Things That Happened

by Boris Slutsky

Boris Slutsky, one of the most original of Russian poets, belongs to Solzhenitsyn’s generation, but unlike him Slutsky did not reveal publicly his disillusionment with Stalinism and Soviet labels. He remained a member of the literary establishment—if not entirely trusted by Soviet officials—until his mental breakdown in 1977. He was, in one critic’s phrase, “the black box in the fuselage of the USSR.” Gerald Smith of Oxford University has assembled Slutsky’s poetry and prose to paint a gripping portrait of a highly intelligent and articulate Soviet patriot passing through the dynamism and terror of the 1930s; a twice-wounded political instructor fighting for the motherland in World War II; an increasingly skeptical witness to the re-Stalinization of Russia during the cold war; and an ironical observer of the 1960s “youth culture” poetry and finally of the decline of the Communist ideal into senility during the Brezhnev era. Slutsky’s work, always understated does not sing; it reports. Its power lies in its clear and dispassionate observations.

314 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Boris Slutsky was a Russian poet and translator.

Russian profile - Борис Слуцкий

Reviews

[Liam Guilar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read Slutsky's poems in the excellent new 'Penguin Book of Russian Poetry' and he was one of the poets whose work looked worth pursuing. He was.

This book is a thorough introduction to the man and his work. It contains his prose writing and a wide selection of his poems, grouped thematically. There is a comprehensive introduction to his life and work by the translator, Gerald Smith, who has added short explanatory introductions and biographical information where necessary to introduce each poem or prose extract.

At times the poems are threatened by the weight of explanatory prose, a problem exacerbated by the direct quality of Slutsky's style but the book can be read from cover to cover as a strange genre bending auto/biography.

The book opens with an arresting observation. 'Male Russians born within five years on either side of 1917 were much more likely to meet a premature death than other generations in modern European history'.

There is a tendency for literary value, especially for poets in translation, to ride hand in hand with their approval rating amongst their country's enemies. The Appropriate Attitudes towards the 'Evil Regime', often have as much to do with visibility abroad as literary ability. Those who don't have the 'Appropriate Attitudes' are often overlooked if not condemned. Slutzky wasn't a dissident. He wasn't persecuted. He wrote poems. 'plain as porridge' recording the lives of the people around him and their experiences. He was a member of the party, a willing soldier, twice wounded. He did not 'speak out'. But 60% of his poetic output, and none of the prose pieces translated in the book, were published in his own lifetime.

Smith, aware of how the man's biography colours the reception of his poetry, comments: ''He was the best poet it was possible for him to be in his place and time. It isintolerably arrogant for any non-Russian not of Slutsky's generation to pronounce moral judgement on people like him. We can only learn about these people, try to understand them, and be grateful we did not share their calamities.'

I have no way of knowing how good the translations are, but as poems in English the poetry is spare, direct, and enjoyable:

Thank God that meeting’s over
And I can get off home
Mutt-mutt-mutt-mutt muttering
the same thoughts as before.

They won’t give us our liberty
they won’t give us our loot
They’ll screw us then they’ll squeeze us
to scream we’ve not been screwed

Sod it. Some important things
have long since filled my soul
and neither loot nor liberty
can calm me or console.