# The 7 Best Contemporary Russian-Language Novellas

> Short enough to finish in an evening and sharp enough to argue about for years. Post-Soviet satire, Siberian tragedy and a dystopian snowstorm share the shelf.

*By YPB Team · Published October 31, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-7-best-contemporary-russian-language-novellas*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **The Time: Night**
   Lyudmila Petrushevskaya's 1992 novella, the diary of a poet holding her destitute family together.
2. **Omon Ra**
   Viktor Pelevin's 1992 satire about a boy trained for a Soviet moon mission that is not what it seems.
3. **The Yellow Arrow**
   Pelevin's 1993 allegory set on an endless train heading towards a ruined bridge.
4. **The Recluse and Six-Toes**
   Pelevin's 1990 parable about two broiler chickens plotting escape from a poultry factory.
5. **The Blizzard**
   Vladimir Sorokin's 2010 novella about a doctor fighting through a snowstorm in a strange future Russia.
6. **Ivan's Daughter, Ivan's Mother**
   Valentin Rasputin's 2003 novella about a Siberian mother who takes justice into her own hands.
7. **The Prince of Gosplan**
   Pelevin's 1991 novella about a Soviet office worker who lives inside the computer games he plays at work.

Tags: books, russia, fiction, novellas