What do you think?
Rate this book
Devil's Midnight
“Startling, eloquent. . . . The story of the Russian Revolution has been told many times but perhaps never before from Kapralov’s phantasmagorical vantage point.”— Library Journal
“Kapralov is reminiscent of fellow slav Nicolai Gogol.”— New York Post
August 1919 - February 1920. The Red Army is making its final, triumphant surge across the tortured remains of the old Russian Empire. For the defiantly apolitical artists and aesthetes at the heart of Devil's Midnight, it is a time of disruption and apocalypse, their lives pulled between narrow escapes, desperate intimacy, and horrific violence.
There's Alexey Lebedev, the son of a celebrated Russian painter recently martyred by the Bolsheviks, who is driven deep into the conflict by a dizzying spiral of chance encounters and impulsive decisions. There's Colonel Yuri Skatchko, a former stage director who has abandoned the theater to serve as the brave but reckless commander of "Our Homeland," a battered ammunition train that comes to represent, both symbolically and literally, the last hope of the White resistance. And there's the glamorous and seductive Nata Tai, the former queen of Russian cinema, who is busy waging her own private war with the ruthless remnants of a notorious satanic cabal.
Kapralov depicts the desperate struggles of his characters—Yuri's stubborn military resistance, Nata's fanatical commitment to guard the mysterious powers of a sacred meteorite, and Alexey's struggles simply to survive—with a perfect balance of intensity and nonchalance. In the end, the conflicts, both personal and political, converge toward a final showdown in the frozen shadows of the Caucasus, with Russia herself surviving as the novel's real hero, a place of darkness and mystery and hope.
“Kapralov is reminiscent of fellow slav Nicolai Gogol.”— New York Post
August 1919 - February 1920. The Red Army is making its final, triumphant surge across the tortured remains of the old Russian Empire. For the defiantly apolitical artists and aesthetes at the heart of Devil's Midnight, it is a time of disruption and apocalypse, their lives pulled between narrow escapes, desperate intimacy, and horrific violence.
There's Alexey Lebedev, the son of a celebrated Russian painter recently martyred by the Bolsheviks, who is driven deep into the conflict by a dizzying spiral of chance encounters and impulsive decisions. There's Colonel Yuri Skatchko, a former stage director who has abandoned the theater to serve as the brave but reckless commander of "Our Homeland," a battered ammunition train that comes to represent, both symbolically and literally, the last hope of the White resistance. And there's the glamorous and seductive Nata Tai, the former queen of Russian cinema, who is busy waging her own private war with the ruthless remnants of a notorious satanic cabal.
Kapralov depicts the desperate struggles of his characters—Yuri's stubborn military resistance, Nata's fanatical commitment to guard the mysterious powers of a sacred meteorite, and Alexey's struggles simply to survive—with a perfect balance of intensity and nonchalance. In the end, the conflicts, both personal and political, converge toward a final showdown in the frozen shadows of the Caucasus, with Russia herself surviving as the novel's real hero, a place of darkness and mystery and hope.
300 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2003
7 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 8, 2012
Book Title: "Devil’s Midnight”
Author: Yuri Kapralov
Published By: Akashic Books
Age Recommended: 18+
Reviewed By: Kitty Bullard
Raven Rating: 4.5
Review: This is quite a story, based on the Russian Civil War in 1919 to 1920. The entire book follows the lives of a few of the citizens during this time relating the horrors they faced and the hardships they dealt with.
“Devil’s Midnight” is a very well-written and intriguing account by the now deceased author, Yuri Kapalov. This is a novel that is hard to put down and equally hard to read due to some graphic plots and narratives.
Author: Yuri Kapralov
Published By: Akashic Books
Age Recommended: 18+
Reviewed By: Kitty Bullard
Raven Rating: 4.5
Review: This is quite a story, based on the Russian Civil War in 1919 to 1920. The entire book follows the lives of a few of the citizens during this time relating the horrors they faced and the hardships they dealt with.
“Devil’s Midnight” is a very well-written and intriguing account by the now deceased author, Yuri Kapalov. This is a novel that is hard to put down and equally hard to read due to some graphic plots and narratives.
August 6, 2011
A strange book. Here I was thinking that I was reading a novel about the Russian Revolution, and all of a sudden I find that mixed in with the battles of the Whites versus the Reds in various parts of Russia (confusing enough stuff without adding in anything extra), are a group of Satanists. It's not quite clear what they are actually trying to do, though fighting against the Bolsheviks or for anyone but themselves doesn't feature highly, until near the end when we learn that they are trying to locate a mysterious meteorite - what for is never quite clear either. Still, in spite of all this, the novel was compelling in its way. I would have like one of the main characters, Yuri, to have survived, but he was killed towards the end, possibly as part of the Satanist plot - or maybe not?? Who knows??
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews