Novel
The Hand of a Great Master
დიდოსტატის მარჯვენა
Konstantine Gamsakhurdia · 1939
Synopsis
In the eleventh century, King Giorgi wants a cathedral at Mtskheta that has no equal. Hunting incognito, he notices a young Laz, a good hunter and a good sculptor, and entrusts him with the building site at the expense of his official architect. Around the scaffolding crowd the revolts of the mountain tribes, the war against Byzantium, plague and earthquakes; and the builder, who grew up beside Shorena, loves the woman the king wants for himself.
Context
Written in 1938 and 1939, the novel first appeared in a Tbilisi journal. Its author had just abandoned a commissioned book on Stalin's childhood, the published part of which was disavowed and withdrawn from libraries, and turned to the historical genre, which was then better regarded. The subject was given to him by the monument itself: the north wall of Svetitskhoveli bears a sculpted right arm holding a set square and an inscription in the name of Arsukisdze, from which tradition drew its legend of the punished builder. A two-part film was made from it in 1969.
Who it is for
A long novel, in which wars and Church affairs take up as much room as the stones. It is worth knowing that the 1957 version passes through Russian, the 1974 one having been revised against the Georgian.
Prizes and reception
Seven hundred thousand copies in twelve Russian editions during its author's lifetime, and the book that Georgia regards as its classic of the twentieth century.