The Commissariat of Enlightenment - Softcover

3.64

214 ratings by Goodreads

9780743231152: The Commissariat of Enlightenment

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743231155 ISBN 13: 9780743231152

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd

Ken Kalfus's mesmerising first novel is about two events that become milestones in the history of the modern media: the death of Tolstoy and the murder of Lenin. One yound filmmaker was there. The story begins in 1910, as Leo Tolstoy lies dying in Astapovo, a railway station in provincial Russia. Members of the press from around the world have descended upon this sleepy hamlet to record his passing for a public suddenly ravenous for celebrity news. Cinema is the newcomer, and Nikolai Gribshin arrives to capture the extraordinary scene and learn how to wield his camera as a political tool. At this historic moment, he comes across two men - the scientist, Professor Vorobev, and the revolutionist, Joseph Stalin - who have radical, mysterious plans for the future. Soon they will accompany him on a long, cold march through an era of brutality and absurdity, as science struggles with superstition. Brimming with intellect, humour, and rich, inventive storytelling, THE COMMISSARIAT OF ENLIGHTENMENT is a novel of ideas that brilliantly evokes the tragi-comic world of revolutionary Russia as well as the birth of today's image-based society.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Ken Kalfus has lived in Paris, Dublin, Belgrade and Moscow. He is the author of THIRST and PU-239 AND OTHER RUSSIAN FANTASIES. His fiction has appeared in HARPERS and THE VILLAGE VOICE Literary Supplement.

Review:

Brilliant ... Inventive ... Gogol is probably tearing his hair out, wishing he d dreamed this up. --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Kalfus s book is absorbing, intelligent, witty and wry...A fable that tells the story of the 20th century. --London Times Glitteringly original. . . . An intricate, harrowing, and, yes, dangerous first novel that sets out to capture the dawn of the 20th century in Bolshevik Russia. --Esquire Kalfus is an ironist in the best late-modern Central European style: wry, humane, precise, and beautifully smitten with ideas. --Jonathan Franzen Unforgettable...the story exhibits all the vigorous intelligence and vision readers have come to expect from Kalfus. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Inventive, unusual, humorous, ... deeply intelligent, The Commissariat of Enlightenment beautifully illuminates the hazardous powers of image, icon, and relic. --Andrea Barrett "Kalfus's book is absorbing, intelligent, witty and wry...A fable that tells the story of the 20th century."--London Times "Unforgettable...the story exhibits all the vigorous intelligence and vision readers have come to expect from Kalfus."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Glitteringly original. . . . An intricate, harrowing, and, yes, dangerous first novel that sets out to capture the dawn of the 20th century in Bolshevik Russia."--Esquire "Brilliant ... Inventive ... Gogol is probably tearing his hair out, wishing he'd dreamed this up."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Inventive, unusual, humorous, ... deeply intelligent, The Commissariat of Enlightenment beautifully illuminates the hazardous powers of image, icon, and relic."--Andrea Barrett "Kalfus is an ironist in the best late-modern Central European style: wry, humane, precise, and beautifully smitten with ideas."--Jonathan Franzen

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.