L'Archipel d'une autre vie

by Andreï Makine

Une chasse à l’homme à travers l’infini de la taïga, au crépuscule de l’ère stalinienne. Qui est donc ce criminel aux multiples visages que Pavel Gartsev et ses compagnons doivent capturer ? Insaisissable, le fugitif paraît se jouer de ses poursuivants, qui, de leur côté, s’emploient à faire durer cette traque, peu pressés de retourner au cantonnement. Dans cette longue parenthèse rythmée par les feux des bivouacs et la lutte quotidienne contre les éléments se révélera le vrai caractère de chacun, avec ses lâchetés et ses faiblesses. Un à un les hommes renoncent, découragés ou brisés par les ruses déroutantes de leur adversaire, jusqu’au moment où Pavel se retrouve seul à la poursuite de cette proie mystérieuse. Une étrange communion à distance semble alors s’instaurer entre ces deux êtres que tout sépare. Lorsqu’il connaîtra l’identité véritable de l’évadé, sa vie en sera bouleversée. La chasse prend une dimension exaltante, tandis qu’à l’horizon émerge l’archipel des Chantars : là où une « autre vie » devient possible, dans la fragile éternité de l’amour.

Genres: Fiction, Russia, Historical Fiction, France, French Literature, Literature, Literary Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published August 18, 2016

About the author

Andreï Makine was born in Krasnoyarsk, Soviet Union on 10 September 1957 and grew up in city of Penza, a provincial town about 440 miles south-east of Moscow. As a boy, having acquired familiarity with France and its language from his French-born grandmother (it is not certain whether Makine had a French grandmother; in later interviews he claimed to have learnt French from a friend), he wrote poems in both French and his native Russian.

In 1987, he went to France as member of teacher's exchange program and decided to stay. He was granted political asylum and was determined to make a living as a writer in French. However, Makine had to present his first manuscripts as translations from Russian to overcome publishers' skepticism that a newly arrived exile could write so fluently in a second language. After disappointing reactions to his first two novels, it took eight months to find a publisher for his fourth, Le testament français. Finally published in 1995 in France, the novel became the first in history to win both the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Medicis plus the Goncourt des Lycéens.

Reviews

[piperitapitta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fino alla fine del mondo

È stata una bella sorpresa Andreï Makine, autore sovietico naturalizzato francese (lingua in cui scrive e che conosce da ancor prima di abbandonare nel 1987 l’Unione Sovietica per trasferirsi in Francia - a questo proposito sono molto interessanti le note biografiche riportate nella pagina autore di Goodreads su Andreï Makine), così come è stata una piacevole e inusuale lettura quella di questo romanzo.
Un western siberiano, così come qualcuno l’ha definito, o anche il cuore di tenebra in salsa siberiana, in questa impeccabile recensione di Andrea Bajani.

È la Russia di Stalin, lo scenario che fa da sfondo alla vicenda, l’Unione Sovietica fatta di campi di prigionia in Siberia, della Kolyma e della taiga (vera protagonista del romanzo, luogo in cui tutte le trasformazioni e gli istinti, da quelli bestiali a quelli di umana solidarietà sono possibili), dell’esercito e delle esercitazioni antiatomiche, degli uomini del Partito (IL Partito, con la P maiuscola, d’altra parte l’unico ammesso) e dei servizi segreti, delle purghe e dei gulag.
È la storia, circolare, di un inseguimento e di una preda - c’è un fuggiasco, evaso da uno dei campi che si inoltra nella taiga - e di cinque soldati - di diversa estrazione, politica o militare, grado e importanza - che sulle sue tracce si lanciano all’inseguimento; è la storia di una preda che diventa guida a sua volta di chi, fino alla fine, resterà sulle sue tracce, di un inseguitore che, a sua volta, verrà inseguito.
In mezzo una imprevedibile lotta per la sopravvivenza, a volte bestiale, a volte primigenia, altre animista, altre ancora seducente e ammaliante: chi inizia inseguendo finisce per seguire, chi si metterà sulle tracce di inseguitore e inseguito, a sua volta, troverà risposte inattese a domande fino a quel momento ignote: nelle persone e nei loro gesti, nella Natura, che in primis e indipendentemente da quelle degli uomini, detta le sue leggi e le sue condizioni per l’eternità.



Makine, senza mai cadere nel sentimentalismo o nella retorica cui potrebbero portarlo alcune fra le tematiche affrontate - il canto ecologista che si intuisce sul finale del romanzo è stato per me struggente - e le tracce di cui dissemina il dipanarsi della storia e gli eventi della Storia che li accompagnano, riesce a mantenere alta la tensione fino alla fine, pur a fronte di un inatteso cambiamento di registro.
La taiga, lussureggiante, fitta, ostile, brulicante di vita e di rumori, di insidie e di nutrimento, lo spostamento che i cinque protagonisti tracciano lungo la linea geografica che longitudinalmente attraversa la Russia dalla Siberia fino alle Isole Šantar nel mare di Ochotsk - nell’Oceano Pacifico, proprio di fronte al Giappone, ma ancora abbracciate dall’Unione Sovietica - e poi la Jacuzia, il freddo, la neve e il muro di acqua ghiacciata del suloi, posti talmente remoti da far pensare più al Risiko che a luoghi dove da lontano, da molto lontano, Unione Sovietica e Stati Uniti potevano guardarsi e toccare i propri confini - ci portano fino ai confini dell’esistenza umana, fino a sovvertire ogni regola, ogni legge, ogni previsione, fino alla fine del mondo.



Fino alla fine del mondo e ritorno. Ritorno alla vita. A una nuova vita.

[Hugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

In lesser hands this could have been little more than an adventure story, but Makine is a wonderful and human storyteller...

