I recently read an incredibly funny translation of Notes From Underground, also by Dostoyevsky. Highly recommend if you’re into narratorial ranting a la Grendel. George Saunders has a lovely book on writing, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, which also serves as a very accessible collection of some great Russian shorts (it’s titled after a scene from “Gooseberries”).

The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov

It’s been decades but Anna Karenina is still in my top five favorite books.

I’m partial to Gogol – The Nose and The Overcoat are the first stories of his that come to mind. Also, I’d strongly recommend Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita, though that’s considerably later than what you’re currently reading. It’s definitely worth giving Evgenii Onegin by Alexander Pushkin, though no English translation really hits like the original Russian since it’s in verse, but it has such an outsized impact on Russian literature you kinda of have to read it. Hero of Our Time by Lermontov is in a similar vein, if you find you like it. I’ll also give a shout to my boy Anton Chekov – the two that loom largest in the canon are probably Uncle Vanya and the Cherry Orchard, but I would start with the Seagull.

I really enjoyed Roadside Picnic.

The Gray House by Miriam Petrosyan is what made me fall in love with russian literature. Also loved Pale Fire by Nabokov, a little less difficult of a read than Lolita because of the subject matter and also has a (hilariously) self rightious protagonist.

Maybe Tolstoy?