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rewards a broad background knowledge
“This is a witty story in spite of its dark theme, but you really need to have a good background knowledge of Russian lit, history, and politics to get the jokes/references. I usually pass on the books I enjoy to friends, but I fear that few of them would see the humor here. ”
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-03-06. -
2 of 2 members found this review helpful.
Truth or Consequences
“Published a mere 6 years ago, Tatyana Tolstaya's The Slynx has already been dubbed a 'classic' by the New York Review of Books; perhaps with good reason since the book, a dystopian Russian fable depicting peasant life post nuclear blast, seems timeless in its political and social themes. Tolstaya, great grandniece of Leo Tolstoy and a frequent contributor to the NYRB, sets a darkly comic tone in this her first novel.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-02-18.
As the author paints vividly on a bleak canvas, what appears is a horrifying, reconstituted world. The main character, comrade (Golubchik) Benedikt works for Fyodor Kuzmich Glorybe, the head feudal lord ("The Greatest Murza"), as a scribe copying out classic literature and poetry, which Kuzmich claims as his own. On his free time, he catches mice for dinner and tries to meet women, preferably ones with few consequences (as a result of the great "Blast" most citizens live with "consequences" like Varvara "with one eye, not a hair on her head and coxcombs growing all over it").
The Golubchiks live in huts called "izbas" and dine on "worrums" as well as the ubiquitous mice, which also serve as tender. There are the Degenerators, half-human half-canine, who are enslaved and used to transport Golubchiks via troika. The Saniturions are a sort of KGB, sniffing out and obliterating any hint of "freethinking". Then there are the "Oldeners": humans who have survived the great blast and are somehow now immune to natural death. Most Oldeners have been around for 200 years or more and feel great disdain for the feudal Murzas.
The fearsome Slynx of the title lies outside the boundaries of Fyodor-Kuzmichsk (formerly Moscow). It's the fear of moving on, expanding, change, and discovering just what does exist at the nether regions of the "flat pancake of the earth"; the serpentine Slynx is the fear of knowledge and it devours all that dare trespass on its turf.
As Benedikt discovers and becomes obsessed with books, which are forbidden as sources of freethinking by the Greatest Murza, he leaves himself vulnerable to the rebellious machinations of his newly acquired father-in-law. Benedikt finds himself on a quest for the ultimate book, the book of the great "White Bird", that will reveal to him the correct way to live his life. Here, the meat of Tolstaya's cautionary tale emulsifies like a big bowl of mouse stew. By the end of the novel she auspiciously delivers her final ironic caveat: Those who study history are doomed to repeat it.
The Slynx is by turns wry and laugh out loud funny; it evokes at once hopelessness in its pathos and sincere hope through its humanism (as evidenced in the oldeners). I recommend this book to any curious reader.
4 stars
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A rich, fantastic and mutely believable post-apocalyptic Russian world
“"What's a fable?" asks the main character of Tatyana Tolstaya's first novel - published in 2002 and now out in paperback. "A fable is a directive rendered in a simplified form for popular consumption," comes the reply.
An amazon user wrote this on 2008-10-17.
On the surface, The Slynx is a depressing, dystopian fable of humanity after a second Fall. But a fable is rarely as simple as it seems on the surface. And, in this case, you have to dig for the directive.
Tolstaya conjures up a rich, fantastic and mutely believable post-apocalyptic Russian world that is rich in allegory and wordplay. At the center of the tale is the simple, unambitious scribe, Benedikt. When confronted by the Head Santurion (in charge of internal security), who happens to be his prospective father-in-law, he cries: "I don't know anything, I've never seen anything. Never heard anything. I don't understand anything, don't want anything, haven't dreamt anything."
It is the common cry of the innocent in the face of tyranny. And it is as false as it is irrelevant.
Benedikt of course wants something. First it is the beautiful Olenka. And then, after he discovers books, it is the calm, comfortable life of fantasy which books allow: escape from his horror- and fearstricken world.
But, for everything, there is a price. And perhaps that is the directive, the moral of this dark and fascinating fable, which Tolstaya - previously a short story writer - reportedly took a decade to write. Even in a post-nuclear world, in which mice are the basic foodstuff and common currency, it turns out that things can get worse still.
Reviewed in Russian Life” -
0 of 4 members found this review helpful.
Almost the best novel ever
“I eagely awaited the release of this book and read it as soon as it was published in its English version a few years ago. I agree with other commentators on this page who praise the "ingenious social commentary" and so forth. Indeed, right up to page 98 I felt that this book had the makings of one of the best novels ever.
An amazon user wrote this on 2007-08-07.
However, after page 98 the magic abruptly disintegrates. I don't know how else to put it. It's a shame. Googling for details of Tatyana's life, you get some clue as to why she could not sustain the magic.” -
1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
The review from Publishers Weekly is misleading
“The review from Publishers Weekly is wrong saying that the world described in The Slynx is the world of permanent winter. The reviewer obviously have not read the book.
An amazon user wrote this on 2007-06-19.
The book is a masterpiece of Russian language. I suppose it is equally hard to translate to English as to translate Shakespeare from English. Tolstaya's language is not a simple Russian, it is a colorful, rich literature language. Note that the book is written as if on behalf of Benedikt. And Tolstaya in a masterly fashion gives the prose a rural and still noble shade of Russia primordial. It's really enjoying.”
