Russian Literature Trivia

1. Which Russian author wrote the epic novel "Doctor Zhivago"?

From Quiz Does Vodka A Russian Make?

Answer: Boris Pasternak

The correct answer is Boris Pasternak. All the other answers are fictional characters from "Doctor Zhivago".

From Quiz Russian Prose

Answer: She knew a method to win every card game.

She had a trick to always produce four jacks when needed. At the end the killer produces three jacks, but the fourth card is a queen of spades, with the face of the old woman. It's also an opera by Tchaikovsky.

From Quiz Alphabetical Russian Literature: M-Z

Answer: Mandelshtam

Osip Emilyevich Mandelshtam was born in Warsaw to a wealthy Jewish family. The family soon moved to St. Petersburg, where he met many of the Silver Age Russian poets and writers, including Nabokov. By 1911, he tried three different universities and converted to Christianity. The next decade was spent in symbolist and acmeist circles, working with poets including Gumilev and Akhmatova. In 1920's Mandelshtam practically abandoned poetry, making money through writing essays and translations. In 1933, though, his frustration burst out with the "Stalin Epigram" that called the leader "Kremlin Highlander", and openly accused him of cruelty. Surprisingly, though, Mandelshtam was only exiled from the large cities for the poem. In 1938 he was arrested again, and sent to the camps from which he never returned; no cause of death was ever declared. His widow Nadezhda later published her memoirs of their life together.

From Quiz Introduction to Russian Literature

Answer: Alexander Pushkin

In Russia, Pushkin holds a status that is unparalleled by any writer in American culture. Among his numerous works are: "Eugene Onegin," a novel in verse; "The Queen of Spades," on which Tchaikovsky based an opera; and the epic poem, "The Bronze Horseman."

From Quiz Russian Literature Quiz

Answer: Karamzin

Karamzin's 12 volume "History Of The Russian State" launched a new era in Russian literature by setting down the principles of Russian prose style that are maintained to this day.

From Quiz Does Vodka A Russian Make?

Answer: Lolita

The Police were singing about an inappropriate relationship between a teacher and his pupil so the book is of course "Lolita". "Ada" is another novel by Nabokov. Vivian Darkbloom is an anagram of Vladimir Nabokov. "Anna Karenina" is a novel by Tolstoy.

From Quiz Russian Prose

Answer: The gun is loaded, but doesn't go off.

It was a bet: pull the trigger without checking if the gun is loaded.

From Quiz Name that Russian Text ...!

Answer: Igor's Death and Olga's Revenge

After Oleg's death, Igor became the next Russian ruler. Upon Igor's death at the hands of the Derevlians, Olga devised a plan to avenge him. Immediately after Igor's burial, the Derevlians came to Olga and wished her to wed their Prince Mal. She then told the men to go back to their camp and wait in their boat. Olga then had her men dig a ditch and the next day her men carried the Derevlians in their boat to Olga's ditch and buried them alive. Then she closed up more of the Derevlians in bath house to burn to death. Finally, Olga laid siege on Derva for a year. One night Olga ordered her men to do the above passage and then release the birds over the village, setting fire to the town. As the villagers ran for safety, she either slaughtered them, made them slaves, or made them pay tribute. Document also taken from Zenkovsky's "Medieval Russia's Epics, Chronicles, and Tales".

From Quiz Alphabetical Russian Literature: M-Z

Answer: Nabokov

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was born in 1899 to an aristocratic St. Petersburg family where English and French were spoken alongside Russian. After the Revolution Nabokov emigrated to Germany, and later to the US where he taught at Wellesley and Cornell. Many of his 1930's works, such as "Luzhin's Defence" and "Invitation to the Beheading" continue to influence novelists decades later. In 1955, he came to a sudden world fame with a controversial novel, "Lolita", which many (though certainly not all) consider his best work. This allowed Nabokov and his wife to move back to Europe; they lived in Switzerland until his death in 1977.

From Quiz Russian Literature Quiz

Answer: Pushkin

Pushkin is Russia's national poet. He was the most popular poet in Russia in his lifetime and continues to be so. His poems have been made into operas, ballets, symphonies, paintings, plays and movies. Russian children are still taught to memorize his poems in grade school.

From Quiz Does Vodka A Russian Make?

Answer: The Brothers Karamazov

"The Brothers Karamamozov" is the correct answer. "War and Peace" is an historical novel. "The Idiot" explores the life of a man after being released from a mental institution. "Ivan the Fool" is a short story involving four siblings battling with the devil.

From Quiz Know your Russian literature

Answer: Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Born in 1918, Solzhenitsyn was awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was exiled from the Soviet Union in 1974. He returned to Russia twenty years later.

From Quiz Russian Prose

Answer: She decides to become a nun.

She often talked about her religious feelings and finally entered the monastery.

From Quiz Name that Russian Text ...!

Answer: Avraamy Palitsyn: Psuedo Dmitry

This document, also from Zenkovskys book, was written during the Times of Trouble by Avraamy Palitsyn, a monk of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery. Palitsyn's work on the Times of Trouble is one of the best known pieces of literature. His A Concise History Written in Memory of Past Generations tells readers of the First False Dmitry and his demise. Eventually the Russians found him to be a liar and he was murdered by the Boyars. He was then burned, his ashes stuffed in a cannon and shot back towards Poland.

From Quiz Alphabetical Russian Literature: M-Z

Answer: Okudzhava

Bulat Shavlovich Okudzhava was born in 1924 in a Georgian family in Moscow. Following his parents' arrest in 1937, he returned to Tbilisi, where he stayed until volunteering for the army in 1941. Returning to Moscow after Stalin's death, Okudzhava began writing songs. While he only used a few chords, his words touched the hearts of millions in USSR. While he never openly criticized the government, he was an undeniable part of the semi-underground movement. Most Russian bards site Okudzhava as their influence. He was dismissive of his music, but very proud of his poetry and prose, which didn't get published until the 1980's. He died in Paris in 1997, and was buried at the Vagankova Cemetery in Moscow.

From Quiz Introduction to Russian Literature

Answer: With an ax

Raskolnikov murders both the old pawnbroker and her sister, Lizaveta, with an ax.

From Quiz Russian Literature Quiz

Answer: Imperial Lyceum at Tsarskoye Selo

The Imperial Lyceum at Tsarskoye Selo was housed in the Tsarskoye Selo palace in St. Petersburg and was the home of Catherine the Great.

From Quiz Know your Russian literature

Answer: Lyev Tolstoy

Count Lyev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828-1910) is also the author of yet another Russian classic, "War and Peace". English speakers often refer to him as Leo Tolstoy.

From Quiz Russian Prose

Answer: dead serfs

A landowner was judged on the number of serfs he owned: the wealthier, the more serfs. Chichikov decided to buy dead serfs who were still registered, to make people believe he was rich.

From Quiz Name that Russian Text ...!

Answer: First Epistle to the Tsar Ivan IV

Prince Andrew Kurbsky's first epistle to the tsar is a protest against Ivan's autocratic rule in Russia. Kurbsky was a friend and military advisor to the tsar until Ivan began his policy of oprichnina. Kurbsky fled to Lithuania where he would write several letters to Ivan about his policies. Document in "Medieval Russia's Epics, Chronicles, and Tales" edited by Serge Zenkovsky.

From Quiz Alphabetical Russian Literature: M-Z

Answer: Pushkin

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was born to an aristocratic family in 1799. In 1820, he burst onto the literary scene with "Ruslan and Ludmila". Over the next decade and a half, Pushkin wrote in many styles, including satire of religion ("Gavriliada"), historical fiction ("Boris Godunov"), and romance ("Bakhchisarai Fountain"); Pushkin's own favorite was "Eugene Onegin", presenting an insightful picture of the Russian society. His support for social reform angered the government, exiling him to his mother's country estate. In 1837, suspecting his wife of an affair, Pushkin challenged D'Antes to a duel where he was mortally wounded.

From Quiz Alphabetical Russian Literature: A - L

Answer: Dostoevsky

Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was born on November 11, 1821 to a rather simple family. His first novella, "Poor Folk" examines poverty from a psychological rather than purely material perspective; it quickly brought him notoriety within St. Petersburg literary circles. Strong disapproval of serfdom led Dostoevsky to join a revolutionary circle; he was arrested, and subjected to a mock execution. He was consequently sentenced to hard labor in Siberia and army conscription. His novel "House of the Dead" speaks to the harrowing experience. Getting back to St. Petersburg, he was now not only weary of governmental repression, but also disdainful of what he saw as the condescension of revolutionary intelligentsia. Some of Martin Luther King Jr's writings bear a striking resemblance to Dostoevsky's notes of this period. In 1866, he published "Crime and Punishment", a striking study of good and evil. In the next 15 years he published "Idiot", "The Possessed", "Brothers Karamazov", and many other works. Dostoevsky died in 1881 of hemorrhage.

From Quiz Russian Literature Quiz

Answer: Gogol

Gogol was a strange man and had many bizarre habits; covering his face with a purple kerchief was only one of them. His short story masterpiece, "The Nose" tells of a man who awakes one morning to find that his nose has left his face and is seen wandering around the town.

From Quiz Does Vodka A Russian Make?

Answer: Alena Inanovna

Alena Inanovna is the only fictional character. Alexander Tvardovsky was a poet and the editor of the literary journal "Novy Mir" Mikhail Katkov was Dostoevsky's publisher. Kazimir Malevich was an abstract artist.

From Quiz Know your Russian literature

Answer: Vladimir Voynovich

Vladimir Voynovich (born in 1932) is famous for his satiric fiction. This novel is set in the Red Army during World War II, making fun of the totalitarian Soviet regime.

From Quiz Russian Prose

Answer: Lady Macbeth

In "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" a woman commits adultery and kills her father-in-law.

From Quiz Name that Russian Text ...!

Answer: The Lay of Igor's Campaign

The Lay of Igor's Campaign was written on the occasion of the defeat of Prince Igor's campaign against the Kumans. The Lay is considered a poetic masterpiece and is considered the highest achievement in Russian literature during the Kievan era. The Lay of Igor's campaign is translated in Zenkovsky's "Medieval Russia's Epics, Chronicles, and Tales".

From Quiz Alphabetical Russian Literature: M-Z

Answer: Rozhdestvensky

Robert Rozhdestvenski was born to a military family in a village Kosikha of the Altai region on June 20, 1932. He started writing in poetry while attending Gorky Literary Institute. In this time of "thaw", he worked alongside Voznesenski, Yevtushenko, and Akhmadulina. They broke with the Social Realism, and wrote emotional, lyrical poems. Despite this, Rozhdestvenski was always careful not to criticize the government, and thus remained in official favor through the 60's and 70's, even being awarded the Lenin Prize in 1979. Rozhdestvenski died on March 20, 1994 in Moscow.

From Quiz Introduction to Russian Literature

Answer: Anton Chekhov

Ensign Pavel Chekov is a Russian crewmember on the starship Enterprise in "Star Trek". Incidentally, Anton Chekhov's patronymic was Pavlovich (meaning his father's name was Pavel).

From Quiz Russian Literature Quiz

Answer: Dostoyevsky

They all spent time in prison, Mandelshtam and Babel never returned. Dostoyevsky was in a Siberian prison in the 19th century and wrote about it in his novel "The House Of The Dead". The rest were inmates of Soviet prisons.

This is category 12013

= Top 5% Rated Quiz, Top 10% Rated Quiz, Top 20% Rated Quiz, A Well Rated Quiz
= added recently, = Editor's Pick = FunTrivia Editor = Gold Member
Teachers / educators: FunTrivia welcomes the use of our website and quizzes in the classroom as a teaching aid or for preparing and testing students. See our education section. Our quizzes are printable and may be used as question sheets by k-12 teachers, parents, and home schoolers.

 ·  All questions, answers, and quiz content on this website is copyright FunTrivia, Inc and may not be reproduced without permission. Any images from TV shows and movies are copyright their studios, and are being used under "fair use" for commentary and education.