The Galosh

by Mikhail Zoshchenko, Jeremy Hicks (Translator)

A definitive collection of short works by the popular Soviet satirist includes pieces that give expression to the experiences of everyday citizens who were affected by housing shortages, corruption, and the ideological language of the Soviet state in the early twentieth century.

Genres: Short Stories, Russia, Fiction, Russian Literature, Satire, Literature, 20th Century

213 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Mikhail Zoshchenko (Russian: Михаил Зощенко) was born in Poltava, Ukraine, on 29th July, 1895. He studied law at the University of Petersburg, but did not graduate.
During the First World War Zoshchenko served in the Russian Army. A supporter of the October Revolution, Zoshchenko joined the Red Army and fought against the Whites in the Civil War.
In 1922 Zoshchenko joined the literary group, the Serapion Brothers. Inspired by the work of Yevgeni Zamyatin, the group took their name from the story by Ernst T. Hoffmann, the Serapion Brothers, about an individualist who vows to devote himself to a free, imaginative and non-conformist art. Other members included Nickolai Tikhonov, Mikhail Slonimski, Victor Shklovsky, Vsevolod Ivanov and Konstantin Fedin. Russia's most important writer of the period, Maxim Gorky, also sympathized with the group's views.
Zoshchenko's early stories dealt with his experiences in the First World War and the Russian Civil War. He gradually developed a new style that relied heavily on humour. This was reflected in his stories that appeared in Tales (1923), Esteemed Citizens (1926), What the Nightingale Sang (1927) and Nervous People (1927).
Zoshchenko satires were popular with the Russian people and he was one of the country's most widely read writers in the 1920s. Although Zoshchenko never directly attacked the Soviet system, he was not afraid to highlight the problems of bureaucracy, corruption, poor housing and food shortages.
In the 1930s Zoshchenko came under increasing pressure to conform to the idea of socialist realism. As a satirist, Zoshchenko found this difficult, and attempts such as the Story of one Life were not successful.
Zoshchenko increasing got into trouble with the Soviet authorities. His autobiographical, Before Sunrise, was banned in 1943 and three years later his literary career was brought to an end when he was expelled from the Soviet Writers' Union after the publication of The Adventures of a Monkey in the literary magazine, Zvezda.
Mikhail Zoshchenko died in Leningrad on 22nd July, 1958.

(source: spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk)

Reviews

[Vit Babenco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mikhail Zoshchenko perfectly knew the system… And he perfectly knew citizens abiding by the rules of the system…

Vaska Tyapkin was a pickpocket by profession. He was mainly active on the trams.
But don‘t envy him reader, it‘s a worthless profession. You go through one pocket – crap: a lighter, maybe; you go through another – more crap: a handkerchief, or ten cigarettes say, or maybe even worse, an electricity bill.

The social order is new but the habits are old… Times change – consciousness remains the same… Old traditions are kept, as well...

‘So, dear comrades, please allow me to propose a toast to the total eradication of bribery…
But here I should add that if we take a glance at the contemporary situation, we see that there are two types of bribe: monetary bribes, and bribes in kind. The monetary form is of course far nicer…
But a bribe in kind, that’s much worse… It’s unwieldy, and you can get ripped off. Like when they sent me a fish, but the bloody thing stank to high heaven…’

And in all the times there still are men and women… And they need love…

Comrades, I can’t stand women in hats. If a woman’s got a hat and silk stockings on, or she’s carrying some little pug-dog, or she’s got a gold tooth, then if you ask me, that kind of classy lady isn’t a woman at all, but a waste of space.
In my time I’ve fallen for one of these classy ladies of course. I went out with her and took her to the theatre. And it was in the theatre that it all came out. It was in the theatre she exposed the full extent of her ideology.

Barbarism and ignorance… Drabness and grayness of day-to-day living…

The other day there was a fight in our communal apartment. Not so much a fight as a lull-scale battle…
The main reason for it all is that people are very nervous. They get upset about minor trivialities. Tempers flare.
But our kitchen’s narrow, you see. Not suited to fighting. No room. Saucepans and primuses all over the place. Not even space to turn round. And now there were twelve people who’d shoved their way in. You want to smash some bastard in the face, say, and get three instead. And of course you bump into everything and fall over. An invalid with no legs hasn’t a chance, even with three legs you haven’t a hope in hell of staying standing.

Even in the brave new times of equality and fraternity, some have the manners of bears and some have the manners of monkeys.

[Glenn Russell]

The Galosh - a collection of sixty-five short-short tales, fun, funny blasters penned by the most popular writer in the Soviet Union back in the 20s, 30s and 40s, the heyday of the country's Communist government. Of course, I’m talking of none other than Mikhail Zoshchenko.

As part of this little book, Jeremy Hicks provides an informative introduction to the author’s life and literary career. One of Mr. Hicks’ observations hit me with particular force: “Zoshchenko’s writing also has a simple and vigorous beauty.”

So, the question becomes: How to write a review in a way to convey at least a sliver of the author's storytelling vigor and beauty? After giving it some thought, the answer for me is not to provide overarching generalizations (how boring!) about how Zosh satirized everyday life within Soviet Russia but to retell two of his stories in synopsized form. I know, I know – I’m hardly Mikhail Zoshchenko, but in the spirit of honoring an author I dearly love, comrades, I promise to give it my best shot. Meanwhile, I urge you to pick up The Galosh and have some fun. Anyhow, here goes:

PASSENGER
When I asked Zosh about his train ride to Moscow, he told me he wanted to know why they allow passengers to travel on the top shelf since, after all, it’s a baggage rack meant for baggage not passengers. He shook his head and said people keep jabbering about civilization and education but how can a society that has these new diesel engines pulling trains forward tolerate behavior on the train that’s completely backward? Passengers on baggage racks! Comrade, if you fall from a baggage rack, you could really get yourself banged up.

And that Vaska Bochkov, the son of a bitch, talked me into going to Moscow in the first place. I told him I didn’t have any place to stay in his wonderful Moscow but he convinced me with a bunch of sweet talk.

So I’m sitting on the edge of a seat on the train headed for Moscow when all of a sudden I’m feeling ravenous hungry. Meanwhile, at the next stop, a crowd of people comes pouring in, including a guy with a bushy beard and one of those nasty, poisonous old women.

The old woman complains I’m taking up too much room on the seat. “Old woman, you dear old thing,” I tell her, “stop elbowing me. And besides which, I don’t want to go to Moscow but Vaska Bochkov talked me into it.” Of course the nasty old woman doesn’t sympathize in the least.

Then, all of a sudden, I’m not only hungry but I start nodding off – oh, man, I could use some sleep. But, of course, there was no place to lie down on that crowded train. “Citizens,” I say, “at least let me sit in the middle. I could fall off the edge and I have to go all the way to Moscow.” They tell me they're all going to Moscow and just keep sitting where I’m sitting.

I look up – there’s a basket on the baggage rack. “Citizens,” I call out, “I’m going numb sitting here. Would the owner of that basket (I pointed up), come and take it away.” Moaning and groaning, my poisonous old woman gets up and moves her basket but not before she complains about my being a wicked jerk who doesn't give her a moment’s peace. She then says a prayer to God to have me fall down and break my neck. One of those poisonous and nasty old women, I tell you.

So I climb up and instantly fall into a sweet sleep. But then horror of horrors: still half asleep, I feel myself shoved sideways and somersaulting in a downward direction. I'm bashed in the side, in the head, in the stomach, on the arm – down I fall. Fortunately, I catch my foot on the side of a seat to soften the landing. Oh, gees – I feel for my head to see if the precious melon is still there.

The train staff comes rushing in to see what the commotion is all about. When I tell the head guy I fell down from the luggage rack, he informs me passengers always fall down from the luggage rack near Bologoye where there’s a really sharp turn. Hearing that bit of local history I say to him:"Comrade, you shouldn’t let passengers up on the rack." But right then and there the nasty old woman buts in and complains that I crushed her basket with my idiot head.

