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Cynics
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Expected 9 Apr 26The blistering 1928 Bolshevik satire, unpublishable in the Russia until 1988 - in a brand new translation
'A love that cannot be throttled by the rubber tube of an enema bulb is immortal.'
Bookish and idealistic Vladimir is tormented with love for Olga; he brings her flowers when other men bring her flour and millet. Olga eventually agrees to marry him, as her building’s central heating will be out of service all winter and at least with two in the bed they’ll be warmer. When she decides she’d like to serve the revolution, he introduces her to his brother Sergei, a Bolshevik who manages the waterways. Thus begins an excruciating love triangle, measured in ration coupons and black market goods.
Described by the poet Joseph Brodsky as 'one of the most innovative novels in Russian literature', Marienhof’s Cynics is a pitch-black comedy set during the wild and savage years of War Communism and the New Economic Policy. Cinematic in its style and collagist in its aesthetic, it establishes Marienhof as a true formal radical. It is a bawdy, savage, lavishly emotional portrayal of working for the revolution (and trying to ignore it).
'A love that cannot be throttled by the rubber tube of an enema bulb is immortal.'
Bookish and idealistic Vladimir is tormented with love for Olga; he brings her flowers when other men bring her flour and millet. Olga eventually agrees to marry him, as her building’s central heating will be out of service all winter and at least with two in the bed they’ll be warmer. When she decides she’d like to serve the revolution, he introduces her to his brother Sergei, a Bolshevik who manages the waterways. Thus begins an excruciating love triangle, measured in ration coupons and black market goods.
Described by the poet Joseph Brodsky as 'one of the most innovative novels in Russian literature', Marienhof’s Cynics is a pitch-black comedy set during the wild and savage years of War Communism and the New Economic Policy. Cinematic in its style and collagist in its aesthetic, it establishes Marienhof as a true formal radical. It is a bawdy, savage, lavishly emotional portrayal of working for the revolution (and trying to ignore it).
165 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication April 9, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
‘What bliss,’ I hiss, ‘to live in historical times!’
Described as a black comedy, though perhaps a tragical farce or farcical tragedy is more appropriate, Cynics follows Vladimir and Olga as they navigate their way through the early years of the Russian Revolution.
Set between 1918 and 1924, the couple stagger through a country that has more dead than gravediggers; a land where lice are the enemies of the revolution, and a dead body does not linger on the cobblestones for very long.
I understand the book was banned in Russia upon its release, and it is easy to see why given the contents. Through his characters, coated in humour as black and thick as tar, Marienhof highlights a government more interested in symbolic empty gestures than in tackling disease, famine, or creating any functional society for its citizens — and he does not pull his punches.
The phrase if you don’t laugh, you’ll weep sprang to mind when reading this.
Highly recommended.
With thanks to Penguin for the ARC.
Described as a black comedy, though perhaps a tragical farce or farcical tragedy is more appropriate, Cynics follows Vladimir and Olga as they navigate their way through the early years of the Russian Revolution.
Set between 1918 and 1924, the couple stagger through a country that has more dead than gravediggers; a land where lice are the enemies of the revolution, and a dead body does not linger on the cobblestones for very long.
I understand the book was banned in Russia upon its release, and it is easy to see why given the contents. Through his characters, coated in humour as black and thick as tar, Marienhof highlights a government more interested in symbolic empty gestures than in tackling disease, famine, or creating any functional society for its citizens — and he does not pull his punches.
The phrase if you don’t laugh, you’ll weep sprang to mind when reading this.
Highly recommended.
With thanks to Penguin for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
‘All the greats make me laugh out loud: Dickens, Austen—Nabokov—Salinger, Odessa and Miranda, to mention a handful. The fine art of making people laugh in print is elusive and mysterious. Anatoly Marienhof, here in a sure-footed translation by Bryan Karetnyk, possesses it. A problem with Tolstoy and Dickens is they did not anticipate the smartphone, and exactly how little time would be left for reading fine fiction after doom-scrolling for three hours out of every five.’ (Guy Kennaway)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews