Russian text books

Hey,

I am looking for some good Russian text books but I cannot find any!
More specifically, texts written in Russian with vocabulary so one can learn words as one reads.

I am currently reading the dual-language book "piknik na obochine", "roadside picnic", as posted on the dual-language book section. This is a good read (and a great book) but I too often have to guess the meaning of the words, and I feel often the English translation is very inaccurate.
In Russian, seemingly equal words can have different connotations, there are for example many words for different shades of blue.

I feel putting a Russian and an English text next to each other is helpful but does not provide the necessary insight so one can really understand the texts.

I feel like when you are learning Russian you first start with spoon-feeding Russian grammar and then all of a sudden you find yourself desperately trying to understand Chekhov.

I believe Vladimir Vysоtsky would be much more known if there was more material out there for learning Russian!
(I know some of his songs by heart but I have to ask my Russian friend for the semantic/deep poetic meaning)

Try Ilya Frank's reading method, maybe you will like it more than parallel texts :roll:
http://english.franklang.ru/35/

Here's a free one:

http://www.gefix.net/sazov/

Good luck,

Scott

There were several Russian learning texts published by Harcourt, Brace 30-40 years ago. The text is all in Russian, there is a fairly thorough glossary in the back, and odd or idiomatic expressions are translated in the margins. Ballad of a Soldier is one of the titles.