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I've been studying Russian for the last few years and I think I could now be searching for native content (probably news and/or books) in order to enhance my vocabulary.

It has not been very easy for me to find books which don't have an underlying socialist agenda (I always look for authors who have been censured by the USSR), but I can't find many news outlets which aren't totally biased towards the current government (for current news).

Are there any suggestions for:

  1. books by Authors who have been censored and/or expelled form the USSR
  2. politically-neutral current news outlets and websites?

In the case of books, I would like, if possible, suggestions for titles which aren't overly complex due to language difficulties (or else very old, which outdated language).

P.S.: As for my level of Russian, I've learned all cases/declensions but my vocabulary isn't that good.

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  • 4
    from you question it appears you are looking for anti-Soviet literature :) is that what you're looking for? there were and are many authors who did not write political fiction, but wrote about universal human feelings, love, anger, children etc. the censured and expelled writers are biased the other way, and usually, are disconnected from their native culture, bitter and often unproductive.
    – Aksakal almost surely binary
    Mar 2 '14 at 3:03
  • If you want to find politically neutral reading material, get a book on math or physics. There's plenty of that in Russian and you won't find a socialist agenda there.
    – KCd
    Mar 2 '14 at 3:19
  • certainly, be careful with agricultural literature
    – Aksakal almost surely binary
    Mar 2 '14 at 3:31
  • 2
    We have one question about resources, please, post answers to this question here: russian.stackexchange.com/questions/833/…
    – Olga
    Mar 2 '14 at 7:21
  • 3
    If you will seek authors, who was banished from Soviet Union, you will hardly find politically unbiased point of view. Besides, I suppose your question calls for entirely opinion-based answers. Since it is not appropriate for SE, I’ve voted for closing.
    – Dmitry Alexandrov
    Mar 2 '14 at 20:52
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politically-neutral current news outlets and websites?

news aggregators:

  • news.yandex.ru
  • news.google.ru

not absolutely unbiased, but good for an alternative view:

relatively balanced Russian:

UPDATE: as to writers, I think it is unwise to limit your reading list to dissidents and expelled ones. Censuring in and of itself has little impact on the quality and richness of art. Here's a sample of what we were reading in school, still under communists :)

  • "Котлован", Платонов
  • "Жизнь и судьба", Гроссман
  • "Детство", Горький -
  • "Тихий Дон", Шолохов
  • "Буранный полустанок", "Белый пароход", "Плаха" - Айтматов
  • "Пикник на обочине", Стругацкие
  • "Роковые яйца", Булгаков
  • "12 стульев", Ильф, Петров - you probably won't get it, but it's a kind of humor Russians enjoy
  • short stories, satire, Зощенко
  • "Визит к Минотавру", Вайнеры
  • "Театр теней", Булычев
  • "Бегущая по волнам", Грин
  • "Тень", Шварц
  • Маяковский - ignore his social pro-labor poetry, his lyrical poetry is quite powerful
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