Search Results for “sorokin” – Generation P: Edward Crabtree's blog.

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE PAST? VLADIMIR SOROKIN’S `DAY OF THE OPRICHNIK`.

When Russia’s foremost iconoclast came over all committed, the results still resonate even more 14 years later. Liberals differ from the lowly worm only in their mesmerising, witch brewed speechifying. Like venom and reeking pus, they spew it all about, poisoning God’s very world, defiling its holy purity and simplicity, befouling it as far as … Continue reading LOOKING FORWARD TO THE PAST? VLADIMIR SOROKIN’S `DAY OF THE OPRICHNIK`.

REVERSAL

The Day my Dream of a Modern Russia Died. So, I am back again, despite lack of popular demand and with a post that I never wanted to write. It seems appropriate that the first warning of the catastrophe that was to come came out of the mouth of a xenophobic court jester – one … Continue reading REVERSAL

WHAT A BLAST! A review of Tatyana Tolstaya’s `THE SLYNX`.

Tolsstaya’s sole novel is a science-fantasy farce about the destruction of Russia – and it has divided opinion since publication. -Who is Pushkin? From around here? -A genius. He died long ago. -He ate something bad? (p-123) Russia has had much to say in the way of anti-utopias, having more or less written the rulebook … Continue reading WHAT A BLAST! A review of Tatyana Tolstaya’s `THE SLYNX`.

SLACKER ON A SUBURBAN TRAIN: VENEDIKT YEROFEEV’S `MOSCOW STATIONS` REVIEWED.

Is this seedy and honest samizdat novel an expose of a wasted life or a comic masterpiece? Stephen Mulrine;s first rate translation helps us to decide. You know it’s weird, nobody in Russia knows how Pushkin died, but everyone knows how to distill varnish One of the huge bugbears of social life in the towns … Continue reading SLACKER ON A SUBURBAN TRAIN: VENEDIKT YEROFEEV’S `MOSCOW STATIONS` REVIEWED.

MAKE IT NEW: MMOMA’S 2OTH ANNIVERSARY.

Opposite the building which houses the entrance to the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA) stands a sculpture depicting Kasmir Malevich presenting the viewer with his provocative Black Square composition. Demonstrating his mission of creating a repository of Russian modern and contemporary Avant Garde works,this is one of Zurab Tsereteli’s distinctive sculptures. It is by … Continue reading MAKE IT NEW: MMOMA’S 2OTH ANNIVERSARY.

The Scary Fairy Tales of Ludmilla Petrushevskaya.

The Grand Old Lady of Russian letters has some weird tales to tell. Nina had always been a disorganised person who let things go; thus her leave from the newspaper to go `freelance` and the apparent total unravelling of her life…. She ate, she drank…and they didn’t need any money, since every day the … Continue reading The Scary Fairy Tales of Ludmilla Petrushevskaya.