Gods of the Steppe

by Andrey Gelasimov, Marian Schwartz (Translation)

It is the summer of 1945. Germany has been defeated, Hitler has disappeared, and tensions are mounting ever higher along the Russian-Chinese border…where the threat of Japanese invasion haunts. For Petka, no life could be more thrilling and glorious than marching into battle alongside the Red Army. But he is only twelve, the bastard child of a fractured family, trapped in a village too tiny for his bursting spirit. So he must make his own adventure wherever he can find it. And if that means passing off a wolf cub as a puppy under the nose of his ferocious grandma, stealing bootleg alcohol for the bivouacked troops he worships, smuggling himself in a barrel across the border and into the line of fire, fighting for his life when his own aimless peers turn inexplicably vicious, or befriending an enigmatic Japanese POW who transcends Petka’s provincial world, then so be it. By turns comical, harrowing, poignant, and exhilarating, Petka reveals the soul of a boy who knows only to take from life all that he can―not merely what his circumstances allow. Nominated for the 2014 Rossica Translation Prize.

Genres: Russia, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Russian Literature, War, World War II

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Andreï Guelassimov est né en 1965 à Irkoutsk. Après des études de lettres, il partà Moscou suivre au Gitis (l'Institut d'études théâtrales) les cours du prestigieux metteur en scène Anatoly Vassiliev. Spécialiste d'Oscar Wilde, il a enseigné à l'université la littérature anglo-américaine. Fox Mulder a une tête de cochon, son premier livre, a été publié en 2001. La Soif (Actes Sud, 2004), son second ouvrage, un récit sur la guerre de Tchétchénie publié en Russie en 2002, a confirmé sa place sur la scène littéraire russe. Il a été la révélation des Belles Etrangères russes en France à l'automne 2004, et son dernier roman vient d'être consacré par le Booker Prize des étudiants 2004.

Reviews

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Russian literature seems to invoke strong emotions, very little in between, readers seem to either love unconditionally or loathe entirely.

And I - liked it - and so will be different and fall in between.

Contemporary Russian author Andrey Gelasimov first published Gods of the Steppe as Степные боги in 2008 and I read the English translation by Marian Schwartz published in 2013. His work was good enough to garner a Russian National Bestseller Prize in 2009.

Describing a setting in far eastern Soviet Union during the final days of World War II, Gelasimov tells the story of Petka, a boy far from the front and too young to fight, but worshipping Comrade Stalin and Marshall Zhukov and wanting to be a part of something. He dreams of kiling fritzes (Germans) and searching for Hitler under every stack of hay.

We’ve all read American stories about the home front during the war (almost a distinct genre), and stories from England and Germany. This was a refreshing perspective and Gelasimov’s prose is vibrant and irreverent. Actually, this reminded me of Irish literature and I guess the common denominator is bitter poverty, yet with a strident and accepting will to not just survive but to live and have some fun along the way. Vulgar, lascivious, casually violent and even somewhat fatalistic, this is nonetheless a glimpse at a tenacious existence.

Among the Russians in this distant outpost on the steppe is a group of Japanese prisoners of war, a couple from Nagasaki, and Gelasimov uses their story to contrast dramatically with the Russians.

A good book, I will likely read more from Gelasimov.

[Georgi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Зачетох се в „Степни богове“ на Андрей Геласимов и с учудване установих колко бързо прелиствам страниците, колко леко се нося по повърхността на тази история, как уж невинно авторът ме хваща за ръка, завличайки ме все по-навътре в безкрайната руска степ. А там – моментни снимки на следвоенната действителност. Въздухът още е лепкав от соковете на победата. Децата са полудиви, оставени почти на произвола на съдбата. Навсякъде виждат фашисти. Гонят фашисти. Ловят Хитлер. Бащите – по фронтовете, майките – търсещи чужди ласки. Хората са като неодялано парче дърво, груби и ръбести, псуващи, биещи се, трудно правещи разлика между добро и зло. Поствоенният съветски бит в тази далекоизточна провинция почти на границата с Китай е като съдран и стъпкан пропаганден плакат.

