The Librarian

Zusatztext "Elizarov's novel! winner of the 2008 Russian Booker Prize! is a satire about the absurdity of blind faith and the way people fool themselves into believing in systems in which they are forced to inhabit… this chaotic tale puts a magical twist on its satire." -- Publishers Weekly "[A] brilliant winner of the Russian Booker Prize.... Immensely entertaining!  The Librarian  lives up to comparisons to the work of Gogol and Bulgakov while being very much its own thing." — Jeff VanderMeer! Slate " The Librarian reads like cold fire! full of Russian stoicism! honor and intense formality! but the rhythm of the words is hypnotic."  —Luke Goldstein! Blogcritics "By turns absurdist! satirical! and downright funny: The Librarian  takes a page from every book. . . The Librarian  is original! delightfully weird and dark! and so frequently funny! this book will have no problem conscripting new English readers." — Asymptote "Powerful! disturbing! and at the same time! uplifting."  —  Vzgliad "A truly bright author and an ingenious writer."  — Vladimir Sorokin! author of Ice Trilogy and Day of the Oprichnik "The most radical of Russian Booker winners."  — Snob.ru "Elizarov is an heir to the classic Russian writers." — Prochtenie.ru "Uncompromising! bizarre and desperate."  — Gazeta.ru "How words can be more dangerous than machine-guns." — Proza.ru "A world of myths... and a requiem for a broken country." —  Questions of Literature Informationen zum Autor Mikhail Elizarov! born 1973 in Ukraine! studied philology and film direction in Kharkiv and worked as a cameraman in the '90s. He then moved to Hanover! Germany to study cinema. In 2001! his first novel Fingernails caught the attention of the media and was shortlisted for the Andrei Bely Prize! and his fourth novel The Librarian was awarded the 2008 Russian Booker Prize. Mikhail Elizarov has also written short stories and essays! and contributes to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and magazines including GQ and Playboy . He currently lives in Germany. Klappentext A collection of books! written by unpopular Soviet-era novelist Gromov! have incredible mystical powers. When Alexei inherits these as part of an uncle's estate! he has no idea of the power they hold and what a group of readers will do to possess them. If Ryu Murakami had written War and Peace And then came the whirlwind, breakneck sequence of bloody events with which my new life began. It all happened literally in seconds. The man who was walking towards us suddenly shuddered and collapsed to his knees, holding one hand to his temple, and beside him the short crowbar that someone had flung out of the darkness landed on the ground with a dull thud. The previous day’s Yeltsinhater, the bald, husky man with the paper bundle, was already beside the driver. He made a stabbing movement and the bundle suddenly buried itself in his adversary’s stomach, so that the paper folded up concertina-wise around the bald man’s fist. He jerked his hand back out, and I saw a long, straight blade. The bald man drove his weapon into the driver’s side for good measure and the driver slumped down, lifeless, onto the ground. The killer deftly wiped down the blade with the crumpled paper. Kolesov manage to run off a couple of metres, but he was overtaken by the false dacha folk. I heard the dull sounds of a struggle. Alik tried to say something, but instead of words he belched out blood. The point of a knitting needle was protruding from his throat. Standing behind him was an elderly woman, the same one who had been knitting on the bench. A...

Report

"Elizarov's novel, winner of the 2008 Russian Booker Prize, is a satire about the absurdity of blind faith and the way people fool themselves into believing in systems in which they are forced to inhabit... this chaotic tale puts a magical twist on its satire." -- Publishers Weekly

"[A] brilliant winner of the Russian Booker Prize.... Immensely entertaining, The Librarian lives up to comparisons to the work of Gogol and Bulgakov while being very much its own thing." - Jeff VanderMeer, Slate

" The Librarian reads like cold fire, full of Russian stoicism, honor and intense formality, but the rhythm of the words is hypnotic." -Luke Goldstein, Blogcritics

"By turns absurdist, satirical, and downright funny: The Librarian takes a page from every book. . . The Librarian is original, delightfully weird and dark, and so frequently funny, this book will have no problem conscripting new English readers." - Asymptote

"Powerful, disturbing, and at the same time, uplifting." - Vzgliad

"A truly bright author and an ingenious writer." - Vladimir Sorokin, author of Ice Trilogy and Day of the Oprichnik

"The most radical of Russian Booker winners." - Snob.ru

"Elizarov is an heir to the classic Russian writers." - Prochtenie.ru

"Uncompromising, bizarre and desperate." - Gazeta.ru

"How words can be more dangerous than machine-guns." - Proza.ru

"A world of myths... and a requiem for a broken country." - Questions of Literature

Product details

• Authors: Andrew Bromfield, Mikhail Elizarov, Mikhaïl Elizarov, Mikhail (Author) Elizarov, Elizarov Mikhail
• Assisted by: Andrew Bromfield (Translation), Andrew (Translator) Bromfield (Translation)
• Publisher: Pushkin Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 27.02.2015
• EAN: 9781782270270
• ISBN: 978-1-78227-027-0
• No. of pages: 410
• Dimensions: 134 mm x 215 mm x 26 mm
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature