The Life of an Unknown Man
Andreï Makine, Geoffrey Strachan (trs.)
The Life of an Unknown Man
Jilted by his girlfriend and disillusioned by modern France, the writer Shutov revisits St Petersburg after twenty years in exile, hoping to reconnect with his roots and the woman he loved in his youth. But she, and the brash new Russia that greets him, are not what he was expecting at all. Then he encounters Volsky, a fellow relic of the Communist era who relates his story: of surviving the Siege of Leningrad, the march on Berlin and Stalin’s purges, and of a transcendent love affair. It is a tale of extraordinary endurance and courage, yet the old man considers himself unexceptional. Fortunate, too, for he and the woman he loved knew great happiness. To Shutov, his story comes as a revelation, and an inspiration. In this novel, Andreï Makine explores what truly matters in life through the prism of Russia’s past and present. Drawing on his own experience of growing up in the Soviet Union, he poses an unsettling question: for all its horrors, was life under Communism richer than it is now? In the story of just another unknown, unsung hero lies an answer...
3.4 out of 5 based on 8 reviews
|
Omniscore:
|
| Classification |
Fiction |
| Genre |
General Fiction |
| Format |
Hardback |
| Pages |
256 |
| RRP |
£16.99 |
| Date of Publication |
October 2010 |
| ISBN |
978-0340998786 |
| Publisher |
Sceptre |
| |
Jilted by his girlfriend and disillusioned by modern France, the writer Shutov revisits St Petersburg after twenty years in exile, hoping to reconnect with his roots and the woman he loved in his youth. But she, and the brash new Russia that greets him, are not what he was expecting at all. Then he encounters Volsky, a fellow relic of the Communist era who relates his story: of surviving the Siege of Leningrad, the march on Berlin and Stalin’s purges, and of a transcendent love affair. It is a tale of extraordinary endurance and courage, yet the old man considers himself unexceptional. Fortunate, too, for he and the woman he loved knew great happiness. To Shutov, his story comes as a revelation, and an inspiration. In this novel, Andreï Makine explores what truly matters in life through the prism of Russia’s past and present. Drawing on his own experience of growing up in the Soviet Union, he poses an unsettling question: for all its horrors, was life under Communism richer than it is now? In the story of just another unknown, unsung hero lies an answer...
Reviews
The Literary Review
Pamela Norris
“Seamlessly translated by Geoffrey Strachan, Makine’s novel explores the attempt of two ‘ordinary’ people to transcend suffering and find life’s essential meaning. It is difficult to write without sentimentality about such a subject, but Makine’s intelligence and truthfulness dismiss banality.”
01/10/2010
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The Daily Mail
Eithne Farry
“In spare, melancholic prose, Makine describes the romance between Mila and Volsky, a tender refuge from the terrible realities of the siege - and illuminates the possibilities of hope for even the most benighted of lives. Very powerful.”
28/10/2010
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The Observer
Viv Groskop
“If the novel has one flaw, it's in its differing tones ... the book becomes a history of 20th-century Russia masquerading as simple, romantic novel. Yet this is also its strength. What starts out as an intimate account bursts out into something more ambitious and universal. Ultimately it's a haunting story, beautifully told.”
24/10/2010
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The Spectator
Charlotte Hobson
“Makine conveys compellingly how his compulsion to ironise, to seek metaphors and parallels — to approach life through a literary filter — has become a serious barrier to intimacy… Unfortunately Makine’s attempt to portray [the relationship between Volsky and Mila] is the least successful element of the novel.”
23/10/2010
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The Guardian
Helen Dunmore
“Makine writes in French, while Russian is his native language. The English text is, in a sense, doubly translated, and with this comes a risk of loss... The Life of an Unknown Man does not always have the imaginative power to embody its ideas, but it is nevertheless a bold and eloquent novel.”
02/10/2010
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The Independent
James Urquhart
“The Life of an Unknown Man may lack some of the fierce elegance of Makine's best work. But it reiterates the author's passionate attachment to Russia, and his determination to celebrate individual humanity while excoriating the oppressive politics that have shaped our present reality.”
15/10/2010
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The Financial Times
John Thornhill
“On occasion, Makine’s writing can be a stimulating fusion of these two great literary traditions [Russian and French] and is a pleasure to read; at other times, though, it turns into a somewhat cloying mixture of vodka and cheese... His authorial presence often weighs too heavily in this novel, distorting the clarity of thought or the narrative flow.”
11/10/2010
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The Sunday Times
Anthony Cummins
“Readers of novels rarely like to feel they are being lectured. It is a pity that Volsky’s wartime romance seems so perfunctory an affair on which to hang a parable, since the sentimental mode in which Makine is writing depends on his being able to create an affecting plot.”
10/10/2010
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