Finding back a book by Soviet author from the eighties?
February 24, 2010 12:32 AM Subscribe
What book was this: Soviet artist (theater/music/writer?) writing about his life in Moscow during the eighties.
Googling the various themes and glimpses I remember of it haven't helped me. Here is what I take from memory, some of it may be mixups:
-It is set in Moscow, at least most of the time. Maybe he came from somewhere else in the Union at first
-He drops out of his studies, can't remember what they were
-The writer lives various places, one of them a small room in a great old wooden house. His neighour there is sick?
-He also crashes for some time in a upscale apartment I think, where KGB comes to visit
-He writes songs and perform them with this girlfriend?
-He drinks a lot of vodka sometimes (that should narrow it down I suppose....)
-He is involved in some kind of theatre setup that has trouble with the censorship, or maybe it was his songs/texts
-The tone of the story is sordid in a self-ironic way, humourus
-He goes on a concert or theatre tour of the USA, contemplating deflection, but is somewhat disillusioned with the west. There was something about the opulence as he saw it, and a scene with a swimming pool.
-But I remember looking him up afterwards, and turns out he did deflect some time after writing the book
Anyone know who this Soviet writer is/was, or what the book is named?
Googling the various themes and glimpses I remember of it haven't helped me. Here is what I take from memory, some of it may be mixups:
-It is set in Moscow, at least most of the time. Maybe he came from somewhere else in the Union at first
-He drops out of his studies, can't remember what they were
-The writer lives various places, one of them a small room in a great old wooden house. His neighour there is sick?
-He also crashes for some time in a upscale apartment I think, where KGB comes to visit
-He writes songs and perform them with this girlfriend?
-He drinks a lot of vodka sometimes (that should narrow it down I suppose....)
-He is involved in some kind of theatre setup that has trouble with the censorship, or maybe it was his songs/texts
-The tone of the story is sordid in a self-ironic way, humourus
-He goes on a concert or theatre tour of the USA, contemplating deflection, but is somewhat disillusioned with the west. There was something about the opulence as he saw it, and a scene with a swimming pool.
-But I remember looking him up afterwards, and turns out he did deflect some time after writing the book
Anyone know who this Soviet writer is/was, or what the book is named?
Best answer: It sounds like Metro by Alexander Kaletski to me..
posted by sammyabdu at 1:55 AM on February 24, 2010
posted by sammyabdu at 1:55 AM on February 24, 2010
Response by poster: Thank you so much Sammyabdu, that was fantastic.
posted by gmm at 2:36 AM on February 24, 2010
posted by gmm at 2:36 AM on February 24, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jedro at 12:52 AM on February 24, 2010