The Industry of Souls

My first introduction to Martin Booth's writing was through a lesser known work [b:Islands of Silence|21309615|Islands of Silence|Martin Booth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394323739l/21309615._SX50_.jpg|1784413], a book I found in a Waterstones clearance sale back in 2005 and picked up because the blurb intrigued me. I liked that book a lot, both the fanciful part about a girl growing up semi-wild on a small Scottish island and its central story of a soldier dealing with Great War mental traumas. So I have wanted to read this book, which was shortlisted for the Booker, for a while, and recently got hold of a cheap second hand copy.

I should read Islands of Silence again, because I suspect this show more book is quite similar, though my tastes as a reader may have been sharpened since I read it. Once again Booth puts an interesting juxtaposition at its centre. His hero Alexander Bayliss is British, and as a young man he is arrested in Russia on suspicion of spying by the KGB and send to a gulag in Siberia, the Russians having told the British authorities that he died in an accident. During his 25-year incarceration, mostly spent working in a coal mine, he forms a lasting friendship with Kirill, the leader of his work unit, whose dying wish is that Alexander (Shurik) should return to his village to see his daughter. Feeling no connection with the Britain he left long ago, Shurik complies with this and is taken in by the daughter and her husband, becoming a teacher in the local school.

The chapters alternate between the modern part, which is built round the day of his 80th birthday, when he has already been in the village for 20 years, and the events in the gulag. For the most part this was quite effective, but I never entirely believed the framework of the story, though many of the details are accurate and well researched.

Overall I rather liked the book (certainly more than Amsterdam, which won that year's Booker Prize, but I would have given the prize to Beryl Bainbridge and Master Georgie), but I never quite lost sight of the authorial puppet strings. show less

This novel tells the story of an old englishman, once a spy, a gulag prisoner for a quarter century, now living in a small village somewhere in Russia. Enjoyable, although not exactly a great book...

The size of a walnut against the size of the world. Ultimately, the prize is one of possession.

This is a stunning example of understatement. Oh so British. A Gulag tale lacking in hair-ripping, but rife in a vale of tears. This prompted an interest in Booth, one which died on the vine.

One of my favorite books. I enjoyed the philosophical question that it poses about destiny in the life of an individual. I have read a couple of Martin Booth's novels and enjoyed them both.

A British man is mistakenly arrested and sentenced to life in a Siberian gulag. A beautiful story of the wonders of life and its odd ups and downs. Terribly under-appreciated.

Jeg kendte ikke Martin Booth før jeg gik i gang med denne roman, men den har været nomineret til Booker-prisen, så forventningerne var ret store. Ikke mindst fordi historien umiddelbart lyder fascinerende: Englænderen Alexander Bayliss bliver i 1950’erne arresteret og sendt i Gulag for spionage. Her sidder han i tyve år, og da han endelig bliver frigivet vælger han at blive i Rusland. Selv da Sovjetunionen går i opløsning, gør han ikke noget aktivt for at komme i kontakt med sin familie i England.

Desværre levede bogen ikke op til mine forventninger. Den er sådan set udmærket skrevet – der krydsklippes mellem ”Shuris” vandretur gennem landsbyen den dag, han endelig får besøg fra England, og erindringer om tiden i show more lejren – og selvfølgelig rummer sådan en historie dramatiske højdepunkter.

Nogle af de bedste passager handler om det tætte sammenhold i det syv-mands arbejdssjak, som han indgår i i lejren. Her holder man af hinanden, fortæller bramfri vittigheder om KGB og prøver på at få hverdagen til at fungere. Alexander er især tæt på holdlederen Kirill, og det er hendes datter han opsøger, da fangetilværelsen endelig er overstået.

Men det er også her, bogens problem gemmer sig. Er det realistisk med så få konflikter under de omstændigheder? Det går igen, da Alexander ankommer til Myshkino, hvor han ikke kender et øje, men straks får husly hos Kirills datter og hendes mand, og hvor han hurtigt bliver en integreret del af landsbyens liv.

Der mangler simpelthen konflikter til at drive historien fremad og til at engagere læseren. Det kommunistiske system optræder netop kun som et system i bogen: Undertrykkelsen er et bagtæppe, men vi får aldrig mulighed for at se dets udøvere i øjnene.

I sidste ende var det Ian McEwans Amsterdam, der løb af med Booker prisen i 1998. Den var jeg heller ikke voldsomt begejstret for, men jeg forstår godt, at den blev foretrukket for The Industry of Souls. Det er ikke nogen dårlig bog. Men det er heller ikke en meget god bog. show less