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Siberia
In 2000, Nikolaï Maslov, a night watchman and self-taught artist, asked Emmanuel Durand, a French book salesman in Moscow, to look at three panels from a graphic novel he had drawn. Stunned by the intensity of the work, Durand offered Maslov a modest advance to quit his job and finish the book. The result is this extraordinary visual portrayal of Russian life and spirit.
Awash in alcohol from the first pages to the last, Siberia charts Maslov’s bleak path through the labyrinths of the Soviet system, from the desolate Siberian countryside, to military service with the Red Army in Mongolia, to the psychiatric hospital where he was admitted after his brother’s death. Drawn entirely in pencil on paper, the book’s nuanced gray tones document with unremitting clarity and delicate nuance the austere Siberian landscape, the bad vodka, the daily brawls, the cynicism and violence of life in Siberia, but also the perseverance and hope of those in this often neglected but fascinating part of the world.
Awash in alcohol from the first pages to the last, Siberia charts Maslov’s bleak path through the labyrinths of the Soviet system, from the desolate Siberian countryside, to military service with the Red Army in Mongolia, to the psychiatric hospital where he was admitted after his brother’s death. Drawn entirely in pencil on paper, the book’s nuanced gray tones document with unremitting clarity and delicate nuance the austere Siberian landscape, the bad vodka, the daily brawls, the cynicism and violence of life in Siberia, but also the perseverance and hope of those in this often neglected but fascinating part of the world.
100 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 10, 2019
Autobiografinė ir labai niūri savo tematika grafinė novelė. Apie vaikinuko, linkusio į menus, svajojančio apie Paryžių, jautriai žvelgenčio į pasaulį tarybinę jaunystę, praleistą tolimame Sibiro kaime...kur tik geriama, geriama, mušamasi, geriama ir geriama....apie laikus tarnaujant armijoje, Mongolijoje ir ne ką geresnį gyvenimą Maskvoje... Minkštu pieštuku piešti komiksai, tokie naivūs, atrodo mėgėjiškai, bet labai tinkantys šiam netobulam, tačiau nuoširdžiam pasakojimui. Beje, pačioje Rusijoje visiškai nepopuliarus autorius, net ignoruojamas.
August 11, 2013
The most fascinating graphic novel ever. Fascinating to know that the author had not read a full graphic novel before writing the book.
October 13, 2011
This is a superbly and simply drawn autobiography showing the difficulties of life in the Soviet Union, starting with Maslov's childhood and adolescence in the Siberian countryside through his time with the Red Army in Mongolia finishing in a psychiatric hospital following the death of his brother and his subsequent release and struggle for survival in a vodka soaked Moscow. The intensity of the story is reflected in the drawings which uses only the gray tones of pencil work to document his life. This work is superb with the text and illustrations balancing each other superbly with an intensity that can only be felt upon reading.
April 11, 2015
I had this title in my to read list for years and finally decided to reserve it at my library. I read it one sitting in less than an hour.
I found the art a bit odd at first - all pencil drawings and shades of gray - but once I read a few pages, I saw how it worked so well with the story.
The story was stark, but passionate and finding out afterwards that this was the artist's first (and i think so far) only work made it all even more impressive.
It's a beautiful telling of what it feels like to be Russian - at least for Nikolai Maslov. I think it belongs in the canon of contemporary Russian literature for any non-Russians who'd like to know more about Russia.
I found the art a bit odd at first - all pencil drawings and shades of gray - but once I read a few pages, I saw how it worked so well with the story.
The story was stark, but passionate and finding out afterwards that this was the artist's first (and i think so far) only work made it all even more impressive.
It's a beautiful telling of what it feels like to be Russian - at least for Nikolai Maslov. I think it belongs in the canon of contemporary Russian literature for any non-Russians who'd like to know more about Russia.
December 9, 2013
Bleak and grey material. The life in Siberia, the drinking, the violence, the despair. It's all here and ain't always pretty, but still fascinating. Like an insider's view of a Russian way of life drawn in a simple but beautifully efficient style.
April 15, 2019
This is one time when reading the Afterword was really very important to my feelings about the book. In the context of an ordinary man just needing to get some stuff out of his system, this book is really remarkable.
July 14, 2019
Wow. A window into a world that I would never otherwise be able to see. The author poured his heart and soul into this story - his autobiographical story.
November 26, 2018
Graphic memoir of a Maslov's experience growing up in the Soviet Union. The artwork is beautiful and the pencil illustrations are the perfect medium for his unfortunate and bleak story.