“Hey, lady,” I tell her, “you have to admit a head is worth more than a basket.” She comes right up to me and we start a shouting match that ends when the train staff winds a large towel around my head that coveres my mouth. Oh, that Vaska Bochkov - if I ever get my hands on him.

“Hey, Zosh, what did you do once you got to Moscow?”

“I drank a cup of water from the drinking fountain at the train station and hopped on a train heading back. Damn that son-of-a-bitch Vaska Bochkov!”

NERVOUS PEOPLE
Zoch takes a deep breath and starts telling me all about how everybody nowadays is so nervous. We’re living in nervous times when people are all nerves and on edge. For instance, the other day in our communal apartment there was an argument that turned into a fight that turned into a full-scale battle.

It’s nine o’clock in the evening and one of the tenants, Marya Vasilyevna Shchiptsova, goes into the kitchen to light the stove like she always does in the evening. Only the damn thing wouldn’t light. She figures the stove is clogged with soot so she grabs a souring pad in order to clean it. But then another tenant, Darya Petrovna Kobylina, comes in the kitchen and sees Marya about to use her scouring pad and orders Marya to put the pad right back where she found it. In these nervous times, it’s no surprise Marya tells Darya to go chock on her scouring pad and flings it down. And, of course, Darya, nervous as hell, fires back at Marya.

In no time there’s crashing and banging which brings big, healthy Ivan Stephanych Kobylin to the kitchen. Although he’s healthy, Ivan has a big gut and like everyone else, he suffers from nerves. He starts yelling at both women not to touch the scouring pad – after all, he worked hard for the roubles that paid for that very scouring pad.

With all the yelling and banging, in a matter of moments, all twelve tenants, including the invalid Gavrilov, squeeze into the kitchen. In these nervous times all twelve start shoving and yelling. Ivan tells the invalid Gavrilov to get the hell out of the way or his other leg will get torn off. Gavrilov replies in that case his remaining leg has had it since he can’t budge from the kitchen. More yelling, banging and shoving and the invalid Gavrilov has a bigger problem – someone hits him across the skull with a saucepan. He flops down on the floor, his face looking like hell.

One of the mousy tenants runs off to fetch the police. The cop arrives and shouts: “Get the coffins ready you bastards. I’m going to shoot.” Everyone slinks off to their room. The next day Zoch asks his esteemed comrades why all the fighting? No matter, two weeks after the incident the trial takes place. The People’s Judge is a nervous sort of man and books everyone.


Mikhail Zoshchenko, 1894-1958

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mikhail Zoshchenko's The Galosh: And Other Stories is a series of humorous sketches of everyday Soviet life, mostly during the 1920s and 1930s. During this period, when Zoshchenko was at his best, he was more popular than writers like Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn.

The typical sketches is only 2-3 pages in length and written in a simple, colloquial style. The quality is similar to the best equivalent short sketches in The New Yorker magazine.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 5 out of 5]

"So bad luck most probably consists in the simple fact that people are sometimes alive...on the one hand, sometimes it seems we're better off dead. But on the other, as they say, thanks all the same."

These are truly terrific little stories, none longer than a few pages, deadpan, terse, and laugh-out-loud hilarious, knife-sharp observations of life in NEP Russia.
Afraid of thieves, a guy carries his bike on his back when he isn't riding it. A man and his family live in a bathtub. A lost galosh results in a bureaucratic nightmare. A guy buys a pair of the tsar's boots at a Winter Palace garage sale and finds them of poor quality. A housing inspection committee sits with a cat and breathes in poisonous fumes from a broken oven to prove to the tenant it is safe.

Really, it's remarkable that Zoshchenko wasn't shot on sight at some point, for these are scathing, unforgiving little tidbits. Much, much recommended, way better than my recent attempt at Kafka's short works.

[Erma Odrach · Rating 5 out of 5]

M. Zoshchenko is my favorite satirist of all time. These very short stories (1-3 pages) were written in the 1920's, providing a glimpse into the then modernized Russia. Zoshchenko, a Ukrainian writing in Russian, was the most popular satirist of the Soviet period. In 'What Generosity' (one of my favorite stories), Soviet brewery workers are rewarded with two free bottles of beer, but the beers are rejects with woodchips, flies, hair, and other inedible items in them. When home, the workers open these bottles with excitement, not to drink, but in the hopes of finding something useful like buttons or sewing needles, or even a trumpet. Love these dark-humored stories. I'd give this book a six if I could.

[César Carranza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Divertido como siempre!!!

[Jess Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I left this book on my shelf for over a year because it’s something I kept coming back to. This might just be THE short story collection. Zoshchenko is incredibly underrated, at least in America. When it comes to literature I think that the Russians know something we don’t. The Galosh is hilarious, and despite being about a century old this humor feels eternal. I have told the opening story of the pickpocket to many people when referencing this book and it never fails to make someone laugh. Being able to joke while living in a time and country under such hardships, and having those jokes be simultaneously specific to Russian culture yet universally understood is beyond impressive. This is a book everyone should read. Unfortunately there aren’t many works from Zoshchenko, but I do intend to read them all.

[Theodora Pantelich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite an unexpected gem! Each story funnier than the last. I think this would be perfect as an introduction to Russian lit/history - even reading it alongside highschool Revs would have been super helpful

[Rex · Rating 5 out of 5]

In case it's not apparent from my profile picture, Mikhail Zoshchenko is my favorite Soviet-era author. Outside of Russia he's not quite as famous as the duo of Ilf and Petrov, but in his time he was incredibly popular and well-read. His forte was humorous satire of the socialist bureaucracy and life in the early years following the Russian Revolution. Much of his work pretty much escaped the censors, or perhaps they themselves greatly enjoyed his short stories and articles. It was only later in life that he fell into disfavor with the government, under the iron rule of the Stalinists.

Not much of his work has been translated into English. This is because Zoshchenko wrote in a style and used a unique vernacular that appealed to the common Russian citizen. It seems stilted to English readers, and many of the terms and references would have absolutely no meaning to someone not familiar with Moscow or St. Petersburg in the early 20th century. Thus I applaud Jeremy Hicks for assembling this collection of stories and his careful, helpful annotations. He explains many of the references that would go over most people's heads and also his rationale for some of the "liberties" he took with the translations. Many of these are better described as "interpretations," so as to help us get the gist better of what Zoshchenko was doing. Things such as plays on words or purposeful mispronunciations by characters. However, being obviously British, Hicks occasionally uses idioms that are unique to the UK.

I'm quite familiar with Zoshchenko's body of work - I have his complete three-volume collection in Russian - and it must have been a daunting task for Hicks to decide which ones to include in this collection. I think there are others I would have chosen that are perhaps funnier than some of the ones in this book, but I too would be hard-pressed to come up with a small, representative sample from this brilliant writer.

My one and only petty quibble with this book is the typography used in the cover art. The publisher assumed, I assume, that anyone interested in this book would know nothing about the Russian language and Cyrillic alphabet. They inserted the Russian "D" to substitute for an "A," simply because in some fonts the Cyrillic "D" resembles an English "A" I suppose. At least they didn't put in a backwards "R" thinking that it is, in fact, the Russian "R." It is far from it and that misappropriation rankles anyone familiar at all with the language.

Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection and wish more of Zoshchenko's stories were available in English.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of short short stories (almost all of them come in at less than three pages) is an enjoyable satire of life in early Soviet Russia. While the don't have much in the way of linguistic or literary merit, they are, from a sociological perspective, very much worth reading. Insight can be drawn from them about the concerns of the average Russian citizen during this period, and the biting social commentary is still relevant today, even 80 years, thousands of miles, and a political and economic system apart from the intended audience. The translation by Jeremy Hicks is excellent, so the stories, already simple, are quick and easy to read. This is the everyman's Russian literature, as opposed to the verbosity of Tolstoy or the philosophical underpinnings of Dostoevsky. These are the stories the average Russian would be reading, more similar to a modern newspaper satirist than to the great Russian masters of the previous century. It is a representation of the 20th century Russian world.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have really loved these stories if I read them they way they were intended and originally printed: as occasional treats published individually in magazines. However, in a collection of 65, they're harder to take. The stories, each only 2-4 pages long, are generally very funny although the "proletarian" writing style and the topics become repetitive after more than a few stories in a row. All in all, they're great, fun stories, but they require a lot of dilution with other reading.

