From Ahern to Ulitskaya: Six New Books of November

Peter and Olga Vlasov, The Moscow Wall (Eksmo)

The Moscow Wall is the first novel by Peter and Olga Vlasov, intended for an adult audience. Previously, the Vlasovs were known as authors of works for children: over the past few years, books “The Knight, Cat and Ballerina. The Adventures of the Hermitage Cats ”,“ Journey to the End of the Earth ”,“ Draugen ”and“ The Tale of the Lost Autumn ”.

In the Moscow Wall, the authors continue to engage in their usual business - building alternative universes. True, this one no longer has talking cats, nor animated griffins. This time, readers will be occupied by military men, partisans and diplomats, deciding the fate of people in the context of a geopolitical post-apocalypse: according to the plot, Russia, the USA and China are breaking up, the world is plunging into chaos, and the European army, which is greedy for oil and gas, is based in Moscow.

The plane shook mercilessly in an air pothole. Goldstone thought for a moment that his long, thin body, like an elongated porcelain vase, was about to shatter. He again thought about the good: if you sit down humanly, the chances of falling apart to pieces are higher. The Russian partisans, here's a strange thing, are not distinguished by hospitality. Guests from Europe are not welcomed at all by bread and salt, as the local tradition prescribes, but by ground-to-air missiles, which easily shoot down targets at a height of three kilometers. The military counterintelligence probably wrote down more than a ton of paper with versions of where the rockets came from the partisans roaming the forests (in fact, aren't they found under the trees instead of mushrooms?). But this painstaking, respectable work, alas, is not able to prevent regular, colorful fireworks in the airport area. And although dozens of mobile patrols play cat and mouse with saboteurs, they rarely manage to get the coveted trophy - a bearded man dressed in an earflap hat and a stinky sheep’s short fur coat. According to the Sandy Times cartoons, a typical Russian partisan looks like this. I even remembered the name of the character from the comic book, popular a couple of years ago - Ivan Kalashnikov. The main weapon of the villain was not the machine of the same name, which is logical to assume, but a terrible, intolerable stench of an unwashed body. With shouts of “Partisans are using chemical weapons! It's not fair! ”Europeans scattered along the bushes.

Lyudmila Ulitskaya, “On the body of the soul. New Stories ”(“ Edition of Elena Shubina ”, AST)

The winner of the Russian Booker and the Big Book (and, according to bookmakers, a candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature) Lyudmila Ulitskaya in November presents a new collection "On the body of the soul." The book includes two cycles of stories: a series of "Girlfriends" of five short stories devoted to the diversity of manifestations of love; the second part, which was just called “On the body of the soul,” became a kind of study of the boundaries between different forms of existence, life and death.

The mood of the collection is conveyed by the intriguing titles of stories, such as “Alice buys death”, “Carcasses, carcasses, where their souls are ...”, “Autopsy”. Some works are dedicated to specific people from the environment of Ulitskaya.

Yanina Zheimo, “The Long Way from the Drummer in the Circus to Cinderella in the Cinema” / memoirs of Ioannina Zheimo (“Alpina non-fiction”)

Before becoming an actress, Ioannina Zheimo did a long way: as a child, she entered the circus arena as a ballerina, gymnast, rider and many others. About this and other episodes of his biography, Jameau spoke in her memoirs. It is noteworthy that the memoirs of the main Soviet Cinderella were not previously published - only a small part of them appeared in the 1970s in the Neva magazine.

In the main book of her life, Yanina Zheimo, with humor and her inherent passion, talks about everything that her heart has ever touched - personal, professional, close people and famous contemporaries.

According to the script, Cinderella, frightened, says: "Well, mother, I will try." But instead of this phrase, I suddenly say: “No way!”

Ranevskaya, who perfectly fit into the image, was so outraged by my insolence that she literally screeched in rage: “If you don’t put on Anna’s shoe right now, then I ... I ... will drive your father out of the house!”

Here she is, the motivation to put on Anna’s shoe! Cinderella does it for her father! “No, no, mother! I beg you! ”I cry, and then dutifully, like a lamb, I go up to Anna and easily put a shoe on her leg.

- Stop! - the voice of Kosheverova is heard. In the ensuing deathly silence, we heard clear steps that echoed hollowly in the pavilion: Schwartz was walking towards us from its depths.

Approaching his stepmother, he suddenly said:

- Faina Georgievna, you forgot to add: “And I will rot it under the fence.”

“Forgive me, dear,” said Faina Georgievna, “I feel like I'm saying something wrong, but I can’t remember what I have to say.”

How I wanted to throw myself on Ranevskaya’s neck and kiss, kiss, kiss her! What a clever girl she is! How phenomenally talented! How brilliant she had this unexpected scene for her!

Schwartz looked at me. Probably both of us looked like schoolchildren who mislead.

At that moment I already adored my heroine. I wanted to kiss not only Ranevskaya, but also Schwartz - and the whole world in general!

Stefan Servan, Sirius (MYTH)

In 2018, the novel by Sirius Stefan Servan, French novel, won the Le Prix Sorcières prize as the best work for teens. However, as critics say, this book is able to interest and captivate adults: the novel more likely looks like a parable with serious philosophical problems. Experts also drew attention to how seriously the author approaches environmental problems.

The main characters of the novel, the girl Avril and her younger brother Kid, live in a forest away from civilization. Strictly speaking, it is not clear whether civilization exists in its usual form in principle: animals have died out, it has become unsafe among people. Children while away in the hope that their parents will send them a faithful dog named Sirius.

Sheng Scheien, “Avant-garde artists: Russian revolution in art. 1917-1935 "(" Colibri ")

The Dutchman Sheng Scheien has been specializing in Russian culture and the history of the twentieth century for many years. The result of his research was the biography of the legendary theater entrepreneur Sergei Diaghilev “Diaghilev. "Russian Seasons" forever. " Now Scheien turned his eyes to another phenomenon that arose at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and influenced the development of all areas of world art - avant-garde.

According to the author, the avant-garde is nothing more than a mentality expressed “in every fiber of the soul”, beliefs and behavior of the artist. In his work, Scheien compares the avant-garde artists with the fighters against the oppressing creators of the academic canons and tells why and with what methods the avant-garde fought.

Moscow, September 14, 1913. At about four in the afternoon, three men with red-blue painted faces got out of a taxi on the corner of the Kuznetsk Bridge and Neglinnaya, two crowded streets in the old city center. Having defiled along the Kuznetsk Bridge, almost to Lubyanka, they turned back and got into the same taxi, which dropped them off a few hundred meters from the Filippov cafe, where they dropped in to drink coffee. This event was watched by a curious audience and specially invited newspaper reporters and photographers. The leader of the trio, artist Mikhail Larionov, announced a planned walk along the Kuznetsk Bridge with painted faces in a newspaper interview two days earlier. In the same interview, he spoke about the plans for the publication of the Manifesto for a Man, which proclaimed a revolution in men's fashion. “A man should weave gold and silk threads into the hair, the free ends of which, in the form of tassels, hang on the forehead or on the back of the head. Legs should be bare, in light sandals and tattooed or painted. ” Those who wanted to grow a beard were ordered to shave half their beards and wear only one mustache. Larionov also promised to write the Manifesto for a Woman, in which ladies were invited to walk along the street with generously painted or tattooed naked breasts.

Cecilia Ahern, Postscript ("Foreigner")

Ahern's first novel, “PS I Love You!”, For several weeks after its release, maintained its leading position in the bestseller lists of several countries. Subsequently, the story of Holly Kennedy, which the dead husband pulls out of depression through pre-prepared messages, was filmed - the main roles in the film of the same name were played by Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler.

The action of the "Postscript" takes place six years after the heroine read the last letter. Holly believes that she has long survived the death of her husband - however, the appearance of harmony is violated by PS club members. I love you. They want Holly to help them take care of their loved ones.

Bogged down in the lies I just uttered, I wonder if she sounded as empty and hollow as I can hear. Meanwhile, things are drawing to a close. Kiara invites the audience to ask questions, and I relax a little in the hope that there is very little left. The third row, fifth place, crumpled a handkerchief in his hand, the ink was smeared.

- Hi, Holly. My name is Joanna. A few months ago, I lost my husband. I wish that he would also leave me messages. Could you tell us what happened in the last letter? “But I really want to know what was in each of them,” someone says, accompanied by a roar of approval.

“We have enough time to hear about everything if Holly doesn't mind,” Kiara says, looking inquiringly at me.

I take a deep breath and exhale very slowly. I haven’t recalled letters for so long. As a fact - yes, I thought, but not about each separately and not about their order. Where to start? A new lamp on the bedside table, a new dress, an evening in karaoke, sunflower seeds, a complete breakaway with friends on their birthday ... Will they understand how much these trifle things at first glance seem to mean to me? But the last letter ... I smile. It is easy.

- The last letter said: "Do not be afraid to fall in love again."