I'm fond of reading.
Usually I borrow books from the library, but I have a lot of them at
home, too. I like to read books about the history of our country, about
famous people and I also like detective stories. Literature means much
in my life. It helps to form the character and to understand life
better. There are some names in Russian and foreign literature that are
very dear to me. In Russian literature I highly appreciate Ivan
Sergeyevich Turgenev. For me he is a real intellectual and aristocrat, a
man of culture, devoted to literature, music and art. Though he lived
abroad for a long time he didn't stop to be a Russian writer for a
moment. He created a number of national characters in his books. The
image of Turgenev's woman, deeply feeling, faithful and tender is an
ideal of a Russian woman for me. It doesn't lose its charm even today.
Turgenev's descriptions of nature are delightful too. Take for example
his "Byezhin Prairie", "Torrents of spring" etc. Turgenev's prose is
very poetic. His style is perfect; his dialogues are easy-read,
interesting, life-like, and yet always significant. One may think that
Turgenev is too balanced, too poetic for the new age, but one must admit
that these are the qualities we badly lack today. Of the present day
writers and poets I like Eugene Evtushenko, Valentin Rasputin, Valentin
Pikul, Boris Vasilyev. Their works are very human and realistic. They
assert high moral principles into life. And this is very important
nowadays. My favourite foreign writer is O'Henry. In childhood I was
deeply impressed by his story "The Last Leaf". Since then I bear in my
heart the image of a young girl suffering from incurable illness and her
friends doing everything they can to give her hope and bring back to
life.
| 
