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Aetherial Worlds
From one of modern Russia's finest writers, a spellbinding collection of eighteen stories, her first to be translated into English in more than twenty years.
Ordinary realities and yearnings to transcend them lead to miraculous other worlds in this dazzling collection of stories. A woman's deceased father appears in her dreams with clues about the afterlife; a Russian professor in a small American town constructs elaborate fantasies during her cigarette break; a man falls in love with a marble statue as his marriage falls apart; a child glimpses heaven through a stained-glass window. With the emotional insight of Chekhov, the surreal satire of Gogol, and a unique blend of humor and poetry all her own, Tolstaya transmutes the quotidian into aetherial alternatives. These tales, about politics, identity, love, and loss, cut to the core of the Russian psyche, even as they lay bare human universals. Tolstaya's characters--seekers all--are daydreaming children, lonely adults, dislocated foreigners in unfamiliar lands. Whether contemplating the strategic complexities of delivering telegrams in Leningrad or the meditative melancholy of holiday aspic, vibrant inner lives and the grim elements of existence are registered in equally sharp detail in a starkly bleak but sympathetic vision of life on earth.
A unique collection from one of the first women in years to rank among Russia's most important writers.
Ordinary realities and yearnings to transcend them lead to miraculous other worlds in this dazzling collection of stories. A woman's deceased father appears in her dreams with clues about the afterlife; a Russian professor in a small American town constructs elaborate fantasies during her cigarette break; a man falls in love with a marble statue as his marriage falls apart; a child glimpses heaven through a stained-glass window. With the emotional insight of Chekhov, the surreal satire of Gogol, and a unique blend of humor and poetry all her own, Tolstaya transmutes the quotidian into aetherial alternatives. These tales, about politics, identity, love, and loss, cut to the core of the Russian psyche, even as they lay bare human universals. Tolstaya's characters--seekers all--are daydreaming children, lonely adults, dislocated foreigners in unfamiliar lands. Whether contemplating the strategic complexities of delivering telegrams in Leningrad or the meditative melancholy of holiday aspic, vibrant inner lives and the grim elements of existence are registered in equally sharp detail in a starkly bleak but sympathetic vision of life on earth.
A unique collection from one of the first women in years to rank among Russia's most important writers.
241 pages, Paperback
First published May 17, 2014
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2543 people want to read
About the author
Tatyana Tolstaya
56 books297 followersTatyana Tolstaya (Татьяна Толстая) was born in Leningrad, U.S.S.R. As the great-grandniece of the Russian author Leo Tolstoy and the granddaughter of Alexei Tolstoy, Tolstaya comes from a distinguished literary family; but, according to Marta Mestrovic's interview in Publishers Weekly with the author, she hates ‘‘being discussed as a relative of someone.’’
Still, Tolstaya's background is undeniably one of culture and education. Her father was a physics professor who taught her two languages, and her maternal grandfather was a well-known translator.
Still, Tolstaya's background is undeniably one of culture and education. Her father was a physics professor who taught her two languages, and her maternal grandfather was a well-known translator.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews
April 30, 2019
Ambiguity, liminal spaces - this collection of short stories defies definition, and is nothing short of brilliant.
I realize that tells you very little about what's happening in this book. It's not just short stories, but also some essays, some treatises, some humor, and some politics. Imaginings on the washing machine that eats socks, real estate and home ownership in America versus Russia, imagining a world where Italy didn't exist, and some very clever political allegories (like some of her Russian lit counterparts, Gogol came to mind). Many of the stories are told in first-person, so we question if Tolstaya is talking about her life or artfully painting a picture of someone else's intimate thoughts. All the more reason why "Aetherial" is a good descriptor for the book title.
Instant love for Tolstaya's caustic wit and humor, but also for her range. She is regularly proclaimed as one of Russia's finest contemporary writers, and I can't wait to read more of her work - fortunately many of her titles have been translated into English.
Highlights of the collection:
-Smoke and Shadows
-Judith and the Sword
-Aetherial Worlds
-Without
-Faraway Lands
-The Window
*Women in Translation 2018
**ETA 11/30/2018 - I discussed this one with Michael on Lost in Translation podcast -Hear our talk here: https://translationspod.podbean.com/e...
I realize that tells you very little about what's happening in this book. It's not just short stories, but also some essays, some treatises, some humor, and some politics. Imaginings on the washing machine that eats socks, real estate and home ownership in America versus Russia, imagining a world where Italy didn't exist, and some very clever political allegories (like some of her Russian lit counterparts, Gogol came to mind). Many of the stories are told in first-person, so we question if Tolstaya is talking about her life or artfully painting a picture of someone else's intimate thoughts. All the more reason why "Aetherial" is a good descriptor for the book title.
Instant love for Tolstaya's caustic wit and humor, but also for her range. She is regularly proclaimed as one of Russia's finest contemporary writers, and I can't wait to read more of her work - fortunately many of her titles have been translated into English.
Highlights of the collection:
-Smoke and Shadows
-Judith and the Sword
-Aetherial Worlds
-Without
-Faraway Lands
-The Window
*Women in Translation 2018
**ETA 11/30/2018 - I discussed this one with Michael on Lost in Translation podcast -Hear our talk here: https://translationspod.podbean.com/e...
February 5, 2020
This was a book I picked up in Five Leaves just because it looked interesting, and I chose it for a group discussion in 21st Century Literature which starts later this month.
This was my first experience of reading Tolstaya, and the collection is a very enjoyable introduction to the diversity of her writing. Many of these stories appear to have autobiographical elements, but others are clearly fictional. They reflect her experiences of living and working in Russia (both before and after the fall of the Soviet regime) and America, and also her travels elsewhere in Europe. The writing is always lively, perceptive and engaging.
I am also using this review for my brief notes on the individual stories, to use as an aide-memoir for the discussion:
20/20
On the effect of corrective eye surgery and how the recuperation period of temporary blindness affected the author's perceptions
Aspic
On traditional Russian methods of preparing meats in aspic jelly
Smoke and Shadows
A long and rather unsettling fable in which the narrator tells of a relationship she had as a student in America with a married professor, which ends with her murdering the wife and the professor, .
Passing Through
On washing machines that eat socks
A Young Lady in Bloom
A rather charming story about a job the narrator had delivering telegrams for the post office
Nowhere
A short fable about a youthful flirtation, in which the narrator agrees to visit a man in his dacha, but changes her mind on arrival, misses the last train back and spends the night hiding in his shed
Father
On finding her father's old shirt, and the memories this triggers
The Invisible Maiden
A long story about the dacha near the Finnish border where the narrator's family lived when she was a child, and the lives of the other inhabitants
The Square
An essay on the painter Malevich, his painting of a black square and his influence on later art
Judith with the Sword
A story the narrator finds in a collection of old letters about a man whose obsession with a beautiful statue he finds and buys destroys his marriage
Aetherial Worlds
A lengthy story about a house in the New Jersey backwoods that the narrator bought when she was working as a part time teacher of creative writing in America. This contrasts experiences of property ownership in Russia and America, and ends with a story of her renting it out to a nightmare tenant, and a subsequent legal dispute.
Doors and Demons
A tale of a trip to Paris
Without
A rather charming reflection on what a world without Italy would be like, and what Italy has given to the world
Faraway Lands
"A letter from Crete to a friend in Moscow"
Official Nationality
In which she compares three common Russian character traits with western Europeans
Swedenborg
A potted biographer of the polymath focusing on his later years as a visionary seer, reflecting also on how somebody similar would be treated by psychiatrists today.
The Window
A surreal fantasy which must have an element of political satire, apparently set in the later days of the Soviet regime, in which two men discover a window which appears to offer them material goods for nothing, as long as they accept everything it offers without question. The ending tests the limits of the game.
See the Reverse
A trip to Ravenna, comparing her own impressions with postcards her father sent 30 years earlier from the same place
This was my first experience of reading Tolstaya, and the collection is a very enjoyable introduction to the diversity of her writing. Many of these stories appear to have autobiographical elements, but others are clearly fictional. They reflect her experiences of living and working in Russia (both before and after the fall of the Soviet regime) and America, and also her travels elsewhere in Europe. The writing is always lively, perceptive and engaging.
I am also using this review for my brief notes on the individual stories, to use as an aide-memoir for the discussion:
20/20
On the effect of corrective eye surgery and how the recuperation period of temporary blindness affected the author's perceptions
Aspic
On traditional Russian methods of preparing meats in aspic jelly
Smoke and Shadows
A long and rather unsettling fable in which the narrator tells of a relationship she had as a student in America with a married professor, which ends with her murdering the wife and the professor, .
