Narrative
The Mischievous Boy
Shum bola
Gʻafur Gʻulom · 1936
Synopsis
In Tashkent, at the time of the First World War, a young boy, caught by his mother stealing butter and an egg, runs away from home. A wandering life begins across the country, from bazaar to teahouse: he feeds his uncle's birds the wrong way, slaughters a donkey instead of a cow, is wrongly accused of theft, gets mixed up in a prayer-selling swindle, spies on a harem, loses the sheep he was guarding and works in an opium den.
Context
Published in 1936 and revised in 1962, this half-autobiographical narrative brings back to life the old Tashkent of neighbourhoods, bazaars, teahouses and mosques, with a keen sense of ethnographic detail; the war is felt only from afar, through rising prices. Its comedy draws on slapstick, sharp dialogue, songs and rhymes. The book was translated into German; it inspired Damir Salimov's 1977 film, which is in the catalogue.
Who it is for
For a picaresque and very funny narrative that brings back the popular life of Tashkent in the early twentieth century.
Prizes and reception
Praised for its humour and its wealth of detail about old Tashkent, it was rewritten by the author a quarter of a century later.