Dovlatov...
For now, probably, one of my the most fav writers of Soviet era. Even though he himself ,most probably, wouldn't agree with being classified as Soviet writer, Soviet citizen, Soviet person.
He left Soviet Union due to... not really sure if this was his own personal decision, or he didn't have any other alternatives. For some reason, I have a feeling he deeply, well ok, with no exaggeration, he probably somewhere deep inside had a feeling of regret of his decision to abandon home. Needless to say, Vertinsky, Yesenin, Kuprin and etc. etc., all of them were having same feeling of regret of leaving home country. Ah, Joseph Brodsky, I bet he was having a great desire to come back. Actually he even did an attempt to cross the border between EU and Soviet Union via Helsinki (he was about to travel from Helsinki central railway station, which I was using to commute from home to my workplace back and forth every single day) but of course, things were way too complicated.. Not sure of Soljenitzyn though. Same with Nabokov and so on and so forth...
Well this is not the topic actually... you know, what's done is done. You can't judge history, period.
It is great that nowadays Sergey Dovlatov is becoming as popular as he probably would never be while being alive, while trying to meet ends when in Tallinn or in New York. He even lived in Tallinn which I have a special feeling about... they say that one of the streets in Tallinn was named after him, I wonder if it is somewhere in old part of the city, which would be so lovely. Last year they have installed a very decent monument in Dovlatov's Leningrad, on his own Rubinstein street- just a simple, huge man, with a sad look. I think it is just my own incorrect perception that he was more of sad person, not satisfied with how things go in his sometimes messy life (again this perception is based on his own fiction only, which is of course can not be 100% true or something of a kind).
What else... ah, well fiction of Dovlatov is amazingly great; I don't remember me reading a book, laughing out indeed loud. 'Chemodan' and part with Tsar Peter! Dialogues are simple and weird and ironic, full of brilliant humor. If you happened to like Bukovsky, then for sure you will fall in love with books of Soviet and none- Soviet at the same time Dovlatov.
ps: been searching for Lurie's 'Dovlatov's Leningrad' with no luck. I really am interested in his city, even though I am already familiar with most of the places- Pushkino, Rossi street (220 meters long, buildings 22 meters hight and width), LGU, Nevsky district and etc. and etc.
pps: here, Dovlatov carrying Mikhail Baryshnikov
For now, probably, one of my the most fav writers of Soviet era. Even though he himself ,most probably, wouldn't agree with being classified as Soviet writer, Soviet citizen, Soviet person.
He left Soviet Union due to... not really sure if this was his own personal decision, or he didn't have any other alternatives. For some reason, I have a feeling he deeply, well ok, with no exaggeration, he probably somewhere deep inside had a feeling of regret of his decision to abandon home. Needless to say, Vertinsky, Yesenin, Kuprin and etc. etc., all of them were having same feeling of regret of leaving home country. Ah, Joseph Brodsky, I bet he was having a great desire to come back. Actually he even did an attempt to cross the border between EU and Soviet Union via Helsinki (he was about to travel from Helsinki central railway station, which I was using to commute from home to my workplace back and forth every single day) but of course, things were way too complicated.. Not sure of Soljenitzyn though. Same with Nabokov and so on and so forth...
Well this is not the topic actually... you know, what's done is done. You can't judge history, period.
It is great that nowadays Sergey Dovlatov is becoming as popular as he probably would never be while being alive, while trying to meet ends when in Tallinn or in New York. He even lived in Tallinn which I have a special feeling about... they say that one of the streets in Tallinn was named after him, I wonder if it is somewhere in old part of the city, which would be so lovely. Last year they have installed a very decent monument in Dovlatov's Leningrad, on his own Rubinstein street- just a simple, huge man, with a sad look. I think it is just my own incorrect perception that he was more of sad person, not satisfied with how things go in his sometimes messy life (again this perception is based on his own fiction only, which is of course can not be 100% true or something of a kind).
What else... ah, well fiction of Dovlatov is amazingly great; I don't remember me reading a book, laughing out indeed loud. 'Chemodan' and part with Tsar Peter! Dialogues are simple and weird and ironic, full of brilliant humor. If you happened to like Bukovsky, then for sure you will fall in love with books of Soviet and none- Soviet at the same time Dovlatov.
ps: been searching for Lurie's 'Dovlatov's Leningrad' with no luck. I really am interested in his city, even though I am already familiar with most of the places- Pushkino, Rossi street (220 meters long, buildings 22 meters hight and width), LGU, Nevsky district and etc. and etc.
pps: here, Dovlatov carrying Mikhail Baryshnikov
