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Two sisters and Kandinsky, a novel by Vladimir Makanin (2011)
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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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RETURN TO EGYPT, a novel by Vladimir Sharov
Winner of the 2014 Big Book Award
Winner of the 2014 The Crown award
Winner of the 2014 Russian Booker and Student Booker awardsRights sold: Macedonia - DRUZHINA, Russia - AST, Serbia - ROSSIKA
The novel depicts a Soviet agronomist by the name of Nikolai Gogol, who is a descendent of the great Russia writer by the same name. Throughout the novel, Nikolai attempts to write a sequel to the classic novel Dead Souls. The book, however, is not about Gogol; it instead follows the journey of Soviet generations whose lives are inextricably linked to the Bible’s Book of Exodus, hence the novel’s title. The novel has sold over 45,000 copies of books in Russian alone. In 2014, Sharov was awarded the Russian Booker and the Big Book award for the novel. Critically, the novel was a huge success as Sharov was praised for his unique and poetic plot. For example, according to the literary critic Natalia Kurchatova: “the author works at the junction of histography and religious-mystical perception of reality” to create a deeply complex and reflexive novel.
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