In the framing device, the narrator relates a story from his student days in the latter days of soviet communism, when he was posted to far eastern Siberia. He recalls tracking a man through the taiga, and eventually being "caught" by the man he is pursuing, who then tells him his life story. The man, Pavel Gartsev, first came to Siberia immediately after the war on a military training post. A group of five soldiers are assigned to catching a fugitive who has escaped from a gulag. It soon becomes clear that the fugitive knows exactly what she is doing, and as his various companions are injured and abandon the chase, Gartsev is left as the only pursuer, and only his own status within the military persuades him to continue...

I suspect that the whole thing is something of a romantic fantasy, but it is a very enjoyable read.

[TBV (on hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The year is 1952. A group of reservists head to a remote area “… where the simulation of the Third World War was to take place”. During the course of these military exercises a small group of men is sent to search for an escapee from a nearby gulag, the brief being that the fugitive be brought back alive for interrogation.

Pavel Gartsev is one of these men. This is his story. It is the story that he tells some time later to a young teenage boy who had been sent to Tugur, on the Pacific coast, to complete his apprenticeship.

A war veteran who had subsequently suffered some humiliating experiences in his love life, Gartsev soon discovers that he is part of the search party solely for the purpose of being the fall guy should things go wrong. He finds himself in the company of some very ruthless men; some more ruthless than others, but there is also Mark Vassin who doesn’t share those values. Gartsev will have to confront his own dark side and the worst in himself, but during the course of this long pursuit in a remote and uninhabited area he will become aware of other possibilities, of another life.

Author Andreï Makine turns the ordinary (an escape adventure and pursuit) into the extraordinary. He touches on themes of
- mass tourism
- whether material wealth is necessary for a happy life
- living in the moment

#
Extracts:
“The man rose to his feet, picked up his pack and paused, as if seeking to emphasise what I had just grasped: the utter joy of living in this moment.”

“Henceforth silence reigned in that theatre of shadows, swept clean of all those lies.”

“But what did this “freedom” consist of? Working, feeding yourself, amusing yourself, marrying, reproducing yourself? And also, from time to time, making war, dropping bombs, hating, killing, dying . . .”

“What I saw, when we got up there, was impossible to express. Infinity, nothingness, a plunge into the void . . . My mind reached for such words, but they were eclipsed by the vertiginous beauty that had no need of them. The horizon was veiled by a light mist. The ocean, united with the sky, was the only element that surrounded us on all sides. And the sun, already low, reinforced this sensation of fusion, veiling everything with a gilded, dusty haze, making it impossible for the eye to focus on any detail. We were, I could see now, at the culminating point of a little promontory and the height of this location created an effect of being suspended aloft above the immensity of the ocean.”

“A pale sun, the infinite expanse of the sea and, behind it, the taiga, endlessly waiting there. Time abolished.”
#
About the Author and Translator (quoted from the book)
“ANDREÏ MAKINE was born in siberia, but writes in french. Le Testament Français was the winner of the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Médicis, and was the first novel to win both of these prestigious awards. His novels have been translated into more than forty languages. His novel A Life’s Music won the Grand Prix RTL-Live and the novels The Woman Who Waited and Brief Loves that Live Forever were shortlisted for the Dublin IMPAC Literary Award in 2008 and 2015.
*
GEOFFREY STRACHAN has translated all of Andreï Makine’s novels published in English to date. He was awarded the Scott Moncrieff Prize for his translation of Le Testament Français. His translations also include novels by Jérôme Ferrari, Nathacha Appanah and Yasmina Reza.”

[Malacorda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Speravo in un'altra formidabile ed elettrizzante scoperta come con Il Monastero di Prilepin: a quel livello no, questo racconto resta un gradino nettamente al di sotto, però... quanti bei posti ho visitato quest'anno, prima le Solovki e ora le Šantar.

Primo impatto non buonissimo: il prologo che crea il pretesto per la narrazione della vicenda principale mi è parso raccogliticcio e approssimativo; e tuttavia l'ambientazione (mare di Ochotsk e territorio di Chabarovsk) è più che invitante, è terribilmente magnetica: quindi vado avanti.
Dopo quel che mi è sembrato un maldestro tentativo di approfondimento filosofico e dopo una ricostruzione del clima di terrore e odio dell'epoca staliniana fatta attraverso un cast di stereotipi, l'inseguimento nella taiga inizia a farsi abbastanza avvincente: ma il racconto ha iniziato a piacermi davvero dal momento in cui i partecipanti alla caccia all'uomo – fino ad allora protrattasi in perfetto stile western – iniziano a desiderare che la cosa si trasformi in una semplice scampagnata. E per un attimo ci riescono anche, a realizzare questo loro intento. Da lì mi hanno fatto sorridere, mi sono sentita con loro, sono riuscita a far fare una virata alla mia rotta di lettrice e mettermi sulla scia dell'autore.

E' una fiaba che punta molto sulla morale, sull'insegnamento filosofico esemplificato, ma le va riconosciuto il merito di non avere nessuna faciloneria in stile Ragazza delle arance, ed anzi di essere, in quanto fiaba, molto più plastica e concreta della media delle sue simili. Come in ogni fiaba che si rispetti, il titolo ha una grande importanza e credo che meritasse una traduzione letterale: L'archipel d'une autre vie riconduce direttamente a quello che ognuno di noi, almeno una volta nella vita, ha certamente pensato in questi termini: un altro mondo è possibile? Un mondo in cui l'uomo non debba essere per forza homini lupus? L'intelligenza della favola sta anche in questo, risponde alla domanda in maniera né affermativa né negativa, mescola i suoi ingredienti di fantasia, di ragione, di storia, di geografia e certamente anche un po' di autobiografia, arrivando a comporre un quadro dalle giuste misure: non troppo pretenzioso ma nemmeno troppo semplificato. Sarebbero quattro stelle meno-meno, si possono agevolmente arrotondare al voto pieno.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short book – 175 pages in the edition I read - and up until the last section I was convinced I would be rating it as 5 stars. In the end I thought that the book’s message was a bit hackneyed, but I still can’t deny that I found it a compelling read, and I raced through it in just a couple of days.

