What the stars read: the choice of Sobchak, Posner, Khromchenko and others

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

2015 has been declared the Year of Literature in Russia. We decided to find out what books are on the bedside tables of our stars, what they read and what they recommend to read to us.

Ksenia Sobchak, TV presenter

My favorite books are The Idiot by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, Envy by Yuri Olesha, The Camera Obscura by Vladimir Nabokov, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery and The Magus by John Fowles.

"The most outstanding writer of our time is undoubtedly Victor Pelevin, because he writes for our generation."

If we talk about modern literature, then the most outstanding writer of our time is undoubtedly Victor Pelevin, because he writes for our generation. I believe that everyone should definitely read at least three of his books: for example, "Chapaev and Emptiness", Generation "P" and "Omon Ra". I would also like to recommend a psychological book, which is written in a very simple language and is easy to read, this is "New Land" by Eckhart Tolle. It sets out the main problems of mankind, which are of concern to everyone today. A book by a very talented Russian writer Vladimir Sorokin - "The Day of the Oprichnik" is also required for reading.

For relaxation, I can recommend a light and kind book by Irene Cao "I am looking at you" - this is the first book of the trilogy of the Italian writer. The novel is set in Venice, the main characters are Elena (fresco restorer) and Leonardo (famous chef). In general, Italian passions, art and food …

Vladimir Pozner, TV presenter

It is fortunate that I live with love for literature. Each person has books that are always with him. Always with me - "The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas. This is the first book that made me understand what honor, friendship, courage and love are. I reread it periodically.

"The Adventure of Tom Sawyer". Mom read this book to me when I was 5 years old. It is about every boy, no matter where he was born - on the banks of the Mississippi or in Russia.

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"The Catcher in the Rye" - this book is about me. When Jerome Salinger wrote it, I was the same age as Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the novel. And, of course, I associate myself with the hero of that time.

I love Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. I would very much like to meet Woland. I have a number of questions for him. I don't believe in God, but Woland definitely exists.

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, of course, is one of the main books in my life. You have to be a very bad person to understand how bad we are. Dostoevsky was very bad. Otherwise, he would not have been able to understand all the abomination, meanness, darkness that sit in every person. At the same time, he understood the greatness of man. If I were asked: what is the most brilliant book that has ever been written? I would answer: "The Brothers Karamazov."

Renata Litvinova, director, actress

I love Russian classics. If you haven't read the classics, you just don't understand what the value of our country is. We have a zone for the emergence of all kinds of geniuses.

I love Gogol, Bunin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy.

One of my favorite works of Russian classics is the story "Childhood" by Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy. She very accurately conveys memories from childhood and is partly an autobiography of the writer himself. This book breathes with a bright and serene time that was in the life of every person.

"If you haven't read the classics, you just don't understand what the value of our country is."

I love "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy. This novel is mainly about love - extraordinary, strong, forbidden and insane. Everything I like.

The lists are endless. Of the contemporary authors, I like Olga Slavnikova. Once I read a little story by Sergei Bolmat, he lives in exile, used to live in St. Petersburg and wrote scripts. So this is a short story about a middle-aged emigrant who, with his last money, bought an art object in an expensive gallery - a small kitchen, where a squirrel sat at the table on a small chair, who had just shot herself in the temple with a small Mauser … I still remember this a dead squirrel with a gunshot wound to the head, although I read the story a few years ago….

I recommend everyone to re-read "Scarlet Sails" by Alexander Green - this book, "shone through like the morning sun", will remind you of the love of life and that a person is able to create a miracle if he really believes in it.

Evelina Khromchenko, TV presenter, writer, fashion expert

I think the memoirs of Andy Warhol, a book about the life of Coco Chanel, where there are many quotes of her, and “Beauty in Exile” by Alexander Vasiliev and the book “Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna: Memoirs” written by Nicholas II's cousin in exile, seem relevant to me. For inspiration, I read Bo Brummel ("Handsome Brummel", London dandy and trendsetter of the early 19th century, author of the book "Men and Women Suit", written in 1822) and Oscar Wilde. I love Tove Jansson's passages about Moomin Mama's bags.