Passing Through
On washing machines that eat socks
A Young Lady in Bloom
A rather charming story about a job the narrator had delivering telegrams for the post office
Nowhere
A short fable about a youthful flirtation, in which the narrator agrees to visit a man in his dacha, but changes her mind on arrival, misses the last train back and spends the night hiding in his shed
Father
On finding her father's old shirt, and the memories this triggers
The Invisible Maiden
A long story about the dacha near the Finnish border where the narrator's family lived when she was a child, and the lives of the other inhabitants
The Square
An essay on the painter Malevich, his painting of a black square and his influence on later art
Judith with the Sword
A story the narrator finds in a collection of old letters about a man whose obsession with a beautiful statue he finds and buys destroys his marriage
Aetherial Worlds
A lengthy story about a house in the New Jersey backwoods that the narrator bought when she was working as a part time teacher of creative writing in America. This contrasts experiences of property ownership in Russia and America, and ends with a story of her renting it out to a nightmare tenant, and a subsequent legal dispute.
Doors and Demons
A tale of a trip to Paris
Without
A rather charming reflection on what a world without Italy would be like, and what Italy has given to the world
Faraway Lands
"A letter from Crete to a friend in Moscow"
Official Nationality
In which she compares three common Russian character traits with western Europeans
Swedenborg
A potted biographer of the polymath focusing on his later years as a visionary seer, reflecting also on how somebody similar would be treated by psychiatrists today.
The Window
A surreal fantasy which must have an element of political satire, apparently set in the later days of the Soviet regime, in which two men discover a window which appears to offer them material goods for nothing, as long as they accept everything it offers without question. The ending tests the limits of the game.
See the Reverse
A trip to Ravenna, comparing her own impressions with postcards her father sent 30 years earlier from the same place
August 6, 2021
yüz kitap’tan yine beni bambaşka dünyalara, anılara, hayatlara götüren bir öykü kitabı okudum.
“öte dünyalar” bir yandan çok gerçek, bazen çok acı, ama hep güldüren bir yanı var. bulgar yazarların mizahına çok benzettiğim yerler oldu ki yani çok da yabancı sayılmazlar belki.
özellikle kitaptaki iki uzun öykü en çok beğendiklerim oldu.
bazı yazarlarla böyle oluyor. o anlatsın ben dinleyeyim moduna geçiliyor ve amerikan edebiyatındaki gibi kısa ve etkili vuruşlar istemiyorsunuz. tam bir doğulu kimliğiyle ben dizlerine yatayım, tatyana tolstaya çarlık rusya’sından sscb’ye değişenleri, anneleri, daçaları mırıl mırıl anlatsın diyorum.
o yüzden upuzun bir sscb tarihi gibi olan “görünmez kız” ki tam bir kadınlar resmigeçidi aslında, ben çok etkiledi. kitabı kapatıp kendi çocukluğuma döndüm ve boş boş geceyi seyrettim.
yine yazarın kendi hayatından izler taşıdığı belli olan, amerika’da üniversitede hocalık yaptığı ve oradan ne yazık ki ev aldığı zamanı anlattığı, kitaba da adını veren “öte dünyalar” muhteşem. yani iki kültür farkı bu kadar trajik ve komik anlatılabilir mi?
“pencereler”, “şuracıkta, duvarın ardında” gibi gerçeküstüne göz kırpan öyküler de var. ama şu bir gerçek: tolstaya’nın kahramanlarının başına gelenler pişmiş tavuğun başına gelmiyor :)
bir rus italya’da yunanistan’da neler yapar’dan tutun sanat tarihine, kaybedilen babalara, müzelere, kurulmaya çalışılan sscb milliyetçiliğine dair pek çok öykü, pek çok hayat, pek çok acı… ama işte has edebiyat.
erdem erinç’in mükemmel çevirisiyle (bazı deyimleri not aldım, o kadar güzeldi)… yüz kitap bizi hiç şaşırtmaz ❤️
“öte dünyalar” bir yandan çok gerçek, bazen çok acı, ama hep güldüren bir yanı var. bulgar yazarların mizahına çok benzettiğim yerler oldu ki yani çok da yabancı sayılmazlar belki.
özellikle kitaptaki iki uzun öykü en çok beğendiklerim oldu.
bazı yazarlarla böyle oluyor. o anlatsın ben dinleyeyim moduna geçiliyor ve amerikan edebiyatındaki gibi kısa ve etkili vuruşlar istemiyorsunuz. tam bir doğulu kimliğiyle ben dizlerine yatayım, tatyana tolstaya çarlık rusya’sından sscb’ye değişenleri, anneleri, daçaları mırıl mırıl anlatsın diyorum.
o yüzden upuzun bir sscb tarihi gibi olan “görünmez kız” ki tam bir kadınlar resmigeçidi aslında, ben çok etkiledi. kitabı kapatıp kendi çocukluğuma döndüm ve boş boş geceyi seyrettim.
yine yazarın kendi hayatından izler taşıdığı belli olan, amerika’da üniversitede hocalık yaptığı ve oradan ne yazık ki ev aldığı zamanı anlattığı, kitaba da adını veren “öte dünyalar” muhteşem. yani iki kültür farkı bu kadar trajik ve komik anlatılabilir mi?
“pencereler”, “şuracıkta, duvarın ardında” gibi gerçeküstüne göz kırpan öyküler de var. ama şu bir gerçek: tolstaya’nın kahramanlarının başına gelenler pişmiş tavuğun başına gelmiyor :)
bir rus italya’da yunanistan’da neler yapar’dan tutun sanat tarihine, kaybedilen babalara, müzelere, kurulmaya çalışılan sscb milliyetçiliğine dair pek çok öykü, pek çok hayat, pek çok acı… ama işte has edebiyat.
erdem erinç’in mükemmel çevirisiyle (bazı deyimleri not aldım, o kadar güzeldi)… yüz kitap bizi hiç şaşırtmaz ❤️
September 8, 2017
I loved this book from start to finish. Being a slow reader most of the time, I read this in just two sittings. It is not very often I read Russian authors, no particular reason for that, but almost every time when I came across a book translated from Russian (I successfully avoided studying it in school, which I regret now), I ended up enchanted.
This is a collection of autobiographic short stories previously published in her two books, about growing up in Leningrad and living as adult in America. The writing is beautiful and very Russian in my eyes. By that I mean that it is tightly bound to Russia’s history, religion and mentality, but also that it has a special quality of being both dreamlike and down-to-the-earth at the same time.
The book does something to my heart. It brings excitement, beauty, white nights, smell of summer woods, images of still lake water, purple colours and yellow lilies to me. Five stars capture the feeling of breathtaking peace.
Hat off to the translation to Serbian, done by Miodrag Sibinovic.
This is a collection of autobiographic short stories previously published in her two books, about growing up in Leningrad and living as adult in America. The writing is beautiful and very Russian in my eyes. By that I mean that it is tightly bound to Russia’s history, religion and mentality, but also that it has a special quality of being both dreamlike and down-to-the-earth at the same time.
The book does something to my heart. It brings excitement, beauty, white nights, smell of summer woods, images of still lake water, purple colours and yellow lilies to me. Five stars capture the feeling of breathtaking peace.
Hat off to the translation to Serbian, done by Miodrag Sibinovic.
