Visiting the page: what books to spend New Year's vacation with
A festive feast with olivier and herring under a fur coat, New Year's lights and Christmas trees are certainly important. But when there is no need to hurry anywhere, there is nothing better than wrapping up in a plaid on the sofa with a good book. "Izvestia" has compiled a small list for those who are tired of rereading "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. There is room for a touching story in pre-New Year's Dagestan, fairy-tale winter classics, Chinese sai-fai, reflection of Japanese men on the theme of loneliness, adventures of a KGB officer and a young dragoness and even a horror in the surroundings of the Karelian forest.
"Men Without Women," Haruki Murakami
It is unknown when Haruki Murakami's new novel "The City and Insecure Walls" will appear on the shelves of bookstores in Russia (and whether it will appear at all), so we suggest paying attention to his small collection "Men Without Women" ten years ago - still completely universal and understandable both in snowy Sapporo and in bustling Moscow. Confirming the title on the cover, this is a book about longing and languishing men who, as the Japanese novelist himself writes, have been abandoned or are about to be abandoned by women for a variety of circumstances.
Like almost all of Murakami's books, the collection is cinematic. It is no coincidence that the short story Drive My Car (named after the Beatles' hit song) drew the attention of Ryusuke Hamaguchi. The Japanese director adapted a short story about an actor experiencing the death of his wife into a subtle and therapeutic three-hour drama about human loneliness and the ability to find common ground even when you speak different languages. In 2022, the movie "Get behind the wheel of my car" won the Oscar in the category "Best Foreign Language Film".
"The Big Hustle", Islam Khanipaev
Dramatic events in Makhachkala on New Year's Eve: several people are trying to protect Europe's largest beech tree, nicknamed Big Fuss, from being cut down. They plan to build an office center on the site of the tree, and the former mayor of Makhachkala gave permission for this. The resolution will come into force with the beginning of the new year, so a few particularly brave citizens have only days left to prevent this from happening. According to Khanipayev, this story is about hope and the fact that good "must come with fists". The book is really like a New Year's fairy tale - it is in some places touching to tears and ironic story, which is hard to tear yourself away from.
"The Nutcracker and the Mouse King", Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann
The main mascot of the winter holidays, which for more than two hundred years, reminds anyone regardless of age of the magical power of Christmas and New Year. And creates an incredible frenzy in the ticket offices of the Bolshoi Theater. A timeless, multi-layered story about friendship, compassion, love and miracles, Hoffman's moral lessons do not contain a single hint of pressuring lecture. To top it all off, this is an incredibly beautiful book - there is no edition of The Nutcracker in Russia without colorful illustrations. At the same time, the author's life was far from fabulous: "The Nutcracker" was first published in Berlin in 1816, six years before Hoffmann's death. The status of one of the main European fairy tale writers did not catch the writer. Today, when we hear the first notes in the pas de deux from Pyotr Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker" based on Hoffmann's book, it means that the fairy tale is near.
"The Three-Body Problem", Liu Cixin
When not on New Year's vacation to sit down for a three-volume book one of the most discussed this year sci-fi book series "Memories of Earth's Past". Not without the influence of the Netflix series of the same name, of course. "The Three Body Task" is the first fantasy novel of the trilogy, which is perceived just by that title. It is followed by the books "The Dark Forest" and "The Eternal Life of Death."
A mysterious government organization seeks the help of nanotechnologist Wang Miao. A series of mysterious suicides of physical scientists occur around the world. In their suicide notes they claim that physics as a science never existed. A policeman, Shi Qiang, becomes the scientist's partner. Obviously, the investigation takes a serious turn, as the fate of all mankind depends on its outcome.
Liu Cixin himself is compared to Isaac Asimov. Despite the fact that the trilogy of the Chinese writer describes the contact of mankind with aliens, Liu Cixin relies on real scientific concepts. But on the boring physics textbook "Three-Body Problem", of course, does not resemble.
"Cognata", Alexei Salnikov
One of the most interesting novelties of 2024. The author of "Petrovs in the flu" and "Occulttreger" Alexei Salnikov released an adventure sci-fi book series about an alternative reality where people live in a fragile world with dragons. Separates their habitats border zone "Mirror". The main character, a man, a senior lieutenant of state security Konstantin Konstantinovich Konstantinov, receives a task to deliver a young draconian Kognata on the other side of the "Mirror" in her home to prevent a new round of conflict between humans and dragons. But the young companion's character is far from a gift. Among the novel's virtues is Salnikov's trademark tenacious syllable, humor, irony, and charming characters. Ultimately, this book is not about a great mission, but about life and love. The novel has already been released in print version, but it is much more interesting to listen to it as a series in the voice of Sergei Gilev.
"Forest", Svetlana Tyulbasheva
Debut novel by Svetlana Tyulbasheva - a thriller or even a horror about two friends Muscovites, lost in the pines and firs of the Karelian forest in search of cloudberries. The first part of the book is one continuous dashingly twisted suspense. In parallel with this story unfolds another: the family of the boy Grisha moves into an abandoned house in a Karelian village and immediately faces the open hostility of the locals. It will be hard to tear yourself away from this book, at least because you want to understand how the stories of the missing girls and Grisha's family are connected. With each page Svetlana Tyulbasheva hints that the truth is somewhere near, but it again and again turns out to be a false trail, on which we are skillfully led by the author.
