December 17, 2019, at 16:00, we invite everybody to visit the next issue of the project “Herzen Literary Meetings”. The event will take place as part of the winter session of “Pedagogical seasons”.
The speaker of the meeting is Valery Bochkov. He is Russian prose writer, author of eleven books, winner of “Russian Prize” for the novel “South of Virginia” (2014). The novel "Charon" became the winner of “Ernest Hemingway Prize” (2016). “The Brighton Blues” storybook received the title “The Book of the Year” by the German publisher “Za-Za Verlag” (2013). The novel “Latgalian Cross” became a finalist of “Nikolai Gogol Prize” (2019).
Within the framework of the meeting, the presentation of the novel "Latgalian Cross" will take place.
Book trailer on Youtube.
The novel can be read in the magazine "Druzhba narodov" (2019, No. 1)
Valery Bochkov’s new novel “Latgalian Cross” is a direct look at things that does not leave loopholes for self-deception and superficial self-comfort.
As in all the works of this author, the action here is extremely intense, tightly compressed and rapid. Valery Bochkov drives his racing car along a very steep and rough road. After some time, the reader will not have to painfully recall what this book was about. It crashes into memory with a bright flash.
The novel has three main plans. The first is a dramatic story about youth, growing up and learning how life and human relationships work. The second is a discourse on the historical experience of the 20th century, primarily on fascism. The experience is so terrible that the post-war period acquires here post-apocalyptic features. And thirdly, there is a polemic with a blissful religious view of guilt, sin, and free will.
(From a review by Olga Boguslavskaya)
Venue: Moika emb., 48, building 5, Winter Garden of the fundamental library of Herzen University.