December 6, 2022
Öte Dünyalar Tatyana Tostaya’nın kimisi çeşitli yerlerde yayınlanmış, genel olarak Rusya’nın çarlık döneminden, SSCB günlerine -ve sonrasına- kadar pek çok farklı sürecinini ana eksenine alan; kimisi uzun kimisi kısa, otobiyografik ya da tamamiyle kurgu, seyahatlerinden, sosyo-kültürel ve politik eleştirilerine kadar çok geniş bir çeşitlilikte uzanan yazılarından oluşuyor. Böylesine farklı türlerde ve yapılardaki öykülerin - ya da daha doğru haliyle belki de anlatı- en belirgin özelliği ise akışları. Birbirinden çok farklı zaman ya da yapılarda olmalarına rağmen hem hikaye kendi içinde, hem de kitabın uyumunda çok doğal bir seyirle ilerliyorlar. Okurken anlatının türü değişse bile yazarın sesi hep aynı geliyor ve seçkideki hiçbir yazı için “bu olmasaydı da olurdu” diyemiyorsunuz. Kitabın en güzel yönlerinden birisi bence buydu. SSCB’nin çöküşünden önce ya da sonrasında dışarıdan gelen baskıları da aileye dair nostaljik çağrışımları da Avrupa seyahatlerini de ya da Amerikan akademik dünyasında var olmasını da aynı kitabın içinde birleştirebiliyor. Kimi zaman da Kare’de olduğu gibi denemeleriyle de aynı kitapta karşılaşabiliyorsunuz. Bütün bunları bir arada okutan ise Tatyana Tolstaya’nın kurgu ile gerçek arasında bir sınırda gezinen ve bunu yazının katmanlarına yansıtan tarzı bence. Öykülerinde gerçekliği büken, rüyada gibi hissetmenize sebep olan mistik ya da masalsı bir yön var. Ancak diğer yandan aynı öykülerde; zaman zaman geçici bir körlüğün içinden - korneasında açılan bir kesi ve o kesinin ardından çıkan- yeni dünyaların kat kat ortaya çıkması, eski bir daçanın ya da Beyaz Saray’ın fayanslarında ve duvar kağıtlarındaki katmanların altında saklı kalan geçmiş ya da Sovyet sistemindeki binaların içinde doğru eve ulaşmak için katedilen, katman katman aşılan yollar- labirentler altına saklanmış bir gerçek var. Anlatıların tamamında bu yakın geçmişe ve gerçekliğe karşı yaşanan kısmi-geçici körlük ya da üstünü kapatıp unutma haline dair ince bir atıf,”bakın aslında dünya böyleydi, hatırlayın” deme hali var ve bunu çok etkileyici bir dil-anlatımla birlikte yapıyor. O yüzden de politik ya da ulusal kimlik üzerinden yaptığı eleştirileri, “alıyorum” dediğinizde veren bir pencerenin öyküsüyle bir arada, yadırgamadan okuyabiliyorsunuz. Bence kendisinin tek bir handikapı var o da Lev Tolstoy ile olan akrabalığı. Yazılarında Rus edebiyat tarihinin temel taşının klasikliğini aramayı bırakıp, kendinizi Tatyana Tolstoya’nın -kendisine göre az ölçüde de olsa miras aldığı- hayal gücünün akışına bırakırsanız çok seveceğiniz bir yazar ile tanışacaksınız.
October 18, 2018
National Book Award Longlist for Translated Literature 2018. I enjoyed Tolstaya’s caustic sense of humor that is often on display in this short story collection. I also loved her ‘Russianness’ whether it is making aspic for New Year’s Eve (‘Aspic’) despite the fact that no one likes it, just because it is ‘tradition’; or recounting her summers at her family’s dacha (‘The Invisible Maiden’).
Tolstaya’s imagination often takes flight—creating whole cloth scenarios from just observing a young man across the student cafeteria (‘Smoke and Shadows’). This is not a cheerful story either—“I just want to sit in a dark room full of vile and bitter people so I can turn my heart into ice. Because life is but smoke and shadows.”
Her stories of the travails of home ownership are quite poignant. In ‘Aetherial Worlds’ she has purchased a fixer-upper in New Jersey that she purchases because of one ‘magical’ room that overlooks the yard, but lacks a patio—“And so this absurd, wonderful addition, this airy, translucent box promising entry into an aetherial world, was stuck in our terrestrial one, weighty and stifling.”
In ‘Doors and Demons’, Tolstaya experiences the frustrations that can happen while traveling. The Metro train breaks down in Paris, and she needs to exit the station. But, the ticket won’t let herself AND her luggage through as it thinks she is two people. After that is resolved, she has a bad taxi experience, followed by her hotel room being double booked. “When your demon is in charge, do not try to think consciously. Drift, wait, and obey.”
The author is fascinated by bizarre personalities like Saparmurat Turkmenbashi who became the leader of Turkmenistan after the Soviet Union split up. Among other absurdities, he declared infectious diseases to be illegal and forbid them to be even mentioned (‘Official Nationality’). And then there is the unusual story of Emanuel Swedenborg, who was Karl XII’s advisor in the mid-1700s. He declared that he had seen the Day of Judgment and the Second Coming. Was he ridiculed for such pronouncements? No—he was adored by the nobility and the Swedish king (‘Swedenborg’). I had not heard of either of these men and ‘googled’ them to make sure that they really existed. Yup!
Tolstaya’s stories are sure to entertain. Recommend.
Tolstaya’s imagination often takes flight—creating whole cloth scenarios from just observing a young man across the student cafeteria (‘Smoke and Shadows’). This is not a cheerful story either—“I just want to sit in a dark room full of vile and bitter people so I can turn my heart into ice. Because life is but smoke and shadows.”
Her stories of the travails of home ownership are quite poignant. In ‘Aetherial Worlds’ she has purchased a fixer-upper in New Jersey that she purchases because of one ‘magical’ room that overlooks the yard, but lacks a patio—“And so this absurd, wonderful addition, this airy, translucent box promising entry into an aetherial world, was stuck in our terrestrial one, weighty and stifling.”
In ‘Doors and Demons’, Tolstaya experiences the frustrations that can happen while traveling. The Metro train breaks down in Paris, and she needs to exit the station. But, the ticket won’t let herself AND her luggage through as it thinks she is two people. After that is resolved, she has a bad taxi experience, followed by her hotel room being double booked. “When your demon is in charge, do not try to think consciously. Drift, wait, and obey.”
The author is fascinated by bizarre personalities like Saparmurat Turkmenbashi who became the leader of Turkmenistan after the Soviet Union split up. Among other absurdities, he declared infectious diseases to be illegal and forbid them to be even mentioned (‘Official Nationality’). And then there is the unusual story of Emanuel Swedenborg, who was Karl XII’s advisor in the mid-1700s. He declared that he had seen the Day of Judgment and the Second Coming. Was he ridiculed for such pronouncements? No—he was adored by the nobility and the Swedish king (‘Swedenborg’). I had not heard of either of these men and ‘googled’ them to make sure that they really existed. Yup!
Tolstaya’s stories are sure to entertain. Recommend.
January 15, 2019
4.5 stars
I really didn't want this to end. I had to force myself to finish this because I just wanted to spend the rest of my reading life following in the footsteps of Tatyana Tolstaya, watching her travel, move homes, teach classes, reminisce, fall in and out of love, and, occasionally, spin a story. This book is a miscellany-an essay here, a personal reminiscence there, a travelogue, and, once in a while, a bit of fiction that sweeps you off your feet with its beauty, its strangeness, or its mordant sense of humour. Despite the fact that this is somewhat of a grab bag, the book as a whole has a nice sense of structure, an arch, and even closure as Tolstaya ends as she began with meditations on her family, particularly her late father, to whom the book is dedicated.
Beautifully written, sensitively translated, and deeply engrossing, this book captures the personality of a remarkable woman in her many facets. If you've ever read anything else by Tolstaya and liked it, I urge you to read this. You won't regret it.
I really didn't want this to end. I had to force myself to finish this because I just wanted to spend the rest of my reading life following in the footsteps of Tatyana Tolstaya, watching her travel, move homes, teach classes, reminisce, fall in and out of love, and, occasionally, spin a story. This book is a miscellany-an essay here, a personal reminiscence there, a travelogue, and, once in a while, a bit of fiction that sweeps you off your feet with its beauty, its strangeness, or its mordant sense of humour. Despite the fact that this is somewhat of a grab bag, the book as a whole has a nice sense of structure, an arch, and even closure as Tolstaya ends as she began with meditations on her family, particularly her late father, to whom the book is dedicated.
Beautifully written, sensitively translated, and deeply engrossing, this book captures the personality of a remarkable woman in her many facets. If you've ever read anything else by Tolstaya and liked it, I urge you to read this. You won't regret it.
July 15, 2021
Çok samimi bir dili var Tolstaya’nın. Bazen güldürüyor, bazen hayatın gerçeklerini insanın yüzüne vuruyor. Genel olarak öykülerin temaları şunlar tarzı bir şey söylemek zor bence. Sanki bir öykü günlüğü tutmuş gibi, kaleminden süzülmüş aklından geçenler. Severek okudum, öykücüler kaçırmasın.
Çeviri de çok iyi. Yılın çevirisine aday olabilir.
Çeviri de çok iyi. Yılın çevirisine aday olabilir.
March 12, 2018
via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
'They passed on, their personal suns went out, and there was no one left to speak of them, to think of them and to tell their stories, to laugh and shake one’s head while remembering.'
I loved each of these stories, from tales about art, love and loss, politics and war, childhood and aspic, there wasn’t one story that didn’t captivate me. How does a man falling in love with a marble statue lead to losing his wife and children? Is a gypsy to be believed when she tells a woman every man who loves her will die? How does a life go on with the sad order of ‘vitamin drops in the eyes’ and ‘big stiff pillows in her bed’, as if love just flew out the window?
The artist Kazimir Malevich in The Square makes quite a name for himself after painting a thick black square the ‘most famous, most frightening, enigmatic painting known to man’. The author ties an experience Leo Tolstoy had years before that to the meaning behind the painting. The dissection that follows is engaging, death meets life, and expresses itself through art, a sort of terror facing us all.
