"Russian Booker" on the eve of the December finals

MOSCOW. The list of finalists of the Russian Booker lacks many famous surnames.

A rebus called "Russian Booker" will be unraveled on the first day of winter. The 25th season did not bring big shocks, but also did not lower the bar. The short list includes books, for the most part not objectionable. Intrigue until the first detailed comments by the jury remains the reasons for the absence of many famous authors in the list of finalists - Ulitskaya, Vodolazkin, Tarkovsky, Kvirikadze, Sakhnovsky. The criterion of “quality literature”, which was used by members of the literary areopagus when making a semi-final verdict, also met the work of the above authors.

The documentary format of Leonid Yuzefovich’s novel “Winter Road” could be an obstacle to his presence in a short sheet. Now a book about the events in Yakutia in the 1920s, based on real events and documents, is one of the most likely candidates for victory. The Adoration of the Magi by the Uzbek writer Sukhbat Aflatuni (pseudonym Yevgeny Abdullaev) is a multi-page saga about several generations of the Triyarsky family living with the country at a turning point in its history for two centuries. The “fortress” of Pyotr Aleshkovsky is a reference to the past from the height of the present day, unexpected parallels between eras, a fortress of spirit that gives strength to protect a real citadel.

The list of finalists includes the trilogy of Alexander Melikhov, “And there is no retribution to them”. The roll call with the well-known Shakespearean plot, the theme of the main character’s awareness of his Jewry, its denial, inevitable retribution and insight elevate the dramatic conflicts of the story of Lev Yakovlevich Katsenelenbogen to truly tragic heights. “Soft fabric” by Boris Minaev - the history of the family at the crossroads of eras, an associative series that refers to Bulgakov’s prose. "People of August" by Sergey Lebedev is closer to the reckless frankness of documentary Aleksievich. In search of the truth and the lost links in the history of the clan, the young hero has to follow the circles of hell after his grandfather.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru