Favorite Books of Vladimir Pakhomov, Chief Editor of Gramota.ru

The stories shared by the heroes of this Lifehacker series inspire readers to pick up a new book, dive into its pages, and imagine their own personal library.

Vladimir Pakhomov

Chief Editor of the reference and information portal Gramota.ru.

1. Do you have a favorite author? Which of their books would you recommend?

It's hard to pick a single favorite author; rather, I can name books that resonated with me at different stages of life. These include "The Accursed Kings" by Maurice Druon, "Narcissus and Goldmund" by Hermann Hesse, "The French Lieutenant's Woman" by John Fowles, "On the Sunny Side of the Street" by Dina Rubina, "Children of the Arbat" by Anatoly Rybakov, and "A Hero of Our Time" by Mikhail Lermontov (a book I once despised in school but rediscovered and appreciated during my university years).

I also want to mention poetry, which should never be forgotten. At various points in life, I found answers to important questions in the poems of Blok, Yesenin, and the collection "With You and Without You" by Konstantin Simonov.

2. Which childhood book holds your warmest memories?

That would be Astrid Lindgren's "Karlsson-on-the-Roof." I read it dozens of times and eagerly awaited Karlsson's arrival, even choosing a neighboring house whose roof, I was convinced, was home to "my" Karlsson.

My parents and their friends supported my childhood belief that sooner or later I would hear the cherished buzzing of his motor outside my window. It wasn’t until I was about 12 that I realized Karlsson wouldn’t come… although, who knows, maybe I stopped waiting too soon?

Other beloved childhood books include "The Wizard of the Emerald City" (all six parts) and "Old Man Hottabych."

3. Which book do you often reread with pleasure?

Currently, I read a lot of children's literature for a simple reason: my son Nikita is four years old, and I read alongside him. You can't imagine the joy of rereading children's poems and fairy tales, delighting in wordplay and sounds.

For example, the wonderful poems by Marina Vishnevetskaya: "The squirrel ate a bun in the beam" or "From Ryazan on a handcar to Syzran went a rascal." Or discovering subtle messages aimed at adults hidden in children's books that I hadn't noticed before. For instance, in Korney Chukovsky's "The Cockroach": "We would gore the enemy with horns, but the skin is precious, and horns aren’t cheap nowadays." These lines are clearly meant for adults, not children.

4. Which book inspired you most to take action?

It’s a nonfiction book — the excellent popular science work on the Russian language "Alive as Life" by Korney Chukovsky. It explains how our language evolves and changes, and how many things we consider flaws or illnesses are actually natural and normal processes.

This book motivates me to educate non-linguists about the Russian language, because many misconceptions highlighted by Chukovsky remain alive even fifty years after his work was published.

We still love to lament the decline of our native language and complain about the unprecedented drop in literacy today, unaware that such conversations have taken place throughout all eras.

5. Was there a book you couldn’t put down until you finished it?

Perhaps some fairy tales in childhood or Agatha Christie's stories during my teenage years. Unfortunately, nowadays I can’t afford the luxury of immersing myself in a book until the last page because I need to switch between numerous work tasks.

However, several times in the past year, I got so engrossed in reading that I missed my metro stop. At those times, I was reading Galina Yuzefovich's "What Bestsellers Talk About," Guzel Yakhina's "Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes," and articles on the history of Russian orthography. :)

6. Which book should everyone read and why?

I firmly believe that "must-read" and "reading" are incompatible concepts. People should read not because it's "necessary," "developing," or "enriching" — all these school-like imperatives only discourage picking up a book.

Reading is primarily the joy of engaging with a great literary work that resonates with important chords within you.

There is a good joke: "Why do people say you can't be cultured if you haven't read Pushkin? Well, Shakespeare was a cultured person, and he never read Pushkin!" We shouldn't judge a person by the books they read or don’t read.

7. Which recently read fiction book left a lasting impression on you? Why?

"Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes" by Guzel Yakhina. It’s hard to describe this book better than Lyudmila Ulitskaya did: "A powerful work celebrating love and tenderness in hell." It tells the story of survival under inhuman conditions amid unprecedented terror that engulfed the entire country.

My grandfather was also repressed and exiled to Siberia. It’s difficult to imagine how our grandparents endured all that and continued to live, love, and plan for the future. Books like these are necessary, even though it can be hard to delve into our recent history.

8. What format do you prefer: paper, electronic, or audiobooks? Why?

Only paper books. This might seem unusual for the chief editor of an internet portal hosting electronic dictionaries, but for me, dictionaries, monographs, or scientific journals can be online, whereas a fiction book must be a printed edition.

It should open with a crisp sound and smell — this anticipation is part of the joy of journeying through unfamiliar text and new emotions. I believe this is important to many, which is why paper books will continue to thrive despite predictions of a swift transition to digital.

9. Do you use any special reading apps? Which ones?

I don’t use any. I read only traditional paper books.

*Meta Platforms Inc. and its social networks Facebook and Instagram are banned in the Russian Federation.

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