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Le décaméron des femmes
Elles sont dix accouchées qu'une épidémie retient dans une maternité de Leningrad. L'une d'elles propose ce divertissement : parler sans façon, puisqu'on est entre femmes, des choses de l'amour. Aussitôt commence la première "journée" de ce Décaméron qui s'inspire librement du fameux livre de Boccace. Tour à tour, Valentina, Natacha, Zina "la zonarde" et les autres ― qui toutes sont issues de milieux différents ― y vont de leurs histoires, parfois de leurs confessions. Tendre ou impudique, grave ou truculent, le livre ne cesse de varier les tons au gré de leurs aventures. Et c'est discrètement, dans les interstices, que s'esquissent peu à peu l'empreinte de l'Histoire... et celle du régime. L'auteur, Julia Voznesenskaya, dut s'exiler d'URSS en 1980. Nul doute que cette sulfureuse anatomie des passions ― qu'elle fit paraître seulement en 1985, en Allemagne ― n'aurait en rien atténué sa disgrâce.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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About the author
Julia Voznesenskaya
9 books14 followersJulia Nikolayevna Voznesenskaya (Russian: Юлия Николаевна Вознесенская), born on 14 September 1940 in Leningrad, is a Russian author of books with an Orthodox Christian worldview.
In 1976 Voznesenskaya was sentenced to four years of exile for Anti-Soviet Propaganda. In 1980 she emigrated to Germany. In 1996-1999 she lived in Lesninsky Russian Orthodox Convent in Chauvincourt-Provemont, Normandy, France. Since 2002 she has lived in Berlin.
(from Wikipedia)
In 1976 Voznesenskaya was sentenced to four years of exile for Anti-Soviet Propaganda. In 1980 she emigrated to Germany. In 1996-1999 she lived in Lesninsky Russian Orthodox Convent in Chauvincourt-Provemont, Normandy, France. Since 2002 she has lived in Berlin.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
December 9, 2016
A profoundly human novel. I use the word novel despite appearances to the contrary: on one level this is a series of 100 short narratives, divided over ten days and issuing from the mouths of ten women. But ingeniously, between the short narratives there are passages, kept to a minimum but indispensable to the structure, in which the narrators respond to and criticise each other’s stories. All of this could so easily be arch, flippant, a random-seeming patchwork, but in Voznesenskaya’s hands it may in fact be the unique source of humanity in this often starkly realistic but frequently heartwarming book.
What is so beautiful in this carefully-translated, laconic prose? Not the words themselves, but the human things transmitted by them, the laughter or anger or tears of the women as they provoke and entertain with their stories – of camp-life, of tramp-life, of dreary work-and-one-bedroom-flat life. Of course it is fascinating seeing these glimpses into another culture, and that they are so often couched in humour (often caustic) makes them especially palatable. But for me the real thrill is to hear these arguments out loud, to have these 100 stories react against each other in what seems a near-to-neutral space, to witness these ten women, all of them human-seeming and alive as characters, interacting as equals as they ponder some heavy questions, questions which, for the most part, I have never had to confront.
Russian writing has a reputation for heaviness, but in this case the writing itself is anything but. It’s light, sparkling, as plain-speaking as a Raymond Carver story but less self-conscious; it’s probably as transparent a vehicle as there could be for these weighty sentiments. Though I only finished the book recently and haven’t given it much time to settle I think this is something special. I miss the intimacy of those ten women as we miss any much-loved protagonist. But to have found ten such friends in one book seems incredible.
What is so beautiful in this carefully-translated, laconic prose? Not the words themselves, but the human things transmitted by them, the laughter or anger or tears of the women as they provoke and entertain with their stories – of camp-life, of tramp-life, of dreary work-and-one-bedroom-flat life. Of course it is fascinating seeing these glimpses into another culture, and that they are so often couched in humour (often caustic) makes them especially palatable. But for me the real thrill is to hear these arguments out loud, to have these 100 stories react against each other in what seems a near-to-neutral space, to witness these ten women, all of them human-seeming and alive as characters, interacting as equals as they ponder some heavy questions, questions which, for the most part, I have never had to confront.
