Give Me (Songs for Lovers) - Softcover

Denezhkina, Irina

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0701176741 ISBN 13: 9780701176747

Publisher: CHATTO & WINDUS, 2004

Synopsis

With these eleven short stories, Irina Denezkhina announces herself as the fresh voice of Russian literature. Mining the themes of teenage sex, drugs, violence and music, she tells it like it is for Russia's new generation, brought up in a complex post-Communist world where the ideological influences are more MTV than Marx. A young soldier on leave from the Chechen war laments the meaninglessness of civvie life - 'all that goddamned self-expression' - whilst his girlfriend ponders the elegant arch of her best friend's eyebrows; a teacher at a summer camp is appalled, disgusted and frightened in turn by her out-of-control charges, and the punishment she could receive at the hands of their powerful parents; a suicidal teenager finds salvation in the unlikely duo of a beefy security guard and his Rottweiler, and Death visits an internet chat room, politely accepting the offer of a cup of tea. Full of energy, controversy, cruelty and humour, this extraordinary debut toys with the possibilities of language and perception to give a snapshot of Russia's youth and its' struggles to grow up, connect, and, ultimately, love.

About this title

About the Author:

Irina Denezhkina was born in 1981 and lives in Yekaterinburg. Since the publication in 2002 of Give Me: Songs for Lovers, she has become a star in Russia and her book has become a bestseller. In 2005, she was runner up in the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and in 2008, she was the recipient of Romania's Ovid Festival Prize, awarded to a prominent young talent.

From Publishers Weekly:

When Russian student Denezhkina initially published this brash, frenetic collection (her first effort) on the Internet, she was 19, and her partially autobiographical stories are unvarnished portrayals of teenage life in Russia. Breezily grim episodes—two young teenagers having bewildered first-time sex at summer camp; a suicide attempt on a lonely New Year's Eve; numerous drug and alcohol-blurred house parties—are recounted with the candor and indifference of adolescence. The intended edginess is dulled by the indistinct characters, most of whom suffer from indistinguishable angst and are casually dismissive of anyone uncool ("Natashka doesn't like anyone much on principle.... She only likes musicians, stars"). The best stories are short and simple, like "Remote Feelings," a focused, thoughtful tale about two university students who exchange love notes. Elsewhere, brutal beatings alternate with empty (or unsubstantiated) "I love you"s. The collection undeniably evokes the disorienting and melodramatic world of young adulthood, though the tonally underdeveloped and thematically fuzzy writing prevents Denezhkina's subjects from ever quite coming into sharp focus.
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About this edition

• Publisher: CHATTO & WINDUS
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0701176741
• ISBN 13: 9780701176747
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1