The Body of the Soul: Stories

I’d never heard of the Russian writer Ludmila Ulitskaya’s until her short story “The Autopsy” was recommended to me. Although you can find the story in the New Yorker, August 13 2023, I decided to buy the book where it is one of a collection of eleven stories. The very title intrigued me. I was also interested in the writer’s background. She’s a Russian writer, but didn’t become a writer until she lost her job as geneticist in 1970 because of her activities distributing unpublished books, and translating Exodus into English.

The book is divided into two parts. Part 1, “Girlfriends” consists of a a number of short stories about …. girlfriends. Part 2 shares its title with the book, The Body of a Soul, and consists of a show more number of short stories about specific instances of individual’s life and death. I was disappointed with Part 1, although it starts quite beautifully with the short story “I Need No Others”.

My Girlfriends. How beautiful they all are, the curly ones, their braids, one like crowns and the ones with head shaven, their skulls like shining ivory balls, or disheveled with dreadlocks, or with soft hyacinths-like curls. They are light-footed one toe-dancing, one is skipping, another in a wheelchair and her friend follows with a three-legged cane after her stroke

Ulitskaya’s writing is perhaps the most magical when she describes things of beauty. But is can also describe the grotesque as it does in some of the stories in Part 2.

As with the person who recommended Ludmila Ulitskaya’s to me, I was more interested in Part 2 because it deals with the soul and what happens after death.The short story “Slaughtered Souls” is groteaque. Set in an abattoir Ulitskaya describes in vivid detail a woman slaughtering pigs. I’m almost a vegetarian already but this as well as Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation almost pushes me to vegetarianism.

“The Autopsy” is another of the darker stories, though it end on a high (pun intended) note and will appeal to the religious reader. As with “Slaughtered Souls” Ulitskaya’s first career as geneticist shines through Ike steel.

Perhaps my favorite of the Part 2 stories was “Woof Woof”, the story of a toy dog over several generations of children. The story touches on the question of where souls originate. Something I had not thougt about, though it’s pretty obvious that they must come from somewhere. If they exist.

“Serpentine Road” is about an elderly librarian’s losing her words as she gradually descends into Alzheimer’s, and mirrors the thoughts of all of us who have forgotten why we walked into the kitchen.

“A Man in a Mountainous Landscape” interested me as I’m in lover of photography, and the description of seeing the world through frames somehow brought back memories of how we look back at photos that frame our memories.

Overall, I enjoyed A Body of a Soul and recommend it to anyone who likes ruminating on life after death, and on the beauty of this world. I end. With this excerpt from Ludmila Ulitskaya’s introduction to Part 1, It’s a great summary for the collection. The beauty of life ending with death.

My girlfriend‘s young and old, in varied-colored boots, colored boots, galoshes, sandals, barefoot, in a chain-dance, singing, carefree, tram-like noisy, sometimes shrieky , all spinning leaping and dancing. Some a twist some a quadrille. The world’s dancing is sacred and their singing such that it heals the sick, puts children to sleep yet it cannot bring back the dead. show less