The Greatest Literature of Russia
The selection of literature from specific countries or regions is based on the continuing research carried out for our flagship list, The Greatest Literature of All Time, and all our other Greatest lists. It is also informed by the additional literary assessments of local readers, writers, critics and scholars.
On this list are literary works of all types, genres, cultures and periods by authors primarily associated with Russia.
This list focuses on major creative works—such as novels, plays, epic poetry and story collections—although some shorter or nonfiction writing of literary significance may also be included.Latest update: February 17, 2024
The 166 greatest works of Russian literature
In chronological order
1672
The Life Written by Himself
Avvakum,
Russia,
Autobiography
1792
Poor Liza
Nikolai Karamzin,
Russia,
novella
1820
Ruslan and Ludmila
Alexander Pushkin,
Russia,
poem
1824
The Fountain of Bakhchisaray
Alexander Pushkin,
Russia,
poem
1825
Woe From Wit
Alexander Griboyedov,
Russia,
play
Boris Godunov
Alexander Pushkin,
Russia,
poem
1825–1832
Eugene Onegin
Alexander Pushkin,
Russia,
poem
1830
The Tales of Belkin
Alexander Pushkin,
Russia,
story collection
1836
The Captain's Daughter
Alexander Pushkin,
Russia,
novel
1837
The Bronze Horseman
Alexander Pushkin,
Russia,
poem
1840
A Hero of Our Time
Mikhail Lermontov,
Russia,
novel
1842
The Demon
Mikhail Lermontov,
Russia,
poem
1847
Who Is to Blame?
Alexander Herzen,
Russia,
novel
1852
Childhood
Leo Tolstoy,
Russia,
novella
A Sportsman's Sketches
Ivan Turgenev,
Russia,
story collection
1855–1963
Russian Folk Tales
Alexander Afanasiev,
Russia,
story collection
1859
Oblomov
Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov,
Russia,
novel
Home of the Gentry
Ivan Turgenev,
Russia,
novel
1860
The Storm
Alexander Ostrovsky,
Russia,
play
First Love
Ivan Turgenev,
Russia,
novella
1862
Fathers and Sons
Ivan Turgenev,
Russia,
novel
1864
Notes From Underground
Fyodor Dostoevsky,
Russia,
novella
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
Nikolai Leskov,
Russia,
novel
1866
Crime and Punishment
Fyodor Dostoevsky,
Russia,
novel
The Gambler
Fyodor Dostoevsky,
Russia,
novella
1870
The History of a Town
Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin,
Russia,
novel
King Lear of the Steppes
Ivan Turgenev,
Russia,
novella
1871
The Forest
Alexander Ostrovsky,
Russia,
play
1872
Demons
Fyodor Dostoevsky,
Russia,
novel
Torrents of Spring
Ivan Turgenev,
Russia,
novel
1873
The Enchanted Wanderer
Nikolai Leskov,
Russia,
novella
1874
The Idiot
Fyodor Dostoevsky,
Russia,
novel
Who Can Be Happy and Free in Russia?
Nikolai Nekrasov,
Russia,
poem
Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy,
Russia,
novel
1878
Without a Dowry
Alexander Ostrovsky,
Russia,
play
1880
The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Dostoevsky,
Russia,
novel
The Golovlyov Family
Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin,
Russia,
novel
1881
Lefty
Nikolai Leskov,
Russia,
novel
1886
Motley Stories
Anton Chekhov,
Russia,
story collection
Includes The Huntsman, and others
"Vanka"
Anton Chekhov,
Russia,
story
The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Leo Tolstoy,
Russia,
novella
1887
At Dusk
Anton Chekhov,
Russia,
story collection
Includes Dreams, A Trivial Occurrence, A Bad Business, At Home, A Restless Guest, On the Road, Agafya, and others
1889
The Kreutzer Sonata
Leo Tolstoy,
Russia,
novella
1891
The Duel
Anton Chekhov,
Russia,
novella
1896
The Seagull
Anton Chekhov,
Russia,
play
Beyond the Earth
Konstantin Tsiolkovskiy,
Russia,
novel
1899
"The Lady With the Dog"
Anton Chekhov,
Russia,
story
1900
Uncle Vanya
Anton Chekhov,
Russia,
play
1901
Three Sisters
Anton Chekhov,
Russia,
play
Resurrection
Leo Tolstoy,
Russia,
novel
1902
The Lower Depths
Maxim Gorky,
Russia,
play
The Power of Darkness
Leo Tolstoy,
Russia,
play
1903
The Cherry Orchard
Anton Chekhov,