[Krocht Ehlundovič · Rating 4 out of 5]

Komická, veselá, satirická kniha o Rusku dvadsiatych rokov. Kniha je zložená z maličkých príbehov, či skôr obrazov z ruskej - sovietskej malej spoločnosti. Napriek tomu, že autor písal v komunistickom režime, nie je v nej badať ani kvapku propagandy event. vše-kontrolujúceho veľkého brata, človek má pocit, že autor sa dokonca asi ani ničoho nebál. Veď si len spomeňme na diela našich alebo neskorších komunistických spisovateľov... Musím však dodať, že Zoščenko toto napísal ešte pred Ždanovovým poriadkom v umení, po ktorom sa stal personou non grata; bol len "psychický" týraný.

Čítalo sa to veľmi dobre, jazyk je primitívny, no účelný, autor sa nehrá totálne na nič - nič nepredstiera, nič nesilí, je satirikom a toto sa mu ohromne darí - joj, veď ako som sa pri knihe uchechtával a v mozgu silno smial, keď som videl oné popisované obrazy (+ moja fascinácia: ako "vyzeralo" Rusko v tom čase). Sú to sondy do spoločnosti a ľudských duší, robí si srandu z ľudskej povahy a nátury - hotové divadlo na stranách (a preto tá kritika Ždanova - vraj sa zaoberal nízkymi témami, pochodmi, ľudským naturelom).

Veru, idem sa v duchu oddávať tým krásnym slovám ako: chrapa, tlačí ho para, pliage, žraní... heheh, len si spomenúť na obraz: "Agitátor" muheheheh....

[Fred Pierre · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm inspired by this humorous take on a bureaucratic society run amok. The title story, about a man who loses his boot on the train, is very amusing, and there are many other laughs in this collection of cleverly crafted stories. Even though the work is full of anti-czarist critique, you get the sense that it's really about the soviet bureaucracy. That's why, in 1946, the author was specifically targeted for rebuke under the Zhdanov doctrine, which denounced imperialist writers and artists. Zoshchenko avoided prison by officially ending his writing career, although there are some suggestions that he continued to write while under the ban, and in 1953 he was welcomed back into the Writer's Union, after the death of Stalin.

You'll get a laugh out of these stories.

[Fred Dameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Soviet satire. If you like it also this is a winner if not it will leave you scratching your head. Best story is "The Photograph". This one actually has a meaning in the U.S. in 2019 as the TSA will require a passport or special stamp on your drivers license to board an aircraft by October. Can the internal passport be far behind? Pity, we won the Cold War and loose our civil rights each day until we will look like Russia 1935 and Russia will look like the U.S. in 1935.

[Andre Wiley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A constant irration is realizing you've just bought a book by a arthur you love but you have already read all the stories in the book from other translators who've literally just changed the title and changed the beginning of the stories alittle to trick the reader. (However cheap trick it may be)

The translator gets 1 star. but Mikhail will always get 5 stars for being the funniest person in situational humor I've ever read.

[Cititoare Calatoare · Rating 5 out of 5]

O carticica amuzanta dar si profunda.
Fiecare povestioara din viata modesta a oamenilor este defapt o fabula. Dincolo de ilarul naratiunii, gasim un talc ce ne da de gandit.
Prostie omeneasca... gogomanie... snobism...
Sa nu uitam ca Zoşcenko este din Ucraina. Oare sa fie vorba de iesirea de sub comunism, modul de adaptare si intelegerea acestei situatii de catre oameni?
Va las pe voi sa hotarati unde doriti sa clasati povestioarele. Ce va pot spune eu este ca mi-a placut tare mult cartea.

[Clare Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious.

[Faina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Satire stories about life in Russia in the 1920s. Even now, I think, they would sound very brave. No wonder he was persecuted.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful stories filled with quintessentially Soviet humor. The stories are all clever and ironic but relatively restrained or even subtle.

[Tigest Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely Very short and delightful stories (more than 60 stories in this book, total page about 206) I love the easy flow and the sense of humor. Some of the stories lack depth but it bring a revelation about the bureaucratic and dictatorial system of that time.

Tigest

[Ostap Bender · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection has 65 very short, satirical sketches, most of which were written during the period of the Soviet Union’s NEP (New Economic Policy) in the 1920’s, when as Hicks says in his excellent introduction, leaders realized “the country was in a ruinous state and that before genuinely redistributive policies could be attempted, there must first be some wealth to redistribute.” This came with a brief interval of slightly more freedom of speech, and several authors of the time took advantage of it. Zoshchenko was one of them, and quite popular at the time for his gallows humor.

In his writing you’ll find overcrowding, shared housing, an insane amount of theft, scarcity of goods, bureaucracy, and poor organization; he paints a picture of a nation clearly struggling in the aftermath of the revolution. What seemed liked satire of individuals was really a satire of the condition of the conditions they had been put in by the State, and he was soon attacked and censored.

My favorites:
“What Generosity” (1924) – breweries give workers reject bottles that are contaminated with filth.
“Crisis” (1925) – newlyweds can’t find a room, so they live in a bathroom that is used by other families.
“A Workshop for Health” (1926) – Crimea as a restorative vacation spot, interesting given current events.
“Pushkin” (1927) – the eviction of families living in the poet’s old home on the 90th anniversary of his death, to create the house-museum in St. Petersburg.
“A Trap” (1933) – a Soviet travels to capitalist Germany and gets trapped in a toilet, interesting given the commentary on Germans and the time it was written.

It’s not that I didn’t like the other 60 stories, but they did get repetitive. They all seem a bit absurd, and yet they were sadly reflective of life at the time. There are few heroes here; people behave to base instincts in the face of poor conditions, and grow cynical of everything around them.

I like the collection for its window into this period of Russian history, but because the stories are so short at 2-3 pages, they just aren’t developed enough for my taste (or practically at all, and in any respect, characters, plot, etc). I recommend reading Bulgakov’s “Heart of the Dog” and Gogol’s “The Overcoat” instead, as they touch on the themes of the housing crisis and bureaucracy in the aftermath of theft, respectively, and in the context of complete stories.

[Guy Salvidge · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third volume of Zoshchenko's stories I've read recently and it's definitely my favourite selection and translation. I prefer the author's short satirical pieces or 'feuilletons' to his longer 'sentimental tales'. Most of these were written in the early years of the Soviet regime, although the latest here is from 1945. Included are Zoshchenko's most famous pieces such as 'Electrification', 'The Bathhouse' and 'The Galosh'. Highly recommended for those interested in early Soviet Russia and especially lovers of Bulgakov and his ilk.

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these brief stories are quite good, though not everyone packs a punch. Still, it was nice to find this collection of tales by a writer famous in his lifetime and pretty much unknown by us here in the States.

[Rob Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is a delightful collection of witty and humorous socially-conscious stories that highlight the political and economic follies, faced by everyday Russian citizens in the 1920's and 1930's. I salute you comrade Zoshchenko!

[Tyler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the effort the translator took, the stylistic choices still leave the stories a bit clunky. The values here lies in stories not more than two to three pages each that give a picture of daily life in the early Soviet Union.

[Namrirru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the short stories are the same as "Nervous People." I think this translation is funnier, but the other book has more content. Pick one or the other...

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just about the only Russian satire worth reading that I know of.

[Angelique · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't like the translation - the guy seemed like a jerk. The stories were hilarious, some even laugh out loud funny. I think they would be much better pa rooskie.

[l · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant. I think when I read the other translation I made the mistake of reading them too quickly.

[Alina Stefanescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sharp and mind-numbing stroll into life in Soviet Russia, where the joys the the revolution seemed unappreciated by the happy workers waiting in 5 hours lines for their bread rations.