eafonte
Orange Belt
Posts: 108
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Location: Brazil
Languages: Portuguese (N), english (B2-ish), german (B1), russian (intermediate), spanish (reading and listening).
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Re: Russian by audiobooks with matching texts

Postby Eafonte » Mon Feb 28, 2022 3:24 am

February 26, 2022: I finished reading and listening Gorky's "Мать". This novel is about the mother of a young socialist male, engaged in a labor struggle against the czarist autocracy and capitalism, and her becoming a socialist activist also engaging in the underground revolutionary movement.
I didn't like the book. I found it hard to read, in spite of the affordable number of unknown words. The novel has many long winded descriptions, the language in the dialogues, when the characters speak about events and persons, was terse verging on incomprehensible, and there are many philosophical ramblings and a pervasive socialist/communist propaganda all over the book, mildly annoying at first, unbearable by the end of the novel. But I must concede that Gorky's diction, when it touches thoughts and inner emotional states, is very beautiful and nice to read. The book is divided in two parts. The first part I found interesting, the second part strucked me as boring and previsible. If you aren't a die hard socialist/communist and is curious about "Мать", I advise you to read only the first part of the book!

Some unknown words/idioms I came across and looked up (I noted them down and looked up only in the first 135 pages of the novel, about its third):

гры́жа = hernia
серча́ть = сердиться
дры́гать/дры́гнуть = to jerk
заро́к = Клятвенное обещание не делать чего-н.
при́сно = всегда
напе́в = tune
нахле́бник = Тот, кто получает за плату питание (иногда и помещение) в чужой семье.
аз есмь = я ест = it's me
и иже с ним = и те, которые с ним
ан = на самом деле
коромы́сло = Деревянная дуга с крючками или выемками на концах для носки вёдер на плече.
углова́тый = неуклюжий
поло́ть = to weed

February 27, 2022: I started reading and listening the 1940 novel "Возмутитель спокойствия", 252 pages, by russian writer Leonid Solovyov (1906-1962).

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Books read: 24.
Pages read: 6,866 pages.
4 x

Eafonte
Orange Belt
Posts: 108
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Location: Brazil
Languages: Portuguese (N), english (B2-ish), german (B1), russian (intermediate), spanish (reading and listening).
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Re: Russian by audiobooks with matching texts

Postby Eafonte » Thu Mar 03, 2022 10:46 pm

March 3, 2022: Today I finished reading the 1940 adventure novel "Возмутитель спокойствия". This book, whose title can be translated as "The disturber of peace" , is the first book about the adventures of the main character Hodja Nasreddin, when he returns to Bukhara (in present day Uzbekistan, Central Asia) about 1200:

Returning to Bukhara after a prolonged exile, Hodja Nasreddin finds his family gone, his home destroyed, and his city in the grasp of corrupt and greedy rulers who have brought pain and suffering upon the common folk. But Hodja Nasreddin is not one to bow to oppression or abandon the downtrodden. Though he is armed only with his quick wits and his donkey, all the swords, walls, and dungeons in the land cannot stop him! Leaning on his own experiences and travels during the first half of the 20th century, Leonid Solovyov weaves the many stories and anecdotes about Hodja Nasreddin - a legendary folk character in the Middle East and Central Asia - into a masterful tale brimming with passionate love for life, liberty, and happiness.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/852 ... -nasreddin

Apart from some unknown words, easy reading, funny, captivating and entertaining book!

Some unknown words/idioms I came across and looked up:
неради́вый = negligent
кошма́ = Большой кусок войлока = large felt mat
иша́к = осёл
чайхана́ = teahouse
су́толока = Беспорядочное хождение, толкотня = hustle
топо́рщиться = Подниматься торчком = to bristle
кле́вер = clover
харче́вная = tavern
подзаты́льник = Удар, шлепок по затылку
бу́лькать = to gurgle
чад = smoke
жаро́вня = Сосуд для горячего древесного угля, а также железная печка, нагреваемая углем
хращ = cartilage
требуха́ = tripe
́измождённый = Крайне изнурённый, истомлённый = haggard
пого́нщик = Работник, сопровождающий или погоняющий скот
ты́ква = pumpkin
шелуди́вый рёс = scabby dog
полоши́ться/всполоши́ться = Пугаться, волноваться
плеши́вый = bald
о́труби, отрубе́й = bran
калья́н = Восточный курительный прибор, в к-ром табачный дым охлаждается и очищается, проходя через воду = hookah
шлем = helmet
запла́та = patch
чадра́ = chador, veil
длань = Рука, ладонь.
за́темно = Когда темно.
вку́пе = together
оплеу́ха = затре́щина = пощёчина = slap

So today I started reading and listening the 1954 novel "Очарованный принц", 405 pages, the sequel to "Возмутитель спокойствия".

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Books read: 25
Pages read: 7,118
3 x

Just_a_visitor
White Belt
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Joined: Thu May 14, 2020 3:20 pm
Languages: Russian (N)
English
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Re: Russian by audiobooks with matching texts

Postby Just_a_visitor » Fri Mar 04, 2022 9:47 pm

Eafonte wrote:March 3, 2022: Today I finished reading the 1940 adventure novel "Возмутитель спокойствия". This book, whose title can be translated as "The disturber of peace" , is the first book about the adventures of the main character Hodja Nasreddin, when he returns to Bukhara (in present day Uzbekistan, Central Asia) about 1200:



If you like a bit of retro, you may find this 1943 movie interesting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sgli7G8hmU
It was filmed at Tashkent Studio when all Moscow and Leningrad studios were evacuated to Uzbekistan. Among other films, Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible was made there too.

Have you also read Очарованный принц?
It's a sequel, not that hilariously funny, written a decade later when the author was in GULAG.
4 x

Eafonte
Orange Belt
Posts: 108
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 11:28 am
Location: Brazil
Languages: Portuguese (N), english (B2-ish), german (B1), russian (intermediate), spanish (reading and listening).
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17202
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Re: Russian by audiobooks with matching texts

Postby Eafonte » Sat Mar 05, 2022 12:30 am

Just_a_visitor wrote:
Eafonte wrote:March 3, 2022: Today I finished reading the 1940 adventure novel "Возмутитель спокойствия". This book, whose title can be translated as "The disturber of peace" , is the first book about the adventures of the main character Hodja Nasreddin, when he returns to Bukhara (in present day Uzbekistan, Central Asia) about 1200:



If you like a bit of retro, you may find this 1943 movie interesting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sgli7G8hmU
It was filmed at Tashkent Studio when all Moscow and Leningrad studios were evacuated to Uzbekistan. Among other films, Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible was made there too.

Have you also read Очарованный принц?
It's a sequel, not that hilariously funny, written a decade later when the author was in GULAG.


Thank you Just_a_visitor, I do like a bit of retro! Буду смотреть!

Regarding "Очарованный принц", yesterday I started reading it.
2 x

Eafonte
Orange Belt
Posts: 108
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 11:28 am
Location: Brazil
Languages: Portuguese (N), english (B2-ish), german (B1), russian (intermediate), spanish (reading and listening).
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17202
x 245

Re: Russian by audiobooks with matching texts

Postby Eafonte » Mon Mar 14, 2022 12:01 am

March 13, 2022: Today I finished reading and listening the 1954 novel "Очарованный принц", the sequel to "Возмутитель спокойствия".

This sequel is not so funny as the first book about Hodja Nasreddin, but it's enjoyable. The plot flows slowly, amid some philosophical ramblings and many descriptions of natural phenomena. Mildly entertaing book which deserves a rereading. Straightforward language, small number of unknown words per page.

Some unknown words/idioms I came across and looked up:
пожина́ть/пожа́ть = to reap
подсти́лка = То, что подостлано
лоску́т = Отрывок или отрезок ткани, кожи
бытие́ = existence
предте́ч = forerunner
ячме́нь, -ня́ = barley = cevada (port.)
раскиди́стый = О дереве: с широко разросшимися ветвями = frondoso (port.)
сто́йло = Отгороженное место для одной лошади в конюшне или для одной коровы в хлеву
пе́гий = piebald = malhado (port.)
соха́ = Примитивное сельскохозяйственное орудие для вспахивания земли
козя́вка = бука́шка = Всякое маленькое, мелкое насекомое
пиха́ть/пихну́ть = to shove
шмель, -я́ = bumblebee = zangão (port.)
стрясти́сь = Произойти, случиться (о чём-н. неприятном, бедственном)
попехну́ться = to choke
дети́на = Рослый и сильный молодой мужчина
зна́харь, -я = healer
щеко́лда = Железная пластинка в виде рычажка для запирания дверей. = latch
ше́льма = Мошенник, плут = rogue
свире́ль, -и = flute
сурьма́ = antimony; Краска для чернения волос
латать/залатать = to patch
неуёмная = indefatigable
сна́добье = Лекарство, лекарственное средство
лото́к = Открытый прилавок для торговли на улице = barraca de feira (port.)
ве́щий = prophetic
отду́шина = vent
бля́ха = badge
ше́ршень, -шня = hornet = vespa
лихои́мец = Взяточник, ростовщик
о́бу́х = Тупая сторона острого орудия, противоположная лезвию (обычно о топоре) = butt
пройдо́ха = жуликоватый человек
Он лёгок на поми́не = he appears suddenly/unepectedly just after he is mentioned or thought of
Он не про́мах = he is pretty smart, nobody's fool

Books read: 26
Pages read: 7,523
3 x

Eafonte
Orange Belt
Posts: 108
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 11:28 am
Location: Brazil
Languages: Portuguese (N), english (B2-ish), german (B1), russian (intermediate), spanish (reading and listening).
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Re: Russian by audiobooks with matching texts

Postby Eafonte » Mon Mar 14, 2022 11:28 pm

March 14, 2022: Today I started reading and listen "Михаил Строгов", 207 pages, a translation into Russian of the 1876 adventure novel "Michel Strogoff" by french writer Jules Verne (1828-1905).

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2 x

Eafonte
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Re: Russian by audiobooks with matching texts

Postby Eafonte » Fri Mar 18, 2022 9:17 pm

March 17, 2022: I finished reading and listening "Михаил Строгов". Pure and straight adventure novel, no science fiction. Light and entertaining book. Easy read. In 207 pages very few unknown words. Some of them:

таранта́с = Дорожная, крытая или открытая, четырёхколёсная повозка на длинных дрогах
клевре́т = Приспешник = Сообщник, готовый на какие угодно действия.
бурдю́к = Мешок из шкуры животных (для хранения вина и др. жидкостей) = waterskin

March 18, 2022: I started reading and listening the 1924 novel "Рождение богов (Тутанкамон на Крите)", 150 pages, by russian writer Dmitry Merezhkovsky (1865-1941).

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Books read: 27
Pages read: 7,730
3 x

Eafonte
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Posts: 108
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 11:28 am
Location: Brazil
Languages: Portuguese (N), english (B2-ish), german (B1), russian (intermediate), spanish (reading and listening).
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Re: Russian by audiobooks with matching texts

Postby Eafonte » Mon Mar 21, 2022 10:56 pm

March 20, 2022: I finished reading and listening the novel "Рождение богов (Тутанкамон на Крите)". This title can be translated as "The birth of the Gods (Tutankhamun in Crete)". The novel is set in the fourteen century BC in the island of Crete. Tutankhamun, a rather supporting character in the plot, is depicted as an egyptian ambassador to the Court of the minoan king in Knossos. The main character is Dio, a minoan priestess entangled in a love triangle between Tammuzadad, a babylonian iron merchant that courts her, and Eoya, a young female novice she loves. The novel's author, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, endeavors by it to prove a daring thesis: that a heresy against the Minoan Cult sowed the seeds of Christianity. This thesis, although it is somewhat far fetched, provides some food for thought. The book duly immerses the reader in the Minoan Crete, and although lavish and lengthy descriptions as well as some rare/archaic words render the reading difficult, the reader's patience is at last rewarded by the novel's surprising end.

March 21, 2022: I started reading and listening the 1958 adventure novel "Наследник из Калькутты", 840 pages, by soviet writer Robert Shtilmark (1909-1985).

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Books read: 28
Pages read: 7,880
3 x

Eafonte
Orange Belt
Posts: 108
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 11:28 am
Location: Brazil
Languages: Portuguese (N), english (B2-ish), german (B1), russian (intermediate), spanish (reading and listening).
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17202
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Re: Russian by audiobooks with matching texts

Postby Eafonte » Sat Apr 09, 2022 8:31 pm

April 08,2022: I finished reading and listening the 1958 adventure novel "Наследник из Калькутты" by soviet writer Robert Shtilmark. The title can be translated as "The Heir from Calcutta". The novel, set in the second half of the XVIII century, has a multilayered plot, with many characters, cliffhangers and twists. Shtilmark wrote a masterpiece pirate's odyssey, an epitome of the whole adventure genre, a compelling and entertaing book with a painstaking care for details, which is astounding, because he wrote it while imprisoned. Language-wise the book poses some difficulty only in the description reading passages.

April 09, 2022: I started reading and listening the book "Спартак", 576 pages, a translation into Russian of the 1874 historical novel "Spartaco" by italian writer Raffaello Giovagnoli (1838-1915).

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Books read: 29
Pages read: 8,720
3 x


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