Best products from r/russia

Ah, hope to see some answers for this, I'm in the US and was just about to buy a FireTV hoping to stream Russian-language TV. I see an Amazon app "Russian TV Channels" but know nothing about it.

A few years ago in the US I streamed Первый Канал using Russian proxies. Once I started the stream I could disable the proxy and it worked flawlessly for at least a couple hours. Would like a better solution, too

*Update:
I found this torrent-tv.ru site, has excellent HD streams of many Russian channels. Seems there's something for Kodi with this too, but haven't tried it. Seems to be free, just registration. TVTeka also looks like a good solution too, but not free.

I recommend visiting the Kremlin (churches, square, museum in the armory and diamond fund) and St. Basil's (and even the smaller Russian history museum and the archeological one outside the main gate) in Red Square before the cemetery. The cemetery is interesting but if you are short on time you can see and learn a whole more in the same time period staying in the Red Square area. Just check hours and tickets information on the Kremlin museum website first. If you still have time after that cross the bridge behind St Basils to the Zamosvoreche area, home of the excellent Treyakov Museum (Russian art arranged by historical/cultural lesson eras).

You are right to learn Cyrillic, especially if you plan of checking out the metro - there will not be many English speakers out on the streets and knowing that much will be really helpful. If you plan to venture outside of tourist areas on your own it may be helpful to make cards in advance with common phrases and things that you may want to buy.

I noticed that your selected reading was mostly language-focused. If you want to know more about the history/culture I recommend Natasha's Dance. This is only assuming that your flight isn't tomorrow, however - Natasha's Dance is a long book!

If you are looking for events, Element Magazine has some listed in English, as do the Moscow News, Moscow Times and the upcoming Golden Mask

Have Fun!

Orthodox Mariology is a huge subject, but suffice it to say that we hold the Mother of God in huge regard. The most common name by which we call her is Theotókos, which is Greek for "Birthgiver of God" (we use the Greek word because it flows better; there is no smooth, one-word translation). This word has great significance in Orthodox theology, as it is a proclamation of faith against Nestorianism, an early heresy that denied that the Blessed Virgin bore God Himself in her womb.

Here is an article on the subject of Orthodox Mariology.

Here is a book on the subject by St. John of Shanghai & San Francisco.

I'm not sure if that's what you are looking for, but probably students will like DJ Smash "Moscow never sleeps' or "Volna". Also listen to DJ Groove, sometimes he takes popular Soviet or classical Russian composition and make remix: "Uletay" or folk one.

And you simply must start your party with this track :)

Probably will be cool if bartenders wear Russian navy t-shirts and ushankas.

Classic things you can find yourself.. something modern - if you up to good social sci-fi(no starwars) read Roadside Picknik by Strugatskiy brothers. Any other books from them are great too.

Another really powerful book - Librarian by Elizarov.

Sankya by Prilepin.

Also, look for Sorokin(like someone said: Sorokin's novels - great samples of Turgenev's prose, classic russian novels, fucking butchered with an axe."), Pelevin(crazy postmodern hallucinations very interesting tho) and Ivanov(this one.

> this subreddit does seem to be very anti-west though

I think (just a guess) it's because a lot of people feel antagonized.

>i wouldn't say most people in the west hate russia,

Yeah, for sure. It varies.

>i'm one of these people

No dude, you're not. I think it's pretty clear you don't hate Russia or Russians. You are totally welcome here. I'm talking about disingenuous people with a sincere hate for Russia.

>Thanks

Nothing will give you a completer picture, and you're free to make up your own mind why Soviets liked the Soviet Union. If you're really interested about the subject, read about it. If you're bored on a train or plane or talking to a boring person there's really nothing better than a good book.

Personally I like this book The Road to Stalingrad. Check it out at the library or something. There's a lot of interesting events in Russian history. The contrast between the right-wing anti-Semitic 90% illiterate hardcore Christian Russian Empire and the atheist USSR is pretty funny, imo.

As someone else said, The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food is a good source for Soviet cuisine. I don't think it reflects russian cuisine before revolution however, and it has gone through many iterations - later versions have simpler ingredients as the soviet economy declined to match what citizens had available in stores.

Maksim Syrnikov is more of a "revivalist", meaning he has explored russian villages, trying to find truly traditional recipes from past centuries. His book is interesting and authentic.

Another idea is the Russian Tea Room cookbook - it has preserved some of the emigre recipes, and can be called a true recipe book of the pre-revolutionary aristocracy. Although today the Russian Tea Room is only an overpriced restaurant, it used to be a significant center for emigres.

Well of course the first place to start would be Wikipedia. You could look up:

1936 Soviet Constitution, Gosplan, five year plans, collectivization, kolkhoz, Gulags, the Virgin Lands campaign, TASS, Izvestia, Pravda, Elektronika, their incredible space program, etc. And of course the leaders. And the various republics (SSRs) would be good to know. In fact the country itself was CCCP = SSSR.

Read about all the post-collapse conflicts: Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, Chechnya, Transnistria, Russia-Georgia war, Ukraine Crisis. And about how turbulent the 90s were.

There are personal accounts of the gigantic conflict with the Germans, like those of Vasili Grossman and Marshal Zhukov. There are transcripts of interviews with Khrushchev and the books that Gorbachev wrote on Glasnost and Perestroika. Historian David M. Glantz writes almost exclusively about the Soviet military. There are the accounts of dissidents like Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov.

There are some classic pieces of literature like Master and Margarita and Dr. Zhivago. And music on YouTube by people like Shostakovich.

There are surplus stores like Soviet-Power.com that sell helmets, medals, coins, busts, and the like if that is what you are into. And blogs like English Russia.

r/history here on reddit probably has some articles to peruse. r/HistoryPorn often has old Russian photos.

And of course I've talked to several people on this forum who lived during Soviet times. I'm sure some here or elsewhere on reddit would be happy to tell you.

Alright, alright.

Well, if you're just interested in the history for its own sake, I've recently looked through a few overview books to see if I could recommend anything when people come here asking for one and this one is probably the best one I found.

I see you found the recent Figes book. If you're interested in an introduction to pre-Soviet cultural history, that is probably the book for you.

Based on the other stuff you said below about wanting to be prepared for Russia, I would point out that it's very difficult to draw direct links between the Russia of the present and the Russia of the nineteenth century. THIS book is a personal favorite of mine. It's a bit dry, but it is the best effort I know that explores how an idea of what Russia is or should be was recovered/invented beginning in the 1960s in the wake of the largely successful Bolshevik attempt to destroy Russian society. I would also recommend THIS or THIS book by Alena Ledeneva, though it's not history per se.

EDIT: THIS book is very highly regarded. It traces the Petrograd cultural elite through the Revolution, and gets into their contributions to early post-Revolutionary society.

There was a workbook called Сила that I used to get off the ground, but I can't find it anywhere on line. I used it in conjunction with

http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Penguin-Russian-Course/dp/0140120416

I'll tell you what you don't want to do though. Don't get a book that has a bunch of phrases that you need to memorize. Get a book that focuses on grammar principles and vocab.

EDIT: Join us in /r/russian as well! There is most likely more beginners there as well.

I'd suggest reading Penguin's Complete Russian Course for Beginners and then moving on to Modern Russian. But really, books can only help you understand concepts of the language on not to listen and speak the language conversationally. I'm an American, but I lived in Russia for a couple of years in my late teens to early twenties. I'd study Penguin's Complete Russian Course (and later Modern Russian) for an hour every morning and make mental notes of phrases I wanted to use and how to construct sentences and then I'd go out and talk with people. I'd be listening for what I was learning. It's so important to listen natives speak the language and you have to try to speak and make mistakes and have them correct you. I'd listen to native Russian podcast type programs as well and watch Russian movies. I started to be able to understand almost everything within the six to nine months. After a year, I could speak quite freely and then by 18 months I could understand the nuances of the language, make jokes, and almost always get my point across. So if you have the chance to speak with Russians, do so as often as possible. And make mistakes. Then learn from them. Study everyday. Practice everyday.

Two things: For history and high culture, you want "Natasha's Dance" http://www.amazon.com/Natashas-Dance-Cultural-History-Russia/dp/0312421958/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420918749&sr=1-1&keywords=Natasha%27s+dance


For a detailed look at basically every aspect of Russian everyday life and worldview (everything from historic army uniforms to the culture of medicine to folk tales and superstitions), "The Russian's World" is where it's at. http://www.amazon.com/The-Russians-World-Language-Edition/dp/0893573809 The 2nd or 3rd edition will be much cheaper, but the information I got from my older edition (published 2000) about basic daily life was pretty outdated when I was in Russia (2012).

Honestly DuoLingo is a meme. If you're serious about learning Russian (or any language) doing flashcards isn't going to get the job done. What you need to do is pick up The New Penguin Russian Course and read about the structure and theory of the language. Read Russian news/articles and literature/poetry. Look up all the words you can't understand (there will be plenty) and keep a journal of new words and phrases that are important to your goals. Then you can use DuoLingo to help supplement your vocabulary if you need to.

I found DuoLingo to be insulting and overpriced for its zero dollar price tag.

I think I found just what I've been looking for:
https://www.amazon.com/Natashas-Dance-Cultural-History-Russia/dp/0312421958

https://www.amazon.com/New-Penguin-Russian-Course-Beginners/dp/0140120416

Full beginner starter guide which includes grammar.