Glas 18: The Grassy Street

by Асар Эппель, Joanne Turnbull (Translator)

This cycle of stories, united by time, place, and characters, announces the English-language debut of Asar Eppel, a major Russian author whose rich, figurative language and filigree style capture the nuances of life in a Moscow suburb. Eppel is a master of subtle detail and the bon mot; his stories are filled with self-irony and laughter.

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 25, 1994

About the author

Асар Исаевич Эппель — русский писатель, поэт и переводчик.

Reviews

[Chuck LoPresti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptional skill in prose. The "stories" are more like long form observations. If you need a ploy etc - look elsewhere - but there is something great here. He's a keen observer and is more intent on setting a mood than telling a story. Eppel's descriptive skill is sharp and if you can read something like Platonov or Sokolov and get the musical vibe of it - something of that applies to Eppel. Written in 1980 or so - there's not much cold war contemplation but something more like domestic contemplation. Perhaps it's the fact that Turgenev is directly mentioned - but there is some of Turgenev's skill in presenting a certain time and place in a profound manner that is informed by not only an understanding of that time and place but a will to make sure the reader understands it as well. There are times when the lack of congruent or sequential plot can be disengaging - but I'll take that over being led by the nose. The back cover quotes reference Chekhov - hmmmm - didn't get much of that - as Chekhov's descriptions all lead to pushing a plot along - this is more like standing on the street in Eppel's boots and taking the time to let the details of the scene make their own story. Not exactly aleatory - but certainly not a story teller in the mode of Chekhov. It's something more like what Walter Benjamin describes in his essay on Berlin Alexanderplatz - it's a montage. Not only do the collected stories here do we see this montage - but within the stories themselves. Like Doblin - Eppel's writing works like a man looking out over a place - many pieces moving at the same - all linked but none inexorably. Worth any thinking writer's time.

[tomsyak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Хорошо, но не сразу. Сначала не понравилось, потом хотелось, чтобы книга подольше не кончалась.

[Zloblin · Rating 5 out of 5]

В книге несколько рассказов, которые я наверное не поняла и несколько абсолютно гениальных, из-за которых я поставила пять звезд.

[Павел Креслинг · Rating 4 out of 5]

изящное, остроумное, прекрасное, насыщенное, но утомительное словоблудие, возможно, дочитаю когда-нибудь потом