A quiet month for paperbacks in November with the book trade in full swing for Christmas. Just four of interest for me, one of which I’ve already reviewed. Guillermo Erades’ Back to Moscow didn’t seem to get the attention it deserved when it was first published back in March and is in danger of the same thing happening given everyone has their eye on their Christmas present lists by the time it’s published. I hope I’m wrong about that. You won’t be surprised to hear that it’s set in Moscow, back at the beginning of the century when the city was stuffed full of expats with their eye on the main chance. It’s the story of a young man, studying for a PhD more because of happenstance than any burning desire, and the things he gets up to – a kind of Rake’s Progress, if you like, but what could easily have been a cheap and lurid hedonistic tale turns out to be very much more than that. Steeped in Russian literature where happy endings are at a premium, it’s also an atmospheric portrait of a city in the midst of transforming itself.
Uwe Tellkamp’s The Tower is set a decade or so before Back to Moscow, the tumultuous events which led to the eventual disintegration of the Soviet Union and its satellite states yet to come. The East German experience is reflected and refracted through the experiences of a soldier, a surgeon, a nurse and a publisher against the backdrop of Dresden. ‘With evocative detail, Uwe Tellkamp masterfully reveals the myriad perspectives of the time as people battled for individuality, retreated to nostalgia, chose to conform, or toed the perilous line between East and West. Poetic, heartfelt and dramatic, The Tower vividly resurrects the sights, scents and sensations of life in the GDR as it hurtled towards 9 November 1989’ say the publishers. Tellkamp was born in Dresden in 1968 and was arrested in 1989 for ‘political sabotage’ which suggests that this will be an insightful read.
Translated by the excellent Anthea Bell, Saša Stanšic’s Before the Feast may offer a little light relief after that. It sounds a little convoluted and the blurb gives a flavour far better than I can, not having read it: ‘It’s the night before the Feast in the village of Furstenfelde (population: declining), but not everyone is asleep. The local artist, wearing an evening dress and gum-boots, goes down to the lake under cover of darkness. The village archivist is kept awake by ancient tales that threaten to take on a life of their own. A retired lieutenant-colonel weighs his pistol, and his future, in his hand. And eighteen-year-old Anna, namesake of the Feast, prepares to take her place in tomorrow’s drinking and dancing, eating and burning. On this night of misdeeds and mischief, they are joined by a dead ferryman, a hapless bellringer, a cigarette machine, two robbers in football shirts and a vixen on the hunt – as their fates collide in the most unexpected ways’ which sounds quite extraordinary. Anthea Bell has replaced the late Carol Brown Janeway as my translator to watch so this one goes straight on the list despite any reservations about magic realism I might have.
My final choice is, unusually for me, a short story collection: Helen Simpson’s Cockfosters. Her smart, witty 
collection of linked stories Hey Yeah Right Get a Life had me hooked when it first came out. She’s very funny – sharply observant of human foibles but compassionate with it – which makes me keen to read Cockfosters. The link here is Tube stations which should appeal to London commuters and seems tailor-made for a Transport for London advertising campaign although it does venture outside the metropolis, opening ‘irresistible new windows onto the world from Arizona to Dubai and from Moscow to Berlin’ according to the publishers, neatly taking this post back to where it started.
That’s it for November. A click on a title will take you to a fuller synopsis for the last three titles and to my review for Back to Moscow. And if you’d like to catch up with November’s new titles they’re here.
Oh, no, all of them tempt me mightily! I’ve been meaning to read The Tower for ages, because in many ways it’s the story of my generation, but I want to read it in German, so I can foresee a hefty P&P fee.
Only four, though! Of the ones I haven’t read it’s The Tower that appeals to me too, Marina. I can see that it would be much better to read it in the original. I’ll look forward to your review.
The Tower is calling to me – I was in Dresden a year ago and found the story of how it came back from the rubble fascinating. I also happened to be in Berlin the year the wall came down so experienced the reaction of people who had come out from soviet control.
It must have been fascinating to be in Berlin in ’89. Were you there during the time the Wall actually began to be pulled down? We were in Dresden exactly seven weeks today as part of our Central European railway holiday so The Tower is the one that most attracts me out of these four, too. Standing in the main square it seemed impossible to imagine the painstaking care with which it’s all been reconstructed. It’s such an interesting part of Europe to visit. That feeling of having finally come out from under Soviet control was also very evident in the Baltic states which we visited last year as was, I’m afraid, a certain amount of nervousness about Russia’s future plans.
Before the Feast sounds lovely, and The Tower sounds like a really interesting read. Interesting selection, as always.
Thanks, Belinda. It’s The Tower for me, too, given the Dresden connection after our Central European jaunt. I’m a wee bit worried about the magic realism element in Before the Feast – I’m not a fan – but I’ll certainly give it a try.
Ooooo, a new Helen Simpson: love her stories, just love them! She’s one of my MRE authors (MustReadEverything)!
Yes, I’m looking forward to that one. A bit of light relief.