Aspic reminded me of the horror facing me in the refrigerator when I was 4 years old. In Hungary they call it kocsonya, a pork broth that is jellied, cold after setting in the fridge in which is suspended pig knuckles, rinds, and ears. It’s more of an entire meal for us and nothing in the world could get me to have another bite when I was little. As an adult, my palate craves the foods my family made but that niggling fear from childhood always rises. I laughed when she wrote, “Truth be told, I’ve always been a little afraid of it, since childhood.” Because it can be intimidating. I am reminded of my childhood friends staring at some of our other dishes while at my house, curious, afraid (even if it was just chicken paprikash because so many american children hated vegetables, and who ate cooked peppers floating in gravy in the 80’s). We always ended up throwing a burger or hotdog on for said friend. That fear always came alive in me in the face of kocsonya, much to the shame of my grandparents.
In Smoke and Shadows, it feels like an affair against her desires. How can she possibly be in love with Eric, this man who is so very limited and yet she is. She sits down and eats the meal his wife prepared, imaging hatred in the woman’s heart. It could be the exoticism he projects on her Russian background that has him enraptured. But what is it about him that has made her love for him obsessive. She sinks into a fantasy about his wife, that witch Emma.
The Invisible Maiden was my favorite, with one of the best lines I’ve read in years. “Growing in it were yellow lilies that smelled like mermaids.” What a beautiful sentence, lilies that smell like mermaids, how perfect. The family arrives at the dacha, and prepares it for their stay. It’s atmospheric, I fancied myself alongside them all, inhaling the smell of fried potatoes, cozy in the warmth. Who knew kombucha could be a pet, this before kombucha became all the rage with Americans aspiring to be healthy. Each character is a creation, alive as you and me. Curly, the ‘imbecile’ who built the dacha, and how he came by the moniker tickled me. The grannies, oh the wonderful grannies Aunty Lola and Klavdia Alekseevna and their sad, beautiful habits. This chapter would make a wonderful novel, dare I hope? I wanted to get lost in this family and remain.
The stories are full of humor, wit and intelligence whether about love, death, politics or tradition each is engaging and invoked memories of my own childhood. I could be laughing about her cynical take on life or feeling gutted over a disappearing , an old woman simply left with nothing and hoping to fade quietly. Tales from the Russian perspective, wonderful! I understand why Tatyana Tolstaya is a celebrated author.
Publication Date: March 20, 2018
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
'They passed on, their personal suns went out, and there was no one left to speak of them, to think of them and to tell their stories, to laugh and shake one’s head while remembering.'
I loved each of these stories, from tales about art, love and loss, politics and war, childhood and aspic, there wasn’t one story that didn’t captivate me. How does a man falling in love with a marble statue lead to losing his wife and children? Is a gypsy to be believed when she tells a woman every man who loves her will die? How does a life go on with the sad order of ‘vitamin drops in the eyes’ and ‘big stiff pillows in her bed’, as if love just flew out the window?
The artist Kazimir Malevich in The Square makes quite a name for himself after painting a thick black square the ‘most famous, most frightening, enigmatic painting known to man’. The author ties an experience Leo Tolstoy had years before that to the meaning behind the painting. The dissection that follows is engaging, death meets life, and expresses itself through art, a sort of terror facing us all.
Aspic reminded me of the horror facing me in the refrigerator when I was 4 years old. In Hungary they call it kocsonya, a pork broth that is jellied, cold after setting in the fridge in which is suspended pig knuckles, rinds, and ears. It’s more of an entire meal for us and nothing in the world could get me to have another bite when I was little. As an adult, my palate craves the foods my family made but that niggling fear from childhood always rises. I laughed when she wrote, “Truth be told, I’ve always been a little afraid of it, since childhood.” Because it can be intimidating. I am reminded of my childhood friends staring at some of our other dishes while at my house, curious, afraid (even if it was just chicken paprikash because so many american children hated vegetables, and who ate cooked peppers floating in gravy in the 80’s). We always ended up throwing a burger or hotdog on for said friend. That fear always came alive in me in the face of kocsonya, much to the shame of my grandparents.
In Smoke and Shadows, it feels like an affair against her desires. How can she possibly be in love with Eric, this man who is so very limited and yet she is. She sits down and eats the meal his wife prepared, imaging hatred in the woman’s heart. It could be the exoticism he projects on her Russian background that has him enraptured. But what is it about him that has made her love for him obsessive. She sinks into a fantasy about his wife, that witch Emma.
The Invisible Maiden was my favorite, with one of the best lines I’ve read in years. “Growing in it were yellow lilies that smelled like mermaids.” What a beautiful sentence, lilies that smell like mermaids, how perfect. The family arrives at the dacha, and prepares it for their stay. It’s atmospheric, I fancied myself alongside them all, inhaling the smell of fried potatoes, cozy in the warmth. Who knew kombucha could be a pet, this before kombucha became all the rage with Americans aspiring to be healthy. Each character is a creation, alive as you and me. Curly, the ‘imbecile’ who built the dacha, and how he came by the moniker tickled me. The grannies, oh the wonderful grannies Aunty Lola and Klavdia Alekseevna and their sad, beautiful habits. This chapter would make a wonderful novel, dare I hope? I wanted to get lost in this family and remain.
The stories are full of humor, wit and intelligence whether about love, death, politics or tradition each is engaging and invoked memories of my own childhood. I could be laughing about her cynical take on life or feeling gutted over a disappearing , an old woman simply left with nothing and hoping to fade quietly. Tales from the Russian perspective, wonderful! I understand why Tatyana Tolstaya is a celebrated author.
Publication Date: March 20, 2018
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
November 6, 2023
Tatyana Tolstaya, birbirinden farklı zamanlarda farklı ülkelerde geçen; bazen otobiyografik bazen de kurgu olan, kimi uzun kimi kısa bir sürü güzel hikaye (anlatı demeli belki de bilmiyorum) anlatıyor Öte Dünyalar’da. Anlatılanların skalası o kadar geniş ki bir tablo, bir ev, bir seyahat anlatının merkezinde yer alırken; bazen zamanın bazen de mekanın kendisi öne çıkıyor. Yazarın hayatına dair belli belirsiz ipuçları başka türlü bir bağ kursa da sonraki hikayede iş bambaşka yerlere gidebiliyor. Bu kadar alakasız görünen şeyi öyle ya da böyle bir bütünlük hissi yaratacak şekilde anlatmak kesinlikle bir yazarlık başarısı. Yazar bunu o kadar iyi şekilde yapıyor ki bir okuduğum kadar daha olsa hiç sıkılmadım seve seve okurdum. Kitaba adını veren “Öte Dünyalar” öyküsü ise tüm hikayeler içerisindeki favorim oldu.
August 30, 2024
eline geçen hiçbir şeyi atmayan yaşlı bir kadının evine girmişim de saatlerce ne var ne yok incelerken içim geçmiş ve rüya görmüşüm gibi bir kitap.
January 2, 2020
Tatyana Tolstaya, a Russian writer, had two of her stories from her collection Aetherial Worlds: Stories in a free online post titled "Two Stories" on Literary Hub on April 5, 2018. I enjoyed her work and would like to read more in the future. I'm including my thoughts about the two online stories.
https://lithub.com/two-stories/
"Aspic" is a story that is set on New Year's Eve. The ritual of preparing the gelatinous aspic is described in detail. "It's a yearly sacrifice, though we don't know to whom or for what." The narrator is unhappy, and is not in a celebratory state of mind. Her true feelings come out when she is alone.
Her second story "20/20" tells about her grandfather, the science fiction writer Aleksey Tolstoy. He couldn't concentrate on engineering school because images and stories filled his mind. Tolstaya did not become a writer until age 32 when she had eye surgery. As she recovered for months in complete darkness, she found that words and plotlines filled her head. ". . . It turned out to be a multifaceted underside of so-called reality, a dungeon full of treasure, an aetherial world through the looking glass. . ." Tolstaya wrote her first story soon after her eyes healed.
https://lithub.com/two-stories/
"Aspic" is a story that is set on New Year's Eve. The ritual of preparing the gelatinous aspic is described in detail. "It's a yearly sacrifice, though we don't know to whom or for what." The narrator is unhappy, and is not in a celebratory state of mind. Her true feelings come out when she is alone.
Her second story "20/20" tells about her grandfather, the science fiction writer Aleksey Tolstoy. He couldn't concentrate on engineering school because images and stories filled his mind. Tolstaya did not become a writer until age 32 when she had eye surgery. As she recovered for months in complete darkness, she found that words and plotlines filled her head. ". . . It turned out to be a multifaceted underside of so-called reality, a dungeon full of treasure, an aetherial world through the looking glass. . ." Tolstaya wrote her first story soon after her eyes healed.
December 20, 2020
This wasn't really for me. I enjoyed some of the stories, but only a few really stayed with me.
September 10, 2014
Есть такая народная мудрость: можно вывезти девушку из деревни, но вот вывести деревню из девушки получается далеко не всегда... Это про Татьяну Н. Толстую и совок, без которого она жить просто не может, и который неизменно подпитывает её творческую и прочую общественную активность.
Собственно, о чём это я? Ах да, о рассказиках... Ну да, слог неплохой. Занимательно местами. Думаю, что Татьяне Н.Толстой классно было бы стать ресторанным критиком. О кулинарных блюдах, всяких неодушевлённых финтифлюшках, и штуках абстрактных (вроде вольного пересказа биографии и идей Сведенборга) пишет она вполне увлекательно. Отменный ресторанный критик бы получился!
Но как только Татьяна Н.Толстая пишет о людях, и об отношениях между ними (особенно об общественных), то тут же получается какая-то галерея уродов и уродцев :(. Местами, конечно, присутствуют в тексте какие-то идеализированные и мифические первопредки, но на их фоне уроды только реальнее и страшнее.
Если бы этот бестиарий был бы хоть как-то локализован... Но в данном массиве текстов он принимает поистине вселенский характер - и внизу, и вверху; и в России, и в Америке; и в быту, и в мозгах; и ныне, и присно, и во веки веков. После осознания этого как-то расслабляешься, и понимаешь, что всё написанное имеет мало отношения к реальности, и находится исключительно в воспламенённом сознании автора. Вот только жить в этой иллюзии почему-то не хочется (IMHO).
...а книга неплохая. Байки занятные. Иронии и сарказма хватает. Слог и стиль присутствуют. Много злости - радостной такой, задорной. Но умной, и бьющей точно в цель. (Думаю, никому не захочется быть такой целью). Много бытовых мимишечек (женщинам-читателям понравится). Много ещё всякого есть... Матерные словечки и солёные огурцы (перебор и с тем, и с другим, но как же без них?!).
А знаете, чего в книге нет? Любви. Есть кое-то про любовь, а вот самой любви - нет :(
/И, как верно подметила та барышня у Фёдор Михалыча: "У вас нежности нет: одна правда, стало быть - несправедливо..."/.
Утомила меня эта книга. Морально утомила...
Собственно, о чём это я? Ах да, о рассказиках... Ну да, слог неплохой. Занимательно местами. Думаю, что Татьяне Н.Толстой классно было бы стать ресторанным критиком. О кулинарных блюдах, всяких неодушевлённых финтифлюшках, и штуках абстрактных (вроде вольного пересказа биографии и идей Сведенборга) пишет она вполне увлекательно. Отменный ресторанный критик бы получился!
Но как только Татьяна Н.Толстая пишет о людях, и об отношениях между ними (особенно об общественных), то тут же получается какая-то галерея уродов и уродцев :(. Местами, конечно, присутствуют в тексте какие-то идеализированные и мифические первопредки, но на их фоне уроды только реальнее и страшнее.
Если бы этот бестиарий был бы хоть как-то локализован... Но в данном массиве текстов он принимает поистине вселенский характер - и внизу, и вверху; и в России, и в Америке; и в быту, и в мозгах; и ныне, и присно, и во веки веков. После осознания этого как-то расслабляешься, и понимаешь, что всё написанное имеет мало отношения к реальности, и находится исключительно в воспламенённом сознании автора. Вот только жить в этой иллюзии почему-то не хочется (IMHO).
...а книга неплохая. Байки занятные. Иронии и сарказма хватает. Слог и стиль присутствуют. Много злости - радостной такой, задорной. Но умной, и бьющей точно в цель. (Думаю, никому не захочется быть такой целью). Много бытовых мимишечек (женщинам-читателям понравится). Много ещё всякого есть... Матерные словечки и солёные огурцы (перебор и с тем, и с другим, но как же без них?!).
А знаете, чего в книге нет? Любви. Есть кое-то про любовь, а вот самой любви - нет :(
/И, как верно подметила та барышня у Фёдор Михалыча: "У вас нежности нет: одна правда, стало быть - несправедливо..."/.
Утомила меня эта книга. Морально утомила...
May 30, 2021
Aetherial Worlds: Stories - Tatyana Tolstaya
3،5/5
مجموعة قصصية طويلة ومتفاوتة الجودة والمحتوى وإن كان يجمع بينها بساطة الأحداث وأنها كلها حول الذكريات والصور والرحلات العائلية والقصص القديمة والحنين ..
ويُضفي قلم تاتيانا تولستايا مذاقًا مختلفًا ومميزًاعلى كل هذه الأحداث البسيطة .
3،5/5
مجموعة قصصية طويلة ومتفاوتة الجودة والمحتوى وإن كان يجمع بينها بساطة الأحداث وأنها كلها حول الذكريات والصور والرحلات العائلية والقصص القديمة والحنين ..
ويُضفي قلم تاتيانا تولستايا مذاقًا مختلفًا ومميزًاعلى كل هذه الأحداث البسيطة .
October 18, 2018
Aetherial Worlds: Stories by Tatyana Tolstaya, beautifully translated from the Russian by Anya Migdal, is a collection of 18 short stories that skilfully cover an array of different topics such as love, loneliness, loss, travel, art, literature, the writing process, and identity, both individual and cultural.
The stories that stuck out to me the most were the auto-fiction and essayistic pieces dealing with questions of identity and the range of conflicting emotions that come with being an expatriate. Since the author has spent long periods of time travelling and living in other countries, I assume that she drew inspiration for some of the stories, such as Smoke and Shadows and Aetherial Worlds, from her own experiences. Her insightful observations on Russian identity, compared to other nationalities, were particularly amusing to read because Tolstaya has such a delightfully biting sense of humour. I just adore this type of writing that manages to be in equal parts lyrical, thought-provoking, and sarcastic.
In one of the stand-out stories, Official Nationalities, the author reflects on the three defining features of Russian people, one of them being the concept of "Let's hope.":
This "Let's hope" is a built-in denial of causality, it's a lack of belief in the material nature of our universe and its physical laws. Remember this and carve it in stone.
"We should attach this part with screws, otherwise it might fall off along the way."
"Ah, let's hope it doesn't."
In a similar way, Faraway Lands offers an interesting meditation on the behavioural differences between a Russian and a (Western) European man via the classic concept of "the drinking man:
European literature, cinema, and anecdotal observations all paint the same picture: a lonely, middle-aged man, drinking alone but with dignity [...]. He is contemplating his loneliness, we surmise, the meaninglessness of existence, the impossibility of emotional attachment, and the passing of the more-or-less good ol' days. [...] Meanwhile - as you rightly know - a Russian man who is lonely and sad in a bar is unimaginable. Upon entering any establishment for the purpose of drinking, he immediately seeks out company, instantly infiltrates it, and, without delay, forges a quick, if shaky and dangerous, friendship while stepping on everyone's toes and violating personal boundaries that his drinking buddies didn't even suspect existed.
The characters in many of these stories seem to be longing for some kind of escape and seeking a special, magical place or, as the title suggests, aetherial world, which exists somewhere in their peripheral vision, and might be perceived, if only they looked closer and inwardly, without getting distracted by other things. Interestingly, this concept of an aetherial world appears in the collection in different forms. In the title story, Aetherial Worlds, it refers to an unfinished patio overlooking lush gardens, while in another story, 20/20, the aetherial world is described as a kind of nowhere place:
It's the most important place in the world — nowhere. Everyone should spend time there. It's scary, empty, and cold; it's sad beyond all bearing; it's where all human communication is lost, where all your sins, all your shortcomings, all lies and half-truths and double-dealings emerge from the dusk to look you in the eye with neither disapproval nor empathy, but simply and matter-of-factly.
One of my favourite stories in the collection was The Square which is a fascinating reflection on the famous painting The Black Square by Kazimir Malevich. It discusses the significance of this iconic painting in the context of art history and the development of modern art by defining the fundamental differences between "pre-Square" and "post-Square" artists.
This collection was my first read by this author, and I think it served as a great introduction to her writing. As with most short story collection, I enjoyed some stories more than others, but, overall, I highly recommend this collection and look forward to exploring more of her work in the future.
May 28, 2021
Tolstaya writes in dreams, it's not often that a writer can alternate writing in a light, carefree style but also in a heavier style. This collection features 18 stories, mostly told in the first person in the form of reminiscences and occasionally dreamlike or fantasy. In a mix of fiction and nonfiction, Tolstaya writes the most divine short stories that sublime the mundane. Reading this I suddenly found myself inhabiting the mind of her characters. Her attention to detail is commendable, it's very cinematic.