March 9, 2022
Quelle merveille ce livre ! Difficile d'en sortir, tant on s'attache au personnage et aux petits détails de son quotidien, qui l'un après l'autre finissent par raconter toute une vie.
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June 25, 2007The story of Nikolai Maslov begins in 2000 when he, then a night watchman, opens the door of Emmanuel Durand, a French book salesman in Moscow and the publisher of Asterix in Russian, and shows the Frenchman three pages from a graphic novel, asking him to finance the rest. Stunned by the intensity of the work and life in those panels, Durand allows Maslov to quit his job to concentrate for three years on his work. The result is one of the most disturbing and astonishing visual renderings of the Russian spirit.
Awash in alcohol from the first pages to the last, SIBERIA (originally entitled "Une jeunesse soviétique," or "A Soviet Youth") describes the path of a young ordinary Russian across the desolation of the Siberian countryside, and through the labyrinths of the Soviet system—from construction site, to his military service in Mongolia, all the way to the psychiatric hospital where he was admitted after the death of his brother.
Drawn entirely in pencil on paper, SIBERIA bears witness to the life of the Russian people. It draws on images of faces deformed by alcohol, the fat, laughing mouths of officers, the bullying, the violence, the cynicsim of Soviet Russia...yet a world also from time to time illuminated by a ray of light, through a birch forest or on the river Ob, captured by a man who loves the natural world of Siberia.
Maslov depicts a schizophrenic society, “trapped between official discourse and the reality of life,” that, over the course of the years, plunges toward depression. On the one hand there are the fleeting glimpses of the West, seen on broadcasts of the ORTV, France’s former public TV station, making the adolescent Maslov dream of the “colors preferred by Parisian women this season.” On the other hand, there was school, where they harped on the idea that, “Year by year, the well-being of the Soviet people increases.” He sketches out the humiliations inflicted during his military service in Mongolia, the lessons in politics coming from “a land of ardent patriots, from savants and proletarians, talented inventors.” His lessons in life coming from drinking sessions with NCOs “drinking brandy that was brewed up by some expert from that corner,” drinking “to the inventive proletariats, like they say in the speeches.” In the army, the artistic gifts of the hero of this graphic novel were used to create propagandistic tableaux, notably to represent the national upward-trending graph of the production of sausage.
Drawn solely in pencil, the greytones are both unremittingly yet delicately nuanced, evoking the austere Siberian lanscape but also the deranged, violent, cruel, moody people, the dull icy grayness, the bad vodka, the daily brawls, military service of unbelievable brutality (his brother lost his life). But at the same time: lessons of love, learning about painting, the beauty of forests under the snow, the discovery of Moscow.
Amidst the pain of the present, there are also glimpses of the past, in pcrticular of his greandfather, an illiterate countryman, who had been arrested by the GPU (Soviet secret police) during the last great purge in the 1930’s. “Up to the end,” the trial transcripts attest, “he said the same thing—‘I’m not at all against the revolution, but before it, we had bread, and now we no longer have any. So, where’s our bread?’ He was executed by gunshot that evening.”
A truly Dostoyevskian graphic novel.
Awash in alcohol from the first pages to the last, SIBERIA (originally entitled "Une jeunesse soviétique," or "A Soviet Youth") describes the path of a young ordinary Russian across the desolation of the Siberian countryside, and through the labyrinths of the Soviet system—from construction site, to his military service in Mongolia, all the way to the psychiatric hospital where he was admitted after the death of his brother.
Drawn entirely in pencil on paper, SIBERIA bears witness to the life of the Russian people. It draws on images of faces deformed by alcohol, the fat, laughing mouths of officers, the bullying, the violence, the cynicsim of Soviet Russia...yet a world also from time to time illuminated by a ray of light, through a birch forest or on the river Ob, captured by a man who loves the natural world of Siberia.
Maslov depicts a schizophrenic society, “trapped between official discourse and the reality of life,” that, over the course of the years, plunges toward depression. On the one hand there are the fleeting glimpses of the West, seen on broadcasts of the ORTV, France’s former public TV station, making the adolescent Maslov dream of the “colors preferred by Parisian women this season.” On the other hand, there was school, where they harped on the idea that, “Year by year, the well-being of the Soviet people increases.” He sketches out the humiliations inflicted during his military service in Mongolia, the lessons in politics coming from “a land of ardent patriots, from savants and proletarians, talented inventors.” His lessons in life coming from drinking sessions with NCOs “drinking brandy that was brewed up by some expert from that corner,” drinking “to the inventive proletariats, like they say in the speeches.” In the army, the artistic gifts of the hero of this graphic novel were used to create propagandistic tableaux, notably to represent the national upward-trending graph of the production of sausage.
Drawn solely in pencil, the greytones are both unremittingly yet delicately nuanced, evoking the austere Siberian lanscape but also the deranged, violent, cruel, moody people, the dull icy grayness, the bad vodka, the daily brawls, military service of unbelievable brutality (his brother lost his life). But at the same time: lessons of love, learning about painting, the beauty of forests under the snow, the discovery of Moscow.
Amidst the pain of the present, there are also glimpses of the past, in pcrticular of his greandfather, an illiterate countryman, who had been arrested by the GPU (Soviet secret police) during the last great purge in the 1930’s. “Up to the end,” the trial transcripts attest, “he said the same thing—‘I’m not at all against the revolution, but before it, we had bread, and now we no longer have any. So, where’s our bread?’ He was executed by gunshot that evening.”
A truly Dostoyevskian graphic novel.
March 30, 2024
Leggendo Carrère, ho sentito l’esigenza di recuperare quest’opera di difficile reperimento. E non ne sono stata delusa. Le tavole contenute in questo memoir sono estremamente poetiche, liriche e curate. Raccontano di una Russia dura, gelida e ingenerosa, che annienta ogni slancio vitale annegandolo nel freddo della sua neve immacolata e nella vodka che scorre a fiumi. Un memoir intriso di malinconia, rassegnazione ma anche atavico amore per una terra che è capace di togliere tutto, dalle speranze alle persone care, restituendo solo la meraviglia dei suoi paesaggi innevati.
March 27, 2022
A differenza delle edizioni straniere di quest'opera, quella italiana raccoglie entrambe le opere di Nikolai Maslov: Gioventù sovietica e Figli d'Ottobre. Vista la differenza tra le due parti, ho deciso di valutare singolarmente le parti.
Gioventù sovietica: ★★★★.
Questa è la parte migliore. Il racconto, in forma autobiografica, della vita del giovane Kolja dalla scuola al servizio militare in Mongolia fino al trasferimento a Mosca. In mezzo, il tentativo di Kolja di studiare arte ed imparare a disegnare.
La vodka ha un ruolo fondamentale nella vita dei russi e anche Kolja osserva il fenomeno. All'inizio non è interessato alla vodka, ma le cose cambiano quando comincia a lavorare e deve offrire da bere ai colleghi con il primo stipendio e, soprattutto, con la morte del fratello che costringe Kolja a farsi ricoverare in un ospedale psichiatrico per tentare di superare il suo problema.
Lo stile dell'autore è molto particolare. I disegni sono dettagliatissimi, ma le facce degli esseri umani, spesso e volentieri, hanno tratti scimmieschi. Anche se questo può essere un effetto volume, specialmente perché queste scimmiette hanno spesso la divisa dell'esercito o sono uomini rovinato dal troppo bere.
Figli d'Ottobre: ★★
Queste invece sono una serie di storie brevi che hanno pochi collegamenti con la storia principale e tra di loro. La capacità di ritrarre esseri umani sembra essere migliorata tanto che non ci sono scimmiette. Forse, però, le storie sono troppo brevi.
Tornando al discorso della vodka, in La spia l'autore scrive:
Da leggere. Un ritratto particolare della vita in Unione Sovietica.
Gioventù sovietica: ★★★★.
Questa è la parte migliore. Il racconto, in forma autobiografica, della vita del giovane Kolja dalla scuola al servizio militare in Mongolia fino al trasferimento a Mosca. In mezzo, il tentativo di Kolja di studiare arte ed imparare a disegnare.
La vodka ha un ruolo fondamentale nella vita dei russi e anche Kolja osserva il fenomeno. All'inizio non è interessato alla vodka, ma le cose cambiano quando comincia a lavorare e deve offrire da bere ai colleghi con il primo stipendio e, soprattutto, con la morte del fratello che costringe Kolja a farsi ricoverare in un ospedale psichiatrico per tentare di superare il suo problema.
Lo stile dell'autore è molto particolare. I disegni sono dettagliatissimi, ma le facce degli esseri umani, spesso e volentieri, hanno tratti scimmieschi. Anche se questo può essere un effetto volume, specialmente perché queste scimmiette hanno spesso la divisa dell'esercito o sono uomini rovinato dal troppo bere.
