Russian Folktales from the Collection of A. Afanasyev: A Dual-Language Book (Dover Dual Language Russian)

This is great! The stories are all different length. Some are half a page. So you get a sense of accomplishment straigtaway with those ones. Theyre pure russian, too. Good to get this insight. I thought it was harsh for one of the characters to 'fusillade' his wife rather than divorce her (look up fusillade, if youre interested); it was quite a surprise to read this in a folk tale. But, like i said, good to get an insight. 😶

I often say to students of Russian that there is no better way to develop a feel for the Russian language - and, above all, for the difficult but expressive Russian verb - than by reading Russsian folktales. This is the perfect volume for that purpose. The translations adhere closely to the syntax of the original and so constitute a perfect guide to understanding the Russian. And Afanasyev's collection of Russian folk tales is also of extraordinary interest in itself. Along with the Brothers Grimm, and Italo Calvino's collection of Italian folktales, it is one of the greatest monuments to the oral folktale that we possess.

I am not in a position to crit the Russian translation, but the in-principle mechanism of (side-by-side; page-by-page) simultanmeous translation must be a boon to those exploring one language from another!

Excellent dual language book. It is useful not only for the student of Russian who wishes to improve his or her Russian, but the English translation by itself is of a very high quality. The stories are engaging and interesting, and the specific points peculiar to Russian culture are very well explained. Many of these stories take me back to my childhood when I used to feast on Russian folktales. My favourite character, Baba Yaga, is an almost omnipresent character in the stories. The only thing that I missed is Ivan Bilibin's evocative illustrations - they have a sense of mystique that is impossible to define, but seem to encompass the Slavic soul. The print quality is of the highest quality, and I could not find any typographical mistakes either. The price is very steep, but the content is more than worth it in my opinion. Recommended for children and adults alike.

I purchased this book of folktales as an aid to learning Russian. The book is as described, and having both Russian and English versions present was a wonderful help. But, although I wasn’t expecting tales from “My Little Pony” (they’re Russian tales, after all), I must admit that I found the particular selection of tales to be pretty depressing. This is my fault, for failing to check a listing of the stories included before purchasing the book. But I do think that the book would be improved by the inclusion of more tales about people who aren’t miserable, desperate, and brutal. Not all of Russian life, nor literature, is characterized by those qualities! I’m very aware that my reaction to the choice of tales is unlikely to be universally shared. As a result, I awarded the book five stars because it deserves it on the bases of content, usefulness, and faithfulness to the product description.

it would be better to read and study the russian lang if it was on the right side of pages

The folktales are interesting. The fact that you can read the Russian or English for each is nice. This book makes for a helpful collection for anyone studying world folktsled. The book arrived quickly and in good shape. No complaints with this purchade.

Great