It is not action-driven fiction, most of her stories don't even have a proper beginning or ending, but if you like dreamlike work, this is the book you'll probably cherish. Reading it is an experience, and lets me into the mind to glimpse the Russian psyche in ways that reading history can't. She mixes, history with fantasy and the result is mind-blowing.
There’s a wonder, a melancholy, and a razor to all of these stories, even the most mundane has an abstract feel, that tastes distinctly Russian to me. I loved them and will be seeking out more of her work.
Highly Recommended, if you like beautiful prose and cinematic writing. Go for it.
Happy Reading.
It is not action-driven fiction, most of her stories don't even have a proper beginning or ending, but if you like dreamlike work, this is the book you'll probably cherish. Reading it is an experience, and lets me into the mind to glimpse the Russian psyche in ways that reading history can't. She mixes, history with fantasy and the result is mind-blowing.
There’s a wonder, a melancholy, and a razor to all of these stories, even the most mundane has an abstract feel, that tastes distinctly Russian to me. I loved them and will be seeking out more of her work.
Highly Recommended, if you like beautiful prose and cinematic writing. Go for it.
Happy Reading.
March 19, 2018
Wow. I had high hopes for this one after I cleared the first couple stories which were quick and weird and somewhat accessible. However, I hit a wall when trying to get through the first lengthy story. I was completely turned off and started skimming, waiting for some type of action or relevance to jump off the page. Instead, tedium set in and I found myself wondering why I was even pushing on. It seemed like the label of stories (both short and long) were a mere guise for the author to write semi-autobiographical tales of her family and dealings with living as a Russian ex-pat in America. Although initially interesting to get the POV of such an intellectual living abroad, the writing was WAY too masturbatory to make me feel like I didn't waste my time here. I wondered if the author had gone ahead and written a memoir if that would have made the writing more appealing to an average reader.
I'm so appreciative of *Net Galley* for approving me to read an advance copy of this book.
I'm so appreciative of *Net Galley* for approving me to read an advance copy of this book.
February 16, 2022
Tolstaya’nın kendine özgü, etkileyici ve akıcı bir dili var. Bu kitabı okumak müthiş keyifli oldu benim için. Özellikle, Duman ve Gölgeler, Öte Dünyalar, Pencere ve Üçleme muazzam öykülerdi. Tolstaya, her bir öyküsüyle, ruhani veya coğrafi anlamda öte dünyaların kapılarını aralıyor.
December 16, 2018
4.5 stars. Loved this collection of short stories and essays, so very Russian in tone, with a pitch-dark sense of humour and startling images.
November 22, 2021
De citit în tihnă, câte puțin, câteva pagini în fiecare seară, ca să nu se termine prea curând!
May 9, 2018
Los escritores rusos tienen la particularidad de asumir el mundo desde el drama, pero a la vez de crear una visión del sufrimiento exaltada de una rara belleza. Por supuesto, la combinación crea una percepción sobre el mundo a mitad de camino entre la melancolía, el fatalismo y la dulzura que otorga una breve consistencia al acto de sufrir como anécdota y a la emoción como identidad que se manifiesta a través de lo cotidiano. Tal vez por ese motivo Pushkin parece ser parte de cierto paisaje sobre lo nostálgico en cualquier lugar del mundo, de la misma manera que Mijaíl Lérmontov recuerda la ternura allá en donde sea que la poesía dolorosa y trágica sobre el sufrimiento del duelo. La literatura rusa se convierte entonces en emblema de cierta emotividad tumultuosa, extraordinaria, rica en matices.
La escritora Tatyana Tolstaya lleva el peso de lo ruso de una manera particularmente notoria: no solo es rusa de nacimiento, sino que además es la nieta del novelista de la era soviética Aleksei Tolstoy, quien a su vez es un pariente en tercer grado de ese monstruo de la literatura como lo es León Tolstói. Entre una cosa y otra, Tatyana Tolstaya parecía destinada desde su primera juventud a escribir, pero en realidad nada es tan sencillo, a pesar de la estirpe a cuestas y sobre todo la posibilidad de esa percepción literaria tan asimilada que lleva a todas partes en una especie de selección cultural obvia sobre el bien y el mal. Porque Tatyana Tolstaya escribe y lo hace bien, pero además toma el maniqueísmo ruso y lo lleva a un nivel contemporáneo que resulta refrescante y por momentos confusos. Imaginativa, extravagante y extraña, Tolstaya creció convencida de que se tropezaría con las letras antes o después, aunque lo suyo fue más una historia tragicómica más cercana a las pequeñas epopeyas rusas tan conocidas en la historia del país que a otra cosa. Por eso, el primer cuento de su colección 20/20 cuenta en tono casi humorístico (aunque en realidad no lo es) cómo la imaginación heredada de la línea directa familiar echó por la borda su deseo de dedicarse a la ingeniería. Pero para la escritora el tema va mucho más allá. El poder de escribir —o como lo define en uno de sus cuentos «la segunda mirada a un nuevo mundo»— es un recorrido de inusual consistencia a través de una dimensión de particular intensidad de la realidad. Luego de una cirugía ocular, Tatyana Tolstaya descubrió que había un poder particular en la oscuridad de la ceguera momentánea. De pronto, su mente se llenó de una inusual concepción sobre la historia —las historias— a su alrededor y comprendió que había un propósito eminente en la ansiedad por narrar la percepción del absurdo que de pronto lo llenaba todo: «Mientras tanto, descubrí que el segundo mundo, habiéndome aparecido primero en la oscuridad, había llegado para quedarse; resultó ser una parte inferior multifacética de la llamada realidad, una mazmorra llena de tesoros, un mundo etéreo a través del espejo, una misteriosa caja con las coordenadas exactas de quienes nunca existieron».
Para la escritora se trató de toda una celebración: a sus raíces, a su herencia genética («escribo por el mero hecho que no podía hacer otra cosa» llega a decir, casi con inocencia) o al hecho deque la literatura formaba parte de su vida incluso antes de saberlo. Tatyana Tolstaya es una escritora prolífica que escribe con enorme satisfacción y que paladea las palabras con un notorio placer que transforman sus relatos en algo asombrosamente vivo. Desde su novela de culto The Slynx —esa apoteósica distopía en la que Rusia se transforma en un monstruo regurgitador de voluntad e incluso de la vida de sus habitantes— hasta sus cuentos, mucho más meditados y elegantes, Tatyana Tolstaya está convencida que la prosa es un reducto, más que un refugio. Que es una frontera, más que una búsqueda. La mezcla de todo lo anterior elabora una idea fecunda en su más reciente recopilación de relatos: Aetherial Worlds Stories, que llega a las estanterías con el peso formal y estético de una mirada al olvido, a la incertidumbre, al presente y al pasado. Aetherial Worlds Stories no es solo una colección de cuentos sino también una evolución dentro de una narrativa profundamente elocuente, concisa y poderosa. Tolstaya es una magnífica narradora y una observadora sagaz que desmenuza la realidad en pequeños fragmentos de miedo creados, elaborados y sostenidos por el poder de reconstruir el mundo en pequeños fragmentos de recuerdos y sucesos íntimos.
Las historias en Aetherial Worlds Stories son de índole muy privada, pero por extraño que parezca, no exclusivamente autobiográfica. Su escritura parece construirse a través de un binomio formal que impide definir sus relatos de manera sencilla, de modo que el lector se ve en medio de la disyuntiva de comprender lo que lee como una narración casi poética entremezclada con un franqueza periodística que resulta por momentos desconcertantes. Pero lo mejor de Tolstaya es cuando crea un híbrido entre ambas vertientes y avanza con firmeza para narrar con cierta premura lo que le atañe a una mirada inquieta sobre lo doloroso y lo bello, como su asombrosa descripción del escritor soviético Andrei Platonov: «Tal vez así es como escribiría una bestia mítica si asumiera la forma humana: alguna criatura nocturna que escucha con sus piernas, ve con los ojos cerrados, y puede oler a una criatura del sexo opuesto a una docena de millas de distancia». De pronto, Platonov se hace mítico, se hace monstruoso, una criatura fabulada que Tolstaya lleva a una estatura colosal. Para la escritora nada parece suficiente y en sus relatos avanza para contar todo tipo de situaciones: desde puestas de sol de asombrosa belleza hasta consideraciones del artista suprematista Kazimir Malevich y el excéntrico pensador religioso sueco Emanuel Swedenborg. Todo envuelto en la elegante circunstancia de una búsqueda de significado, una percepción sobre el mundo enorme y brillante y al final, un temor elocuente sobre la pérdida, desdibujada por la esperanza de arte por el arte como tenor de la esperanza. Hay tantos elementos distintos en los relatos de Tolstaya que tal pareciera que la escritora está contando un universo paralelo en clave de elaborada percepción del absurdo y el peso de la vida y de la muerte. Como si eso no fuera suficiente, la escritora también incluye su herencia familiar como un contexto y telón de fondo poderoso que sostiene alguno de sus mejores relatos. En su cuento «Horror de Arzamas», Tolstaya narra una crisis existencial de Lev Tolstoy que el gran autor contó en sus diarios y llevó a la categoría de acto mítico. Hay algo casi religioso en la genuina angustia del personaje histórico, reconvertido en literario, que Tolstaya lleva a otro nivel en una narración casi fortuita sobre grandes y violentos dolores espirituales: «Dejó que su vida se fuera de él antes de su muerte física, asombrando al mundo no con el arte de sus obras posteriores, sino con la magnitud de su genuina angustia, su protesta individual y la autoflagelación pública en una escala hasta ahora sin precedentes». Para la escritora, lo histórico evade explicación, la imaginación crea una nueva búsqueda de identidad. La mezcla de ambas cosas construye una percepción idónea sobre el tiempo y los dolores persistentes que Tolstaya medita con enorme buen pulso y complejidad.
Magistrales, variopintas y duras, las historias de Tolstaya rechazan cualquier definición: tanto así que la lectura de sus relatos termina en medio de una leve y magnífica confusión. Una experiencia profunda, sorprendente y siempre desconcertante, la prosa de Tolstaya crea una tensión tal que cada cuento es el génesis mismo de una novela que parece enlazarse entre sí hasta crear un motor de belleza analítica. Nada parece ser ajeno para Tolstaya, quien mira la realidad, el mundo y sus subterfugios a través de elementos primarios y volubles que analizan el borde de lo marginal de la historia,para crear algo parecido a un meta dimensión de lo racional. Tolstaya construye una realidad a su medida (y con cuánto gusto y elegancia), pero también toma importantes decisiones sobre su prosa como elemento único: los ensayos que se mezclan con narraciones en estado puro convierten a los primeros relatos y textos en una búsqueda de identidad. Luego, su evidente corazón ruso elabora percepciones sobre el dolor y la tragedia llena de delicadeza, como en el relato «La doncella invisible» (sobre los recuerdos de una dacha)o la exquisita historia que narra con ojo crítico en «Una joven dama en flor», que recuerda una temporada entregando telegramas como estudiante. Fantasía y hechos que se transmutan en una idea espléndida sobre el tiempo, la versión de la realidad que Tolstaya crea a su medida y sobre todo esa lírica visión sobre la melancolía, el agotamiento privado y la dulzura espiritual que Tolstaya transforma en una joya literaria inolvidable. Una mirada al olvido de enorme valor argumental.
La escritora Tatyana Tolstaya lleva el peso de lo ruso de una manera particularmente notoria: no solo es rusa de nacimiento, sino que además es la nieta del novelista de la era soviética Aleksei Tolstoy, quien a su vez es un pariente en tercer grado de ese monstruo de la literatura como lo es León Tolstói. Entre una cosa y otra, Tatyana Tolstaya parecía destinada desde su primera juventud a escribir, pero en realidad nada es tan sencillo, a pesar de la estirpe a cuestas y sobre todo la posibilidad de esa percepción literaria tan asimilada que lleva a todas partes en una especie de selección cultural obvia sobre el bien y el mal. Porque Tatyana Tolstaya escribe y lo hace bien, pero además toma el maniqueísmo ruso y lo lleva a un nivel contemporáneo que resulta refrescante y por momentos confusos. Imaginativa, extravagante y extraña, Tolstaya creció convencida de que se tropezaría con las letras antes o después, aunque lo suyo fue más una historia tragicómica más cercana a las pequeñas epopeyas rusas tan conocidas en la historia del país que a otra cosa. Por eso, el primer cuento de su colección 20/20 cuenta en tono casi humorístico (aunque en realidad no lo es) cómo la imaginación heredada de la línea directa familiar echó por la borda su deseo de dedicarse a la ingeniería. Pero para la escritora el tema va mucho más allá. El poder de escribir —o como lo define en uno de sus cuentos «la segunda mirada a un nuevo mundo»— es un recorrido de inusual consistencia a través de una dimensión de particular intensidad de la realidad. Luego de una cirugía ocular, Tatyana Tolstaya descubrió que había un poder particular en la oscuridad de la ceguera momentánea. De pronto, su mente se llenó de una inusual concepción sobre la historia —las historias— a su alrededor y comprendió que había un propósito eminente en la ansiedad por narrar la percepción del absurdo que de pronto lo llenaba todo: «Mientras tanto, descubrí que el segundo mundo, habiéndome aparecido primero en la oscuridad, había llegado para quedarse; resultó ser una parte inferior multifacética de la llamada realidad, una mazmorra llena de tesoros, un mundo etéreo a través del espejo, una misteriosa caja con las coordenadas exactas de quienes nunca existieron».
Para la escritora se trató de toda una celebración: a sus raíces, a su herencia genética («escribo por el mero hecho que no podía hacer otra cosa» llega a decir, casi con inocencia) o al hecho deque la literatura formaba parte de su vida incluso antes de saberlo. Tatyana Tolstaya es una escritora prolífica que escribe con enorme satisfacción y que paladea las palabras con un notorio placer que transforman sus relatos en algo asombrosamente vivo. Desde su novela de culto The Slynx —esa apoteósica distopía en la que Rusia se transforma en un monstruo regurgitador de voluntad e incluso de la vida de sus habitantes— hasta sus cuentos, mucho más meditados y elegantes, Tatyana Tolstaya está convencida que la prosa es un reducto, más que un refugio. Que es una frontera, más que una búsqueda. La mezcla de todo lo anterior elabora una idea fecunda en su más reciente recopilación de relatos: Aetherial Worlds Stories, que llega a las estanterías con el peso formal y estético de una mirada al olvido, a la incertidumbre, al presente y al pasado. Aetherial Worlds Stories no es solo una colección de cuentos sino también una evolución dentro de una narrativa profundamente elocuente, concisa y poderosa. Tolstaya es una magnífica narradora y una observadora sagaz que desmenuza la realidad en pequeños fragmentos de miedo creados, elaborados y sostenidos por el poder de reconstruir el mundo en pequeños fragmentos de recuerdos y sucesos íntimos.
Las historias en Aetherial Worlds Stories son de índole muy privada, pero por extraño que parezca, no exclusivamente autobiográfica. Su escritura parece construirse a través de un binomio formal que impide definir sus relatos de manera sencilla, de modo que el lector se ve en medio de la disyuntiva de comprender lo que lee como una narración casi poética entremezclada con un franqueza periodística que resulta por momentos desconcertantes. Pero lo mejor de Tolstaya es cuando crea un híbrido entre ambas vertientes y avanza con firmeza para narrar con cierta premura lo que le atañe a una mirada inquieta sobre lo doloroso y lo bello, como su asombrosa descripción del escritor soviético Andrei Platonov: «Tal vez así es como escribiría una bestia mítica si asumiera la forma humana: alguna criatura nocturna que escucha con sus piernas, ve con los ojos cerrados, y puede oler a una criatura del sexo opuesto a una docena de millas de distancia». De pronto, Platonov se hace mítico, se hace monstruoso, una criatura fabulada que Tolstaya lleva a una estatura colosal. Para la escritora nada parece suficiente y en sus relatos avanza para contar todo tipo de situaciones: desde puestas de sol de asombrosa belleza hasta consideraciones del artista suprematista Kazimir Malevich y el excéntrico pensador religioso sueco Emanuel Swedenborg. Todo envuelto en la elegante circunstancia de una búsqueda de significado, una percepción sobre el mundo enorme y brillante y al final, un temor elocuente sobre la pérdida, desdibujada por la esperanza de arte por el arte como tenor de la esperanza. Hay tantos elementos distintos en los relatos de Tolstaya que tal pareciera que la escritora está contando un universo paralelo en clave de elaborada percepción del absurdo y el peso de la vida y de la muerte. Como si eso no fuera suficiente, la escritora también incluye su herencia familiar como un contexto y telón de fondo poderoso que sostiene alguno de sus mejores relatos. En su cuento «Horror de Arzamas», Tolstaya narra una crisis existencial de Lev Tolstoy que el gran autor contó en sus diarios y llevó a la categoría de acto mítico. Hay algo casi religioso en la genuina angustia del personaje histórico, reconvertido en literario, que Tolstaya lleva a otro nivel en una narración casi fortuita sobre grandes y violentos dolores espirituales: «Dejó que su vida se fuera de él antes de su muerte física, asombrando al mundo no con el arte de sus obras posteriores, sino con la magnitud de su genuina angustia, su protesta individual y la autoflagelación pública en una escala hasta ahora sin precedentes». Para la escritora, lo histórico evade explicación, la imaginación crea una nueva búsqueda de identidad. La mezcla de ambas cosas construye una percepción idónea sobre el tiempo y los dolores persistentes que Tolstaya medita con enorme buen pulso y complejidad.