Russian writing has a reputation for heaviness, but in this case the writing itself is anything but. It’s light, sparkling, as plain-speaking as a Raymond Carver story but less self-conscious; it’s probably as transparent a vehicle as there could be for these weighty sentiments. Though I only finished the book recently and haven’t given it much time to settle I think this is something special. I miss the intimacy of those ten women as we miss any much-loved protagonist. But to have found ten such friends in one book seems incredible.
December 23, 2014
I read this book when I was barely out of my teens, and I knew pretty close to nothing at all about life in the USSR. Well, did I get a education! It was the first novel I ever read that so vividly brought to life a foreign culture for me. I was amazed by the author's ability to paint such a detailed, complex and comprehensive picture of a world that was very real for many people in such a few simple scenes and stories. I had no idea so much of a world could be conveyed in so few pages of fiction. I was newly fascinated with the power of literature to provide education and knowledge about the world. This book was a great influence in what kind of literature I chose to focus on in my reading life.
September 7, 2009
This book, inspired by the classic The Decameron by Boccaccio, is set in modern-day Russia (1980's). Ten Russian women, including a shipyard worker, an engineer, a music teacher and others, are quarantined for 10 days in a Leningrad clinic after giving birth. For 10 days they each take turns telling a story from their life experiences. The book provides an interesting glimpse at how women were treated in Soviet Russia and how they survived. It's funny at times but also witty and sad.
January 21, 2024
“Quel tableau merveilleux, vous n’imaginez pas. Je le mets dans mon panier à bonheur.”
July 21, 2018
2.5/5
"Threats do not concern us. If he kills you, come and tell us."I don't quite know what to make of this work. On the one hand, it certainly fulfills the goal it set out for itself, ten stories each day for ten days covering a broad spectrum of women's lives in Soviet Russia. On the other hand, I very rarely got the feeling that the whole was building into a work greater than the sum of its parts, and far too often I had a hard time remaining interested. Contributors to this negative reception are likely my lack of familiarity with the Decameron save through the hearsay of 'The Canterbury Tales' and other fanfictions, as well as my general distinterest in short stories and endless soap opera style lists of names. Exceptions to both of these can be seen in the forms of The Complete Stories and My Brilliant Friend, respectively, so I can't say I"m not completely unequipped when it comes to this satirical work. I may just be worn down by The Journey to the West to the point that I crave a cohesive narrative with a slow meandering rise and a slow meandering fall, so that if I'm disappointed with a less than novel narratological choice it only happens once other than tens after tens of times. Ah well. Such are the inadvertent mistakes one makes in choice of reading.
Have you ever heard her putting in a single word for women? Of course not, and that's why she's head of the Committee of Soviet Women.I don't think a single one of these stories passed the Bechdel test, which is rather pathetic considering how we're dealing with women from every strata of Russian society. Someone may prove me wrong, and I'm not exactly a big fan of Bechdel these days (her signing off on a horribly transphobic book makes it hard to deal), but when I read that a book called 'The Women's Decameron" is 'human', I expect actual acknowledgment of that humanity without the involvement or the evaluation by men. Not every story was as horrific and borderline exploitative as the ones involving revenge for rape that involved further objectification of an innocent woman by an odious cuntfucker, but there wasn't as much critical reception as I would've liked, and the fact that there are indeed instances of it meant that there could've been more. The historical fleshing out of life in Soviet Russia was welcome, but that also seemed to hit a wall after a certain point, like video games that have coded for a certain area only and prevent the player from going further with infinitely high mountains or literal zones of no life permitted. As such, as a string of stories this did not engage, as a record of history this barely informed, and as a satire it didn't critique enough, leaving me wishing that this work had been as striking as it certainly had the potential to be. I'll have to pick up something a bit stronger next time that perhaps doesn't aim so high. Go big or go home, but it's a slog getting through the failed attempts.
"[T]wo poetesses, Yuliya and Nataliya...Yuliya and Natalya got married[.]"My challenge book pile for 2018 is reaching its final stage, and while it certainly has been motivating and beneficial for both my reading rates and my book clean up levels, I'll be glad to not have the same dwindling stack staring me in the face every time I'm choosing a new work. Exceptions such as JttW and my own reading women of color prerogative have broken up the monotony a tad, but when one has more than 400 works at one's physical disposal, it's hard to return to the same 20 or so books for future engagement. School, however, is approaching, and I may look back at the relatively gargantuan amounts of free time I once had and reminisce about being able to actually fulfill a yearlong plan with several months to spare. We shall see, though. I can't be prevented from reading for long.
