In Русский репортёр №26 [October 29th – December 6th 2007] I came across a short interview, in the magazine’s feature «семь вопросов» [seven questions], with writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya [Людмила Улицкая]. She recently received the Russian literary award Большая книга (Big book) for her novel published in 2007, «Даниель Штейн, переводчик» (“Daniel Stein, translator”). This award is the most “pricey” award for works of fiction in Russia, and the receiver of it gets three million roubles. In the interview she explains that this novel might be her last one, since it takes many years to write such a serious book, and that she definitely won’t be publishing anything new in the year 2008. After being such a prolific writer for many years, and after the huge work she put into her last effort, she of course deserves a break. Anyone who has read this masterpiece would not argue with such a decision, even though after reading it the reader feels a hunger for more, for more of this kind of writing, and, of course, for Ulitskaya to write more books of this kind. I swallowed it during one week in August after my roommate, an American missionary and a Russian language and literature mayor at Ural State University, gave it to me and said it was the best book she’s ever read. After I finished it I said the same thing and we enjoyed many long conversations together where we discussed not only the big questions about faith, life, history and politics that are posed in this work, but also the structure of it. Despite not lacking in any way when it comes to plot, characters and general idea, it is the structure of this book that makes it truly stand out. It is structured as a compilation of letters and journal entries and interviews and memories and other small notes from different times, written by different people about themselves and about others. The reader is only allowed to see the bigger picture bit by bit, only after every reading the story in small pieces do we begin to understand more and more about Daniel Stein and the people surrounding him. This makes the novel practically impossible to put down, because you keep thinking ‘well, I bet this next passage will only be a page or two, I could just as well keep going…’ And before you know it you’ll have finished part four of the five parts and start to get worried that it you’ll be done with it in a day or two if you don’t slow down.

As of yet there is no English translation of it, but I’m sure that there are many lucky translators at work with it in this very moment. Here is what is written on the back cover of the hardcopy, not only in case some of you got curious about how a novel like this might be described in Russian, but also because it contains five active participles, three in present tense and two in past tense (which are in bold, other words that will be explained at the bottom are in italics):

«Мудрая старуха, обитающая среди книг и молчания. Озлобленная коммунистка, доживающая свой век в израильском приюте. Сорокалетняя американка – якобы благополучная, но искалеченная воспоминаниями. Немка, ради искупления вины своего народа работающая в христианской общине под Хайфой. Католическая монахиня, ныне православная попадья, нашедшая себя на Святой земле. Израильский радикал, неуравновешенный подросток, грустный араб-христианин, специалист по иудаике. Большая политика и частная жизнь. США, Израиль, Польша, Литва, Россия. А в центре всего этого разрозненного и всё же отчаянно единого мира – еврей, бывший «крот» в гестапо, бывший партизан, ныне – католический священник. Человек, чья жизнь объясняет, как люди живы до сих пор, как не утопили себя в ненависти и боли.

Новый роман Людмилы Улицкой – о странствиях духа во мраке мира, о том, как всякий ищет и находит свет вокруг и в себе. О кармелите Даниэле – человеке, с чьей жизнью не способна соперничать никакая литература. О человеке, который до последнего дня оставался милосердным солдатом.»

обитающая (f. – m. обитающий) from the verb обитать (impf) ‘to dwell (in), to inhabit’.

доживающая (f. – m. доживающий) from the verb доживать (impf) in this context with the meaning ‘to live out, to spend the rest of’.

работающая (f. – m. работающий) from the verb работать (impf) ‘to work’.

нашедшая (f. – m. нашедший) from the verb найти (pfv) ‘to find’.

бывший (m.) from the verb быть (used only in the future and the past) ‘to be’.

озлобленная (f. – m. озлобленный) embittered.

искалеченная (f. – m. искалеченный) deformed, damaged, ruined (чем? By what?).

искупления (gen. – nomin. искупление) expiation, atonement.

под Хайфой (instr. – nomin. Хайфа) Haifa (city in Israel).

неуравновешенный (m.) unbalanced (emotionally), unstable.

по иудаике (dat. – nomin. иудака) I couldn’t find this in any of my dictionaries, but I assume that it is the science of Judaism (иудаизм).

разрозненного (gen. – nomin. разрозненный) incomplete, odd, uncoordinated.

отчаянно (adverb) desperately, frightfully.

крот (m.) mole.

гестапо – Gestapo.

о странствиях (locat. pl. – nomin. sg. странствие) traveling, wandering.

соперничать (impf + с чем/с кем?) to compete (with), to vie (with), to compare (with), rival, equal.

милосердным (instr. – nomin.милосердный) merciful, charitable.