Novel
Pushkin House
Пушкинский дом
Andrei Bitov · 1978
Synopsis
Lev Odoevtsev grows up in Leningrad in a literate family. His grandfather, Modest Platonovich, was imprisoned under Stalin, and his father distanced himself from him to pursue a career at the university. When the grandfather returns from exile, Lev, who had made a legend of him, finds a hardened man who dismantles his ready-made explanations. Having become a philologist, he joins the Pushkin House of the Academy of Sciences, steering clear of politics. Three women matter in his life, Albina, Lyubasha and Faina, and a colleague, Mitishatiev, provokes him constantly.
Context
Completed in 1971 after years of work, the novel could appear only in extracts in the Soviet Union. Ardis published it in Russian in the United States in 1978; the journal Novy mir gave the complete text in 1987. It consists of three parts, each followed by an appendix, and its chapter titles draw on Pushkin and Lermontov. Susan Brownsberger's English translation appeared in 1987, Philippe Mennecier's French one with Albin Michel in 1988.
Who it is for
A broad, learned novel steeped in Russian literature, which requires some knowledge of Pushkin and Lermontov.
Prizes and reception
Prize for Best Foreign Book in France in 1989, according to Livres Hebdo; one of the first Russian postmodern novels according to the Tass agency.
Sources for this page 4
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