В Разгуляевка жените винаги са се били с мъжете си. Никоя не искаше да търпи мъжките юмруци (…). Когато започна войната, взеха мъжете на фронта и дворовете утихнаха. Вече никой не изхвърчаваше от къщи само по бельо, не се дереше по нощите като заклан и не се криеше из оборите (…). Животът замря. Но само докато старците и бабичките не се сетиха, че също са „мъж и жена“ и че законите на любовта важат за всички.

На този фон Геласимов ни среща с кратък моментен откъс от житейските пътища на един японски военнопленник и няколко невръстни хлапета. Петка е див любопитко, който често яде бой от по-големите хлапета. Валерка е болнаво дете, вечно омазано с кръв. Кръвта му тече от носа почти постоянно. Разправят, че е от времето, когато майка му работила в мината наблизо. Почти до раждането, с огромен корем, тя била там, при работниците, в задушливата атмосфера на рудника. Все още никой няма сетива да осъзнае предсказаното от племето буряти – хората, първи усетили, че в урановата мина има нещо лошо, което разболява хората и ги кара да измират.

Цялото ревю тук: https://bibliotekata.wordpress.com/20...

[zxvasdf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've said this before, and I'll probably still say it over and over again: I love contemporary Russian writers. They're locked in on an universally Russian aspect of nearly abject poverty and constant violence, yet manage to make it all seem like labours of love.

In nearly every Russian novel I've read, everyone is beating on each other, and if they're not doing that, they're constantly on the watch for the misery of others, as to revel in it. Shrewdness also reigns, seemingly manifesting as greed and utter obstinacy, rising from decades of Communist thinking.

So in Gods of the Steppe you're placed in a weird dichotomy, where you're a Soviet child running amok on the brutal austerity of the steppe then you're a Japanese POW locked in the near-constant throes of memory.

Petka is an hyperactive little boy with an unwavering encompassing desire to fight and die in the war against Hitler. It is a constant pre-occupation, You might find yourself disliking him in the beginning, but as the story progresses, you find underneath that crass exterior, there is an intelligent child fighting through a lack of education and a supportive family unit to understand the events around him. You begin to applaud his decisions, however misinformed or ignorant, because he means well.

Now, Hirotaro is a POW who has stayed when hostages were traded, out of obligation to the wounded Masahiro, or more specifically, Masahiro's father. Hirotaro has taken to secretly writing down his memories, detailing a colourful history of his Samurai descendants along with current observations. His life story is laid out on these pages. He is also a doctor and this comes in useful during his stay at the prison camp.

A boy struggles with a new, honest view of the world blooming inside, confused, but managing to make the right decisions. An old man sees the world as it is, but acts out a lie, in a dramatic cast of many, because it would be an act of love.

The lives of Petka and Hirotaro collide, but they're not much help to each other in their time of need. They're affected anyways, and find themselves still connected, even by the obliterating light of Nagasaki. But for the meanwhile, they have to content themselves in the roles ordained by life in that final scene on the steppe as the Gods are revealed in the dawn light.

[Albena Georgieva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Книгата ме прати в сибирската степ и ме остави там. При хлапетата Петка и Валерка, при японския военнопленник доктор Хиротаро, при войниците, бабите, жените, козите, вълците, китайския контрабанден спирт и т.н.

Лятото на 1945 година - Германия е победена, а Хирошима още не се е случила.

В тази книга има всичко - крайно, ярко и силно реално.
И японската богиня на милосърдието Канон - попаднала в селцето Разгуляевка. А в една от японските легенди богинята се превъплъщава в котка. Манеки Неко е нейно превъплъщение.
Много хубава книга

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

очень странно читать такие книги во время войны, но надо уметь отделять тёплое от мягкого, зёрна от плевел и город от деревни.

сначала я испугалась, что это будет что-то на манер "похороните меня за плинтусом", но слава богу – нет. потом вспомнился тимур с его командой, что вызвало некоторую ностальгию по детству, которая мне не слишком свойственна. но по итогу книга оказалось очень смешной, очень грустной и очень щемящей.

вот так всё встало на свои места.

пойду искать гитлера в овраге.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really got into this book. It reminded me of Mark Twain's best, but instead of a motherless Huckleberry Finn and the Mississippi River, we have a fatherless Petka and the Transbaikal steppe. Huck admired and befriended riverboatmen and one particular runaway slave. Petka admired (actually idolized) Soviet soldiers and one particular Japanese POW. The plot reminded me a bit of the complexities of Thomas Pynchon's novel, V., although it's a much more concise read.

The temporal setting is the Spring and Summer between the fall of Berlin and the destruction of Nagasaki, the POW's hometown. Petka seems to have ADHD, is a relatively intelligent 12 year old who, along with Harry S. Truman, can't wait for the USSR to declare war on Japan. In the meantime he constantly plays soldier and fights the local bully. He also tries, with help from the POW and the gods of the Buryats who formerly occupied that particular region, to save the life of his young friend who is dying from a wasting illness. It all ties together very nicely.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

In "Gods of the Steppe" Andrey Gelasimov turns his caustic eye toward the Soviet Union at the end of 1945. This is not the official version--the Red Army is presented, not in its triumphant march to Berlin but instead as a bored, hard-drinking and menacing presence in the Russian hinterland of some interest to the Motherland because it has useful mines. Gelasimov has no use for official piety (of any kind--one of his early books had the title "Fox Mulder Looks Like a Pig"). In addition to overseeing the mines and chasing the local women, these soldiers are in charge of a contingent of Japanese prisoners-of-war. A portion of the narrative is told from the perspective of a healer among those prisoners, who is as close as this novel comes to a hero. But this is blighted territory, whose original inhabitants, the Buryat, have been dispossessed, replaced by corrupt soldiers who manhandle poverty-stricken locals and captured Japanese. It is a blistering assessment of the Soviet project, a place so toxic that the land itself is poisoned.

[Stephen Jerrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story involves two aspects of history that I was relatively unaware. The Soviet Union at the end of the Second World War with the bleakness that that involved and also the Japanese side with one of the main characters being a Japanese prisoner of war.
We tend to view the Second World War from the British viewpoint but the Japanese Russian conflict had huge implications for both countries
The two characters have difficult lives for different reasons, but then their lives intertwine in a powerful way. Excellent read and I certainly will be exploring other books by this author.

[Snejina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Едно момче, мечтаещо за войната, в малко селце на границата с Китай. Японски лекар, в съветски пленнически лагер, контрабанда на спирт, глад, мизерия.. Деца, които търсят ден след ден избягалият Хитлер, болести, безнадежност.. Жени, които се продават за една консерва, бурятски талисмани срещу зли духове и една уранова мина.. Андрей Геласимов е създал една прекрасна книга, написана с лекота, много хумор и оптимистичен финал.. Заслужени 5 звезди!

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grimly funny and fascinating tale of war-mad Petka, his eccentric family, and the Japanese prisoners in the local military camp, during the closing stages of the war on the Eastern Front. Obviously my favourite thing is the wolf cub Petka tries to pass off as a puppy.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Вот это аннотация! Всем аннотациям аннотация! Марк Твен у них Код да Винчи пишет!

Только вот неправда это все (слава Богу), и книжка слабая.

[Дмитрий · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 10th-of-May phenomenon through the eyes of a child.

[Svitlana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Как прекрасна заключительная сцена, описывающая рассвет в степи! Стая волков, жаворонки из под ног, танец Хиротаро и Петьки и их многорукая тень... Очень поэтично!
Вся книга оставляет тонкое грустное и светлое послевкусие. Обязательно прочту другие произведения Геласимова

[Tamara Curtin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Эта книга очень легкая и забавная. Mожет быть довольно трудно читать в переводе, или если не знакомы с русской культурой и отношениями.

[Lyoce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Очаровательно и душевно. С замиранием сердца переворачивала страница,стремясь узнать что будет дальше.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gelasimov continues to evince a range of material and narrative style in his third novel to be translated into English. Set in a remote Russian village in the Asian steppe during WWII, following VE day and prior to VJ day, "Gods of the Steppe" paints a picture of life during the war not typically considered by Western audiences.

Petka is staunchly pro-Soviet (the certainty without understanding of a child), fantasizes about being a soldier, but is an outcast among the other boys due to his status as a bastard. Hirotaro is an introspective, thoughtful Japanese prisoner of war, outcast not only among his captors, but also among his fellow countrymen in the POW camp, even though as a doctor he provides a valuable service to both. The two serve as interesting counterpoints, both in their similar interactions within their own groups and in their differing interactions with the camp guards. When they cross paths with each other, they end up challenging each others' beliefs, but not in a stereotypical feel-good story way.

Some readers may struggle with the inner narrative of the characters that wanders freely from events in the present to seemingly unrelated events in the past, but overall it succeeds at conveying a realistic thought process without resorting to a more Joycean stream of consciousness. It is especially effective for Petka, as a young boy with little structure in his life whose attention can never remain focused in one place for too long.

Some aspects of "Gods of the Steppe" do feel more ragged than Gelasimov's previously translated novels, "Thirst" and "The Lying Year", such as the storyline involving Petka's pet wolf, and the epilogue which ties things together almost too neatly, but these are small detractions from an otherwise enjoyable story.

[Mandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story takes place in the summer of 1945. Germany has been defeated and Hiroshima is yet to come. 12 year old Petka, fatherless, living in a small isolated village in the Siberian steppe, longs for adventure, dreams of fighting alongside the Red Army, of finding Hitler. Instead he must make do with smuggling alcohol with his grandfather, adopting a wolf cub, and befriending a Japanese POW in the local camp. Through the voices of these two main protagonists, Petka and Hirotaro, we get a glimpse of life on the Russian border, a place that the war has touched only tangentially. It’s a dark and bleak novel, and the action sometimes inexplicably brutal. Relationships are unsettling, and often cruel, especially between the Russians and the Japanese.
I found the narrative disjointed, the plot, such as it is, thin and unsatisfying, and much of the characterization weak. Petka himself is appealing in his naivety and Hirotaro, the POW, is relatively interesting and has depth, especially with his skills as a doctor and herbalist. But on the whole, I couldn’t warm to any of the characters, and failed to engage with the narrative. Interesting as an historical and sociological snapshot, as a novel it just didn’t work for me, and although I am glad to have read it, it is not one I can recommend with any enthusiasm.

[Bob H · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel follows 12-year-old Petka through his misadventures and sometimes-dangerous mishaps in the summer of 1945. He's very realistically a boy -- energetic, impulsive, filled with fantasies about being a Soviet soldier. His life is bounded by his village of Razgulyaevka, the Soviet garrison awaiting the next offensive against the Japanese just over the border nearby, and the Japanese PW camp. A prisoner there, a doctor, provides a second point-of-view in this narrative, and some backstory on his life and family via his journal.

The plot is more a series of episodes as the boy gets into various scrapes, whether smuggling liquor to the soldiers or adopting a wolf cub (which he names Fright) or dodging cuffs from his family and villagers, a fairly colorful set of Russian peasants. There are dark episodes; the boy has brushes with death, his and others'.

In all, a good read, especially for those interested in Russian literature.

[Galina · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Петка огледа ръката на Валерка и изведнъж му дойде на ум, че никога не е виждал умрели птици. Виждал бе множество убити, но починали като хората, от старост или от болест, не бе виждал. Защото ако умираха от само себе си, щяха да се намират някъде. Освен на земята, няма къде другаде да паднеш от небето. Ала нито в Разгуляевка, нито в околностите й Петка не бе виждал умрели птици. Само убити от котки или от хлапета. Излизаше, че птиците отлитат някъде другаде, за да умрат. Или изобщо не умират.
Излизаше също, че смъртта е нужна на хората с техните гробища, ковчези, плачове и помени. Че те я честват с такава готовност, както посрещат празниците Първи май или Седми ноември. Че по същия начин се напиват, бият се, целуват се, плачат. А птиците на небето с лекота се оправяха със смъртта. Летяха си, летяха си във високото и ако накрая умираха, никой не виждаше как."

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun story of 12 year bastard (not really though) living on the edge, of his town, of siberia, of his life. his spends his days looking for hitler, sneaking down to the local pow camp to "kill japs", and try to stay away from his granny as she will beat him severely for all the shit he gets into.
gelasimov has a disconcerting style, at first anyway, of quick changing , jump shoting? , narration, topics, even paragraphs, sentance by sentence. at first reader has a hard time perhaps knowing who is talking and what they are talking about. that soon clears up though, you easily become inmeshed inside the mind ways of this 12 year old, who at times seems a bit like a re-incarnation of garcia marquez and murakami. fun quirky russian lit.