This is the fourth novel I’ve read (in translation) from Andreï Makine. Two of the previous three had a format in which a young man in the USSR/Russia meets an older man who relates his life story, set amidst the tumultuous events of 20th century USSR. This novel opens in the 1980s, with a young man who is a loser in the life game of status and influence, and who is sent to work as a land surveyor in a remote village in eastern Siberia. He describes it as the least desirable posting anyone could receive. The lack of individual choice in the former Soviet Union is a strong theme in the book.

In Siberia the narrator meets an older man, Pavel Gartsev, who starts to tell him his life story. My initial reaction was to think “Really? This again?” I was a bit doubtful about reading another novel in this style, but was quickly won over by the writing and by the scenario.

The younger Gartsev is another who has struggled in the game of life. During Stalin’s rule, at the time of the Korean War, he is called up to the army and sent to the Amur Region as part of a military build-up to counteract a possible American invasion from Korea. He later becomes part of a squad of five men given the job of recapturing a prisoner who has escaped from one of the region’s slave labour camps, and who is now fleeing through the taiga. Gartsev doesn’t like the job he is on, but he describes himself as a “rag doll”, habituated to obedience by his army training and by the nature of Soviet society. Moreover, one of their squad is a political officer, a denunciation from whom could mean execution for any of the others, or at least many years in a camp.

To begin with this seems like a simple chase story, though an exciting one, and of course the reader’s sympathies lie entirely with the prisoner. Then the chase takes an unexpected turn, one that causes the soldiers to confront their true natures.

The hunt continues, and amidst the immense, empty taiga, Gartsev starts to sense that he is away from “the world of men”, and that he may have the chance of another life, an escape from a world that had seemed closed and inescapable. Is there though, any real chance of success?

Riveting stuff!

[Paul Fulcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Archipelago of Another Life, translated by Geoffrey Strachan from Andreï Makine's L'Archipel d'une autre vie, is the 14th novel in English by the pair, all of which I have read and savoured for their exquisite prose. Compared to the previous novel, A Woman Loved, this is more of a return to more familiar territory.

The majority of the novel is narrated in the first person by an army reservist, Grutsev, from 1952-3, towards the end of Stalin's regime and the early years of the Cold War. Aged 27, having just completed a thesis on “The Marxist-Leninist concept of the Legitimacy of revolutionary violence”, still traumatised by what he witnessed in the second world war, orphaned as a child 20 years earlier after his parents were victims of an act of sabotage at a dam whose construction they were supervising (an act which proved to have a rather less epic motivation that at first appeared) and recently betrayed in love, he is almost relieved when called up and sent to Siberia for an exercise to simulate preparation for the imminently expected nuclear war with the US.   

But while there, a prisoner escapes from a nearby camp and a group of 5 men is formed to track down the prisoner, and return them alive for exemplary punishment:

- Butov, a major, war veteran and in military charge: Plump and benevolent, he was not a man to go looking for trouble.

- Luskas,a security officer, in ideological charge and practically superior to Butov: A report written by him would suffice for any one of us to be arrested and sent to a camp. .. believing that he served an idea, Luskas was intolerant to life’s imperfections.

- Ratinsky: A young officer in the regular army, pompously aware of his rank .. he had always struck me as dangerous, on account of his relentless ambition

- Vassin, another reservist, in charge of the tracking dog: One of the rare comrades I could confide in, I had come across this sergeant in the last days of the war and was struck by how at odds his great courage was with his very short stature ... seven years later we met up again at this training area.

And Grutsev, who wonders quite what his role is, only for Vassin to inform him, cynically, that he is the prepared scapegoat if the mission fails:

I only half believed him.  The beauty of the taiga was absorbing us into its slow, green, swaying rhythm, far removed from the spite of petty thoughts that might set us at one another’s throats. After that spell in my anti-atomic tomb, I was now walking along feeling as if I could soar aloft towards the stained-glass window that was the sky framed by the branches of trees, and absorb the heady intoxication of the air, the vastness of the horizon and, above all, the wind that came from the ocean, connecting the tiniest needles of fan cedar tree to that luminous infinity in which we were nothing.  I filled my lungs to the point of giddiness, succumbing for a few seconds to a crazy hope: that the only purpose of our expedition might be this light, this impulse for freedom ...
 
The story that follows is a rather artificial one - the escapee is clearly more familiar with the terrain and appears to be toying with the pursuers, letting them get close but never quite catch up. And one by one each of the soldiers has to drop out of the chase, until, as rather flagged in the opening line of the novel, Grutsev is in solitary pursuit, although more following the prisoner, with whom he feels increasing kinship, than in pursuit.

Pure plot wise this is a rather cliched adventure story but it is elevated, as in all of Makine’s novels, in Geoffrey Strachen’s translations, by the soaring lyricism of his prose,.    

One recurrent image is the vastness, but also the beauty, of the land and the promise of the vast Pacific Ocean that always seems to be just over the horizon - Grutsev compares the land to the pre-historic super-continent Rodinia and the Pacific to the accompanying super-ocean Mirovia.
 
Another is that of a ragdoll, originally found by him in the ruins of the flood that swept his parents away:

The sight of this scrap of fabric gave me a sense of the extreme vulnerability of my own body. That ragdoll became enbedded within me - like a kind of guardian angel that, from now on, would counsel caution, compromise, resignation. 

this rag-doll, a little like Steve Peters, chimp inhibits Grutsev in any hint of rebellion or independent thought.

The nature of the tale is also justified by the novel's framing device, which makes it clear that we aren't hearing Grutsev's contemporary account, but rather a story he tells 10 years later to a young student, and in turn the account we are reading is told by the man who was that student, another 40 years later in 2003, when he revisits the area. There is almost a slight Life of Pi hint as to whether what we are reading is what actually happened or an idealised version.

Overall - not absolute Makine's finest - Memories of Our Russian Summers, his breakthrough, Prix Goncourt and Prix Médicis winning Le Testament français, is still perhaps his best. And the plot will be too artificial for some - but then Makine should be read for his prose not his plots, and here it is a strong as ever. 4 stars.

[Melina · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘’Εκείνη τη στιγμή της εφηβείας μου το ρήμα ‘’ζω’’ άλλαξε έννοια. Τώρα πια σήμαινε τη μοίρα όσων είχαν κατορθώσει να φτάσουν ως τη θάλασσα των νήσων Σαντάρ. Για όλες τις άλλες εκφάνσεις ύπαρξης σε τούτο τον κόσμο το ρήμα ‘’υπάρχω’’ θα μου ήταν πλέον αρκετό’’.

Το τι ακριβώς πρεσβεύουν τα νησιά Σαντάρ και το αρχιπέλαγός τους θα μας αποκαλυφθεί σταδιακά, καθώς θα αποφλοιώνουμε την ιστορία μας και θα βυθιζόμαστε όλο και πιο βαθιά στην άγρια ομορφιά της σιβηρικής τάιγκα. Στις αρχές της δεκαετίας του 50’, στα δάση της Σιβηρίας, ο έφεδρος Πάβελ Γκάρτσεφ και άλλοι 4 αξιωματικοί, αναλαμβάνουν ως ειδική αποστολή να συλλάβουν έναν κατάδικο που απέδρασε από ένα γειτονικό στρατόπεδο συγκέντρωσης. Με αφορμή την περιπετειώδη καταδίωξη και την αναπάντεχη έκπληξη που αυτή κρύβει, ξεκινά για μας μια πνευματική ενδοσκόπηση, μπολιασμένη σε ένα μείγμα ανθρωπιστικών αξιών, μεταφυσικών και φιλοσοφικών αναζητήσεων, μέχρι να οδηγηθούμε στο πολυπόθητο… Αρχιπέλαγος μιας άλλης ζωής.

Διερχόμενοι μέσα από τα δαιδαλώδη μονοπάτια, την ανεπεξέργαστη ομορφιά και τις πρωτόγνωρες συνθήκες της τάιγκα, μεθυσμένοι από τη γοητεία της σιωπής, από την ανεπαίσθητη μουσική του θροΐσματος των φύλλων, τη γαλήνη που προσφέρει η μελωδία των τρεχούμενων νερών, τα τιτιβίσματα των σπάνιων πουλιών στα δάση της Σιβηρίας, έναν ήλιο λαμπερό που στολίζει με χρυσαφένιες πινελιές τα βουνά και τους λοφίσκους, κάνοντας συχνές στάσεις δίπλα σε διερχόμενα ρυάκια κάτω από έναν ουρανό γεμάτο αστέρια, αρχίζουμε και αμφισβητούμε τις δικές μας φτηνά κατασκευασμένες αλήθειες.

‘’Μια ζωή ανόητη, προσποιητή, με πόθους διαρκώς ανανεώσιμους’’, ένας ανθρώπινος πυρήνας που καθοδηγείται από ένστικτα ζωώδη και ανάγκες κίβδηλες. Που έτσι όπως είναι βουτηγμένος στην κτηνωδία, τη βιαιότητα, τον πόλεμο, το δόλο, το ψέμα, τη χυδαιότητα και την επιβολή, αναλώνεται ‘’στο μίσος που μπορεί να το γεννούσε ο πόθος, ο φόβος ή ιδανικά εκ πρώτης όψεως ευγενή αλλά, κατά περίεργο τρόπο, άκρως θανατηφόρα.”

Μια ωδή στην αγάπη για τη φύση και στον αληθινό έρωτα.. στα βαθιά εκείνα αισθήματα και τις ηθικές αξίες που τόσο εκλείπουν από τη ρηχή, συναισθηματικά κενή εποχή μας. Στη συντροφικότητα, τη φιλία, την ανθρωπιά… Στην ελπίδα για… μια άλλη ζωή…

‘’Διαβάζοντας τα λόγια του, τόσο ελπιδοφόρα όσο και εξωπραγματικά, λέω μέσα μου πως η εμφάνιση αυτού του ιστιοφόρου μέσα στη φωτεινή καταχνιά των νήσων Σαντάρ ίσως να είναι το ωραιότερο στίγμα που θα μπορούσε ποτέ ένας έρωτας να αφήσει ανάμεσα στους ζωντανούς’’…

[Desislava Filipova · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Архипелагът на един друг живот" на Андрей Макин е история, която звучи толкова далеч от съвременния живот, руския Далечен Изток, сред тайгата природата сякаш доминира над човека, климатът е суров, оцеляването е предизвикателство, то сякаш върви в хармония с природата, но най-голямото предизвикателство в романа е да запазиш усещане за правилно и да постъпиш човешки, да потърсиш друг живот.
Павел Гарцев има сравнително спокоен и уреден живот в Ленинград, пише дисертация за "марксистко-ленинистката концепция за легитимността на насилието" и се готви да се ожени за обикновено момиче и да има обикновен живот във време, когато малко е нужно, за да станеш "враг на народа", когато получава призовка да се обучава за мобилизация и е пратен в Амгун, далекоизточната тайга, където се провежда подготовка за ядрен конфликт. Звучи като лудост, че след толкова кръвопролития светът е на ръба на нова война. Има моменти, в които сякаш света спира и като откровение в съзнанието на Павел се прокрадва идеята за цялото безумие, разрушения и омраза, които изпълват "живота" на хората.
"Представих си жената, която моето извънземно облекло току-що беше уплашило. Тя сигурно вървеше по пътека встрани от този откачен свят. Значи този свят можеше да бъде избегнат".
Разказът на Макин не е толкова фокусиран върху конкретните обстоятелства, а върху изборите, които хората правят, върху смисъла, който откриват или създават сами от нищото, пренебрегвайки установените правила и предначертания път, защото е възможно да живееш различно.
"Наоколо в скритите от тайгата лагери, хиляди наранени сенки населяваха едва-едва по-уютни от скривалището ми бараки. Какво можеше да предложи един философ на тези затворници? Примирение? Бунт? Самоубийство? Или връщане към .... свободен живот? Но каква беше тази "свобода"? Да работиш, да се храниш, да се забавляваш, да се ожениш, да се възпроизведеш? И също от време на време да воюваш, да хвърляш бомби, да мразиш, да убиваш, да умираш..."
В целия роман се наслагва идеята за свободата и смисъла на живота. На какво са пленници хората, на ежедневието си, на греховете от миналото, които ги преследват, на идеи и амбиции.
Обучението на Гарцев е прекъснато от една необичайна задача, трябва да се залови избягал от лагера затворник и той става част от една доста разнородна група, предвождана от Лускас представител военното контраразузнаване на и командир Бутов. Преследването изкарва на показ най-низките първични инстинкти на ловеца, но и някои възвишени идеали като желанието да помогнеш на изпаднал в беда. Тайгата е сурова и красива, със собствен ритъм и правила и разкрива неподозирани възможности за един различен живот.

[Maria Roxana · Rating 5 out of 5]

”N-aș fi crezut în veci că oamenii au nevoie de atât de puțin.”

[Kris McCracken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one a lot. There's a rich, evocative construction of a world - the Soviet far east at the tail-end of Stalin's reign - that seems far away from today. Another gem from Makine.

[Sergio · Rating 3 out of 5]

- Libro acquistato a Ottobre 2024 -
Una storia di avventure nelle gelide regioni della Siberia fatta di inseguimenti, atti di coraggio e di vigliaccheria in un ambiente meteorologicamente estremo dove tutto pensi che possa succedere tranne che la nascita di sentimenti positivi come la solidarietà, l’amicizia e/o l’amore.
Il prigioniero evaso da un campo di lavoro e i soldati che lo inseguono riescono a superare le prove più difficili, come succede nei romanzi d'azione, c'è un po' di condimento politico, il solito ufficiale bieco e intransigente e il commilitone che si sacrifica per la riuscita dell'impresa e su tutto i paesaggi mozzafiato di quelle regioni lontane dove silenzio e solitudine sono i protagonisti e gli umani delle semplici comparse.
Se il Makine pseudo autobiografico di “Il Testamento Francese” era sembrato sincero o più credibile, ciò non toglie che “L’arcipelago della Nuova Vita” sotto l’apparenza dell’avventura nasconde sentimenti altrettanto veri.

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Тайга. Безбрежност. Тишина. Преследвачи. И плячка. 1952 г., Сибир.

Дивият Запад тук е Дивият Изток. Природата не я интересува как я описват географски. Тя радва, спасява, утешава, поучава и убива. Справедлива, вечна и безпристрастна. И е много по-милостива от човека.

В книгата на Макин от побърканата сталинистка епоха плавно изплува една приказна страна, намираща се на най-невероятното от всички места. И само онези, които виждат със сърцето си, ще открият ключа към нея и към изплъзващото се щастие.

3,5 звезди

[Karina Padureanu · Rating 5 out of 5]

In salbaticia si duritatea Extremului Orient rusesc, in ciuda dezumanizarii, a urâțeniei lumii, doi oameni descopera o alta viata, eliberarea, frumusetea.
Elkan si Pavel intra in galeria legendarelor mari iubiri.

[Zozetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Πολύ δυνατό!

[Петър Панчев · Rating 4 out of 5]

Усещане за живот
(Цялото ревю е тук: https://knijenpetar.wordpress.com/202...)

Андрей Макин беше енигма за мен до съвсем скоро, един призрачен образ, чиито книги сякаш бедстват зад по-популярните Гари и Шмит. Но трепетното очакване за нещо ново и предизвикателно пося в мен съмнението, че не обръщам достатъчно внимание на детайлите, когато подбирам непознати за мен автори. Тревожното предчувствие, че съм пропуснал нещо веднага ме заля и започнах с откъс от последната му преведена у нас книга. Не беше тръпчив вкус, а някаква мощна и притегателна сила на изказа, неизвестността на приключението и тревожните времена по времето на Сталин. От някъде извираше свобода, но приклещена зад превзети от демони земи, едно църцорене, което едва напоява безкрайната тайга и се опитва да покълне в преклонените глави на лагерниците. Това е различен свят, който се стреми всячески да оправдае съществуването си. Но има и още, което „Архипелагът на един друг живот“ („Леге Артис“, 2019, с превод на Красимир Кавалджиев) ми показа. След последната страница нямах сили да пиша, усещах тревожността на времето, стремежите и борбата за признание като неведоми сили в бушуващ океан и ми се искаше да потърся един друг живот, на Елкан и Павел Гарцев.
(Продължава в блога: https://knijenpetar.wordpress.com/202...)

[Robbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have been wrestling with this for some time. I was becoming hesitant before 'our hero' set foot in the 'Cold Forest' (thank you for that Beth) but once 'in the trees' the tale becomes more implausible with every day.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to him with all the fascination that any boy of my age would have felt

Yes a tale of adventure, a western. Later I believed I could discern a much more profound and secret truth within it ..

