Contents
For many, reading books is not just a pleasure, but also an escape from reality. And it’s hard to blame such people: when there is too much disturbing news around, the pages of a novel can become a real refuge, a safe haven.
Resistance
“The Milkman” by Anna Burns
The new novel by Booker winner Anna Burns seems to be bypassed by Russian-speaking critics, sometimes getting off with the label of #MeToo-literature. Yes, stalking and harassment is one of the key themes of the book, but not its only value. I would like to put The Milkman on the same shelf next to the publications of Virginia Woolf, Heinrich Böll or Herta Müller, it is so close to them in terms of atmosphere and scale of the author’s talent.
This is a multi-layered text, funny and creepy, capable of tearing you to tears in one paragraph, and in the next, letting out a life-giving current of irony. It is written in a bewitching stream of consciousness, full of wordplay and funny, deliberately anachronistic passages.
The unnamed narrator, an 18-year-old girl apparently living in Northern Ireland at the time of the conflict, is being stalked by a powerful rebel figure known as the Milkman (actually, his last name is Milkman). Physically, the Milkman does not touch the heroine, even looks into her eyes only a couple of times, but at the same time makes it clear that he knows everything about her, and then threatens to kill her “probably” boyfriend.
What do you do when you find yourself in such a society? Achieve publicity, and the widest possible
It would seem that you need to go complain, only the narrator lives in the most archaic, patriarchal Catholic environment. The logic here is perversely simple: if someone likes you, it’s your fault. Especially when almost a hero is soliciting, and you are 18, you love old books and in the eyes of your relatives you are a little out of this world. There is no chance for support; on the contrary, the narrator herself is absurdly accused of seducing a married Milkman.
The fact that the rumors cause even more trouble than the stalker is a crucial detail of the novel, as stalking grows out of an unhealthy society culture. In it, men are taught from childhood to “conquer” and “conquer” in romantic relationships, as if love is a special kind of conflict (it is no coincidence that there are so many conflicts in the novel at different levels). And women are assigned to be passive participants and take everything for granted.
It’s not specifically about Ireland in the 60s – change the names and details, and we can easily get a town somewhere in the south of modern Russia. What do you do when you find yourself in such a society? Achieve publicity, and the widest possible. Seek protection and act contrary to stalkers, even if it seems that everyone is frighteningly indifferent. To wage, like a staunch heroine, a quiet but stubborn war with indifference. Because at least one exception to this “everything” can be a saving thread.
Translation from English by Grigory Krylov. Eksmo, 416 p.
Debut
“Eva” by Lyubov Barinova
Many people think that writing skills are best learned in adulthood. The debut of Lyubov Barinova is just such an example. At first there was a printing institute, work as an editor, family, children … Hands did not reach artistic texts right away. She created her debut novel “Eve” right at the writing course. I wrote for a long time. But a reputable publishing house immediately became interested in him, and film producers bought the film rights even before the book was released, which is a rarity even for venerable authors.
What’s the secret? “Eva” is a phenomenon in the Russian book world, at the same time an action-packed novel with a powerful intrigue that makes you remember the stories of Dumas, and deep psychological prose. An addictive story of a man named Herman, who avenges his beloved sister and decides to kidnap the daughter of the offenders, but over time becomes sincerely attached to her.
It makes no sense to treat grief with revenge and destruction, much more real – with love and creation.
Thriller here on the surface; in fact, the author explores how evil breeds evil – with an immersion in the childhood traumas of the hero, his difficult relationship with relatives and painful dependence on his sister.
The language is expressive, sometimes oversaturated with images, epithets, which emphasizes Herman’s despair. He will not immediately be able to realize: it is pointless to treat grief with revenge and destruction, much more real – with love and creation. A bright debut always makes one fear the “second novel syndrome”, when the author tries in vain to repeat the success, but the confidence that is felt in the text reassures me: we will hear Barinova’s name more than once, and not only about “Eva”.
“Eva”, Lyubov Barinova. AST. Edited by Elena Shubina, 320 p.
Family
“Three floors” Eshkol Nevo
First floor: the father of the Arnon family, whose desire to protect his daughter from the imaginary encroachments of a neighbor brings him to an absurd betrayal of his wife. Second floor: Hanni, who is at home with the children and is experiencing a rift in her relationship with her husband, who disappears on business trips. Third: a retired judge of the Court, she is trying to find out if her son is guilty of a crime.
Everyone experiences an urgent need to be needed by a loved one, but doubts that they are appreciated. Doubts lead to jealousy, force them to withdraw into themselves and make mistakes in search of someone else’s recognition. But Eshkol Nevo believes that the dialogue will happen. Otherwise, these stories, told by the characters themselves, would not sound so warm and trusting.
Translation from Hebrew by Galina Segal. Sinbad, 320 p.
Celebration
Collection “Happiness. Twenty-seven Unexpected Confessions”
Happy is he who knows how to appreciate reality – a similar conclusion suggests itself from the plot and stylistically motley collection. Each of the authors recalls something of their own, specific and insignificant for others: Katya Robey – a box of felt-tip pens, Maria Galina – snow-capped mountains, Tatyana Tolstaya – the first chaotic trip abroad. But even in the most dissimilar stories, a common denominator is hidden: the discovery of a previously invisible bright side of life. A holiday that is with you even in depressing moments.
A vivid example is the essay by Lev Rubinstein, when, after a terrible day at the clinic, the mother suddenly says to her son: “Now we will go and buy a cake!” It’s not about the circumstances, it’s about what we want to see and feel.
Time, 224 s.