[M M · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the Russians defeated the Japanese in the early years of World War 2, they didn't re-engage with them till after victory in Europe. By that time, though, Japanese prisoners of war had languished for years working as slave labour in the mines of the Russian far east, where the action of this book takes place. A young boy, friendless for the most part except for one hanger-on, is desperate to escape his surly grandmother and head off to war. Much of the book describes his imagination and madcap antics. But once he meets one of the Japanese POWs, a doctor desperately trying to convince the brass that the mine is dangerous, he tries to become more responsible. This is a coming-of-age tale expertly translated, and recommended.

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

Petka is a boy growing up in a small town in the Siberian steppe near the border with China at the end of WWII. There are trains heading for the front and a prisoner-of-war camp guarded by a few soldiers. There is also a mine where the prisoners work, which seems to be causing strange illnesses.
The story is told from Petka's naive point of view and this works very well, as we realise what is going on before he does. The writing is quite simple, which suits the narrative, although some of the conversations do not seem to have translated as successfully.
This is a view of the Soviet era away from the centres of power and I would recommend it to anyone interested in a good story and an unusual glimpse of a society.

[Cheryl Dietr · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off...I received this book in a Good Reads contest.
Second...I NEVER would have picked up the book based on the cover. EVER....I think this needs to be re-vamped.
Third, the story is obviously very Russian...dark and deep with hidden meanings.Everyone is struggling with their own issues so it makes it very difficult for anyone to be concerned with the issues of others. Violence is a prevalent theme throughout... violence within families, between friends, etc. If you are looking for a happy book this is not it. If you are looking for something grittier then you have come to the right place.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very Russian - or perhaps Soviet is the better term? Set on the steppe, near the Chinese boarder, during World War II and very very bleak. I had to keep reminding myself that Petka was twelve, because he acted so much younger than that. And the aimlessness of the story around Petka's life just held no interest for me. Much more interesting was the history of the Japanese samurai clan from which Hirotaro is descended, but that was so outside the rest of the story that it didn't matter.

As the rating indicates, DNF.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gelasimov has a very unique writing style. He definitely delights in hiding lots of things from the audience (Thirst was definitely pretty boss at this), and it's a lot easier to do with a narrator who is a child. The story is set at the very end of World War II, somewhere along the Russian/Chinese border. There is tonnes of bullying, child abuse, even attempted murder in this story, but all enrich & add to the dark, but oddly lovable tale.

[Pat Grady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Give It A Little Time

It took me a few chapters to really appreciate this book, and I almost didn't stick with it. I'm so glad that I did, however. Gelasimov's spare (and ultimately elegant) prose and realistic dialogue are so well-suited to this tale, which includes both Russian and Japanese sensibilities. I was drawn into the tale, so much so that I wasn't even aware of nearing its end until the author wrapped it up so succinctly, yet sharing a glimpse of the main character's futures... Well done!

[Margarita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know this book got really poor reviews but I happened to love it. Just needed a fun book to read, with an Eastern Medicine connection. Could not come at a better time, when I sort of cut short reading a few more serious books that were too full of their own sense of purpose. Pretty good match to my need for something quick, engrossing and somewhat relevant, amidst a very intense work month. A beach read without a beach...

[Julia Astakhova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Легкое, забавное, увлекательное чтиво. Эта книга живо и остроумно описывает детство мальчика Пети, обыкновенную деревню, где он обитает, жизнь простых сельчан. Мне показалось не слишком оправданным название книги, довольно простыми сюжетные линии, но читать интересно. В конец книги добавлено несколько рассказов, раскрывающих образы некоторых второстепенных персонажей. Этот добавленные контекст обогащает историю и еще лучше передает атмосферу богом забытой деревни Разгуляевки.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is not something I would normally read. It was very hard for me to follow how it was written, I don't know if it was the translation or if it the way Russian books are written, but I could not bring myself to fully read this book. It might be better for someone interested in Russian/German history.

[Niffer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

I had a hard time getting into this book. I didn't find the main character particularly likeable or interesting and I generally found the plot a little hard to follow.