Ten Russian novels to read before you die

At Off the Shelf, Andrew Kaufman tagged ten Russian novels to read before you die, including:

The Funeral Party
by Lyudmila Ulitskaya

This English-language debut of one of contemporary Russia’s most important novelists describes the bizarre and touching interactions among a colorful cast of Russian émigrés living in New York who attend the deathbed of Alik, a failed, but well-liked painter. At once quirky and trenchant, The Funeral Party explores two of the biggest “accursed questions” of Russian literature—How to live? How to die?—as they play out in a tiny, muggy Manhattan apartment in the early 1990’s.

Read about the other books on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue