On the eve of World Writer's Day, the Levada Center wondered who in the minds of the people of Russia deserves to enter list of the most prominent Russian writers... The survey was conducted for 1600 residents of the Russian Federation over 18 years old. The results can be called predictable: a dozen leaders reflect the composition of the school curriculum in literature.
Human rights activist Solzhenitsyn (5%) joined her almost closely. Kuprin, Bunin and Nekrasov finished at the same time - each got 4% of the votes. And then, among friends from textbooks, new names began to appear, for example, Dontsova and Akunin took their place next to Griboyedov and Ostrovsky (3% each), and Ustinova, Ivanov, Marinina and Pelevin stood on the same level with Goncharov, Pasternak, Platonov and Chernyshevsky ( 1%).
10. Lermontov
The top 10 most prominent writers of Russia are opened by the poet-misanthrope, full of contempt for the soulless light, the creator of demonic characters and the singer of Caucasian exoticism in the form of mountain rivers and young Circassians. However, even stylistic errors like “a lioness with a shaggy mane on a ridge” or “a familiar corpse” did not prevent him from climbing the Parnassus of Russian literature and taking tenth place in the rating with a score of 6%.
9. Bitter
In the USSR, he was considered the ancestor of Soviet literature and socialist realism, and ideological opponents denied Gorky his writing talent, intellectual scope, and accused him of cheap sentimentalism. Received 7% of the votes.
8. Turgenev
He dreamed of becoming a philosopher and even tried to get a master's degree, but he failed to become a scientist. But he became a writer. And a quite successful writer - his fees were among the highest in Russia. With this money (and income from the estate) Turgenev supported the whole family of his beloved Pauline Viardot, including her children and her husband. In the poll, he scored 9%.
7. Bulgakov
Russia rediscovered this writer for itself only twenty-five years ago, after perestroika. Bulgakov was one of the first to face the horrors of communal apartments and obstacles on the way to a Moscow residence permit, which was later reflected in The Master and Margarita. His contribution to literature was appreciated by 11% of Russians.
6. Sholokhov
It is still unknown who exactly wrote "Quiet Don" - an unknown writer from the "white" camp, or a group of comrades from the NKVD, or Sholokhov himself, who later received the Nobel Prize for the novel. In the meantime, he ranks sixth in the list of outstanding writers with a score of 13%.
5. Gogol
They love him not for moralizing, but for the door to the world of grotesque and phantasmagorias, fancifully woven with real life. He scored the same number of points as Sholokhov.
4. Pushkin
In his youth he loved to play pranks (for example, to shock the inhabitants of Yekaterinoslav with an outfit of translucent muslin pantaloons without underwear), was proud of his thin waist and tried with all his might to get rid of the status of a "writer". Moreover, during his lifetime he was considered a genius, the first Russian poet and creator of the Russian literary language. In the minds of today's readers, it ranks fourth with a score of 15%.
3. Chekhov
The author of humorous stories and the founder of tragicomedy in Russian literature is considered to be a kind of “visiting card” of Russian drama. The Russians give him an honorable third place, giving him 18% of the vote.
2. Dostoevsky
Five books by a former convict and an inveterate gambler were included in the list of "The 100 best books of all time" according to the version of the Norwegian Nobel Institute. Dostoevsky, like no one else, knows and describes with utmost honesty the dark and painful depths of the human soul. In the ranking, he took second place with a score of 23%.
1. Leo Tolstoy
"The hardened man" earned the fame of a genius writer and classic of Russian literature during his lifetime. His works have been published and republished many times in Russia and abroad and have appeared on the cinema screen many times. One "Anna Karenina" was filmed 32 times, "Resurrection" - 22 times, "War and Peace" - 11 times. Even his life itself has served as material for several films. Perhaps it is thanks to the recent high-profile film adaptations that he earned the fame of the first writer in Russia, receiving 45% of the votes.
Please add Zhukovsky.