Category: Russia Page 1 of 7

Emilio Fraia: Sevastopol (Sevastopol)

On 1 June 2021

In Brazil, Russia, The Modern Novel website

The latest addition to my website is Emilio Fraia‘s Sevastopol (Sevastopol). This consists of three linked stories inspired by Tolstoy’s Sevastopol Sketches, though only one is actually set (in part) in Sevastopol. All three, however, are about people struggling with relationships and struggling to find meaning in their life. The first is about a Brazilian woman who wants to be the first Brazilian woman to climb the Seven Summits but an accident puts paid to that ambition and her relationship. The second is about a man running a remote hotel which he has had to close and who loses his last guest. The third is about two Brazilian men trying to stage a play about a painter during the Crimean War who does not want to paint battles. Neither their relationship nor the play go well. Fraia tells excellent stories of lost souls struggling to find meaning.

Maria Stepanova: Памяти памяти (In Memory of Memory)

By tmn

On 28 April 2021

In Russia, The Modern Novel website, Women

The latest addition to my website is Maria Stepanova‘s Памяти памяти (In Memory of Memory). This is a superb documentary novel, narrated by the author but written, in some respects, like a novel. She deals with the many aspects of memory, the past and history as well as delving into her own past and the past of her family, a family which, she admits, is not terribly interesting. Indeed, she quotes Anna Akhmatova who says that the histories of other peoples families, like others people’s dreams and fornication, are boring. However, as she is a good story-teller, her stories are interesting though what makes this book so worthwhile is the examination of the many aspects of memory, history and the past, quoting numerous authors, both the obvious and less obvious ones. For her it has been a life work – she started work on the book when she was still a child – and it has taken many years of research and detailed thought to produce what is clearly a first-class work.

Corrado Alvaro: L’uomo è forte (Man Is Strong; later: Fear in the World)

By tmn

On 22 March 2021

In Italy, Russia, The Modern Novel website

The latest addition to my website is Corrado Alvaro‘s L’uomo è forte (Man Is Strong; later: Fear in the World). This novel, first published in 1938, tells of an unnamed country which is clearly, to a great extent, the Soviet Union, though neither the country nor any of the cities are named. Both Barbara and Dale are former citizens of this country but they had moved to the West. Barbara returns first and, later, Dale, tired of the decadent West. They have an affair but are clearly concerned that this is not allowed, particularly as Dale has recently returned from the West and is therefore highly suspect. We follow their anxieties about their relationship, the Inquisitor who follows them around and events in the country, such as people arrested and shot for being enemies of the people and a Stalin-like leader. Dale and Barbara must choose – end the relationship, turn themselves in or risk being also enemies of the people. It is not Nineteen Eighty-Four but the similarities are there.

Sergei Lebedev: Дебютант (Untraceable)

By tmn

On 25 January 2021

In Russia, The Modern Novel website

The latest addition to my website is Sergei Lebedev‘s Дебютант (Untraceable). This is a story inspired by but not based on the Salisbury poisonings when Russian agents used the nerve agent Novichok to try and kill a former Russian double agent and his daughter. This novel tells of a scientist who develops a similar agent, called Neophyte in this book and Debutant in the Russian original but finds that the failing Soviet Union and its Russian successor seem uninterested so he defects but finds to his horror that the West is not interested either. He is living in a small town in Austria but has plans to find a country that may be interested. At the same time we follow a pair of Russian agents who have been sent to kill him, but things go somewhat wrong for them. Lebedev gives us an excellent portrait of the obsessive scientist and of the dutiful Russian agent who will do whatever his bosses tell him to do.

Dmitri Lipskerov: О нём и о бабочках (The Tool and the Butterflies)

By tmn

On 7 January 2021

In Russia, The Modern Novel website

The latest addition to my website is Dmitri Lipskerov‘s О нём и о бабочках (The Tool and the Butterflies). This is a complex story, focusing on one Arseny Iratov who, at the beginning of the novel, is rich (money made from Soviet-era illegal currency speculation, and later dealing in precious stones and an architectural business he owns) with a much younger, loving girlfriend, Vera. One day he wakes up to find his genitals have disappeared (the tool of the title). Soon other men are in the same situation. Meanwhile we are following a series of people, mainly male, who seem to be connected to him (one is his grandson) who seem to be different, on the face of it ordinary people, but with strange powers and knowledge, particularly detailed knowledge of Arseny and his life and, in the case of the grandson, superior intelligence. While telling his complicated tale, Lipskerov is wittily satirising contemporary Russia – corruption, drunkenness and the like. It is a very clever and original book and well worth reading.

Alexander Grigorenko: Мэбэт (Mebet)

By tmn

On 27 December 2020

In Russia, Siberia, The Modern Novel website

The latest addition to my website is Alexander Grigorenko‘s Мэбэт (Mebet). This book is set among Siberian tribes with no contact with or even mention of Russia and Russians. Mebet is known as God’s Favourite. Orphaned at a young age, he has has always lived alone. He is very strong and courageous. He ignores all tribal laws and customs, even abducting his wife, instead of paying a bridal price. Their son, Hadko, however, though strong, is more inclined to respect custom and tradition, even paying a bridal price. When this is refused, his father abducts a woman for him.His son, Sevser, becomes the apple of his grandfather’s eye. However, for Mebed, time is running out and to persuade the gods to allow him to live long enough to see Sevser reach adulthood, there is a heavy price to pay, an ordeal which even for Mebed is onerous. It is a fascinating book, particularly following the Siberian tribes without any Russians appearing.

Zakhar Prilepin: Обитель (The Monastery)

By tmn

On 28 November 2020

In Prison, Russia, The Modern Novel website

The latest addition to my website is Zakhar Prilepin‘s Обитель (The Monastery). This novel tells the story of Artiom Gorianov who is a prisoner in the 1920s in the remote Solovki prison camp. Initially we do not know why he is there but we later learn that he is not a political prisoner but has murdered his father. This very long novel tells his story as well as those of other inmates and how they survive or, in quite a few cases, do not survive. There is much cruelty, particularly from the inmates who are made guards. The prisoners have to work and the work can be hard and it can get very cold. However, there are also arbitrary punishments and even killings. Artiom manages to have an affair with the commandant’s girlfriend and she is able to protect him some of the time but his big mouth and cockiness often get him into trouble. It is a superb but very long novel and Prilepin does not hold back on any of the gory details.

Bernard Prou: Alexis Vassilkov ou la vie tumultueuse du fils de Maupassant [Alexis Vassilkov or the Tumultuous Life of the Son of Maupassant]

By tmn

On 17 August 2020

In France, Lenin, Russia, Stalin, The Modern Novel website

The latest addition to my website is Bernard Prou‘s Alexis Vassilkov ou la vie tumultueuse du fils de Maupassant [Alexis Vassilkov or the Tumultuous Life of the Son of Maupassant]. This is a complicated story involving the (fictitious) son of French writer Guy de Maupassant and his mother, a Russian woman who models for Renoir and becomes a painter. Alexis the son takes part in the Russian Revolution, becomes Stalin’s doctor, gets sent to a gulag, learns that Tsar Alexander I became the wandering monk Feodor Kuzmich, escapes (with his wife and young son), arriving two days before the Germans invade Paris in World War II and flees to the country (with a (real) French government minister), joins the Resistance and gets involved with collaborationists after the war. And that is just the highlights. Lots of adventure, lots of messing around with history and great fun.

Boris Poplavsky: Аполлон Безобразов (Apollon Bezobrazov)

By tmn

On 6 July 2020

In Russia, The Modern Novel website

The latest addition to my website is Boris Poplavsky‘s Аполлон Безобразов (Apollon Bezobrazov).
The book was written in the 1930s but only a few chapters were published in an émigré magazine, till 1992, when it was serialised in a Russian magazine and finally published in book form in 1993. It was intended to be part of a multi-volume work but only one other in the series was published (not translated), also in 1993.The narrator is Vasya,a young Russian exile living (badly) in Paris. He meets and becomes close to the decidedly strange Apollon Bezobrazov. Apollon Bezobrazov can spend his time doing absolutely nothing or he can be a whirlwind of activity. He seems indifferent to his poverty and enjoys his bohemian existence. They are joined by Tereza, daughter of a religious fanatic, who has left a monastery where it seemed she was having an affair with the abbot. The three, joined by a Siberian son of an Old Believer live first in a mansion on the outskirts of Paris and then in a castle in Switzerland. Tereza believes Apollon may well be the devil and there is some evidence for that, though he may just be the typical Russian holy fool/devilish character. It is certainly an unusual book and a fascinating one as Apollon is very unpredictable.

Bernard Chambaz: Vladimir Vladimirovitch

By tmn

On 11 June 2020

In France, Putin, Russia, The Modern Novel website

The latest addition to my website is Bernard Chambaz‘s Vladimir Vladimirovitch. This is a novel about Vladimir Vladimirovitch Putin, both of them. The narrator, called Vladimir Vladimirovitch Putin, is a former university professor, now a tram driver, a few months older than the Russian president, and similar in appearance. He has a dull life but one of his hobbies is maintaining notebooks about his namesake (whom he admires). We learn a lot about Putin the president but because our hero has such a dull life, vainly pursuing a neighbourhood woman, bemoaning the defeat of the Russian ice hockey team and dabbling in painting, the book does not really hit it off.