Valery Fyodorov at the National Centre RUSSIA: "The Gospel" and "Capital" — books that changed the world
Valery
Fyodorov, General Director of VCIOM, became the main guest of the first
intellectual meeting of the literary club "What to Read? !" at the
National Centre RUSSIA. The event took place as part of the National Centre
RUSSIA's signature project "Thursday. Development."
"Books
are now experiencing a resurgence. We received numerous requests from visitors
of the National Centre RUSSIA to organize literary evenings, so we decided to
help our guests explore new releases and revisit great classics. In the
literary salon 'What to Read?!', popular and engaging speakers talk about their
favorite works. These meetings in a new format will be held once a month. We
welcome everyone," said Anastasia Zvyagina, Deputy Director General of the
National Centre RUSSIA.
The meeting
was moderated by journalist and correspondent of the "Russia 24" TV
channel, Elizaveta Morskaya. In the
format of a literary salon, Valery Fyodorov — an expert in sociology and
socio-political sciences, General Director of VCIOM, member of the Public
Council under the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, member of the
Board of Rosmolodezh, professor at HSE, chairman of the State Examination
Commission of the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow State University, and Dean of
the Faculty of Social Sciences and Mass Communications at the Financial
University under the Government of the Russian Federation — spoke to the
audience about book culture across different eras. He shared insights into his
personal library, attempted to predict the future of reading, and recalled the
books that influenced him most during his school years.
"You
might be surprised, but it was 'War and Peace.' I spent three months reading it
while simultaneously writing an essay that filled one and a half notebooks. It
was really difficult to read at that age, but 'War and Peace' is a book that
changed me," admitted Valery Fyodorov.
He also
emphasized the importance of including complex literary works in the school
curriculum. According to the expert, reading such books serves as a kind of
survival school for young people.
"There
are very few who have read books of such magnitude during their school years,
but those who have are undoubtedly the most serious ones, and they have gained
a great deal thanks to such profound literature," Valery Fyodorov
stressed.
The guest
of the National Centre RUSSIA warned the audience about the dangers of clip
thinking, which leads people to stop reading and struggle with longer texts.
"What
is a reel, for example? It's like fast food. You consume it almost instantly —
no more than 30 seconds — then immediately switch your attention elsewhere, and
that is, of course, very dangerous. Or, when you watch videos, your visual
thinking is primarily engaged. But when you read a text, logical thinking
starts working, even if you've never studied logic. The less we read, the less
logic we use, and the more emotions take over. And you’ll agree — it’s
impossible to build a successful life on emotions alone. That's why I hope we
will soon get our fill of this kind of content because everything is good — in
balance," the expert concluded.
Discussing
the organization of a personal book collection, Valery Fyodorov highlighted
authors who, in his opinion, create outstanding examples of contemporary
literature. Among them are Alexei Ivanov, Yulia Yakovleva, Alexei Salnikov,
Nikolai Svechin, and others. Additionally, the head of VCIOM emphasized the
great importance of conscious reading.
"I
have three libraries, and they are located in different places because they
simply don’t fit in one apartment. I store read books separately, unread ones
separately, and I have a separate section for my specialized scientific
literature. The shelves, of course, are overflowing. And when I look at my
library, I realize that one day I will die, and the unread books will remain.
This motivates me to be very mindful in choosing what I will read," the
expert admitted.
At the end
of the meeting, Valery Fedorov answered questions from the audience and shared
his personal ranking of writers and literary works, which included "War
and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy, "Eugene Onegin" by Alexander Pushkin,
"Chapayev and Void" by Victor Pelevin, "The Time Machine"
by Herbert Wells, and all works by Robert Stevenson. The expert considers
"The Gospel" and "Capital" to be the most influential books
that have changed the world.
The
authorial program of the National Centre RUSSIA, "Thursday.
Development," is a unique platform for meetings with leading experts from
various fields. In an open dialogue format, they share their professional
achievements, experiences, and insights, answer questions, and engage with the
audience. These events foster the exchange of ideas, broaden perspectives, and
unite efforts in solving pressing industry challenges.
Participation
in the "Thursday. Development" program is free of charge. Up-to-date
information is available on the website of the National Centre RUSSIA,
russia.ru, in the "Events" section.
Event photobank
The integration of special military operation veterans into peaceful life and the interaction between regions and municipalities were discussed as part of the Forum "SMALL HOMELAND – THE STRENGTH OF RUSSIA".
The second All-Russian Municipal Forum "Small Homeland – the Strength of Russia" is taking place at the National Centre RUSSIA.
