Happiness Is Possible

by Oleg Zaionchkovsky, Олег Зайончковский, Andrew Bromfield (Translator)

Happiness is Possible tells the story of a writer late delivering his novel, unable to write anything uplifting since his wife walked out. All he can produce is notes about the happiness of others. But something draws him into the Moscow lives around him, bringing together lonely neighbours, restoring lost love, and helping out with building renovations. And happiness seems determined to catch up with him as well…

Genres: Russia, Russian Literature, Fiction

303 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Oleg Viktorovich Zaionchkovsky (Russian: Олег Викторович Зайончковский)(born 1959) is a Russian author.

His writing has been shortlisted for the Russian Booker Prize and the National Bestseller Prize. He is the author of Sergeev and the Town (2005) and Happiness is Possible (And Other Stories, 2012), among others.

Oleg Zaionchkovsky was born in 1959 in Kuybyshev (now Samara), on the east bank of the Volga River. He spent all his adult life, until a recent move to Moscow, in the small town of Khotkovo, working as a test engineer in a factory making rocket engines.

Zaionchkovsky's first book, Sergeev and the Town (2004), was shortlisted for both the Russian Booker Prize and the National Bestseller Prize. His book Happiness is Possible (2010) was also shortlisted for the Russian Booker Prize as well as the Russian Big Book Prize.

Reviews

[Vit Babenco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Institution of Marriage… The family is the first and vital cell of society…
The hero is a lonely divorced writer… He and his mongrel dog…

We lived as a married couple for many long years. Sometimes I recall those years with a radiant sadness, sometimes I want to lead as healthy a life as possible, so that my longevity will compensate for wasted time. The fact is, however, that when I ceased to be my wife’s husband, the scales seemed to fall from my eyes. The plugs seemed to drop out of my ears and the cotton wool out of my nose… Newly orphaned, I was adopted by the entire world, taken under its wing. Sounds forgotten since my childhood thronged around me once again. A little tree stirred by the wind, a fly buzzing past, even that kitchen air vent: they all started speaking to me, prattling away in thousands of voices, purveying some significant babble of their own.

They didn’t part as enemies… The author, his former wife and her new spouse formed a peaceful social triangle…
The discarded husband writes about his past… His married life… Days of his youth… Relationship of men and women… Day-to-day life of the people he used to know and knows…
And the capital city lives its own everyday life…

What does it matter that our urban life does not facilitate the creation of enduring ties, when on the other hand we have so many momentary, fleeting contacts that we don’t even notice! In the metro, in the shops, in the streets, everywhere where there are many of us – and there are many of us everywhere – we are woven, minute by minute, into a web of countless lines of communication. Contacts spark constantly and we feel no shortage of adrenalin without love or hate or any of that old provincial drama.

In the modern society everyone wants to be autonomous so the family ties keep growing weaker.

[Mark Staniforth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't mean to name-drop, but a senior figure in the translated fiction world warned me recently that the genre is in danger of suffering the perils of excessive stereotyping: that is, western publishers with too many pre-conceived ideas of what to expect from different countries.
Forgive me for over-generalising, but France, perhaps, is a hotbed of sexual liberation and philsophical thought; Indian novels need to address either fundamentalism or Slumdog-style caste clashes to stand much of a chance of selling global rights; and try picking out something from Argentina this year that does not overtly address the Falklands conflict.
Translations from Russian are certainly not as plentiful as they ought to be, and a quick skim of the English language shelves in the (admirable) Russian bookshop in Piccadilly Waterstones confirms a preponderance of heavy, classic gulag-lit, or else the kind of edgy, ex-pat crime novels favoued by the likes of Martin Cruz Smith and AD Miller, whose excellent Snowdrops made the Booker Prize shortlist last year.
The challenge is there for brave, innovative young publishers to shatter such strait-jacketing trends, and it is no surprise that it should be 'And Other Stories' who take the lead. Oleg Zaionchkovsky's Happiness Is Possible' is a genuinely ground-breaking fable of modern Moscow with neither the gulag nor any kind of Mafiosi murder plot in sight.
The closest we get to organised crime in Zaionchkovsky's gentle, thought-provoking book is a scam in which a yard keeper hands out keys to marked-for-demolition apartments to down-and-outs, in exchange for their exploitation as his labour force.
Zaionchkovsky's novel, which is actually a series of loosely connected short stories revolving around an ailing writer and his unusually cordial relationship with his ex-wife and her new husband, is a delicate paen to a most indelicate, modern, sprawling, post-Perestroika city.
The tales flit around the mundanities of everyday life, unveiling a host of characters, some of whom, given the narrator's habit of drifting from real-life recollections into authorial fanciful notions, we are never quite sure are real or not.
The common theme threading through these stories is the search for contentment. Happiness in this modern city is generally gauged against the success or otherwise of obtaining a coveted Moscow residency permit. Zaionchkovsky's stories quietly expose the inherent futility of such pursuits, and muse on the inescapability of fate.
Zaionchkovsky tells his stories with a delicate, self-deprecating humour and the kinds of turns of phrase that beautifully evoke this sprawling city's all-consuming loneliness - the cloudless sky is described as 'the same colour as a woman's eyes that you describe as blue while you're trying to win her favour.'
It ebbs and flows through unremarkable lives, and in the process creates a picture of a side of the city that is rarely seen by outsiders. It is this very normal-ness that helps separate it so clearly from its stereotype. 'Happiness Is Possible' is both the most Russian of books, and something entirely different.

[Pavel · Rating 2 out of 5]

One fine day hot real estate agent enters wrong apartment by mistake and meets not very succesfull writer. The writer quickly seduces her and she's going home in the morning. He never calls her back.
The end.

or

Ex-husband and current husband of a certain woman are going away fishing on their weekend. They are getting a bit drunk and the ex-husband cathes a lot of fish while the current husband cathes only 1 fish. They share some vodka with a local cow shepherd and he warns them it will be raining. They don't listen and stay and later the shepherd pulls their car by his agrimotor.
The end

With about 20 stories like that mr. Zayonchkovskiy guides us through neurosises and complexes of his main protagonist (or himself, at least it reads like that).This tour is abrupted from time to time with long essay-like insterted texts about Moscow, filled with mediocre symbols and worn out metaphors.

Perhaps this is only me, but either you give me really exciting story or if you go for a sublime style - have a talent to write in a sublime style. The best thing is when one thing meets the other. But that's not Zayonchkovskiy case.

[Ends of the Word · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is not often, dear Reader, that I sit down in front of the pc screen to write a review of a book, let alone one which I've written and in which I'm the Protagonist. Then again, it is not often that I sit down and write anything at all. My public might think otherwise, but being an Author is a tough job. Just ask Oleg Zaionchkovsky! Speaking for myself, I prefer to lounge around in my Moscow flat with, at my feet, ever-faithful Phil, a particularly chummy exemplar of a Man's Best Friend. Phil also likes to accompany me on my walks around the city. Global warming might be bad news for the polar bears cavorting at the North Pole, but it's fine by me and Phil if it makes it easier for us to go out in the Moscow air. Even then, I am working, observing my fellow city-dwellers, gathering raw materials from which to fashion my unfortunately-not-so-quick-selling books.

But I digress. What are the strengths of this novel? And conversely, what are its weaknesses? Aah, I hear you say, but this is not a novel! It is, rather, a collection of vignettes, a loosely-connected set of short stories. You may be right, but isn't Life itself like that? "We don't remember days, we remember moments" another author once said. I wouldn't have put it exactly like that (rather saccharine prose, in my opinion) but it is true that some moments and images linger in the mind. These stories are like snapshots, an album in which the recurring subjects are Phil, myself and my ex-wife Tamara. Eh, my lovely Toma! She may be married to a successful businessman now, but she still honours me with the occasional visit to my flat and (admittedly more rarely) to my bed. The background to my vignettes is always Moscow, the great and beautiful city which has shaped me and Tamara and the lonely characters who seeking love and happiness in the pages of my books.