"So, do you think your Jesus Christ was a dissident, too?"
"Using modern jargon — yes, of course he was[."]
November 29, 2021
Despite the length of The Women’s Decameron, it was an enjoyable read, much like listening to the conversation between 10 women as opposed to actually reading a novel. The format that Voznesenskaya used — of 100 short stories about 10 different themes — felt like a survey of the lives of 10 women of roughly the same age but who lived through drastically different lives. Although there is little interaction between the 10 women, which only appears in the italicized conversations between stories, the relationships between them felt very natural. This format also means that the only way each woman could be characterized was through the stories that they tell, which makes the depth and fullness of each character even more impressive. As a reader, I also felt as if I was with them in that ward, listening to each of their stories. Perhaps because each theme was so personal, I felt an intimate connection, one that I would usually only feel with the protagonist of a novel, with all of these women.
May 16, 2020
This is a great work. Ten women, ten days, 100 stories about first love, rape, getting what is yours, getting back at your rapist, work, and being a women in Soviet Russia. This work is a must for Feminists, those who want to see how other cultures view women, those who want to show that women have more than one set stereotypical job. In this maternity ward there are a Biologist, an airline hostess, a dissident from the zone, a mid level bureaucrat, a shipwright/metal worker, a theatrical director, and four others. All jobs that many American women, even today, have a problem breaking into. Just a great read, for dad's, daughters, husbands who care about their daughters and wives, and any one who actually wants to break the glass ceiling, and get equal wages for equal work. Also to show respect towards the women you see on the street. Just a wonderful read.
May 11, 2016
A solid four. A hint of repetition by the end was the only factor which kept the book from being a five. By the end, you pretty much knew what sort of story each women would share and there were really no surprises. My favorites were Zina and Nelya, who I felt was overlooked at times. She was so quiet and understated, yet her stories were powerfully poignant. And I loved Irishka's closing story. Summed up the whole of the book quite nicely.
August 8, 2022
3,5/5
Very well crafted and interesting, both from a historical and cultural standpoint.
The stories were at times funny or infuriating which showed the talents of the author.
Very well crafted and interesting, both from a historical and cultural standpoint.
The stories were at times funny or infuriating which showed the talents of the author.
November 2, 2021
I found this in a box of books I planned to give away and decided to read it again, many years after I first came to know it (just before the fall of the Soviet Union).
It remains a personal favourite and I enjoyed it just as much reading it a second time, in fact I think I got more out of it.
A deceptively simple structure - ten newly delivered mothers quarantined in a Leningrad maternity ward for ten days who agree to pass the time by each telling a story each day on an agreed theme. It could be read as a collection of 100 (very) short stories exploring the depth and breadth of women’s experiences of day to day life in Soviet Russia. However, it is more than that. With each day the relationship and the trust between the women grow, allowing them to be more open and more revealing about their lives and past experiences. At the beginning they are careful not to share too much personal information but by day ten they are opening their hearts and souls to each other and to the reader. In that, the reader develops a much clearer insight into the challenges Soviet women faced and the ways they managed to overcome them. We find ourselves wondering how it would be to live as a family in a single room in a communal flat shared with strangers, or experiencing life in a prison or labour camp.
The women come from all walks of life, ranging from a theatre director to a vagrant, from a party functionary to a dissident but their experiences as women share many common threads. In this, my second reading I was more aware of the fact that many of the stories revolve among these women’s relationships with men. A reflection of the relatively conservative society and values that coexisted uneasily with Soviet equality where women could and did become engineers. Shipyard workers, scientists, even astronauts. The “world out there” for our ten women in their ward is not an easy place and in some ways is an eleventh character in the novel as it shapes the lives and emotions of the characters so deeply.
If you are at all interested in how people lived in Russia then, I would recommend reading this novel. The author was herself a dissident of sorts for her religious views, but she does nonetheless try to be fair and avoid rough stereotypes and prejudices
It remains a personal favourite and I enjoyed it just as much reading it a second time, in fact I think I got more out of it.
