Mission to Mars, a novel (New Russian Writing) - Softcover

Savelyev, Igor

Softcover

ISBN 10: 5717201214 ISBN 13: 9785717201216

Publisher: GLAS New Russian Writing, 2013

Synopsis

"Savelyev is a professional in a good sense: his language consists of energetic short sentences, abundance of well-chosen details, and recurrent juxtaposition of the fictional and the documentary."—Ex Libris

"The novel is written masterfully, aptly phrased and rich in interesting details; it will look good in Volume One of his Collected Works a couple of decades from now."—Afisha

Mars symbolizes freedom and a daring goal, different for each character. One goes to America to break away from the humdrum provincial life. Other protagonists launch a campaign against a dishonest airline exploiting people's fear of flying by promising false guarantees of safety, for an extra price. The protest peters out after the arrests, sobering the young people's enthusiasm. Reports of actual plane crashes accompany the narrative, providing a frightening backdrop.

New "heroes of our times": confused and disillusioned young Russians growing up in conditions of wild capitalism and political stagnation.

Throughout the novel reports of actual airplane crushes interfere matter-of-factly into the narrative, providing a frightening a refrain to the story and symbolically in tune with the characters' personal moral downfalls. The "Martian" theme is crowned by the seventy-five-year-old ex-cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova's letter to President Putin suggesting that she should be sent to Mars on a one-way mission for the glory of her homeland.

Twenty-eight-year-old Igor Savelyev won many literary prizes for his masterful prose based on brilliant counterpoints. His stories have been translated into many languages.

About this title

About the Author:

Igor Savelyev: Igor Savelyev was born in 1983 in Ufa (Bashkiria) where he still lives and works as a crime reporter for the local news agency. He has a degree in Philology from Ufa University. His short novel Pale City, based on personal hitchhiking experiences, was shortlisted for the Debut, the Yasnaya Polyana, and the Belkin prizes in 2004 and was soon published in France and later in English. Critics have noted his masterful, finely chiseled style based on brilliant counterpoints like a virtuoso music piece.” Here realism borders on phantasmagoria, a striking example of new-generation psychological prose.

About this edition

• Publisher: GLAS New Russian Writing
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 5717201214
• ISBN 13: 9785717201216
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 200