Apologies if my humour sometimes falls flat. It is certainly not the fault of translator Andrew Bromfield who has done a great job - it is not easy to express the Russian way of life in a foreign language. The publishers (an unusually friendly lot who go by the intriguing name of "and other stories" ) have also managed to convince a quite well-known British author to provide an introduction to the book. I'm told that this "A.D. Miller" has himself written a novel about Moscow which won a prestigious prize. Or nearly did. His novel features murder, financial crime and a sexy Russian belle. Hmmm, why am I not surprised?

The doorbell's ringing and Phil's barking his head off... I wonder if it's my Toma and whether her husband's with her?

[Finn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few chapters into Happiness Is Possible, I started thinking "this reminds me of Murakami". Zaionchkovsky's prose style is not particularly similar, nor is the plot Murakami-esque. The reason, I think, is this: as Murakami is a sudden contrast to the Japanese classics of Natsume Soseki and Kawabata Yasunari, Zaionchkovsky's work is a departure from the old masters (Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev) who continue to dominate Russian Literature sections in bookshops throughout the West. It's far removed even from works such as those of Bulgakov, published in relatively recent history. (That said, following in the footsteps of all great Russian novels, it does involve a visit to the dacha.)

I think of myself as a fan of Russian literature, yet this is the first contemporary Russian novel I've ever read. Zaionchkovsky's Moscow, populated with computers and mobile phones and people with emotions and relationships, seems alien compared with the continuous media portrayal of Russia as a country stuck in the past- a portrayal I never thought to question until now. Zaionchkovsky's novel is not overtly political - sometimes it seems almost complacent in its criticisms of the state - yet it forced me to confront my own ignorance in a way that no other book has.

The novel itself is full of light and life as Zaionchkovsky weaves the city in luscious prose around the personal story at the core of the book. Sometimes it feels like a modern fable and sometimes it feels like a conversation with an old friend. It is deeply human.

(N.B. Read the foreword- it offers some good ideas to keep in mind throughout the book.)

[Curt Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, good literature was possible in late 20th c. Russia. I'm used to reading classics, the great works of Russian literature, from Tolstoy to Bulgakov (does Nabokov count?), but had little exposure to the merely good and recent. This is translated by a Brit, so you can expect Britishisms rather than Americanisms, and there may be some uniquely Russian turns of phrase, poetic flourishes lost along the way, but it's probably safe to say this isn't a great work. But what it is is a modern portrait of a great city—Moscow—told through a first-person account of a divorced author dealing with life on his own, or rather alone with his dog, "Phil," as he recalls student life, early struggles as part of a couple, his wife's new husband and the business world they both inhabit, Moscow's literary culture and Russia's quasi-collective for its working writers. But the best writing here is reserved for descriptions of the city, the habits and demeanor of its residents, the strange organism that IS a modern city, and here Zaionchkovsky soars. I've never been to Moscow and thus may have only partly appreciated some observations; but as a New York City resident I can identify with a lot here, and as someone generally aware I can relate to the workings of Russian culture and government in the 80s. A very relatable, engaging and occasionally humorous book, full of ironies and small, well-written observations.

[Margarita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it - it's a bit of an emotional personal pick-up that is much needed right now, exactly the way the story teller words it, but it is a beautiful book... Why people love "The Day of the Oprichnik" and dislike this book is really beyond me... Maybe if our collective mind steered toward creativity, love and personal fulfilment, as well as sensitivity and lovingkindness (as opposed to rape, random violence and drug-induced stupor), we would all be better off, would we not? Well, the latter would sell far more books than the former, though - just an observation. That is exactly why Zaichonkovski's book is so badly needed by many more of us than you would think...

[Lisa Hayden Espenschade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Linked stories/vignettes aren't my favorite genre but this is a lovely collection of first-person pieces about life and happiness. The stories are very personal and "micro" (also not usually my favorite) but somehow everything accumulates into a book resembling a portrait of a person and a time. (The book's full title is Happiness Is Possible: A Novel of Our Time.)

[Sergey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Может быть благодаря частой самоиронии, сарказм автора над окружащим и окружающими так же воспринимается в качестве иронии. Однако где-то с половины книги острота этой иронии либо притупилась, либо перестала восприниматься так же свежо.

Понравившиеся места:

Времени у нас много – и прошедшего, и покамест еще не растраченного.

<...> российские заборы! Их много у нас, но в каждом имеется тайный проход. Знание этих проходов делает нас свободными людьми. Оно, как всякое тайное знание, дает нам ощущение избранности. Наверное, оказавшись на том свете, россияне первым делом отыскивают плохо прибитые доски в заборе <...>

если женщина отвечает не задумываясь, это означает, что она говорит неправду.

Везде, а особенно в ночных клубах, можно было встретить здоровенных мужчин с мрачными лицами и такими плохими манерами, что всякое место, где они появлялись, сразу становилось злачным.

Издательство, что называется, «продвинутое», современное – редакционные девушки поголовно привержены сленгу и пирсингу.

от нечего почитать глазеет по сторонам

На самом деле нынешние газеты вообще не имеют в виду никакого обывателя. Их читает главным образом так называемый «пипл», что по-американски означает «народ», а по-нашему «быдло».

<...> метро <...> люди идут все в одном направлении, выстраиваясь в цепочки, обтекая и подпихивая друг друга.

[Daniel Ben-Horin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a treat this book is. It is in the lineage of Goncharov’s Oblomov, with that very Russian mixture of humor and fatalism, which is a high compliment. In a sense, you know everything you need to know concerning the book’s content from the title. The achievement is in making this somewhat kitschy, Hallmark card notion, come alive, entertain and contain real meaning. Zaionchkovsky pulls it off like nobody’s business. Terrific job. Very funny and, also touching, without bathos. Highly recommended.

[Moriah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book. From the first unexpected words on the page to the last sentence, on page 303 I was hooked. I could have devoured this book in one sitting but life happens. The author's style of writing was not what I had expected due to hearing about the typical expansive realism from the 19th-century translated works from Russia. His prose was refreshing, intimate, mixed with typical Russian style dark humor but also incredibly insightful. You don't realize just how insightful and clever it is until you've caught yourself thinking about what he's just shared after you put it down for a while.

I really enjoyed getting a feel for the city of Moscow and also the dacha he would frequent (dachas are seasonal or year-round second homes located in the exurbs of Moscow). I laughed so loudly and often when I got to the fishing trip mentioned in the introduction by the translator. It was hilarious. I have no doubt that I will think of this novel often and seek out more of the author's writing in the future.

From the back cover "A writer is late delivering his novel, unable to write anything uplifting since his wife walked out. All he can produce are notes about the happiness of others. But something draws him into the Moscow lives around him - bringing together lonely neighbors, restoring lost love, and helping out with the building renovations. And happiness seems determined to catch up with him as well..."

[nic (つ . •́ _ʖ •̀ .)つ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it! It's quite witty and whimsical, reminds me a little bit of Murakami's style. Through little anecdotes and tales of Moscow's inhabitants, we get to see how universal the speaker's condition – his search for contentment – is in relation to those around him. All the while, even as he narrates stories of loss and hurt, there is never any self-pitying or victimisation, but rather an acceptance of the inevitable and a determined optimism to keep living. It ended on a surprisingly tender and heartwarming note, and it was a real breeze to read through.

🌹date read: 3 jul 2019 🌹

[GreyAtlas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected. Lacked a strong message despite promising one. Lots of random conversations and musings, with the occasional beautiful philosophical prose. More of a short story collection than a novel.

[Galya P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Начиналось симпатично и, казалось бы, красочно, но к 30й странице уже складывается ощущение, что автор соревнуется сам с собой, сколько метафор он может впихнуть в одну страницу.

