День денег

by Alexey Slapovsky, Алексей Слаповский

Bere sul bevuto aiuta a smaltire i postumi della sbornia. Fedeli a questo rimedio alla russa, i protagonisti del romanzo, tre ubriaconi in balla perenne, si mettono alla disperata ricerca di soldi per procacciarsi qualche bottiglia. Trovano una borsa con dentro 33. 000 dollari e mentre discutono su cosa farne continuano a bere. Tutti e tre arrivano alla conclusione che per cambiare le proprie vite i soldi sono inutili, niente altro che una fatica in più. Decidono dunque di cercare qualcuno che ne abbia più bisogno di loro, ma l’impresa riserva sorprese.
Un romanzo spassoso e malinconico insieme, che ritrae la vera vita russa attraverso i tipici caratteri nazionali.

Genres: Russia

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Aleksey Slapovsky is a vital member of the new and brilliant group of Russian post-modern writers with approximately over 100 publications in periodic literary magazines, 15 book titles published and reprinted in Russia and 10 books translated into other languages. Aleksey Slapovsky made his name with the novel “It’s Not Me” (Russian: Я - не я) which was short-listed for the prestigious national Booker Prize.

Slapovsky is a nominee and winner of many prestigious awards and prizes. His novels are all comedy and drama in one, easily apperceived by a reader of any origin and age. Raising philosophical questions and serious issues the author always uses breathtaking narrative structure that keeps a reader constantly interested and curious; clearness and simplicity of the story telling language understandable by any target group and always - a tricking twist. His humour does not have language borders and his deepness – a bottom.

Associated Names:
Алексей Слаповский
Aleksej Slapovskij
Aleksej Slapovski
Alexeï Slapovski
Alexej Slapovskij
Alexej Slapovsky

Reviews

[Olivier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un livre sympathique avec quelques moments franchement hilarants et décapants !

[Alec · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made me laugh hysterically twice (maybe because I was in a plane and was nervous) - a) the biography of a guy who used to settle the beef between various mafia groups; more precisely, the ailments of his father (the hernia) and b) what the TV that the lottery guy won said before it exploded ("тывая доминирующие тенде").
The mere fact that I could read it almost in one sitting (2-3 hours) undermines its significance (for me), but I did find some passages intriguing and worth a second reading. It also made the author interesting, and I will definitely return to his books.

[Lisa Hayden Espenschade · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.3 stars. Money's Day/A Day for Money combines elements of folktale and picaresque to tell the story of three guys from Saratov who find a lot of money then can't quite figure out what to do with it after buying some vodka, cigarettes, and snacks. Unfortunately, Slapovskii tries too hard to be funny and the novel ends up feeling like a period piece from nineties Russia, when it was written.

(There's more on my blog, here.)