My favourite writers

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 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. 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 im portant 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.