Russia,
play
1905
Summerfolk
Maxim Gorky,
Russia,
play
1907
Mother
Maxim Gorky,
Russia,
novel
1908
The Seven Who Were Hanged
Leonid Andreyev,
Russia,
novel
1912
Hadji Murat
Leo Tolstoy,
Russia,
novella
1913
Petersburg
Andrei Bely,
Russia,
novel
My Childhood
Maxim Gorky,
Russia,
memoir
1915
A Cloud in Trousers
Vladimir Mayakovsky,
Russia,
poem
1918
The Twelve
Alexasnder Blok,
Russia,
poem
Memoirs of a Revolutionist
Vera Figner,
Russia,
memoir
1923
Chapayev
Dmitry Furmanov,
Russia,
novel
1924
The White Guard
Mikhail Bulgakov,
Russia,
novella
Cities and Years
Konstantin Fedin,
Russia,
novel
The Three Fat Men
Yuri Olesha,
Russia,
novel
The Iron Flood
Alexander Serafimovich,
Russia,
novel
1925
Heart of a Dog
Mikhail Bulgakov,
Russia,
novella
Mitya's Love
Ivan Bunin,
Russia,
novel
The Artomonov Business
Maxim Gorky,
Russia,
novel
We
Yevgeny Zamyatin,
Russia,
novel
1927
Sunset
Isaac Babel,
Russia,
play
The Twelve Chairs
Ilya Ilf, Evgeny Petrov,
Russia,
novel
Envy
Yuri Olesha,
Russia,
novel
1928
Chevengur
Andrei Platonov,
Russia,
novel
And Quiet Flows the Don
Mikhail Sholokov,
Russia,
novel
1929
The Bedbug
Vladimir Mayakovsky,
Russia,
play
1929–1943
Peter the Great
Alexy Tolstoy,
Russia,
novel
1930
The Life of Arseniev: Youth
Ivan Bunin,
Russia,
novel
The Foundation Pit
Andrei Platonov,
Russia,
novel
1931
Odessa Stories
Isaac Babel,
Russia,
story collection
The Little Golden Calf
Ilya Ilf, Evgeny Petrov,
Russia,
novel
1935
Soul
Andrei Platonov,
Russia,
novella
1935
Virgin Soil Upturned
Mikhail Sholokov,
Russia,
novel
Invitation to a Beheading
Vladimir Nabokov,
Russia,
novel
1937–1945
Stories about Lelya and Minka
Mikhail Zoshchenko,
Russia,
story collection
1938
The Gift
Vladimir Nabokov,
Russia,
novel
1939
The Old Woman
Danill Kharms,
Russia,
novella
1940
The on Flows Home to the Sea
Mikhail Sholokov,
Russia,
novel
1941
The Real Life of Sebastian Knight
Vladimir Nabokov,
Russia,
novel
1943
The Fifth Seal
Mark Aldanov,
Russia,
novel
1943–1973
Before Sunrise
Mikhail Zoshchenko,
Russia,
novel
1944
Red Cavalry
Isaac Babel,
Russia,
novel
Son of the Regiment
Valentin Kataev,
Russia,
novel
The Two Captains
Veniamin Kaverin,
Russia,
novel
1946
Dark Avenues
Ivan Bunin,
Russia,
story collection
The Young Guard
Alexander Fadeyev,
Russia,
novel
1950
Nervous People and Other Satires
Mikhail Zoshchenko,
Russia,
story collection
1955
Collected Stories
Isaac Babel,
Russia,
story collection
1957
Pnin
Vladimir Nabokov,
Russia,
novel
Doctor Zhivago
Boris Pasternak,
Russia,
novel
Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale
Ivan Yefremov,
Russia,
novel
1962
Pale Fire
Vladimir Nabokov,
Russia,
novel
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Alexander Solzhenitsyn,
Russia,
novella
1963
Requiem
Anna Akhmatova,
Russia,
poetry collection
1964
Antiworlds
Andrey Voznesensky,
Russia,
poetry collection
1965
Sofia Petrovna
Lydia Chukovskaya,
Russia,
novel
1965–2003
Alisa's Adventures
Kir Bulychev,
Russia,
Novel and story cycle
1967
The Master and Margarita
Mikhail Bulgakov,
Russia,
novel
The ase of Comrade Tulayev
Victor Serge,
Russia,
novel
1968
Cancer Ward
Alexander Solzhenitsyn,
Russia,
novel
The First Circle
Alexander Solzhenitsyn,
Russia,
novel
1969
Ada or Ardor
Vladimir Nabokov,
Russia,
novel
The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin
Vladimir Voinovich,
Russia,
novel
1970
A Dream in Polar Fog
Yuri Rytkheu,
Russia,
novel
1971
August 1914
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn,
Russia,
novel
1972
Roadside Picnic
Arkady and Boris Strugatski,
Russia,
novel
1973
The Gulag Archipelago
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn,
Russia,
nonfiction
Moscow-Petushki
Venedikt Yerofeyev,
Russia,
Prose poem
1975
The Burn
Vassily Aksyonov,
Russia,
novel
1976
A School for Fools
Sasha Sokolov,
Russia,
novel
Yawning Heights
Alexander Zinoviev,
Russia,
novel
1977
A Part of Speech
Joseph Brodsky,
Russia,
poetry collection
What Is to Be Done?
