I think I've got it figured out, now.

You got it. Try the Russian short story, Chekov, for example.

I was wondering what Russian Novel you must be reading?
Did you hear what Oprah's club will be reading this summer?

I can't spell it...but I'll give it a try,
Anna Karennena. Looks wrong. But you get the idea :o)

That was my complaint about Pasternak. Zhivago is one film that I liked better than the book, because the camera could do in an instant what that wordy fellow took pages on.

Normally, however, I love the descriptive excess of the Russians. Tolstoy is a lot of fun, and Dostoevsky is in my list of favorites.

Donna: I'm reading Crime and Punishment.

It's not that I'm not enjoying it. But it does take a completely different mindset to read than American literature I think. And you have to wrap your head around the volatility (emotionally) of the characters. Once done, it's fascinating.

Maybe they got paid by the word.

Saw a Peruvian film version of "Crime and Punishment" set in Lima today. Pretty good adaptation. ("Sin compasión") I wonder if an author could write a similar story from scratch today.

Hey, that sounds like my husband's writing m.o., too! :)

TSO: You got it! They were serialized in magazines, just like Dickens. But on a purely literary note, they were influenced by French novels (quelle suprise!).