Andrei Makine is an author I hugely admire.

His writing (as a Russian) in French, as translated by Geoffrey Strachan into English is often beautiful, full of imagery and meaning, lyrical in its description of place and tender in its covering of human relations (often when set against a harsh political background).

This his latest novel is one of the weakest I have read:

Tere are his trademark lyrical passages but they often seem rather forced and out of keeping with the surrounding narrative – almost as if occasionally the author remembers who he is;

The imagery is over-clunky such as a very forced contrast between the purity of the wild and the depravity of human society and feelings which his anything but “profound”;

Te author as narrator plays with his idea of his inner “rag-doll” so much that by the end it is worn to nothing and anything but “secret”.

All of this cobbled around possibly the clunkiest and most repetitive plot I have read for a very long time (one I am not sure would have kept me entertained as a “boy of any age”).

Not so much – “could do better” as “has done better – so much better”.

[Ani Cvetkova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Много хубава книга, трябва да се прочете. За съхранението на хуманността сред суровостта на времето и обкръжението ни. С пълнокръвни образи и въздействащи диалози. Както и присъствието на една непозната, тиха, но смъртоносна придружителка - Руската тайга.

*
"Наоколо в скритите от тайгата лагери, хиляди наранени сенки населяваха едва-едва по-уютни от скривалището ми бараки. Какво можеше да предложи един философ на тези затворници? Примирение? Бунт? Самоубийство? Или връщане към .... свободен живот? Но каква беше тази "свобода"? Да работиш, да се храниш, да се забавляваш, да се ожениш, да се възпроизведеш? И също от време на време да воюваш, да хвърляш бомби, да мразиш, да убиваш, да умираш..."
*
"Поповете разправят, че човек ще бъде наказан за греховете си, накратко ще гори вечно в ада. Но не това е истинското наказание...То е, когато една жена, която си обичал, изчезне...как да кажа? Да, когато изчезне, когато се превърне в тази, която продължава да живее с теб..."
*
"Великите лекари на душата се надяваха да изтръгнат този микроб, който ни подтиква да мразим, да лъжем, да убиваме. Но без него светът не би имал история, не би имало войни, нито велики личности."

[Massimiliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bellissimo.
L’unico motivo per cui non merita 5 stelle è che obiettivamente non ha la statura di qualche reale opera letteraria, ma davvero molto bello.

L’ambientazione, la storia che si mescola con la Storia, la poesia, e infine il sogno di una vita diversa.

Pur essendo a suo modo un libro semplice, riesce a farti viaggiare sia nei luoghi che mentalmente.

Alla fine l’impressione che mi è rimasta è proprio quella di un sogno molto dolce, di quelli che ogni tanto capita di fare, e che ti fanno cominciare la giornata un po’ più felice.

[Suzănica Tănase · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cu Makine, mereu mi se întâmplă același lucru, imediat ce termin o carte îmi doresc mult să i-o citesc pe următoarea. Mi-a plăcut mult Arhipelagul, chiar mai mult decât Testamentul francez pentru care a fost și premiat. E atâta gingășie și putere în scrisul acestui autor, e atâta poveste în durerea personajelor sale încât mă las cu încredere purtată pe valurile peniței lui. Un Triumf!

[Etienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5. Une belle écriture, quoi que je m'attenais à un peu plus considérant le fait que l'auteur est à l'académie française. Une histoire très lente, trop à mon goût, et en deux parties. La première de la chasse à l'homme prends trop de place, alors que la deuxième, celle de l'archipel et plus romantique, est trop courte, car je la trouvais de loin plus intéressante et plus touchante. Dans les deux cas, on demeure beaucoup dans le descriptif, le contemplatif et il manque un peu de psyshologie et de réflexion pour donner de la profondeur aux personnages. Un livre bien, que je ne recommanderais pas vraiment cependant et un auteur que je ne suis pas pressé de relire, bien que je le ferai sans doute un jour.

[Igor Guzun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andreï Makine, mă închin – asta a fost pentru rimă. De fapt, mă aplec – peste fiecare carte nouă cu aceeași fascinație pe care am trăit-o după ce am citit „Pe vremea fluviului Amur”. Această încântare am încercat s-o exprimi în 500 de cuvinte aici >>> https://goo.gl/EJQf7A. Apoi am citit toate celelalte cărți ale lui Andreï Makine, plus cele semnate cu numele Gabriel Osmonde. Iar farmecul nu s-a stins, ci a rămas la fel de viu ca după prima carte. Inclusiv astăzi, după lectura romanul „Arhipelagul altei vieți”. Emoționantă, tulburătoare, adevărată. În fond, despre dragoste. Despre ce altceva să fie dacă ne mișcă?

[Victor Bălăcescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

O carte foarte surprinzătoare prin profunzimea filosofică și finețea cu care este prezentată povestea. Mi-a plăcut extrem de mult și a fost exact lectura pe care mi-o doream la final de 2024. Sper ca tot mai mulți cititori să ajungă la această carte, este una care merită cu siguranță să fie citită.

[Nata Vieru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cu fiecare carte citită, îl îndrăgesc pe Andrei Makine tot mai mult.
Atât de fin ascunde el printre rânduri sensul profund al existenței omenești.

"N-aș fi crezut în veci că oamenii au nevoie de atât de puțin."

"Nu cei doi fugari se rătăciseră într-o evadare sinucigașă, ci omenirea însăși."

"Împrejurul insulelor Șantar există o anomalie magnetică. Acul busolei se învârte necontenit și prin urmare, nu poate niciodată să indice corect nordul."

[Teo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mi-au placut stilul de scriere, complexitatea personajelor si faptul ca s-a pus accent pe conflictul psihologic al personajelor.

