Apocalypse Codes: World War II in Chinese and Berlin Babylon
A candle boutique as a form of therapy, a center for international espionage under the guise of a brothel, the role of a blogger in a purely English murder, the first translation of The Chronicles of Love, afterlife conversations about a terrible war. Ekaterina Pisareva, Editor-in-chief of the Litres Group of companies, selected five of the most interesting books published in October especially for Izvestia. Traditional fiction is combined with post-doctoral studies there, and geography covers several continents.
"Candles of the Apocalypse"
Tatiana Zamirovskaya (Edited by Elena Shubina)
If you love the genre of short and concise sketches, then this book is for you. According to writer Tatiana Zamirovskaya, this is a "carefully documented chronicle of human helplessness," a "postdocumentation." Her book grew out of the Candles of the Apocalypse channel of the same name, which she diligently conducted when she worked in a boutique of luxury candles in New York and at the same time wrote a dystopian novel.Смерти.net ".
The main character of "Candles of the Apocalypse" is not the narrator, but her alter ego. Every day she has to balance between a laughing girl and a strict babysitter-supervisor. It's hard to imagine how pathetically ridiculous, annoying, and absurd people can be! But Zamirovskaya describes with incredible tenderness the customers who come to her boutique, and it's very fascinating. What are the stories about naughty twins, whom parents are ready to take to a candle boutique, or buyers who are unable to distinguish candles by length? One hundred questions that don't need answers, dozens of ridiculous situations — the writer is masterful at creating vivid images of people. There is a lot of love and humor, irony and tenderness in these scenes — it turned out to be a soul-saving and warm book about all of us.
Kitty's Salon
Nigel Jones, Urs Brunner, Julia Schrammel (Alpina Non-fiction)
You've probably heard about Kitty's Salon, the scandalous Berlin brothel, in connection with the Tinto Brass film. But what was the actual function of this place? Historians Nigel Jones, Urs Brunner and Julia Schrammel meticulously studied the documents and memoirs and told about what really happened in the walls of the house of tolerance, which turned out to be the center of international espionage. The girls of the hostess, charming Kitty Schmidt, were real erotic agents, ardent supporters of National Socialism. They not only looked immaculate, but they were also intellectually savvy, erudite, and endearing. The valuable information they obtained helped the Nazis in state management and manipulation.
Why the main city of the Weimar Republic was called "Berlin Babylon", what were the sexual preferences of Hitler, Himmler and Goebbels, and what remained in the shadow of official history — all this is described in the provocative and audacious "Kitty Salon".
"Testing my innocence"
Jonathan Coe (Phantom Press)
The British classic Jonathan Coe, author of "Middle England," has written a new book with the intriguing title "Verifying My Innocence." A clever and desperate detective pretending to be a political satire is not at all like the previous quiet novel "Mr. Wilder and Me". Perhaps it is closest in spirit to Coe's bestseller "What a scam!". In the "Check" everything is not just bold, but twisted to the maximum and hits backhand. Reflections and exposure of the writer's kitchen are juxtaposed with political intrigues, criticism of the agenda and Trumpism. The main character Primula dreams of becoming a writer, but so far she is mired in boredom and routine. But everything will change when Christopher, a blogger and journalist, breaks into her dreary life. So when a "purely English murder" happens, unexpected characters will be drawn into it.
Separately, it is worth noting the brilliant translation by Shasha Martynova and the audio version of the book.
"Chronicles of Love"
Nicole Krauss (Corpus)
One of the most famous books by Nicole Krauss, translated into many languages. A novel in which you want to get lost is sad, layered and fragmented. In the center of the plot is a lonely old man Leo Gursky, who fled from the Nazis to America. Many years ago, he wrote a dedication manuscript to his beloved Alma, but due to difficult circumstances, he had to leave the novel with a friend. Many, many years have passed, and it would seem that not only the book, the friend and the beloved woman have been lost - there is no hope, no special meaning to live on. But the "Chronicles of Love" suddenly resurface in his sad new life again, more than half a century later. And these are not just echoes of the past, this is the last return to the time when the hero was young and happy.
"The Lonely Swallow"
Zhang Lin (Phantom Press)
Interest in Asian literature is not fading, new names are appearing. For example, a new author for Russia is the Chinese writer Zhang Lin and her sad, scary and powerful novel The Lonely Swallow. This is a story about the Second World War, about the fates of three male combat friends (American pastor Billy, an American soldier and a Chinese guy next door) and one woman, Swallow. Ah-yan, Stella, Wind — she appears under three names, her three different facets appear before the reader.
Against the background of an intimate and intimate personal line, a large epic canvas unfolds — it is proposed not only to look at the occupation of China, the surrender of Japan and tragic moments in the history of the country, but also to look into the soul of the heroes. For many decades, they had been waiting for a meeting in the afterlife in order to recall the pages of the past. For each hero, the long-suffering Swallow became the woman of his life, a guiding light, an inspiration and a dream, an example of incredible strength and courage. Even death capitulates to love for her, no matter how many years have passed.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
