Word: aksyonov
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Before he left the Soviet Union for the U.S. in 1980, Vassily Aksyonov was part of a restless generation of writers chafing at centuries of censorship and inspired by the irreverent styles of the West. The Burn, a novel written in the early '70s and first published in the U.S. after the author's arrival, is his best-known satirical howl against Soviet oppression and conformity. Aksyonov has published other books in exile, but now, after a decade of personal and artistic freedom, he has written one for the American market. Generations of Winter (Random House; 592 pages; $25) will...
...between 1925 and 1945, Generations moves from disaster to disaster as despotic communism devours its own and Germany attacks and destroys millions more. Members of the Gradov family, led by Dr. Boris Nikitovich, make their separate ways through history. Aksyonov impressively spreads out a panorama of suffering, but he overlays it with shameless melodrama, unconvincing uplift and grotesque humor. Readers who sling their hammock, move their samovar onto their veranda and settle down for an old-fashioned summer read may be distracted by a narrative farrago that includes a scene in which Dr. Gradov nearly wins the Order of Lenin...
CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE, Barrie Penrose and Simon Freeman -- IN SEARCH OF MELANCHOLY BABY, Vassily Aksyonov -- MAN OF THE HOUSE, Tip O'Neill with William Novak -- THE MAKING OF THE AFRICAN QUEEN, Katharine Hepburn -- MIAMI, Joan Didion -- THE SONGLINES, Bruce Chatwin
BEST INTENTIONS, Robert Sam Anson CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE, Barrie Penrose and Simon Freeman -- IN SEARCH OF MELANCHOLY BABY, Vassily Aksyonov ORPHANS: REAL AND IMAGINARY, Eileen Simpson -- RACING THROUGH PARADISE, William F. Buckley Jr. -- THE SONGLINES, Bruce Chatwin
...Aksyonov is sometimes a bit too fascinated with subjects Americans take for granted, like big cars, surly bureaucrats and the "notorious checked trousers and flower-laden hats" of the elderly. Nonetheless, the message of Melancholy Baby is reassuring: America is still the immigrant's silver lining, tarnished by its blandness but ennobled by its generosity. "I see more than the bright windows of my new home," Aksyonov concludes. "I see its mildewed corners as well. I trust that if I point them out my new country won't throw me out." Not to worry. America tends to welcome its satirists...