And Other Stories Lithuanian-Language Reading Group discussion

Sigitas Parulskis (1965) is a very prolific author, and I especially like his early prose – essays and his first novel “Three Seconds of Heaven” (2002), which is still a very experiential (existential) literature, related to his experiences, traumas, memories and possibly to the certain impossibility of ‘normal’ life.

For me the most beautiful moments of this literature are meeting points of his rough primordiality and human sensitivities, brutal reality and his soft only Parulskis’ owned irony, experience of loneliness of a human being, which create in his texts this unsurpassable space of depth. These universal things are striking and most involving, and not a ‘good story’ and things like that.

And Other Stories published on their website only small excerpt from this book (http://www.andotherstories.org/sigita...), unfortnately it is not translated into English.

But the book has been published already in German, Italian, Polish, Slovenian, Albanian, Latvian, Swedish. It is actually the most translated to date Lithuanian novel. You can choose to read the whole book in any of those languages.

I read the excerpt from Parulskis' book and even was moved a little bit - it reminded me my service in the Soviet Army. Everything is described very precisely and sensibly. I am not sure about it, but it seems to me that next to Dovlatov (who is great) it is the best reflection of the spirit of the Soviet Army (army spirit, what a paradox!) in the translated literature.

Ok, coming to Parulskis. What I like about this novel by Parulskis (and I think it is his best novel to date) is that it is not the book driven by any kind of ideology, would it be anti-Soviet, nationalist, left or right. It is just the book about human condition. And I read it recently again - it is a good book.

I am not sure about Parulskis' constant search for the additional kind of 'universality' employing archetypical situations, myths, 'and other universal stories'. Sometimes it seems as a helpless trial to bring more 'importance' into work, trying to strenghten the case, what is not necessary for this talented writer.

Answering the question about sky and heaven: in Lithuanian it is "dangus", which can mean either "sky" or "heaven", in this sense there is some ambiguity in Lithuanian title, and it is deliberate I guess. Parulskis writes about paratroopers jumping and experiencing three seconds of sky (or heaven?) Only paratroopers know...