Vocabulary
Everyone is interested in what, and, most importantly, why people read. It is especially curious to pose this question to people for whom reading is an important part of life. We asked UNIDENT employees, enthusiastic about literature, to choose among hundreds of works the five books that they could call the most relevant nowadays
Anastasia Karpova
Senior Manager, Regional Sales Department, UNIDEN
Reading for the sake of pleasure is one of the most
important activities that are generally available to a person. I learned
to read early. And like everyone who loved it as a child, I read
books avidly — with a flashlight under the blanket, to the detriment of
walks, school and other useful activities. I immediately preferred
Jane Austen
PRIDE AND
PREJUDICE
This genius work of world literature, first
published more than 200 years ago, is still relevant and popular.
It combines incredible literary skills, subtle irony and sharp English
humor, inimitable psychology and ease of narration. For me it is primarily
about bright and memorable characters, which I often recognize in someone of my
acquaintances. Some phrases can be used as quotations to aptly describe
some life situations or people. And that is what I do.
Mikhail Bulgakov MASTER AND MARGARITA
About every five years I read it over and
find something new every time.
You can open any page and immerse yourself in the fantastic beauty of the
language and the wonders of plot. It does not need additional
comments — everyone knows everything.
Dina Rubina A RUSSIAN CANARY
After a long break in reading, I was very
lucky to come across this particular work. Thanks to it I began to value
composition.
John Fowles THE MAGUS
It was the first book, for the sake of
which I almost forgot to sleep for three days in my youth, I swallowed it in
one shot. I remember thinking that the author is alive, but I'm already scared
that he can leave and not have time to do something else. It was the only book
(800 pages!) I took with me from home when I left Novosibirsk for Moscow
16 years ago. A grandiose multicolored
Hanya
Yanagihara A LITTLE LIFE
Another book was supposed to take this
place. But a week before the delivery of the material, I changed my
plans without any regret.
Do not try to read it, if you are not tolerant, if you directly link the
narrative and reality, if you compare life and fiction, hurry to evaluate and
judge if you do not want to see between the lines, and you can not and do not
know how to look from above.
Morally exhausting, taking out the soul and turning inside out, giving birth to
anger, bewilderment and admiration, universally discussed, monstrously
contradictory and therefore a wonderful Novel with a capital letter.
Aza Klementyeva
директор HR Director, Unident Dentistry clinic
chain
Unfortunately, now we have less and less time to read. Preferences are concentrated in the field of professional literature and 'useful reading' that develops certain skills. In my understanding, relevance means being demanded at the moment. I want to share with readers my top 5 books, which I sometimes address in the context of certain spheres of my life activity. These books are completely diverse, but I would not like to rank them. All of them are dear to me, and each plays its irreplaceable role.
M.A. Bulgakov HEART OF A DOG
In my school years, Mikhail Bulgakov's books were not studied and not even mentioned in the school program. Therefore, it wasn't until a 'conscious age' that I learned about extraordinary works of this master. For the first acquaintance, it was “Heart of a Dog”. This choice was influenced by a Vladimir Bortko film with a brilliant cast. After a difficult working week, communicating with a whole lot of different people, with different needs, upbringing and worldview, the image of Professor Preobrazhensky with his ability to control himself gives strength to cope with emotions and not be disappointed in the profession.
Jim Camp
START WITH NO… THE NEGOTIATING TOOLS THAT THE PROS DON'T WANT YOU TO
KNOW
Camp is the founder of Coach2100 and a
negotiation technology coach. I was surprised a lot when I realized that
I intuitively used parts of the system described by the author in my
negotiations. The topic is presented clearly, clearly and precisely — foreign
books
I. Ilf and E.
Petrov THE LITTLE GOLDEN CALF
The book is so loved by me that I can quote many passages by heart. And the relevance of the characters described in it does not depend on the historical period. Adventures of the protagonists give me a charge of optimism, free my mind and improve my mood. In addition, I meet all its characters (and quite often) in everyday work. Sometimes the mood is so depressed that only comparing the applicant with some character in the book allows you to adequately complete the interview. I recommend the book for psychological unloading to all those who have to work with a lot of people as part of their job duties.
N.V. Samoukina HR DIRECTOR'S HANDBOOK
Natalia Samoukina is one of my respected experts in the field of HR management, a business coach and a consultant. The author is in the top 10 Russian business coaches. The book is built on the principle of “Go and do.” I recommend it to everyone who works with human resources. This book will give a lot of food for thought and professional development to both a beginner and an experienced specialist.
J. K.
Rowling HARRY POTTER (books series)
I must say, the story of the
Vladimir Zvyagin
Head of Purchasing Department, UNIDENT
I learned to read early. And before I went to school, staying home alone, I amused myself with reading. Fortunately, there were problems with television in the Soviet Union, and no problems with the publication of children's literature. Now I hardly remember how much I read at school, but on a boring vacation I could read a book taken at random from the bookcase. For example, Flaubert or Alphonse Dode. I really began to read a lot when I went to college right after school. My favorite author was Julio Cortázar. At the same time, I began to seek out and read other Latin American writers — Borges, Casares, Sabato, Vargas Llosa. I read beatniks — Kerouac, Burroughs, Miller, although now this literature does not seem to me worthy of attention. Then there was interest in the American writers of the school of “black humor” — Pynchon, Barth, Barthelme. I think for the person who lives in Russia and speaks Russian, the most relevant books are our classics Gogol, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Bulgakov. First of all, of course, because of the language. And besides, some aspects of Russian life haven't changed in the last two centuries.
Ken Follet CENTURY TRILOGY
Three volumes, almost 1,000 pages each,
about the lives of several families in Russia, Germany and the United
States. By the third part, only the genealogical trees printed in the annex
help to determine the family ties between the characters. From the point
of view of literature as an art, this book is hardly worthy of mention.
But for a person not deeply acquainted with the history of the last
century, it helps to understand what was happening in the world. The plot
is quite breathtaking, so that the last volume, not yet translated into
Russian, is worth reading in the original. It is the first big unadapted book
in English that I read.
Ivo Andrić TRAVNIK CHRONICLE
A book about the hard life of the French consul in Travnik (Bosnia) at the beginning of the XIX century. Apart from him, in this Turkish city there is only one European — the Austrian consul. Since France and Austria are periodically in a state of war, formal relations are imposed on uneasy personal relations. Wikipedia says that the historical details are accurate; the book is written very well.
Italo Svevo ZENO'S CONSCIENCE
I started learning Italian some time ago.
And of course, I was interested in learning more about Italian literature.
If not more, then at least something. Italo Svevo didn't write much; and he is
almost always associated with Joyce, whose English language courses Svevo
attended. But this most important book of his is interesting in itself,
regardless of Joyce and even Freud, under the influence of whom it is
allegedly written. An important warning: do not read “Zeno's Conscience” if you
really want to quit smoking.
Boris Pasternak DOCTOR ZHIVAGO
First I started listening to this book in an audio version, but turned it off after a minute. Because this book needs to be read. The XX century Russia is not the time or place for people like the protagonist. I immediately remembered “The White Guard”, but these two books are too different. First of all, because of how Pasternak writes. This is a completely different language and a completely different perception of the world. In addition, I would recommend “Boris Pasternak” by Dmitry Bykov.
Max
Frisch GANTENBEIN / A WILDERNESS OF MIRRORS
Switzerland, probably, has not so many writers. At least I know very few of them and, except for Frish, did not read anyone. “Gantenbein” is not the easiest reading. There are not many events in this book. The most important things happen in Gantenbein’s mind, but in a rather different way from the Italian Zeno. This book is like a boring intellectual European cinema, but unlike many films, the external complexity is not an end in itself. It's just that you can describe some things differently, of course, but then the description would be not so precise
Photo: Evgeny Dudin
^ We would like to thank the Lumiere Brothers Photo Center and bookstore chain Moscow for their help with the photo session
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