Cartea "Arhipelagul altei vieti" de Andreï Makine prezintă calatoria unui tânăr militar ce este trimis într-o misiune,alături de alți colegi,pentru a prinde un evadat.

Prins în capcana propriei fragilități și amintindu-si de momentele in care a dat greș în trecut,își dă seama că evadatul visează, la fel ca si el,să fie liber.Dincolo de lupta interioară, ce este foarte puternică și devine decisivă pentru deznodământul romanului, există și alte conflicte exterioare:
-lupta cu sistemul represiv;
-lupta cu Luskas ,șeful ce coordonează această "activitate " si care încearcă sa-si atribuie meritele celorlalti.

Plecările treptate a însoțitorilor săi ,pricinuite de niște răni destul de grave, îl eliberează pe soldat și îi oferă șansa de a se cunoaște și de a-și dori,tot mai mult,linistea unui trai simplu,modest la care,poate,visăm cu toții.

"Păpușa de cârpe" este elementul ce mi-a atras cel mai mult atenția.Fiind un obiect ce i-a marcat copilăria lui Pavel Garțev(pers principal),amintește de fragilitatea si inocenta fiecărui copil.
Ne dăm seama că tânărul încearcă, la fel ca si noi,să-si învingă propriile temeri și să uite durerile unui trecut dominat de suferință.

Iată si un citat pe care l-am îndrăgit:
"Nu cei doi fugari se rătăciseră într-o evadare sinuoasă,ci omenirea însăși." (Pag 231)

[Maud Lemieux · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quel beau récit. Du Makine dans son élément.

[Roxana · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book has a bit of everything: the absurdity of war, the corruption of power, communism's crushing of the spirit, a bit of love, hate and survival.

[Христо Блажев · Rating 4 out of 5]

Свободата е и отговорност: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/a...

Действието тече в съветски времена, когато един лагерник успява да избяга и да поеме в отчаяно бягство. След него е изпратена група военни, сред които е Павел Гарцев, непокорен дух, който вече е брал ядове с началството и усеща, че това преследване може да бъде и капан за него. В началото преследвачите са наистина настървени да настигнат бързо плячката си и да се окичат с успеха, но това не им се удава лесно, беглецът се оказва кален в живота сред дивата природа и дори им залага капани. Дните се проточват и започват да променят всички участници в този абсурден анабазис – беглецът не иска да им се изплъзне, за да не бъде пратена след него по-сериозна сила, а тези след него всъщност се радват на рядко срещаната свобода в своя живот. Но това не може да продължи вечно като в митологична история.

Издателство "Леге Артис"
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/a...

[Marianna Vasile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Αν πιστεύεις οτι ένα βιβλίο που διαδραματίζεται σχεδόν εξολοκλήρου μέσα στη ρωσική τάιγκα μπορεί να είναι βαρετό, τότε σε προκαλώ να το διαβάσεις.
Η ευτυχία μπορεί να κρύβεται εκεί που δεν το περιμένεις, αλλά θα την βρεις, ανεξαρτήτων συνθηκών και καθεστώτων, αν καταφέρεις να καταπολεμήσεις τους φόβους σου. Και όταν την έχεις βρει συνειδητοποιείς πόσα λίγα αγαθά χρειάζεσαι στη πραγματικότητα.

[Charis Eleftheriadis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Όλα ξεκινούν το 1963 στη βορειοανατολική Σιβηρία και ενώ ο Ψυχρός Πόλεμος μαίνεται, όταν ο αφηγητής μας, ένα έφηβος τότε, αποφασίζει να ακολουθήσει στα βάθη της τάιγκας (https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Τάιγκα) έναν παράξενο και μοναχικό άγνωστο. Η επεισοδιακή γνωριμία τους θα γίνει η αρχή της αφήγησης μιας πολύ ιδιαίτερης καταδίωξης που έλαβε χώρα το 1952, όταν αυτός ο άγνωστος, ο Pavel Gartsev ήταν έφεδρος του Κόκκινου Στρατού. Ο Pavel με μια ομάδα 4 ακόμα αντρών, ανέλαβαν, τότε, την αποστολή της καταδίωξης και σύλληψης ενός πολιτικού κρατούμενου-δραπέτη.

Το χρονικό της καταδίωξης χωρίζεται σε δύο μέρη. Στο πρώτο μισό του ακολουθούμε τα μέλη της ομάδας και γνωρίζουμε τα βασικά στοιχεία των χαρακτήρων που την απαρτίζουν.
H εξουσία του διοικητή της ομάδας αμφισβητείται συνεχώς από δύο αξιωματικούς, τον λοχαγό Luskas, των μυστικών υπηρεσιών και τον ανθυπολοχαγό Ratinsky, του πιστού Χλαπάτσα του, που θα κάνουν τα πάντα για να δρέψουν τις δάφνες της σύλληψης του φυγά. Ο λοχίας Vassin είναι ο μόνος, πέραν του Pavel, που διατηρεί την ανθρωπιά του και έτσι ο ήρωάς μας κερδίζει έναν φίλο ο οποίος θα τον ωθήσει, μέσα σε αυτήν την περιπέτεια, να ανακαλύψει το πραγματικό νόημα της ζωής. Η επιτυχία της αποστολής που αποτελεί μονόδρομο για τη σωτηρία του Pavel, καθώς γνωρίζει και γνωρίζουμε πως η επιλογή του έγινε εντέχνως ώστε μια ενδεχόμενη αποτυχία να πιστωθεί σε αυτόν.

