THERE ONCE LIVED A GIRL WHO SEDUCED HER SISTER’S HUSBAND, AND HE HANGED HIMSELF
Love Stories
By Ludmilla Petrushevskaya
Translated with an Introduction by Anna Summers
This was a departure from anything I had known or thought I could be comfortable with. This collection of short stories are united by their geographic location in Russia and the painful and sad circumstances of those individuals Ludmilla Petrushevskaya writes about.
The title says it all but don’t let it throw you off track these are love stories just from a different set of eyes, setting and time. Once I was able to adjust my eyes just like when a room is flooded with light I was able to take it all in.
Beautifully tragic but masterfully written is how I think of these stories. Lines of propriety when it comes to themselves and others simply does not exist. Just a sliver of happiness or love is what these characters are seeking without the hope of happy endings.
Once several stories in, I began to become fully emerged in Petrushevskaya’s Russia and then I was able to simply respect the time, place and the writing which makes the despair more palatable. The human spirit wants what it wants even if the very basic essentials of existence and humanity are missing.
If you have read Petrushevskaya’s prior collection of scary fairy tales, There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby, a New York Times bestseller it would seem you already know what an unusual treat you are in for. Any student of world literature, Russian literature, short story fans or just brilliant writing should not pass up this collection no matter how dark they are on the surface.
I have a copy of this book to share with one of you, thanks to Penguin Books. Please leave a comment below to be entered. Contest ends, Sunday, February 24th. Winner will be chosen randomly.
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If the title says it all, these certainly are a different kind of love story. The book sounds interesting. Thanks for the giveaway.
Thank you for popping over, the title sets the tone but it had much to offer.
Thank you for the giveaway. Russia is fascinating.
Thx for stopping by.
I have been reading a lot about this book.would love to read it.
I have to admit I was not sure what to think but they are just so beautiful and yet full of despair. So glad to have experienced this. Always so nice to have you swing by.
The title alone is captivating. It raises a dozen questions instantly. I never bought short story collections but after reading The Interpreter of Maladies and E. L. Doctorow’s Sweet Land Stories my opinion radically changed. Sometimes a writer can convey a lot more through a short story than a novel.
Thank you for stopping by I too was not a seasoned short story reader but something made me take a chance. These definitely were special.
Sounds interesting and since I have traveled to Russia I would love to read this too.
Thx for stopping by, hoping to go to Russia one day.