Nikolay Chernyshevsky,
Russia,
novel
1978
Pushkin House
Andrei Bitov,
Russia,
novel
The Faculty of Useless Knowledge
Yury Dombrovsky,
Russia,
novel
Kolyma Tales
Varlam Shalamov,
Russia,
story collection
1979
It's Me, Eddie
Eduard Limonov,
Russia,
novel
1981
Compromise
Sergei Dovlatov,
Russia,
novel
1982
Rabbits and Boa Constrictors
Fazil Iskander,
Russia,
novel
Summer in Baden-Baden
Leonard Tsypkin,
Russia,
biography
1986
The Suitcase
Sergei Dovlatov,
Russia,
story collection
1990
Russian Beauty
Victor Yerofeyev,
Russia,
novel
1992
Lines of Fate
Mark Kharitonov,
Russia,
novel
The Time: Night
Ludmila Petrushevskaya,
Russia,
novella
Sldeepwalker in a Fog
Tatyana Tolstaya,
Russia,
story collection
1993
The Life of Insects
Victor Pelevin,
Russia,
novel
1996
Chapayev and Pustota
Victor Pelevin,
Russia,
novel
Medea and Her Children
Lyudmila Ulitskaya,
Russia,
novel
1998
The Slynx
Tatyana Tolstaya,
Russia,
novel
1998–2018
The Fandorin series
Boris Akunin,
Russia,
novel series
Includes The Winter Queen, The Turkish Gambit, Murder on the Leviathan, The Death of Achilles, and others
1999
The Taking of Izmail
Mikhail Shishkin,
Russia,
novel
2000
Hurramabad
Andrei Volos,
Russia,
novel
2005
Metro 2033
Dmitry Glukhovsky,
Russia,
novel
The Gold of the Rebellion
Alexey Ivanov,
Russia,
novel
2006
2017
Olga Slavnikova,
Russia,
novel
Day of the Oprichnik
Vladimir Sorokin,
Russia,
novel
Daniel Stein, Interpreter
Lyudmila Ulitskaya,
Russia,
novel
2008
Cranes abd Dwarfsa
Leonid Yuzefovich,
Russia,
novel
2009
The Gray House
Miriam Petrosyan,
Russia,
novel
There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried To Kill Her Neighbor's Baby
Ludmila Petrushevskaya,
Russia,
story collection
2010
The Light and the Dark
Mikhail Shishkin,
Russia,
novel
2011
The Big Green Tent
Lyudmila Ulitskaya,
Russia,
novel
2012
The Mountain and the Wall
Alisa Ganieva,
Russia,
novel
The Women of Lazarus
Marina Stepnova,
Russia,
novel
Laurus
Eugene Vodolazkin,
Russia,
novel
2014
The Monastery
Zakhar Prilepin,
Russia,
novel
2015
Three Apples Fell From the Sky
Narine Abgaryan,
Russia,
novel
Bride and Groom
Alisa Ganieva,
Russia,
novel
Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes
Guzel Yakhina,
Russia,
novel
2016
The Petrovs in and Around the Flat
Alexey Salnikov,
Russia,
novel
2017
June
Dmitry Bykov,
Russia,
novel
2019
Rock, Paper, Scissors: And Other Stories
Maxim Osipov,
Russia,
story collection
2021
Doctor Garin
Vladimir Sorokin,
Russia,
novel