Σε αυτό λοιπόν το πρώτο μέρος, ως αναγνώστες, έχουμε την ίδια αγωνία με τον Pavel να πιάσει τον δραπέτη τόσο για να μην τιμωρηθεί όσο και για να κερδίσει την παλιά του ζωή πίσω στο Λένινγκραντ. Η δίψα του για τη σύλληψη του δραπέτη δεν μας ενοχλεί και παρόλη την απανθρωπιά των αξιωματικών της ομάδας παίρνουμε το μέρος του Pavel γιατί επιθυμούμε τη δική του σωτηρία.
Όσο όμως το ταξίδι μας μέσα στην τάιγκα προχωράει, όσο διεισδύουμε στην καρδιά του δάσους, τόσο βαθαίνει και η ενδοσκόπηση στις ψυχές των μελών της ομάδας, τα οποία θα ανακαλύψουν, μαζί με εμάς, μια πληροφορία που θα ανατρέψει τα πάντα. Ένα σημαντικό στοιχείο για την ταυτότητα του φυγά, θα μετατρέψει αυτό το κυνηγητό όχι απλά σε ζήτημα στρατιωτικής, αλλά και ανδρικής υπερηφάνειας. Μαζί με τον Pavel και τον Vassin θα μπούμε, αναγνωστικά, σε μια διαδικασία αποστροφής και αμφισβήτησης. Τα μέλη της ομάδας θα αρχίσουν ένα-ένα να πέφτουν θύματα του φυγά καθώς οι σχέσεις θηρευτή-θηράματος, ώρα με την ώρα, αντιστρέφονται και το adagio της μέχρι τότε αφήγησης θα κάνει την καρδιά του αναγνώστη να χτυπά σε ρυθμούς molto allegro, όταν ο Pavel θα μείνει μόνος κυνηγός του θηράματος και κάθε ώρα η ζωή του θα εξαρτάται από τις διαθέσεις του.
(από εδώ και κάτω θα υπάρξει σοβαρό spoil)

Σε αυτό το σημείο θέλω να πω ότι υπάρχουν δύο τρόποι να μιλήσεις, λογοτεχνικά, για τον έρωτα (καλά όχι μόνο δύο, απλώς αυθαιρετώ χάριν της αφήγησης).
Ο πρώτος είναι να περιγράψεις τα συναισθήματα και τις αποχρώσεις που γεννά, με λέξεις, εντυπωσιακές εκφράσεις, βαθυστόχαστα αποφθέγματα και ψυχικά στιγμιότυπα.
Ο δεύτερος είναι να μιλήσεις χωρίς να πεις τίποτα.
O Andrei Makine μας χαρίζει μια υπέροχη ερωτική ιστορία που δεν περιγράφεται με λέξεις, αλλά πλάθεται στο μυαλό κάθε αναγνώστη ανάλογα με τον τρόπο που αυτός μεταφράζει τις εικόνες της ιστορίας. Με τη δική μου οπτική πρόκειται για έναν έρωτα που γεννήθηκε, έζησε και πέθανε βουβός αλλά πυρωμένος, σαν τις τρεις φωτιές που οδηγούσαν τον Pavel σε όλο το ταξίδι του προς τη ΖΩΗ. Σαν τις τρεις φωτιές που άναβε στην άκρη του ακρωτηρίου για να δείξει στην αγαπημένη του Elkan (την δραπέτισσα), ότι θα αργήσει μερικές μέρες να φτάσει στο νησί τους, μέσα στη μέση του Αρχιπελάγους.
Αυτό το πυρωμένο τρίγωνο θα καρφωθεί στον λογοτεχνικό ουρανό ως ο αστερισμός του δικού τους έρωτα.

Ο Pavel λοιπόν θα γίνει κι αυτός ένας δραπέτης, ή καλύτερα, ο Pavel θα παραμείνει άνθρωπος βλέποντας ότι η ανθρωπότητα δραπετεύει προς έναν δρόμο αυτοκτονικό. Αποφάσισε να μην σκοτώσει την Elkan. Φώναξε πως δεν θέλει να γίνει δολοφόνος για να αποκτήσει μια θέση στη φαρσοκωμωδία που είδε να εκτυλίσσεται σε ολόκληρη τη ζωή του.
«Οὒτοι συνέχθειν,ἀλλά συμφιλεῖν ἔφυν» δήλωσε στους Κρέοντες του κόσμου τούτου και παραιτήθηκε όχι μόνο από το μίσος του και την επιθυμία για εκδίκηση προς όλους αυτούς, αλλά και από την φαυλεπίφαυλη ανάγκη να τους συγχωρέσει. Γιατί η αγάπη δεν είναι ούτε προϊόν ηθικής, ούτε παιδείας αλλά δύναμη υπαρξιακή, πράξη και βίωμα . Γι’ αυτόν υπήρχε , πλέον μόνο ο καθαρός ουρανός, το θρόισμα των φύλλων και το απόσταγμα σιωπής και φωτός, στο νησί που διάλεξε να απομονωθεί ως «Ένας εχθρός του λαού», και που ως τέτοιος θα εκμυστηρευτεί μια νύχτα, σε εμάς και στον έφηβο αφηγητή μας, πως ποτέ δεν πίστευε ότι ο άνθρωπος έχει ανάγκη τόσα λίγα για να είναι πραγματικά ευτυχισμένος.

Το 2003 ο αφηγητής θα επιστρέψει στην περιοχή του Αρχιπελάγους σε αναζήτηση του Pavel Gartsev, του ανθρώπου που τον έκανε και μας έκανε μέσα από μια απλή ιστορία να στοχαστούμε μαζί του φιλοσοφικά, πολιτικά, υπαρξιακά, ανθρωπιστικά. Το αν θα τον βρει ξανά, θα το ανακαλύψει όποιος επιλέξει να αφιερώσει δύο μέρες σε αυτό το βιβλίο. Αλλά και αν δεν τον βρει, έτσι σοφός που έγινε με τόση πείρα, ήδη θα το κατάλαβε οι Πάβελ (και τα Αρχιπελάγη) τι σημαίνουν…