The Golden Calf, Zolotoi Telenok: An Annotated, Accented Reader With Exercises (Russian Edition) [Paperback]

Ilja Ilf (Author), Evgenij Petrov (Author), Richard D. Schupbach (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Berkeley Slavic Specialties (September 1996)
• Language: Russian
• ISBN-10: 1572010282
• ISBN-13: 978-1572010284
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,088,479 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Immortal masterpieces of Soviet literature., August 10, 2001

By 

Telman Yusupov (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Golden Calf, Zolotoi Telenok: An Annotated, Accented Reader With Exercises (Russian Edition) (Paperback)

I have just finished this book (the Russian original) again, as many of the readers who wrote the reviews for "Golden Calf" and "Twelve Chairs", I don't remember how many times I read both of the books... Every time I read them, I find something new or laugh again despite the fact that I know many paragraphs from the book by heart...

These two books are about adventures of the main hero Ostap Bender in Russia in the period between 1927 and 1930. Ostap in a very non-conventional type of "hero", in fact he is an opposite of the typical Soviet stereotype of a good man (factory worker, Communist, faithful husband and etc.). Ostap is a small time con artist who dreams of riches and doesn't think that he belongs to Soviet reality. In both books he's hunting for treasures and the readers get a great chance to catch a glimpse of Soviet reality as seen through his and his mostly inept companions' eyes.

Both books are written with a bright, ever contemporary humor that still makes people laugh even though the USSR is long gone. I don't know how what it is like for the people who weren't born in the former USSR to read these books in languages other than Russian, as some of the funniest things will probably go unnoticed or will be lost in translation. However, I highly recommend reading both of them if one wants to understand Soviet culture better or impress friends from the former USSR by using phrases that became a part of the general culture (i.e. "Money in the evening, chairs in the morning" or "I will command the parade!").

The books were even further popularized by the great TV series "Twelve Chairs" with a star cast of Soviet cinematography (A. Mironov as Ostap and A.Papanov as Ippolit) and "Golden Calf" with a great cast as well.

The only books in Russian that I always keep (in my mostly technical collection) are these two and "Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov - another great masterpiece...

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Be aware..., August 5, 2002

By 

Kelly J. Toncar (Connecticut, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Golden Calf, Zolotoi Telenok: An Annotated, Accented Reader With Exercises (Russian Edition) (Paperback)

This one's written in the Russian language. I don't see that fact mentioned anywhere on this page. Just FYI.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite ever!, March 22, 2000

By 

Ilya Meyzin - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Golden Calf, Zolotoi Telenok: An Annotated, Accented Reader With Exercises (Russian Edition) (Paperback)

10 stars on a five-stars scale! Perhaps, the best way to describe this masterpiece is to say that I have re-read so many times, that I even don't know how many. You can pick up this book and open it on random pages, you can read the chapters in the backward order (I have done both)- it is still the best of the best! Several generations of Russians have incorporated quatations from "12 Chairs" and "Golden Calf" in their everyday vocabulary - these novels are just that great and popular. If you want to understand "the mysterious Russian soul" of the socialist period - this is perhaps the best way to do so. Oh, and be prepared to constantly laugh so hard that your neighbors will attempt to commit you! It definitely is one of the funniest pieces ever written. Borrow "12 Chairs" and "Golden Calf" books, buy them, steal them - just READ THEM!