Magistrales, variopintas y duras, las historias de Tolstaya rechazan cualquier definición: tanto así que la lectura de sus relatos termina en medio de una leve y magnífica confusión. Una experiencia profunda, sorprendente y siempre desconcertante, la prosa de Tolstaya crea una tensión tal que cada cuento es el génesis mismo de una novela que parece enlazarse entre sí hasta crear un motor de belleza analítica. Nada parece ser ajeno para Tolstaya, quien mira la realidad, el mundo y sus subterfugios a través de elementos primarios y volubles que analizan el borde de lo marginal de la historia,para crear algo parecido a un meta dimensión de lo racional. Tolstaya construye una realidad a su medida (y con cuánto gusto y elegancia), pero también toma importantes decisiones sobre su prosa como elemento único: los ensayos que se mezclan con narraciones en estado puro convierten a los primeros relatos y textos en una búsqueda de identidad. Luego, su evidente corazón ruso elabora percepciones sobre el dolor y la tragedia llena de delicadeza, como en el relato «La doncella invisible» (sobre los recuerdos de una dacha)o la exquisita historia que narra con ojo crítico en «Una joven dama en flor», que recuerda una temporada entregando telegramas como estudiante. Fantasía y hechos que se transmutan en una idea espléndida sobre el tiempo, la versión de la realidad que Tolstaya crea a su medida y sobre todo esa lírica visión sobre la melancolía, el agotamiento privado y la dulzura espiritual que Tolstaya transforma en una joya literaria inolvidable. Una mirada al olvido de enorme valor argumental.
November 2, 2024
rus ruhuna, yabancılığa, aileye, yasa dair uzun, zaman zaman hayli geveze olabilen ve kötümser mizahını bir an olsun yitirmeyen öykülerle dolu çok keyifli bir kitaptı öte dünyalar. çiçek açan genç kız, etli jöle, görünmez kız ve pencere, içlerinde en sevdiklerim oldu.
October 15, 2023
Τι μικρό, υπέροχο και αναπάντεχο διαμαντάκι ήταν αυτό;!
April 28, 2018
This pleasantly surprising collection runs the gamut from mostly autofiction stories in the vein of Knausgard to captivating essays on The Black Square and Tolstoy (a distant relative) and Emaneul Swedenborg to even a fantastic and fantastical allegory on communism. Tolstaya is a natural storyteller with humor and insight, and she has an eye for stunning language. In true Tolstaya fashion, I had left this loaned library book outside overnight accidentally while grilling, and a fateful shower or sprinkler made sure to leave enough water damage that I will surely have to purchase and keep her! Her American stories really resonated, especially her real-estate nightmares and teaching in a college. She has a hilarious story about being cursed in Paris, and let's just say she's not big on Italy either.
February 24, 2021
„Sinceră să fiu, mi-e frică de piftie încă din copilărie. Nu se prepară oricând, atunci când ți se năzare, ci musai de Revelion, în toiul iernii, în cele mai scurte și necruțătoare zile de decembrie.
Întunericul se lasă devreme. Totul e acoperit de chiciură. Felinarele au halouri țepoase. Trebuie să respiri prin mănuși. Te doare fruntea de la ger și obrajii ți-au amorțit. Dar, ce să vezi, mai ai de fiert și răcit piftia; până și numele preparatului îți ridică părul pe ceafă. Nici șalul din păr de capră nu te mai ajută. Prepararea piftiei presupune un ritual în sine. E o jertfă pe care o aducem în fiecare an, neștiind însă către cine sau pentru ce. Și ce se întâmplă dacă nu o facem… nici pe asta nu o știm.
Dar, pentru un motiv sau altul, sacrificiul trebuie îndeplinit.”
Întunericul se lasă devreme. Totul e acoperit de chiciură. Felinarele au halouri țepoase. Trebuie să respiri prin mănuși. Te doare fruntea de la ger și obrajii ți-au amorțit. Dar, ce să vezi, mai ai de fiert și răcit piftia; până și numele preparatului îți ridică părul pe ceafă. Nici șalul din păr de capră nu te mai ajută. Prepararea piftiei presupune un ritual în sine. E o jertfă pe care o aducem în fiecare an, neștiind însă către cine sau pentru ce. Și ce se întâmplă dacă nu o facem… nici pe asta nu o știm.
Dar, pentru un motiv sau altul, sacrificiul trebuie îndeplinit.”
August 15, 2022
4.5
Not really conventional short stories, but rather a collection of essays, stories, meditative vignettes, digressions, all eluding conventional narrative forms. The line between memoir and imagination, fact and fiction is constantly shifting. Loved it! Especially “20/20”, “The Invisible Maiden”, “Aetherial Worlds”, and the astute and hilarious “Official Nationality”. But then there are also “Nowhere”, “Father”, “See the Reverse”, "Aspic", “The Square” (a fantastic philosophical and arts essay),... Only a couple of pieces didn't work for me (“Judith with the Sword” and “A Young Lady in Bloom”), but on the second reading they might, I hope.
Not really conventional short stories, but rather a collection of essays, stories, meditative vignettes, digressions, all eluding conventional narrative forms. The line between memoir and imagination, fact and fiction is constantly shifting. Loved it! Especially “20/20”, “The Invisible Maiden”, “Aetherial Worlds”, and the astute and hilarious “Official Nationality”. But then there are also “Nowhere”, “Father”, “See the Reverse”, "Aspic", “The Square” (a fantastic philosophical and arts essay),... Only a couple of pieces didn't work for me (“Judith with the Sword” and “A Young Lady in Bloom”), but on the second reading they might, I hope.
May 6, 2018
I remember as a child, learning how to write. That off-white page with dark blue lines and the central dotted line- like a road. Those blue lines were rarely to be crossed. Only a few lucky letter could leap under- g, y, f... you get the point. Tolstaya does the same with her writing. Her language and meaning has this hard stop. But it is a beautiful stop. Existing not so much as rule, but as reason. The control of language and meaning in these stories is really quite impressive.
May 13, 2020
I suppose its oddly appropriate that the great grand niece of Tolstoy would spoil the ending of Anna Karenina for me in this short story collection. Sigh.
At its best this is really wonderful. Its pretty clear that both Tolstaya and the translator are very skilled writers. Its hard to exactly pin down one overall theme linking these stories, but a close guess might be nostalgia. For loves, real and imagined, requited and unrequited, past and future. For times and people long past and gone, for a political system that while immensely flawed, was at least understandable and comprehensible to those under it.
At its best these stories are often heartfelt, touching and sometimes deeply sad.
At their (very occasional) worst, there’s an undercurrent of snobbery and mean spirited commentary. In one of the worst ones, this manifests as a story that feels little more than a rant against modern art and how vapid and empty it is. Another has an unpleasant and casual use of a transphobic slur. One of the themes of many stories is the alienation that the narrators feel under American culture, being isolated from their familiar Russian origins, which results in sweeping or dismissive condemnation of entire diverse and varied cultures.
I have my problems with some of this collection, but even at it’s occasional dips, it was extremely compelling, able to effortlessly draw you into its dreamlike stories and characters.
At its best this is really wonderful. Its pretty clear that both Tolstaya and the translator are very skilled writers. Its hard to exactly pin down one overall theme linking these stories, but a close guess might be nostalgia. For loves, real and imagined, requited and unrequited, past and future. For times and people long past and gone, for a political system that while immensely flawed, was at least understandable and comprehensible to those under it.
At its best these stories are often heartfelt, touching and sometimes deeply sad.
At their (very occasional) worst, there’s an undercurrent of snobbery and mean spirited commentary. In one of the worst ones, this manifests as a story that feels little more than a rant against modern art and how vapid and empty it is. Another has an unpleasant and casual use of a transphobic slur. One of the themes of many stories is the alienation that the narrators feel under American culture, being isolated from their familiar Russian origins, which results in sweeping or dismissive condemnation of entire diverse and varied cultures.
I have my problems with some of this collection, but even at it’s occasional dips, it was extremely compelling, able to effortlessly draw you into its dreamlike stories and characters.
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