Because I know you’re all looking for antiquated Russian adventure stories I’d like to recommend Dersu the Trapper. For those of you who like Lewis and Clark type adventure I heartily recommend it.
This is a book I couldn’t put down. You’ll like it too; assuming, of course, that you’re the kind of guy who might enjoy killing a squirrel and eating it for breakfast. Click on the image to go to Amazon.com and drop a few bucks. (No, I don’t get a cut.)
It’s a damned fine historic story with no pretension whatsoever. It’s not remotely deep and the language is dated. Cut the author a break; it was written in Russian by an adventurer (not merely a writer) about events that happened around 1906. I doubt he was carrying a thesaurus next to his rifle.
Like “The Road” (which I reviewed here) I presume no woman anywhere has enjoyed “Dersu” and the average effete studious literature major will break out in hives if they touch the book. You’ve been warned.
This is the book that was the source for the 1975 Akira Kurosawa film “Dersu Uzala”, as well as a 1961 Soviet film of the same name. Arseniev managed to survive the turbulent times of the Russian revolution and civil war, dying of natural causes in 1930, but his widow was executed after a 10 minute ‘trial’ in 1937 and his orphaned teenage daughter consigned to the gulag.
Ahhh Russia. So much joy.