[Naltro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un bel libro tranquillo, dolce, divertente, che rispecchia in pieno il suo titolo. La felicità è possibile. O almeno lo era, a Mosca nel 2008.

[Sam Hunt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Moments of beautiful prose aren't enough to fully rescue what is a very disjointed novel.

[Bob Lopez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant, fairly charming novel about a man moving on after he is left by his wife. Just anecdote after anecdote of the every day, nothing too out of the ordinary--the weirdest thing here is the relationship he maintains with his ex-wife and her new boyfriend/husband.

[Natalia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Судя по всему, наибольший восторг по поводу этого текста испытывают рецензенты, знакомые с английской версией романа. Видимо, устав от переводов претендующей хоть на что-то актуальной русской прозы, они рады возможности погрузиться в спокойное, доступное без напряжения мысли и души, течение "Счастья возможно".
Здесь нет зазора между незаметной, сероватой, без всплесков прозы самого романа и персоной его главного героя, "прозаика". Это самоназвание, бесконечно повторяемое безынициативным, безуспешным, безыдейным персонажем, совпадает с качеством самого обитаимого им текста. Язык "Счастья" не остается без находок, но общему массиву прозы как бы неловко за них.
В предпоследней главе протагонист называет свою прозу "бессвязной". Так и сам роман представляет собой достаточно условное единство эпизодов из жизни протагониста и его знакомых. Как само присутствие некоторых второстепенных персонажей в тексте, так и происходящее с ними обозначено как условность, и мотивируется исключительно желанием "прозаика" причинить им счастье. Такие эпизоды увеличивают как объем текста, так и общую его рыхлость.
Сюжет фокусируется на двух главных "достижениях" безымянного героя: браке с москвичкой и ее возвращение к нему от казавшегося какое-то время более успешным нового мужа, событиях, произошедших с ним как бы помимо его воли. Важной является тема бессилия, писательского блока, бесплодия, метафорически реализованная в бездетности пары до развода. Возвращаясь, Тамара сообщает бывшему мужу о состоявшейся беременности: на метафорическом уровне проблема разрешена. Текст остается бессильным.
UPD
Прочитала на днях три довлатовских рассказа. Мой первый Довлатов. Без восторга. И поняла, что роднятся они с Зайончковском в моем восприятии. Так что любители Довлатова, можете смело корректировать количество звезд в моей оценке на "плюс"!

[Andrew Mccafferty]

Fantastic! Gives a very witty insight into life in Moscow, and modern Russia in general. Unusually written too, with what are effectively short stories that bleed into each other in a very interesting way. Good for people like me who are always pushing on for the ending: in a way, each story has an ending, but they all contribute to the overall picture of the narrator's life (and those of people around him). Will probably read it again: there's just so much in it!

[Colin N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing work about a novelist in modern day Moscow who wanders about, interacts with his ex-wife while lamenting the break-up of his marriage, and regales us with stories of other Moscow residents. A bit meandering, but some interesting glimpses into contemporary Russian life, and a decent first novel.

[Anne Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book. A seemingly meandering work at first, you just have to put your expectations on hold and place your trust in Zaionchkovsky's thoughtful, funny, and considered writing, because when you reach the end, you'll find that you're right where you want to be, enjoying that feeling of satisfaction you get at the end of a great book.

[Jimbo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is pretty good novel about present-day Moscow. And apart from maybe a couple of minor slip-ups ("blackguard" as a modern term of abuse?), the translation is brilliant and reads as though it was originally written in English.

[Lyana Margareth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming and funny Russian fiction.

[Olivia]

Russian booker long list: http://www.russianbooker.org/news/34/

[Zoë · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really didn't want this to end! Brilliant book and beautifully translated.

[Alisonismail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wish I could have read this in the original Russian but sensed it was a good translation!

[Dina]

Хорошая проза, похожая немного на первые повести Гришковца, что-то вроде качественной литературной версии на тему "что вижу, то и пою":)