A deceptively simple structure - ten newly delivered mothers quarantined in a Leningrad maternity ward for ten days who agree to pass the time by each telling a story each day on an agreed theme. It could be read as a collection of 100 (very) short stories exploring the depth and breadth of women’s experiences of day to day life in Soviet Russia. However, it is more than that. With each day the relationship and the trust between the women grow, allowing them to be more open and more revealing about their lives and past experiences. At the beginning they are careful not to share too much personal information but by day ten they are opening their hearts and souls to each other and to the reader. In that, the reader develops a much clearer insight into the challenges Soviet women faced and the ways they managed to overcome them. We find ourselves wondering how it would be to live as a family in a single room in a communal flat shared with strangers, or experiencing life in a prison or labour camp.
The women come from all walks of life, ranging from a theatre director to a vagrant, from a party functionary to a dissident but their experiences as women share many common threads. In this, my second reading I was more aware of the fact that many of the stories revolve among these women’s relationships with men. A reflection of the relatively conservative society and values that coexisted uneasily with Soviet equality where women could and did become engineers. Shipyard workers, scientists, even astronauts. The “world out there” for our ten women in their ward is not an easy place and in some ways is an eleventh character in the novel as it shapes the lives and emotions of the characters so deeply.
If you are at all interested in how people lived in Russia then, I would recommend reading this novel. The author was herself a dissident of sorts for her religious views, but she does nonetheless try to be fair and avoid rough stereotypes and prejudices
March 10, 2021
Naisten Decamerone kertoo kymmenen naisen karanteeniajasta synnytysosastolla. Ajallisesti tarina sijoittuu 1900-luvun loppupuolen Neuvostoliittoon ja silloiseen sosiaaliseen todellisuuteen.
Kymmenen naista kertoo toisilleen tarinoita, aina yhdestä aiheesta kunakin päivänä. Aiheet käsittelevät koko elämän kirjoa rakkaudesta ja onnesta raiskauksiin. Vaikka osa teemoista on rankkoja, kirjaa kannattelee huumori ja hetkeen tarttuminen.
Kymmenen naista kertoo toisilleen tarinoita, aina yhdestä aiheesta kunakin päivänä. Aiheet käsittelevät koko elämän kirjoa rakkaudesta ja onnesta raiskauksiin. Vaikka osa teemoista on rankkoja, kirjaa kannattelee huumori ja hetkeen tarttuminen.
March 12, 2017
Ten women in a soviet hospital are placed under quarantine so to pass the ten days they start telling each other stories on a pre-agreed subject, such as love, hate, revenge, good deeds, rape etc.
The hundred stories portray the country and its people quite well. The book was released in 1986, translated into English and released over here - a year later. I do understand why it was accepted so well. It's like sneaking in a look behind the iron curtain and watching people cooking food or having sex. Awkward but addictive.
For me - a citizen of an ex-USSR republic - quite a few stories and details hit close to home. I've heard a lot of similar or different stories about similar subjects quite a lot while growing up. Holidays in dachas, socialising with a bottle of vodka, queueing up for oranges at the shops because of food rationing, hard conditions and censorship - I'm aware of it all. And I wonder how a person without prior knowledge would find this book. I, quite frankly, found it repetitive, with a too simplistic structure of sentences. Any story in there could be made into a longer short story, longer than just a page long. Or the same stories could just be written better.
A must read for anyone tending to ask questions of "What was it like?" Here's your answer(s).
The hundred stories portray the country and its people quite well. The book was released in 1986, translated into English and released over here - a year later. I do understand why it was accepted so well. It's like sneaking in a look behind the iron curtain and watching people cooking food or having sex. Awkward but addictive.
For me - a citizen of an ex-USSR republic - quite a few stories and details hit close to home. I've heard a lot of similar or different stories about similar subjects quite a lot while growing up. Holidays in dachas, socialising with a bottle of vodka, queueing up for oranges at the shops because of food rationing, hard conditions and censorship - I'm aware of it all. And I wonder how a person without prior knowledge would find this book. I, quite frankly, found it repetitive, with a too simplistic structure of sentences. Any story in there could be made into a longer short story, longer than just a page long. Or the same stories could just be written better.
A must read for anyone tending to ask questions of "What was it like?" Here's your answer(s).
November 2, 2017
The format is what attracted me to this but, despite a great premise, the format is what ended up letting it down. It is based on Boccaccio's Decameron (1353) - 10 women tell a story each on 10 consecutive days on a series of topics such as love, rape, revenge and 'bitches'. Here, the women are confined to a maternity ward after giving birth. So much potential!
Unfortunately, there is not enough differentiation between the voices and the women's characters are not memorable. They are often reduced to a job description and a childhood trauma. I think we are supposed to see them as slowly building community and sisterhood through their shared experiences and yet, they continuously reinforce the norms and stereotypes of the patriarchal society outside such as when Galina, without asking Zina for permission, tells the father of her child where to find her. When Zina finds out, by receiving an unsolicited parcel from him, it's as if she feels like she is supposed to be happy now, as the other women keep telling her. I'm not convinced. I hoped this would go a lot further, possibly even into the surreal, but it never progressed far enough and felt very repetitive.
Unfortunately, there is not enough differentiation between the voices and the women's characters are not memorable. They are often reduced to a job description and a childhood trauma. I think we are supposed to see them as slowly building community and sisterhood through their shared experiences and yet, they continuously reinforce the norms and stereotypes of the patriarchal society outside such as when Galina, without asking Zina for permission, tells the father of her child where to find her. When Zina finds out, by receiving an unsolicited parcel from him, it's as if she feels like she is supposed to be happy now, as the other women keep telling her. I'm not convinced. I hoped this would go a lot further, possibly even into the surreal, but it never progressed far enough and felt very repetitive.
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May 3, 2021💞
April 29, 2025
4.5 stars. This gave me a real pang with its illustration of all the best and worst of Soviet womanhood, especially the entirely contradictory nature of women who are strong, educated and outwardly independent and yet so much at the mercy of varying degrees of abusive men. If you have a read a lot of Soviet/post Soviet literature then many of these vignettes will feel familiar but there was something lovely about so many female experiences being pulled in to one place. Amongst a series of stories that include gulags, rape and violence, there is also an abundance of humour and humanity and by the end a camaraderie that can only be seen as hopeful. On the downside I wouldn’t say that the characters’ voices felt particularly distinct and that their differentiation mainly came from their occupations or places in society but that didn’t particularly mar the enjoyment (for me at least). This seems to have been out of print for some time now which feels a real shame.
April 11, 2020
10 жени во изолација во породилиште во текот на 10 дена раскажуваат приказни на разни теми во стилот на Декамерон. За жал, не успеа да ми го привлече вниманието, а вториот дел го читав со прескокнување. Дефинитивно книга кандидат за следна размена на книги.
September 20, 2007
I really had trouble getting into this book. It's a reinvention of Boccacio's 'Decameron' set in a quarantined maternity ward in the U.S.S.R. in the 1980's. To be fair, I never read the original Decameron, I just know of the general set-up/concept of it, so maybe I'm missing something vital, but I just felt like this version was a nice idea, but crappily realized.
The conversations between the women in the passages in between each of the women's stories I found dry and contrived. At the beginning of every story there is a summary of the story in brackets, which I found completely unnecessary and in some cases it actually ruined the story for me (particularly when the stories were short - sometimes the summary was longer than the story).
I should also admit that I didn't finish it. I read about thirty pages in, realized it was all more of the same and the plot didn't seem to deepen or thicken at all, leafed through it some more, and gave up. Maybe I'll try again some day.
I think I will try to read the original Decameron for comparison's sake.
The conversations between the women in the passages in between each of the women's stories I found dry and contrived. At the beginning of every story there is a summary of the story in brackets, which I found completely unnecessary and in some cases it actually ruined the story for me (particularly when the stories were short - sometimes the summary was longer than the story).
I should also admit that I didn't finish it. I read about thirty pages in, realized it was all more of the same and the plot didn't seem to deepen or thicken at all, leafed through it some more, and gave up. Maybe I'll try again some day.
I think I will try to read the original Decameron for comparison's sake.
March 6, 2014
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17th Feb 2010 - Another surprise gift from Hayes, YAY.
The back cover blurb - Ten women who have all just given birth in a Leningrad clinic are unexpectedly quarantined together for ten days.
How wonderfully intriguing it all sounds....
------------
Translated by W B Linton
'How is it possible to read in this bedlam!' thought Emma. She turned over on to her stomach, propped the Decameron between her elbows, pulled the pillow over her ears and tried to concentrate.
17th Feb 2010 - Another surprise gift from Hayes, YAY.
The back cover blurb - Ten women who have all just given birth in a Leningrad clinic are unexpectedly quarantined together for ten days.
How wonderfully intriguing it all sounds....
------------
Translated by W B Linton
'How is it possible to read in this bedlam!' thought Emma. She turned over on to her stomach, propped the Decameron between her elbows, pulled the pillow over her ears and tried to concentrate.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 19, 2017
Книга состоит из очень реалистичных историй советских женщин. Некоторые милые и забавные, некоторые очень суровые и жестокие. Времена меняются, а ситуации, описанные, могут возникать и в настоящее время.
August 17, 2020
En av årets absoluta höjdpunkter hittills. Starkt inspirerad av Boccaccios Decamerone är den här boken ändå något mycket mer än det. Som originalet består den av hundra berättelser, tio om dagen i tio dagar, men detta är en roman, inte en samling berättelser. Vi lär känna personerna i den och samhället de lever i, på ett humoristiskt och inkännande sätt. Många visdomsord finns att ta med sig från den här boken. Rekommenderas varmt!
December 24, 2024
If you're familiar with the Decameron, it's about stories. This is the same, with ten women in a Soviet maternity ward, telling ten stories for each of ten days. It felt like a bit of a slog sometimes, but I did finish. It ends on a hopeful note, albeit focused on the hardships inherent in Soviet life of the 1970s and earlier.
September 12, 2020
Ten women quarantining in a Leningrad clinic tell a story each night for ten days on a chosen subject. I really enjoyed the range of characters and the intimate world created through their warm, hilarious, sad, and very touching stories set in the context of Soviet Russia in the 80s.
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December 4, 2020A collection of 100 stories told by 10 women in a maternity clinic in Leningrad, on topics ranging from first love to happiness, sex, and "bitches". Some are funny, many are horrific - one of the subjects the women choose to talk about is rape - but all contribute to a nuanced portray of women's lives in Soviet Russia (all characters but one are Russian), underlining that they are living as best as they can in a world dominated by men. One can be happy, but it would be better if life - and men - could be "a little more civilised".
However the book is limited by an underlying rejection of what is outside monogamous heterosexuality, with all characters to some extent upholding marriage to a man as an ideal (though some of the women are single mothers). On top of that the one story about queer women describes butch lesbians as scary, jealous, and violent, concluding (tw homophobia)
However the book is limited by an underlying rejection of what is outside monogamous heterosexuality, with all characters to some extent upholding marriage to a man as an ideal (though some of the women are single mothers). On top of that the one story about queer women describes butch lesbians as scary, jealous, and violent, concluding (tw homophobia)
February 20, 2018
Dokuz kadın,su anda hatırlayamadığım bir sebeple bir arada vakit geçirmek zorunda kalıyorlar ve bir birlerine hikayeler anlatıyorlar sıra ile.Oldukça etkilendiğimi hatırlıyorum.
March 10, 2020
Wonderful book. I read it many years ago, never stopped thinking about it.
August 19, 2020
The second best Decameron.
November 29, 2021
So powerful. The widely different backgrounds all go to emphasize common issues that so many Russian women faced.
February 8, 2022
uverljivo kroz anegdote ali i ozbiljnije situacije dočarava intrageneracijske izazove ali i radosti sa kojima se žene suočavaju
April 25, 2022
Een zalig eenvoudig leuk boek
10maal10 korte verhalen die nog altijd op hun manier, actueel zijn.
Over alle kleine, grote, mooie en lelijke kanten van mensen
10maal10 korte verhalen die nog altijd op hun manier, actueel zijn.
Over alle kleine, grote, mooie en lelijke kanten van mensen
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews