Sergei Dovlatov (1941–1990)
Author of The Suitcase
About the Author
Dovlatov, who studied at Leningrad University, worked for a while as a journalist in Tallinn, Estonia. His fiction was unpublished in the Soviet Union, but he was active in unofficial literary life and was forced to leave in 1978 for publishing satirical fiction in Samizdat. After settling in the show more United States, he co-founded a Russian-language newspaper, worked as a broadcaster for Radio Liberty in New York City, and published both in major Russian emigre publications and in the U.S. press (he wrote short stories for The New Yorker). Among his books, known for their irreverent views of Soviet reality, are the autobiographical The Compromise (1981) and Ours (1983). When Dovlatov died, his works were being reissued and favorably received in Russia. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Sergei Dovlatov
Заповедник - Авторский сборник 4 copies
Собрание сочинений 4 2 copies
Full C / s in 4 vols. (New), Volume 2 (N / A ) / Polnoe S/s v 4-kh tt. (novyy), t.2 (n/o ) (2010) 1 copy
Встретились, поговорили 1 copy
Remeslo 1 copy
Straniera 1 copy
Рассказы 1 copy
" Rasskazy". 1 copy
A mala 1 copy
සූට්කේසය 1 copy
Regime speciale 1 copy
De vreemdelinge (1986) 1 copy
[Т.] 1 1 copy
Beležnice 1 copy
La maleta 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Dovlatov, Sergei
- Legal name
- Довлатов-Мечник, Сергей Донатович
Dovlatov-Mechnik, Sergei Donatovich - Birthdate
- 1941-09-03
- Date of death
- 1990-08-24
- Burial location
- Mount Hebron Cemetery, New York, New York, USA
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USSR
Armenia
USA - Country (for map)
- Russia
- Birthplace
- Ufa, Republic of Bashkiria, USSR
- Place of death
- New York, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- Leningrad, Russia, USSR
Tallinn, Estonia, USSR
New York, New York, USA
Chiniavoryk, Komi Republic, USSR
Pushkin Hills, Russia, USSR - Education
- Leningrad State University (Nongrad|Finnish)
Leningrad State University (Diplom|Journalism) - Occupations
- journalist
security guard
editor
writer
researcher
museum tour guide - Organizations
- Writer's Union of the USSR
The New Yorker - Short biography
- Unable to publish freely in the Soviet Union, Sergei Dovlatov circulated his writings through "samizdat" (underground) press, and had them smuggled into Western Europe for publication in foreign journals. These activities caused his expulsion from the USSR in 1976. A few years later, he was able to emigrate with his family to the USA, where his sly, humorous stories became popular in The New Yorker magazine. He also co-edited "The New American," a liberal Russian-language émigré newspaper.
Members
Reviews
Hmm. Had ik de recensie meteen na de laatste bladzijde geschreven, dan hadden er 4 sterren gestaan. Maar hoe langer ik er op terugblik, hoe indrukwekkender dit schijnbaar eenvoudige boekje is.
Domein werpt een korte blik op een cruciale fase in het leven van een ongepubliceerd schrijver in de Sovjetunie eind jaren '70. Hij start met een baan als gids op het domein waar Poesjkin resideerde en talrijke Russen als toerist naartoe trekken. Zijn vrouw wil met zijn dochter het land uit vluchten maar hij kan zijn moedertaal niet achterlaten. Heil zoekt hij in het glas, met alle gevolgen van dien.
In een vlotte, droge en snelle stijl neemt Dovlatov je mee naar de vuile kroegen waar de schrijver zich bedrinkt en in strakke penschetsen of spitse dialogen zie je de achterliggende tragiek van mensen die gebukt gaan onder het Sovjetregime.
Dat is wat er langzaam bezinkt, na het lezen van Domein: alles wat Dovlatov je niet rechtstreeks vertelt; maar wat in dialogen doorschemert, uit anekdotes afgeleid kan worden of wat je onderhuids aanvoelt.
Dat is de 5de ster die de dag nadien zijn recht begint op te eisen: hoeveel rijkdom Dovlatov in een korte, krachtige en heldere roman gestoken heeft, hoeveel er tussen de lijnen geschreven staat en wat je als lezer spontaan aanvoelt.
Knap.… (more)
Domein werpt een korte blik op een cruciale fase in het leven van een ongepubliceerd schrijver in de Sovjetunie eind jaren '70. Hij start met een baan als gids op het domein waar Poesjkin resideerde en talrijke Russen als toerist naartoe trekken. Zijn vrouw wil met zijn dochter het land uit vluchten maar hij kan zijn moedertaal niet achterlaten. Heil zoekt hij in het glas, met alle gevolgen van dien.
In een vlotte, droge en snelle stijl neemt Dovlatov je mee naar de vuile kroegen waar de schrijver zich bedrinkt en in strakke penschetsen of spitse dialogen zie je de achterliggende tragiek van mensen die gebukt gaan onder het Sovjetregime.
Dat is wat er langzaam bezinkt, na het lezen van Domein: alles wat Dovlatov je niet rechtstreeks vertelt; maar wat in dialogen doorschemert, uit anekdotes afgeleid kan worden of wat je onderhuids aanvoelt.
Dat is de 5de ster die de dag nadien zijn recht begint op te eisen: hoeveel rijkdom Dovlatov in een korte, krachtige en heldere roman gestoken heeft, hoeveel er tussen de lijnen geschreven staat en wat je als lezer spontaan aanvoelt.
Knap.… (more)
Doblatov is a writer of my favored kind. He is sharp, witty and funny. The contents of his book are taken from the author's life, which, like many others in Soviet Russia, are not easy, to say the least, and especially those who oppose the regime and have to maneuver between their faith and their opinion and reality. What helped a lot in dealing with the conflicts was alcohol, the cheapest type made in Russia or foreign products, from another Communist source like Romania for example. Most of the text conducted between drunken periods. Although the stories in the book are not simple and describe a depressing reality, I found myself bursting out laughing because humor, as we all know, is an excellent tool for dealing with trouble. The stories took place in the 1960s when the gates of Russia opened somewhat to immigrants. Devaltov, who was able to take advantage of this opportunity, chose to remain in Russia, while his wife and daughter had emigrated to America and he joined them only later. The first story of the book described the period during his wife's migration when they separated, and he moved away to a reserve that was a museum dedicated to Pushkin and served there as a tour guide. There is something in this reserve (which exists in reality) that symbolizes the whole of Russia and the different ways that people have found to deal with life there.
The second story is a collection of beautiful stories, all related. They, too, are taken directly from Dovlatov's life.
Each story based on an item that was in the pantry with which he eventually emigrated to the United States.… (more)
The second story is a collection of beautiful stories, all related. They, too, are taken directly from Dovlatov's life.
Each story based on an item that was in the pantry with which he eventually emigrated to the United States.… (more)
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Statistics
- Works
- 123
- Also by
- 4
- Members
- 1,249
- Popularity
- #20,540
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 39
- ISBNs
- 232
- Languages
- 21
- Favorited
- 9
"The names, events, and dates given here are all real. I invented only those details that were not essential.
Therefore, any resemblance between the characters in this book and living people is intentional and malicious. And all the fictionalizing was unexpected and accidental."
In the sixties Dovlatov had dropped out of university and been drafted into the Soviet Internal Troops to work as a prison guard in high security camps. Unlike the camps for political prisoners that Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote about, these camps are for criminals. They are so isolated and remote that the guards, as well as the criminals, are effectively serving a sentence. Distinctions between guards and prisoners break down.
The book is a series of first-person narrations by various guards, who appear in each other's stories from different perspectives. What they all have in common is a bleak and sardonic humour. Interspersed with the guard's narrations are letters written by the author to his New York publisher. The book is coming along in fits and starts as random sections are smuggled out from the USSR. The author's works have never been published there and have circulated in samizdat. Parts have been lost, and the author discusses with the publisher how he will manage the gaps. He talks about what he will include and what he will leave out, and his writing philosophy.
It took me a while to get into The Zone, but once I did I found it well worth the trouble. It's Dovlatov's world view that makes it fascinating.… (more)