by VK
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has recently proposed the composition of a list of a hundred books, with the assistance of advanced Russian specialists, that every pupil must read. Russian writers comment on the initiative.
Writer Sergey Yesin
Lack of interest in literature is a result of low education in elementary schools. Modern pupils do not receive the necessary cultural bundle that would provoke interest in serious literature. Modern Russian leaders hardly pay any attention to literature. It seems as though literature is an unknown country for them.
Writer Victor Yerofeyev
Russia is in a catastrophic cultural condition at the moment. The idea of bringing back an interest in literature is positive, but it is practically unrealizable at the state level. We have become absolutely wild and will become even wilder without literature. We should return to our literary heritage, which has always been a subject of public rather than state Russia, with the help of civil institutions. State control over reading is absurd. Instead of a list of a hundred books we get a list no one would want to read. Germany has become one of the most well-read countries.
An unbalanced interest in literature in various regions makes a solution to the common cultural deficit by introduction of a list of 100 books impossible. Interest in culture in metropolitan cities is not necessarily greater than it is in rural areas.
Teacher of the Year 2009 Yelena Sokolova
It is practically impossible to compose a list of a hundred books, because there are too many books and writers having an immense effect on the moral development of every individual.
Maksim Zamyshev, First Secretary of the Moscow City Organization of the Union of Russian Writers
In order to bring back interest in literature we need to understand how it vanished (schools and the Education Ministry are not the only ones to blame).
Firstly, the commercialization of publishing centers.
Secondly, the aesthetic deafness of modern politics.
Thirdly, the lack of attention towards culture on the main channels.
The list of books proposed may be realized in thousands of versions, with each representative on its own. We must bear in mind that Russian culture is one of the youngest literatures of the world, it is only three centuries old. The list needs to include at least 30% of world literary works. If the list of 100 books is made compulsory, it could cause a great rejection by the youth. A list of hundred books would only be useful if reading one book would inspire a person to read another thousand books. Twenty years of recession cannot be overcome by just one decree... Only the most delicate approach to the problem will allow a solution.
