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Two sisters and Kandinsky, a novel by Vladimir Makanin (2011)
Rights sold:
Makanin’s novel Two Sisters and Kandinsky (2011) is a special genre structure based on the sophisticated play of classical and modern hybrid forms. Besides the genre definition as “a novel” stated by the author and specifying it as “a scene of life” oriented to Balzac genre form, the reportage and essays inclusions are significant in the novel as well. Dramatic code is actualized there not only in its classical variant, but also in the form of puppet theatre, contemporary talk-show, and other genres of film and television.
In Makanin's previous novel about the Chechen War, Asan (2008), the concept of "betrayal" had a structure-forming function. His next novel Two Sisters and Kandinsky (2011) placed the concept of "betrayal" into the context of a story of an individual human being and of the Russian society of the 20th century, when a snitch (betrayer) was the most important figure in the state. In Makanin's prose, in contrast to the narrow political interpretation widespread in the society, almost all types and kinds of betrayal are present: starting from betrayal in personal relations between a man and a woman, betrayal of a friend, violation of a social contract, betrayal of a strata or a state, and coming to the most terrible in the opinion of the writer ego-betrayal, i.e. oblivion of one's ideals and principles (the most terrible in the opinion of the writer). We may affirm that the dyad "loyalty betrayal" is the core in Makanin's world view, and "loyalty" is almost of a sacred character, and "recovery" of the society is possible only if it returns to a new "sacrum".
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BE AS CHILDREN, a novel by Vladimir Sharov
Winner of the 2008 Book Of The Year award (Russia)
Shortlisted for the 2008 Big Book Award and Russian Booker Prize
Winner of the William S. Hatcher Foundation awardRights sold: Bulgaria - FAKEL, China - PEKING UNIVERSITY PRESS, France - LOUISON, Russia - AST, VAGRIUS, Serbia - UTOPIA, World Enlish - DEDALUS
The novel is set in the aftermath of the 1917 Revolution, and using the evangelical parable “be like children,” Sharov depicts a retelling of the last years of Lenin’s life where he experienced a religious conversion and plotted a children’s crusade to the Holy Land. Critical reception was divided on this novel because although the parable “be like children” linked characters, sometimes the multitude of characters made the novel hard to comprehend. Despite this, this novel also sold over 10,000 copies in Russia.
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