The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Andrei Bitov's The Symmetry Teacher.
I've repeatedly mentioned this, as one of the 2014 translations I was most eager to see -- and suggested months ago already that it was an early favorite to be one of the finalists for the 2015 Best Translated Book Award. Now it's finally out -- published last week, by Farrar, Straus & Giroux -- and I'm a bit disappointed by the limited initial reaction. Yes, the trades reviewed it (Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews), but apparently no one yet beyond them (and, well, now me). (And the dismal Amazon-sales-rank suggests it certainly hasn't caught the attention of many readers yet.)
Okay, there's still lots of time for folks to get to it -- but recall that back in 1987/8 when Pushkin House came out, it was reviewed by John Updike (The New Yorker), John Bayley (The New York Review of Books), and Frank Kermode (The New York Times Book Review of the pre-Sam Tanehaus era). And David Remnick profiled The Life and Work of Andrei Bitov: Author Regarded as 'One of Best Writers of Soviet Period' in The Washington Post Book World .....
Okay, Bitov is kind of an old-timer, and rooted in the Soviet world/literature (though that's barely noticeable here -- the novel's Russian-rootedness, yes; its Sovietness, no), and this is a work that has been in the making for some forty years (with earlier versions published in Russian and some other languages, but only excerpts appearing in English). And it's not exactly easy reading -- though for those who like this kind of thing it offers a whole lot of rewards.
It is certainly an important work of fiction (as has also been recognized elsewhere: it was a finalist for 'Germany's International Literature Award' last year, along with books by Valeria Luiselli, Jean Rolin, Lloyd Jones, and eventual winner Teju Cole ...).
FSG also sent out a nice information-package with the book -- an 'Autobiography and an 'Anti-CV' Bitov supplied them with (which I'm surprised no periodical -- at least of the online variety -- ran).
It will certainly get some more attention -- but I wonder if it will get the attention it is due, and deserves.
I've repeatedly mentioned this, as one of the 2014 translations I was most eager to see -- and suggested months ago already that it was an early favorite to be one of the finalists for the 2015 Best Translated Book Award. Now it's finally out -- published last week, by Farrar, Straus & Giroux -- and I'm a bit disappointed by the limited initial reaction. Yes, the trades reviewed it (Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews), but apparently no one yet beyond them (and, well, now me). (And the dismal Amazon-sales-rank suggests it certainly hasn't caught the attention of many readers yet.)
Okay, there's still lots of time for folks to get to it -- but recall that back in 1987/8 when Pushkin House came out, it was reviewed by John Updike (The New Yorker), John Bayley (The New York Review of Books), and Frank Kermode (The New York Times Book Review of the pre-Sam Tanehaus era). And David Remnick profiled The Life and Work of Andrei Bitov: Author Regarded as 'One of Best Writers of Soviet Period' in The Washington Post Book World .....
Okay, Bitov is kind of an old-timer, and rooted in the Soviet world/literature (though that's barely noticeable here -- the novel's Russian-rootedness, yes; its Sovietness, no), and this is a work that has been in the making for some forty years (with earlier versions published in Russian and some other languages, but only excerpts appearing in English). And it's not exactly easy reading -- though for those who like this kind of thing it offers a whole lot of rewards.
It is certainly an important work of fiction (as has also been recognized elsewhere: it was a finalist for 'Germany's International Literature Award' last year, along with books by Valeria Luiselli, Jean Rolin, Lloyd Jones, and eventual winner Teju Cole ...).
FSG also sent out a nice information-package with the book -- an 'Autobiography and an 'Anti-CV' Bitov supplied them with (which I'm surprised no periodical -- at least of the online variety -- ran).
It will certainly get some more attention -- but I wonder if it will get the attention it is due, and deserves.