Figli d'Ottobre: ★★
Queste invece sono una serie di storie brevi che hanno pochi collegamenti con la storia principale e tra di loro. La capacità di ritrarre esseri umani sembra essere migliorata tanto che non ci sono scimmiette. Forse, però, le storie sono troppo brevi.
Tornando al discorso della vodka, in La spia l'autore scrive:
Nel mio paese, la vodka non porta alcuna gioia. Porta abbruttimento, rimorso, depressione. Distrugge ogni cosa.
Da leggere. Un ritratto particolare della vita in Unione Sovietica.
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May 20, 2012L'auteur retrace 50 ans de sa vie en Russie, des ann?es soixante dix ? nos jours. En fait, ce livre n'est pas un roman mais une bande dessin?e en noir et blanc. Il y a tr?s peu de texte, l'auteur s?exprime essentiellement par le dessin et je trouve le r?sultat est excellent.
Le r?cit commence en Sib?rie en 1971 pour s?achever ? Moscou en 2000. En 1971, l'auteur r?vait de devenir un grand dessinateur mais l?encha?nement de situations absurdes et l?accumulation de beuveries ne lui ont pas permis de r?aliser son r?ve. Il a fini, r?sign?, en gardien d?immeuble ? Moscou.
La vie dans les villes moyennes et les villages de Russie est d?crite avec beaucoup de lucidit? : les beuveries trop nombreuses, les ordres abscons, les guerres, la violence des personnes entre elles en particulier dans l?arm?e, et la douleur des m?res qui perdent leurs fils trop t?t. Malgr? tout cela, l?attachement qu?il a pour son pays est tout ? fait palpable, en particulier ? travers les paysages magnifiques qu?il dessine. J?ai ador? cette bande dessin?e, autobiographique et quasi documentaire.
Le r?cit commence en Sib?rie en 1971 pour s?achever ? Moscou en 2000. En 1971, l'auteur r?vait de devenir un grand dessinateur mais l?encha?nement de situations absurdes et l?accumulation de beuveries ne lui ont pas permis de r?aliser son r?ve. Il a fini, r?sign?, en gardien d?immeuble ? Moscou.
La vie dans les villes moyennes et les villages de Russie est d?crite avec beaucoup de lucidit? : les beuveries trop nombreuses, les ordres abscons, les guerres, la violence des personnes entre elles en particulier dans l?arm?e, et la douleur des m?res qui perdent leurs fils trop t?t. Malgr? tout cela, l?attachement qu?il a pour son pays est tout ? fait palpable, en particulier ? travers les paysages magnifiques qu?il dessine. J?ai ador? cette bande dessin?e, autobiographique et quasi documentaire.
July 14, 2008
This is a graphic novel. I found it a little depressing, but if you have never attempted a graphic novel this is a good place to start. It is a quick 60 minute read, but it contains so much information about Siberia in the past 50 years. The graphics are detailed pencil drawings that really make you feel the bitter cold of northern Asia. I suggest taking the time to do an internet search of the illustrator/author because this is his autobiography and he is a really amazing guy. This is really good for a 2-3 hour afternoon project.
August 14, 2008
Omg! I read a graphic novel!
I was recommended others but none of them were at the library. This looked interesting and a nice quick read. Surprisingly, I even enjoyed it.
But seriously...the author is a Russian peasant who grew up during the Soviet period and this is his life work. It's deceptively simple and dreamlike in narrative. His life is completely ordinary by Russian standards yet hard to fathom for Western people.
I was recommended others but none of them were at the library. This looked interesting and a nice quick read. Surprisingly, I even enjoyed it.
But seriously...the author is a Russian peasant who grew up during the Soviet period and this is his life work. It's deceptively simple and dreamlike in narrative. His life is completely ordinary by Russian standards yet hard to fathom for Western people.
August 9, 2010
A beautifully drawn autobiography. Maslov shows army service, Siberia, art school, a move to Moscow, and much more, using detailed pencil drawings.
(I wrote about Siberia on my blog here. Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy of Siberia.)
(I wrote about Siberia on my blog here. Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy of Siberia.)
July 7, 2009
Couldn't connect with the art but an amazing look at what it would be like to be born in desolate Siberia. It never seemed like a place people actually lived.
April 25, 2011
Pencil drawings that evoke the brutality of growing up in 1970's Siberia. An astounding work that will make you glad you didn't grow up there.
April 14, 2013
Load of poor people getting drunk and smacking each other in the face. Much like every UK town centre on a friday night.
December 30, 2014
à part que le héros picole et se cherche il.ne se passe rien... déception
February 23, 2011
Good counterpoint to [book=Am I a Redundant Human Being?]
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews