by Michail Schischkin
“This is an important book with pretensions to greatness. It tackles Russian history from before the 1917 Revolution almost to the present (though leaves out most politics). It recounts the life experiences of a woman, a child before the Revolution, who becomes a professional singer and ultimately outlives the Soviet state. It also tells stories derived from Shishkin’s own experience working in Switzerland as an interpreter for Russian speaking asylum seekers. All is intermingled with tales from the Persian Wars, moving eventually to descriptions of modern Rome (which, of course, is in part also ancient Rome).
Mikhail Shishkin is a prominent contemporary Russian novelist and Maidenhair in its original Russian won two major prizes. In this translation by Marian Schwartz was shortlisted for the 2013 Best Translated Book Award. Maidenhair is serious literary fiction. It may not entirely qualify as ‘experimental’ (although somewhat unconventional in its story-telling, probably everything has been done before), and experiment is not entirely new to contemporary Russian fiction, but the novel may nevertheless serve as a pathfinder, encouraging other Russian authors to explore unconventional approaches.
It is comprised of overlapping, intersecting stories and narratives – interviews with asylum seekers in Switzerland, personal memories, biographical notes and journals of a singer on whom the author is penning a biography – and historical readings on Greek myths and the Persian War. Shishkin said the book takes place “everywhere and always.” His insights into the human condition are profound and his beautiful prose is some of the best being written by a Russian. This challenging work is easily worth the effort.”
Facts:
English title: Maidenhair
Original title: Wenerin Wolos
Published: 2005
