“The world is ruled by signs and symbols, not by laws or strength.” Chapter 1: The Advertising Age The protagonist, Babylen Tatarsky, is a disillusioned Soviet intellectual turned […]
Russian literature
Telluria
“The world is a needle, and we are the thread.” Telluria by Vladimir Sorokin is a fragmented, surreal novel set in a post-apocalyptic future where Europe has collapsed […]
Russian literature
The Queue
“The line is life itself.” The Queue by Vladimir Sorokin is an experimental novel that captures the absurdity and monotony of Soviet life through the lens of people […]
Russian literature
Metro 2033
“The last metro train left at 18:00. The last metro train left at 18:00. The last metro train left at 18:00…” Chapter 1: Prologue Artyom, a young man […]
Russian literature
Day of the Oprichnik
“The Tsar’s word is law, and the law is the Tsar’s word.” Chapter 1: Morning of the Oprichnik The novel opens with Andrei Danilovich Komiaga, a high-ranking oprichnik […]
Russian literature
Zuleikha
“A person is like a river—sometimes wide, sometimes narrow, sometimes calm, sometimes turbulent.” Part 1: The Arrest The novel opens in 1930s Soviet Russia, introducing Zuleikha, a meek […]
Russian literature
Life and Fate
“In the end, the only thing that remains is kindness.” Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman is an epic novel set during World War II, primarily focusing on […]
Russian literature
Medea and Her Children
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Chapter 1: The Family Gathering The novel opens with the arrival of Medea’s relatives at her home in Crimea […]
Russian literature
Sincerely Yours, Shurik
“Every family has its own mythology, its own legends, and its own secrets.” Chapter 1: Childhood in Post-War Moscow The novel opens with young Shurik growing up in […]
Russian literature
The Kukotsky Enigma
“Memory is a capricious and unreliable thing, but without it, we are nothing.” Chapter 1: The Professor’s World The novel opens with Pavel Kukotsky, a renowned gynecologist in […]