Ivan's Daughter: Stories and a Novella

by Valentin Rasputin, Margaret Winchell (Translator)

As E. L. Doctorow noted, The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like. Understanding present-day Russia requires a grasp of the country s history. While the facts may be plain, what life was actually like for the citizens of Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union is the subject of this collection of fiction by one of the country s greatest contemporary writers, Valentin Rasputin.

Born and raised in rural Siberia, Rasputin rose from the humblest of origins to the heights of literary acclaim during the 1970s. While his novellas from that period exemplify the village-prose movement in Russian literature, they also display a distinctive voice, narrative technique, and style along with universal appeal that set them apart. Although never a member of the Communist Party, the author received the Soviet Union s highest literary awards and became extremely popular among its avid readers.

During the tumultuous years of perestroika, Rasputin, deeply concerned about his homeland, stopped writing fiction and became involved in politics. But after serving in the Congress of People s Deputies and as an adviser to Gorbachev, he soon became disillusioned with Russia s political process and returned to his literary calling, creating works that depict a new world whose trials and traumas he knew well.

The stories and novella in this collection delve into the burning issues of that time, including questions of morality and sheer survival. By bringing a variety of characters to life from young children, teenagers, and middle-aged adults to old peasants and new Russians Rasputin allows readers to experience the immediate post-Soviet past together with ordinary folks. In addition to shedding light on the present, these works offer an armchair trip to Siberia along with the aesthetic pleasures that flow from the pen of a master storyteller.

286 pages, Paperback

Published July 26, 2016

About the author

See also: Валентин Распутин
Valentin Grigoriyevich Rasputin (Russian: Валентин Григорьевич Распутин; born March 15, 1937 in village of Ust-Uda in Irkutsk Oblast, Russian Federation) was a Russian writer. He was born and lived much of his life in the Irkutsk Oblast in Eastern Siberia. Rasputin's works depict rootless urban characters and the fight for survival of centuries-old traditional rural ways of life. Rasputin covers complex questions of ethics and spiritual revival.

Reviews

[Nenad Stojadinovic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Život je kao dvokolice, same se kotrljaju, i ne sediš ti u njima kao gospođa koja se veselo zanosi suncem na nebu, nego se po kamenju, po blatu i svakakvom bespuću iza tebe nazire trag koji ostavlja neprebolne rane.

Odlična ideja pisca, ali ne baš najbolje sprovedena. Tokom prve polovine knjige, vrlo dinamične i čitke, upoznajemo se sa jednom ruskom porodicom devedesetih godina prošlog veka. Šesnaestogodišnja Svetka je nestala, i njeni roditelji - otac Anatolij i majka Tamara uz pomoć sina Ivana i prijatelja Demina pokušavaju sve kako bi je pronašli. Stevku pronalaze živu, ali povređenu i istraumiranu, kao i njenog otmičara i zlostavljača. Majka Tamara predosećajući da u jednom dekadentnom i korumpiranom društvu pravosuđe ne može zadovoljiti pravdu, uzima pravdu u svoje ruke braneći čast svoje ćerke, porodice, ali i živote nekih drugih budućih potencijalnih žrtvi. Međutim, ovaj njen postupak imaće ogromne posledice po njenu porodicu.

Druga polovina knjige u kojoj treba da vidimo kako se porodica bori sa nedaćama koje su ih snašle, ispunjena je ispraznim dijalozima i kritikom društva i životnih okolnosti. Mnoga mesta su poprilično dosadna i ne doprinose radnji.

U opisu knjige stoji ,,ovo četvoro običnih ljudi uspeće da pobedi svoju nesreću". Ne znam na osnovu čega je izvučen ovakav zaključak. Junaci ostaju nesrećni, izgubljeni i nesnađeni do poslednje stranice ove knjige, a u trenutku kada postoji naznaka da porodica ponovo bude na okupu i kada se naslućuje makar mala mogućnost neke buduće sreće, roman se tu završava. Knjiga odiše nekom sivom, sumornom atmosferom.

Izdvojiću ipak jedan od boljih dijaloga vođenog između oca Anatolija i sina Ivana:

-Kako je to moguće svi greše, a pojedinac ne greši? Pojedinac makar bio đavolski pametan, ne može protiv svih. Ipak mora da prihvati tačku gledišta ostalih.
-Pa nije to istina... Većina lakše podleže sugestiji. Oni se tako i dokazuju: ,,nas je mnogo, mi ne možemo da grešimo". Pa vi stoga i grešite što vas je mnogo. U gomili je prosto nemoguće razmišljati, tamo je ponesenost, izliv emocija...

Preskačem nekoliko nebitnih redova, a onda se dijalog nastavlja između Tamare i Ivana:

-Ali i služiti vojsku, i učiti i oženiti se takođe treba uraditi pamento.
-Pamet je u samom životu, kako živiš. A ne na rečima.
-E, mi smo svoje reči dali svakom ko ih hteo. Sad slušamo tuđe.

[World Literature Today]

This book was featured in the Nota Benes section of the March 2017 issue of World Literature Today Magazine.

https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/...

[Ashley]

Composed of:
- The Same Earth (1995)
- A Female Conversation (1995)
- Out of the Blue (1997)
- The Cottage (1999)
- Ivan's Daughter, Ivan's Mother (2003)