Ivan Urgant, TV presenter

I love Belkin's Tale very much. I adore Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol … My youthful love for the writer Dovlatov grew into love. This is due to the fact that I share many of his thoughts, I share his attitude to life. At least, the attitude that I read in the pages of his books. I am nostalgic for that St. Petersburg, which looks at me from the pages of his books. Well, humor. Humor, of course. I recommend everyone to read Dovlatov.

Vera Brezhneva, singer

I like to read books and find answers to my questions.

"Favorite book of my childhood -" Folk Tales "by Alexander Afanasyev."

Favorite book of my childhood - "Folk Tales" by Alexander Afanasyev.

My sisters and I read it in turn a hundred times, no less, and then I read it to my daughters.

Now, some of my favorite books include the Dalai Lama "The Art of Being Happy", Jorge Bukay "Letters to Claudia", Mark Levy "Where are you?"

Books help me to put my thoughts in order, to understand myself. Sometimes it seems - a novel or a story is not about me, but still it prompts me to think …

Valeria Gai Germanika, director

I love the works of Louis-Ferdinand Celine. Especially Journey to the End of the Night. I love the German romantic Ernest Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann, the Russian symbolist Fyodor Sologub and the representative of the Prague literary school Gustav Meyrink, author of the bestselling Golem.

Svetlana Khodchenkova, actress

"One of my favorite books is Stendhal's Red and Black."

One of my favorite books is Stendhal's Red and Black. No wonder this novel was banned by the Vatican and Nicholas the First. A very passionate book, it raises social issues that are relevant today.

In moments of sadness and nostalgia, I recommend reading The Arc de Triomphe by Erich Maria Remarque.

Dima Bilan, singer

My favorite book is Paulo Coelho "The Alchemist". This book helps you understand yourself and the essence of our world. I love modern philosophy. From the works that I recommend reading - Mikhail Bulgakov "Notes of a young doctor", Patrick Zyuskind "Perfume", Sergei Minaev "Duxless. A Story of a Fake Man. " At one time I was fond of books on the psychology of Sigmund Freud … If we talk about poetry, then my favorite poet is Sergei Yesenin.

Ravshana Kurkova, actress

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I'm going to read the book by Pavel Basinsky “Saint versus Leo. John of Kronstadt and Leo Tolstoy. The story of one enmity”. This book tells the story of the relationship between the famous writer, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, and the most beloved priest of that time, John of Kronstadt. The subject of dispute between two famous contemporaries was religion, attitude towards God and towards the church. The book contains real facts and correspondence.

From what I recently read, I really liked the novel "Laurel" by Yevgeny Vodolazkin, Khaled Hosseini "Runner with the Wind". This is what I advise you to definitely read. If you love memoirs, then read "Vishera" by Varlam Shalamov. This is a very deep work that reflects many life themes. Its leitmotif was the "camp theme", the destruction of a person by the state.

Vanya Noize MC, musician

George Orwell's 1984 book turned my mind upside down. Especially the concept of Newspeak described in it: the exclusion of antonyms, synonyms, atrophy of the emotional coloring of words. Well, and a permanent edition of recent history, of course. Scary book. In the dystopian world, this is a real Bible.

Vika Daineko, singer

One of my favorite books is Gone With the Wind, and I've read it many times. Scarlett O'Hara is my favorite heroine, as a child I really wanted to be like her. Despite the fact that the book is set in America, the main characters are from Ireland, so I have always dreamed of visiting this country. And in 2013 I went on vacation to Ireland. This journey inspired me to record the song Porcelain for my album V.

Vera Polozkova, poet

"One of my favorite books is Arundati Roy's God of Trivia."

One of my favorite books is The God of Little Things by Arundati Roy. I also recommend reading Jonathan Safran Foer's novel Eerily Loud and Extremely Close. This book is a short test for the presence of a soul in a person: if you read and feel it inside, then there is truth. As if someone spied on what you were silent about and shared your secret with you.

Liza Arzamasova, actress

I am sure that throughout your life you must necessarily re-read good fairy tales and your favorite book in childhood in order to remember the magic and return to the state when he himself could not read, when all the books were read in my mother's voice. It is with pleasure that I reread The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery on sad days.