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Монументальная пропаганда
Новые времена и новые люди, разъезжающие на «Мерседесах», – со всем этим сталкиваются обитатели города Долгова, хорошо знакомого читателю по роману «Жизнь и необычайные приключения солдата Ивана Чонкина».Анекдоты о новых и старых русских невероятно смешны. Но даже они меркнут перед живой фантазией и остроумием Войновича в «Монументальной пропаганде».Вчерашние реалии сегодняшнему читателю кажутся фантастическим вымыслом, тем более смешным, чем более невероятным.А ведь это было, было…В 2001 году роман был удостоен Госпремии России по литературе.
419 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2000
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December 18, 2021"The generations are not better or worse than each other... It doesn't take a prophet to predict that people will be blinded again, and more than once, by false teachings, will yield to the temptation of endowing certain individuals with superhuman qualities and glorify them, raise them up on a pedestal and then cast them back down. Later generations will say they are fools, and yet they will be exactly the same."
🔥 Hot takes from MONUMENTAL PROPAGANDA by Vladimir Voinovich, translated from the Russian by Andrew Bromfield, 2002.
RTW21📍 Tajikistan/USSR
Aglaya Stepanovna Rekina is the truest of believers. After the death of her beloved Stalin in 1953, she is astounded by the way the Party pivots away from his legacy, even her own small town tearing down his statue from the square... And she pays off the backhoe driver to drop said statue off at her apartment instead of the dump.
In her living room Stalin stands, destabilizing the foundations of the building and scaring off anyone who comes to visit, as they all swear they see the statue's eyes move.
Through this small world of Aglaya Stepanovna, we see the late 20th-century USSR, through the "thaw", perestroika, and finally the fall. Small subplots and side stories entertain, including a little Freudian analysis of Aglaya Stepanovna's attraction to Stalin... There's her neighbor, the gulag survivor who was patterned on Solzhenitsyn, the local Party officials who remove her from the register, and her own family who disown her for her beliefs, yet she remains resolute to the very end.
Numerous parallels to our present moment, from the tearing down of statues to the family fissures due to political beliefs... and this bull-headed, misinformed historical revisionism of "the good old days" that were anything but for so many.
Sounds familiar, right?
Voinovich is a master satirist and armchair philosopher, and I'm so eager to try more of his work after this one. Very entertaining!
🔥 Hot takes from MONUMENTAL PROPAGANDA by Vladimir Voinovich, translated from the Russian by Andrew Bromfield, 2002.
RTW21📍 Tajikistan/USSR
Aglaya Stepanovna Rekina is the truest of believers. After the death of her beloved Stalin in 1953, she is astounded by the way the Party pivots away from his legacy, even her own small town tearing down his statue from the square... And she pays off the backhoe driver to drop said statue off at her apartment instead of the dump.
In her living room Stalin stands, destabilizing the foundations of the building and scaring off anyone who comes to visit, as they all swear they see the statue's eyes move.
Through this small world of Aglaya Stepanovna, we see the late 20th-century USSR, through the "thaw", perestroika, and finally the fall. Small subplots and side stories entertain, including a little Freudian analysis of Aglaya Stepanovna's attraction to Stalin... There's her neighbor, the gulag survivor who was patterned on Solzhenitsyn, the local Party officials who remove her from the register, and her own family who disown her for her beliefs, yet she remains resolute to the very end.
Numerous parallels to our present moment, from the tearing down of statues to the family fissures due to political beliefs... and this bull-headed, misinformed historical revisionism of "the good old days" that were anything but for so many.
Sounds familiar, right?
Voinovich is a master satirist and armchair philosopher, and I'm so eager to try more of his work after this one. Very entertaining!
March 8, 2018
Mind=blown
I had not read anything remotely as good in a very long time
This might as well be a yet unrecognized classic
I had not read anything remotely as good in a very long time
This might as well be a yet unrecognized classic
October 1, 2018
Vojnovič racconta la politica e la società russa della seconda metà del novecento a partire da vicende che vedono protagonisti alcuni abitanti di Dolgov, una cittadina di provincia. L’attenzione è focalizzata soprattutto su Revkina Aglaja Stepanovna, militante del PCUS dalla prima ora, fedelissima di Stalin anche dopo il revisionismo storico sul suo operato, avviato nel ’56: Aglaja subisce i cambiamenti imposti dai dirigenti comunisti che si succedono negli anni, ma rimane tenacemente attaccata al passato, simbolizzato da una statua di Stalin, che pone in salvo collocandola orgogliosamente nella propria casa dopo il suo inopinato allontanamento dalla piazza di Dolgov.
I mutamenti che interessano il paese non toccano la statica, nostalgica, sempre critica Aglaja; del resto, molti sono addirittura a disagio quando si affaccia qualche accenno di libertà: quel saggio che chiamano ‘Ammiraglio’ sa bene che chi è abituato da sempre a vivere in gabbia, fatica poi a starne fuori… Ma una cosa è certa: indietro non si torna; i singoli - grandi come Stalin, piccoli come Aglaja - finiscono, muoiono, mentre i popoli vivono, e sono sempre in cammino.
Ecco, ho apprezzato questo tema di fondo: la storia di un paese e della sua gente, che cambiano poco alla volta, che avanzano - spesso mal guidati - cercando faticosamente la strada; le vicende dei singoli, le loro piccole venture, narrate da Vojnovič con un piglio umoristico-grottesco dall’esito discutibile, mi hanno preso assai meno.
I mutamenti che interessano il paese non toccano la statica, nostalgica, sempre critica Aglaja; del resto, molti sono addirittura a disagio quando si affaccia qualche accenno di libertà: quel saggio che chiamano ‘Ammiraglio’ sa bene che chi è abituato da sempre a vivere in gabbia, fatica poi a starne fuori… Ma una cosa è certa: indietro non si torna; i singoli - grandi come Stalin, piccoli come Aglaja - finiscono, muoiono, mentre i popoli vivono, e sono sempre in cammino.
Ecco, ho apprezzato questo tema di fondo: la storia di un paese e della sua gente, che cambiano poco alla volta, che avanzano - spesso mal guidati - cercando faticosamente la strada; le vicende dei singoli, le loro piccole venture, narrate da Vojnovič con un piglio umoristico-grottesco dall’esito discutibile, mi hanno preso assai meno.
March 10, 2017
Aglaya ("The Shining One") Revkina ("The Zealous One") may have never had an orgasm, but she does know what love is. All the passion her skinny body is capable of has been dedicated her entire life to Comrade Stalin. It's unfortunate that the rest of the world is incapable of matching her ardor.
Lovers of Vladimir Voinovich, a leading Soviet/Russian satirist and dissident (he was exiled under Brezhnev, only to return to Russia following the collapse of the USSR and in turn begin criticizing the Putin regime), are in for a treat with this novel. Those who have never experienced the full force of Russian satire are in for a bewildering and exhilarating experience. With its constant in-jokes and frank reliance on cliches, Russian comedy is not designed to be soothing to Western sensibilities. But for those who are willing to enjoy it, or have encountered the Soviet/post-Soviet state in all its glory, "Monumental Propaganda" will have them rolling on the floor. From its delightful speaking names (District Party Secretary Porosyaninov, or "Piglet," District Head of Public Education Nechitailo, or "Illiterate," and so on and so forth) to its delicious send-ups of the more ridiculous excesses of the (post) Soviet period, "Monumental Propaganda" deploys every gun in its humorous arsenal.
The action begins in 1949, when Aglaya, a heroic partisan in WWII and a staunch Party member (as a side note, Western readers may be surprised by the militant heroics and leadership roles of some of the female characters), insists on using money that could have been spent on rebuilding after the devastation of the war to install a statue of Stalin in the Dolgov town square instead. When Stalin falls out of favor and the other Party members, who a year ago were praising his name to the skies, begin condemning him, Aglaya has the statue moved to her apartment, where it looms, literally and symbolically, throughout the Khrushchev thaw, the Brezhnev stagnation, Gorbachev's perestroika, and Yeltsin's market reforms, until finally coming to its (not-so-final?) resting place in the explosive denouement.
Among other things, the novel gives a comprehensive, if uniquely singular, overview of post-WWII Soviet/Russian history, which is why I love to assign it to my classes on contemporary Russia. Soviet leaders make repeated appearances in the flesh (in the case of Brezhnev) or spirit (in the case of Stalin), and other important figures such as Solzhenitsyn weave in and out of the narrative, thinly disguised as fictional characters. A long-time dissident himself, who certainly cannot be accused of not having the courage of his convictions, Voinovich cannot help but poke fun at the dissident movement, while also treating arch-anti-dissident Aglaya with fond understanding, as she alone remains true to her beliefs while everyone around her goes chasing after the strongest strongman and latest fad.
Which is not to say that the novel is nothing but dusty history and empty finger-pointing. Voinovich's tolerant warmth towards his subjects suffuses the story, even as he pokes fun at them, and, in the conversations between the unnamed narrator and the Admiral, the one true intellectual amongst the cast of characters, he philosophizes astutely on the fate and future of Russia. His conclusions, however, may prove to be all too prescient: on the final page, the narrator, driving past the now-empty pedestal of Stalin's statue, is convinced that a new spectral figure has taken shape and is "grinning and waving with its raised right hand." Now, more than ten years after the novel's release, as Russia is becoming ever more authoritarian and right-wing populist movements that bear more than a passing resemblance to those of the mid-twentieth century are gaining strength, Voinovich may have proven once again the predictive power of art. It is to our detriment that so few people seem willing to pay attention.
Lovers of Vladimir Voinovich, a leading Soviet/Russian satirist and dissident (he was exiled under Brezhnev, only to return to Russia following the collapse of the USSR and in turn begin criticizing the Putin regime), are in for a treat with this novel. Those who have never experienced the full force of Russian satire are in for a bewildering and exhilarating experience. With its constant in-jokes and frank reliance on cliches, Russian comedy is not designed to be soothing to Western sensibilities. But for those who are willing to enjoy it, or have encountered the Soviet/post-Soviet state in all its glory, "Monumental Propaganda" will have them rolling on the floor. From its delightful speaking names (District Party Secretary Porosyaninov, or "Piglet," District Head of Public Education Nechitailo, or "Illiterate," and so on and so forth) to its delicious send-ups of the more ridiculous excesses of the (post) Soviet period, "Monumental Propaganda" deploys every gun in its humorous arsenal.
The action begins in 1949, when Aglaya, a heroic partisan in WWII and a staunch Party member (as a side note, Western readers may be surprised by the militant heroics and leadership roles of some of the female characters), insists on using money that could have been spent on rebuilding after the devastation of the war to install a statue of Stalin in the Dolgov town square instead. When Stalin falls out of favor and the other Party members, who a year ago were praising his name to the skies, begin condemning him, Aglaya has the statue moved to her apartment, where it looms, literally and symbolically, throughout the Khrushchev thaw, the Brezhnev stagnation, Gorbachev's perestroika, and Yeltsin's market reforms, until finally coming to its (not-so-final?) resting place in the explosive denouement.
Among other things, the novel gives a comprehensive, if uniquely singular, overview of post-WWII Soviet/Russian history, which is why I love to assign it to my classes on contemporary Russia. Soviet leaders make repeated appearances in the flesh (in the case of Brezhnev) or spirit (in the case of Stalin), and other important figures such as Solzhenitsyn weave in and out of the narrative, thinly disguised as fictional characters. A long-time dissident himself, who certainly cannot be accused of not having the courage of his convictions, Voinovich cannot help but poke fun at the dissident movement, while also treating arch-anti-dissident Aglaya with fond understanding, as she alone remains true to her beliefs while everyone around her goes chasing after the strongest strongman and latest fad.
Which is not to say that the novel is nothing but dusty history and empty finger-pointing. Voinovich's tolerant warmth towards his subjects suffuses the story, even as he pokes fun at them, and, in the conversations between the unnamed narrator and the Admiral, the one true intellectual amongst the cast of characters, he philosophizes astutely on the fate and future of Russia. His conclusions, however, may prove to be all too prescient: on the final page, the narrator, driving past the now-empty pedestal of Stalin's statue, is convinced that a new spectral figure has taken shape and is "grinning and waving with its raised right hand." Now, more than ten years after the novel's release, as Russia is becoming ever more authoritarian and right-wing populist movements that bear more than a passing resemblance to those of the mid-twentieth century are gaining strength, Voinovich may have proven once again the predictive power of art. It is to our detriment that so few people seem willing to pay attention.
September 21, 2010
Hah! What a delicious book about life in the USSR from Kruschev to perestroika. Main character is a wonderful portrait of a woman who has spent her early years as a partisan and party member. Her staunch pro-Stalinist sympathies put her at odds with the daily rewriting of Soviet history. The characters who live in her small town are delightfully drawn. Everyone is full of the contradictions of real people, and the historical details of Soviet life are wonderfully illuminating. The machinations involving the huge statue of Stalin make me smile and also wince. The beliefs we all cling to are funny, but ultimately quite sad.
January 28, 2016
What could have been a decent short story was drawn out into an endlessly plodding novel chock full of cliches. Sigh.
September 29, 2024
It’s been a while since I read any Soviet satire and it was good to be reminded of how enjoyable it can be. This was written after the fall of the Soviet Union so it did feel as if it lacked some edge (I don’t know if that was real or just imagined..) and it wasn’t quite as funny as I remember Private Ivan Chonkin being (although I read this a long, long time ago) but there are style plenty of moments that made me chuckle as well as uncomfortable ones that mercilessly skewer elements the Russian character and in particular the kind of leadership it admires. Although much of it is told in flashbacks to communist times, it is also a good illustration of those years after its fall and the effect on those outside the major cities. A good reminder that I don’t read enough of these kinds of books any more!
January 19, 2025
Russian writing at its best. Biting wit, the usual philosophy, the ubiquitous sadness, and, in the last few pages, the best explanation of WHY so many Russian people idolised Stalin and support Putin, that I have ever read. One of the best books I've ever read. Masterful translation by Andrew Bromfield.
October 3, 2021
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I'm afraid of him." Zoya whispered.
"Nonsense!" he growled irritably, trying to reassure himself as much as her. "It's nothing but a inanimate object, cast iron, a piece of monumental propaganda, that's all."
January 28, 2014
o della forza dell'amore e della stupidità
"Una corrente era formata dai marxisti-leninisti, mentre l'altra dagli stalinisti. I marxisti-leninisti erano bravi marxisti e buoni. Volevano creare sulla terra le condizioni per una vita buona per i buoni e cattiva per i cattivi, ma per forza secondo i dettami della Dottrina. E perciò i cattivi li uccidevano e i buoni, per quanto possibile, li risparmiavano. Gli stalinisti, invece, erano essenzialmente dei democratici: uccidevano tutti senza distinzione, e consideravano la Dottrina non un dogma, ma un'indicazione di principio."
ritratto di un bel pezzo della storia del'Unione Sovietica, prima, e della Russia poi, con tutti passaggi visti attraverso gli occhi di un'appassionata comunista convinta fino alla fine della superiorità di Stalin, quasi innamorata di lui, se ne porta a casa il monumento per impedirne la distruzione e assiste impotente alla destalinizzazione della nazione a opera di quel traditore di Kruscev, del successivo imbarbarimento e ritorno al capitalismo sotto Breznev, Andropov, Cernenko e dello sfascio sotto Gorbacev, il tutto raccontato con tratto sarcastico e insaziabile vena polemica...si ravvisano qua e là personaggi famosi, letterari e non, visti con occhio disincantato e pure un tantino cinico...
"Le risponderò così", disse l'Ammiraglio. "Fino a poco fa noi vivevamo in uno zoo. Ognuno aveva la sua brava gabbia. I predatori erano da una parte, gli erbivori dall'altra. È naturale che tutti gli abitanti dello zoo sognassero la libertà e aspirassero a uscire dalle gabbie. Ora ci hanno aperto le gabbie. Siamo usciti in libertà e ci siamo accorti che il piacere di scorrazzare sull'erba può anche costarci la vita. A stare veramente bene sono solo i predatori che ora sono liberi di mangiarci senza alcun limite. E adesso noi pensiamo, dopo averne avuto abbastanza della libertà, dopo essere stati terrorizzati per benino: non sarebbe meglio ritornare in gabbia, ma metterci dentro anche i predatori? Comunque dovremo servire loro da pasto, ma almeno in modo regolato. E perciò ci stiamo guardando in giro e cerchiamo...
"Chi?" Chiesi.
"Be', diciamo il direttore dello zoo."
"Una corrente era formata dai marxisti-leninisti, mentre l'altra dagli stalinisti. I marxisti-leninisti erano bravi marxisti e buoni. Volevano creare sulla terra le condizioni per una vita buona per i buoni e cattiva per i cattivi, ma per forza secondo i dettami della Dottrina. E perciò i cattivi li uccidevano e i buoni, per quanto possibile, li risparmiavano. Gli stalinisti, invece, erano essenzialmente dei democratici: uccidevano tutti senza distinzione, e consideravano la Dottrina non un dogma, ma un'indicazione di principio."
ritratto di un bel pezzo della storia del'Unione Sovietica, prima, e della Russia poi, con tutti passaggi visti attraverso gli occhi di un'appassionata comunista convinta fino alla fine della superiorità di Stalin, quasi innamorata di lui, se ne porta a casa il monumento per impedirne la distruzione e assiste impotente alla destalinizzazione della nazione a opera di quel traditore di Kruscev, del successivo imbarbarimento e ritorno al capitalismo sotto Breznev, Andropov, Cernenko e dello sfascio sotto Gorbacev, il tutto raccontato con tratto sarcastico e insaziabile vena polemica...si ravvisano qua e là personaggi famosi, letterari e non, visti con occhio disincantato e pure un tantino cinico...
"Le risponderò così", disse l'Ammiraglio. "Fino a poco fa noi vivevamo in uno zoo. Ognuno aveva la sua brava gabbia. I predatori erano da una parte, gli erbivori dall'altra. È naturale che tutti gli abitanti dello zoo sognassero la libertà e aspirassero a uscire dalle gabbie. Ora ci hanno aperto le gabbie. Siamo usciti in libertà e ci siamo accorti che il piacere di scorrazzare sull'erba può anche costarci la vita. A stare veramente bene sono solo i predatori che ora sono liberi di mangiarci senza alcun limite. E adesso noi pensiamo, dopo averne avuto abbastanza della libertà, dopo essere stati terrorizzati per benino: non sarebbe meglio ritornare in gabbia, ma metterci dentro anche i predatori? Comunque dovremo servire loro da pasto, ma almeno in modo regolato. E perciò ci stiamo guardando in giro e cerchiamo...
"Chi?" Chiesi.
"Be', diciamo il direttore dello zoo."
April 21, 2009
Once more, Voinovich demonstrates that he's the heir to the fine tradition of Russian satire. The book spans a period from the disavowal of Stalin up through the present time...since Voinovich's theme is that the true nature of the people never really changes, no matter how much history sweeps by.
He does this by painting the portrait of Aglaya Stepanovna, a confirmed Stalinist. Aglaya's unchanging devotion to Stalin, and specifically to an iron statue of Stalin (the "Monumental Propaganda" of the title). Aglaya's strength of character resists all developments of history - as the other characters change from corrupt communists to corrupt dissidents to corrupt capitalists, Aglaya remains the same. This very stasis throws the similarity of everyone else's actions into relief.
Voinovich is a master of the satirist's art, and this novel is no exception. I picked it up because I found a cheap copy at my local bookseller, but it's definitely worth full price.
He does this by painting the portrait of Aglaya Stepanovna, a confirmed Stalinist. Aglaya's unchanging devotion to Stalin, and specifically to an iron statue of Stalin (the "Monumental Propaganda" of the title). Aglaya's strength of character resists all developments of history - as the other characters change from corrupt communists to corrupt dissidents to corrupt capitalists, Aglaya remains the same. This very stasis throws the similarity of everyone else's actions into relief.
Voinovich is a master of the satirist's art, and this novel is no exception. I picked it up because I found a cheap copy at my local bookseller, but it's definitely worth full price.
October 19, 2020
About Sovjet television programming: They showed him (Brezhnev) so frequently and with such determination that the people christened the television program schedule "all about him and a bit about the weather".
This book is a great look inside the Sovjet Union system and what came after it. True believers in the Stalinism are disillusioned by all the turn coats when the tide turns and he is accused of encouraging a personality cult. Voinovich employs a bizar crew of characters to great effect! Highly recommended.
This book is a great look inside the Sovjet Union system and what came after it. True believers in the Stalinism are disillusioned by all the turn coats when the tide turns and he is accused of encouraging a personality cult. Voinovich employs a bizar crew of characters to great effect! Highly recommended.
January 22, 2019
Вам говорят, а вы не верьте! Не верьте ничему, в чём бы вас не убеждали. И может быть тогда вы сохраните разумное осмысление действительности. Как пример: линия поведения коммунистической партии Советского Союза. Этот орган, изначально напоминавший рой, однажды впал в долгое унылое молчание, уподобленный рупору власти. Исходящее от одного – становилось мнением всех. Сперва приходилось без тени сомнения соглашаться с доводами Сталина, потом полностью переменить суждения – начав личность Сталина считать оказывавшей отрицательное воздействие. Сказать о собственном понимании не допускалось. Может показаться, что Советский Союз развалился, партия сгинула, у каждого ныне имеется собственное мнение о происходящем. Однако, пусть точек зрения стало больше, но они в той же степени от кого-то исходят, мгновенно подхватываемые определёнными группами людей. Это есть феномен человеческого общества – невозможность существовать без постоянного промывания мозга.
(c) Trounin
(c) Trounin
August 17, 2017
Quasi un secolo di storia della Russia, dall’avvento di Stalin alla perestroika e oltre, raccontato attraverso le alterne fortune di un’irriducibile comunista, che oppone la fermezza delle sue convinzioni al conformismo dei fedeli alla linea del Partito, a scapito dei propri interessi. Il racconto inizia con la notizia della morte dell’anziana Aglaja, appresa dal narratore che ripercorre la sua vita, dalle stelle della dirigenza del comitato provinciale alle stalle dell’espulsione per non aver aderito ai dictat del revisionismo; arriva a portarsi in casa, per custodirla amorevolmente, la statua dismessa del dittatore che lei stessa, al tempo della gloria, aveva fatto erigere al centro della cittadina. Vite misere trascorse fra alloggi condivisi, delazioni e opportunismi, la solita kafkiana burocrazia, i dissidenti à la page, la corruzione dilagante. Il tutto raccontato fra il comico ed il tragico nel filone della migliore tradizione russa.
July 13, 2025
Amusing and detailed tale of a "dedicated" supporter of the USSR regime (partisan during WW2, Communist Party member, etc.) and her life after Stalin's downfall and removal from his position of respect alongside Lenin. Her intellectual confusion, and her opinions as to what will happen in Soviet society afterward are told in engaging ways by the author, though they do drag a bit, and could have used a bit of editing (in my opinion, anyway).
December 3, 2019
Bom bom bom muito bom mesmo . Uma belíssima sátira não só da Rússia comunista mas como da Rússia atual . Sobra pra todo mundo , inclusive pros ocidentais que , convenhamos , também não são Santos !!!!
December 3, 2022
Хилех се на глас в метрото... Книгата заслужава по-цветущо заглавие, нещо от рода "за комунизма и секса" приимерно, за да бъде прочетена от повече хора и да се избегнат подобни безумия. По-добра е от "Чевенгур".
May 11, 2024
I had a very good time reading this book. It covers the history of Soviet Union and new Russia in a sarcastic way and also touches on deep questions as the cult of personality, necessity to believe in something and collective dumbness. Highly recommended.
November 15, 2024
ვლადიმირ ვოინოვიჩის ხელწერა განუმეორებელია. საბჭოთა რეჟიმის პირობებში აღზრდილი მწერლებისთვის სატირის მახვილის ასე ალესვა ჩვეულებრივი ამბავი არ არის. არც რეალობისთვის თვალის გასწორება. ვოინოვიჩმა კი ორივე შეძლო - სიკვდილამდე რამდენიმე წლით ადრე ყირიმის ანექსია დაგმო, 21-ე საუკუნის მიჯნაზე კი კიდევ ერთხელ შეახსენა მსოფლიოს, რისი მოტანა შეუძლია მონუმენტურ პროპაგანდას. შესაძლოა დღეს არც სტალინზე შეყვარებული აგლაია რევკინა არსებობს და არც მისი მეზობლები, თუმცა არსებითი ცვლილებები არ მომხდარა. პროპაგანდის მანქანა ისევ გამართულად მუშაობს, რუსეთში კი ისევ "ბესპრეძელი" (ამ სიტყვას თარგმანი არ სჭირდება. სუფთა საბჭოთა/რუსული მოვლენაა და იმიტომ) სუფევს.
July 15, 2019
Първа среща с Войнович. Интерсна и лека за четене книга, написана с приятно чувство за хумор. Препоръчвам.
May 20, 2023
Tragic and funny satirical depiction of Russia's modern history.
September 21, 2025
Reading Around World #138: Tajikistan
February 9, 2008
I love the central premise of this book. Aglaya Stepanovna Revkina is a true-believing Stalinist who commissions a statue of Stalin to stand in the square of her town. The statue is widely admired as a masterpiece, but then Stalin dies and, soon after, is repudiated by the Party. The statue is removed and is destined to be melted down. But Revkina rescues it and installs it in her own living room.
Revkina finds herself in an impossible dilemma. She's a true-believer in Stalin and a true-believer in the Party. But what do you do when what seemed like a single, absolute faith -- no distinction between Stalin and the Party -- becomes two opposing faiths? To remain true to Stalin, she must go against the Party, and to remain true to the Party she must go against Stalin.
Revkina's apartment, where Stalin still reigns, becomes a place where time tries desperately to stand still, while as the decades pass Russia becomes unrecognizable.
This could easily have been written as a simple critique of absolutist ideals -- and certainly that's part of what's going on -- but Voinovich gives us more than this. As Russia becomes a nation run by cronyism and mobsters, Revkina's blind and brutal idealism has at least the glow of a high-minded vision.
A sad, funny, at times lightly surreal story of Russia from Stalin to the present day.
Revkina finds herself in an impossible dilemma. She's a true-believer in Stalin and a true-believer in the Party. But what do you do when what seemed like a single, absolute faith -- no distinction between Stalin and the Party -- becomes two opposing faiths? To remain true to Stalin, she must go against the Party, and to remain true to the Party she must go against Stalin.
Revkina's apartment, where Stalin still reigns, becomes a place where time tries desperately to stand still, while as the decades pass Russia becomes unrecognizable.
This could easily have been written as a simple critique of absolutist ideals -- and certainly that's part of what's going on -- but Voinovich gives us more than this. As Russia becomes a nation run by cronyism and mobsters, Revkina's blind and brutal idealism has at least the glow of a high-minded vision.
A sad, funny, at times lightly surreal story of Russia from Stalin to the present day.
September 3, 2013
Bellissimo Pamphlt/saggio/racconto su 50 anni di vita russa vista attraverso gli occhi di una nostagica stainista e dei suoi concittadini di un piccolo paese ai margini della Grande Russia (sembrerebbe Voronez) Gustoso Pastiche per chi ben conosce la storia e i personaggi della letteratura russa che Vi sono adombrati (solgenitsi/Limonov, tanto per cominciare)
Come Gogol anche Vojnovic ama i russi ma ne vede i grandi e ripetuti difetti, la fine della statua di stalin adombra l'arrivo di un nuovo "Direttore sdello zoo" come lo chiama (e lo descrive) l'Ammiraglio
Come Gogol anche Vojnovic ama i russi ma ne vede i grandi e ripetuti difetti, la fine della statua di stalin adombra l'arrivo di un nuovo "Direttore sdello zoo" come lo chiama (e lo descrive) l'Ammiraglio
November 5, 2014
Very funny book. My favorite Voinovich novel. I am always laughing out loud when reading Voinovich's books. One word of caution. The reader should have a working knowledge of Soviet and Russian history to understand many of the humorous and wry references. I really like the main character. I was glad to see Aglaya return after the Chonkin novels. She always intrigued me. Also love the tragi-comedic ending and can't help feeling glad for the long-suffering protagonist of the novel. Hysterical!
December 9, 2010
i was just reminded of this book. i read it a few years ago for a history class. i think i've said this before, but this kind of book i think i'm predestined to enjoy. it's about one person's experience of the tragedy and absurdity of grand events in history and a legendary political regime. i'm not expressing this very well right now, but that kind of book, whether fiction or non-fiction, i always seem to love.
April 30, 2007
Highly amusing look at life in post-Communist Russia; satirical, exaggerated, absurd -- good. Recommended to anyone who finds world news appalling but amusing/bemusing.
May 23, 2013
Повторение старых ответов на старые и уже не интересные вопросы.
April 15, 2014
Very nice book, bit tedious at times but certainly worth the read. The ending is also great :)
May 18, 2016
Az általam olvasott legjobb szatíra a kommunizmus természetrajzáról.
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