Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A landmark anthology that will introduce many extraordinary, unknown Russian writers to an English-language readership for the first time
Fleeing Russia amid the chaos of the Russian Revolution and subsequent Civil War, many writers went on to settle in Paris, Berlin and elsewhere and forged new lives in exile. Much of their subsequent work, published in Russian language magazines and books, is entirely unknown in the West and has only been recently discovered in Russia itself. As well as including stories by the most famous migr writers, Vladimir Nabokov and Ivan Bunin, this collection introduces many lesser known voices: Yuri Felzen, known as "the Russian Proust," Nadezhda Teffi, the hugely popular and funny story writer, and Georgy Ivanov, whose work of poetic prose "The Atom Explodes" is a brilliant, haunting response to the upheaval and trauma of emigration. Exploring themes of displacement, nostalgia, loss and new beginnings, this anthology will transform the Anglophone world's understanding of Russian migr writing in the twentieth century.
Synopsis
SHORTLISTED FOR THE READ RUSSIA PRIZE 2018
LONGLISTED FOR THE GLOBAL READ RUSSIA PRIZE 2018
Fleeing Russia amid the chaos of the 1917 revolution and subsequent Civil War, many writers went on to settle in Paris, Berlin and elsewhere. In exile, they worked as taxi drivers, labourers and film extras, and wrote some of the most brilliant and imaginative works of Russian literature.
This new collection includes stories by the most famous migr writers, Vladimir Nabokov and Ivan Bunin, and introduces powerful lesser known voices, some of whom have never been available in English before.
Here is Yuri Felsen's evocative, impressionistic account of a night of debauchery in Paris; Teffi's witty and timely reflections on refugee experience; and Mark Aldanov's sparkling story of an elderly astrologer who unexpectedly finds himself in Hitler's bunker in Berlin. Exploring displacement, loss and new beginnings, their short stories vividly evoke the experience of life in exile and also return obsessively to the Russia that has been left behind - whether as a beautiful dream or terrifying nightmare. By turns experimental, funny, exciting, poignant and haunting, these works reveal the full range of migr writing and are presented here in masterly translations by Bryan Karetnyk and others.