"Putting Things in Order" by Gennady Bashkuev, summary

Published in 2015, this book brings together works by ten contemporary Russian-language authors. This collection of short fiction was compiled by writer Narine Abgaryan, who selected powerful stories about men’s perspectives on everyday life, childhood, military service, friendship, and loss. Part of the "Narine Abgaryan Presents" publishing series, the book serves as the third and final installment in the author’s anthology series, following "Double Rainbow" and "Nine Days in July."

Urban Irony by Sergey Uzun

In the story "Putting Things in Order," Semyon and his wife face the impending end of the world. Two hours before the catastrophe, the lights in their apartment go out and the phone line is lost. Instead of panic and belated mutual recriminations, the characters suddenly begin to explore the meaning of the forgotten word "landing stage." An unexpected philological interest reconciles the couple in the face of their shared destruction.

The short story "On the Sublime" tells the story of the rude Alexander and his companion Zinaida’s visit to a contemporary art exhibition. Accidentally spitting into the art object — an ordinary spittoon — the protagonist unwittingly helps the artist create a new, scandalous installation.

In the short story "Bunny," a romantic inscription on the pavement at night triggers a series of domestic conflicts between the residents of the building. Neighbors fiercely argue over who exactly the message is addressed to, clashing with the police, until it is discovered that the inscription was written by Vera, a local resident, to her own husband.

The text "Serious Relationships" depicts a pragmatic date between single people, following an advert, to the sounds of classical music on the Kultura TV channel.

In the story "The Cockroach," the bored owner of the kitchen, Petrovich, finds an unexpected companion in the person of an intelligent cockroach, who brilliantly deciphers complex pantomimes in a game of "crocodile."

The work "Enemies" describes the paradoxical emergence of a friendly relationship between the intellectual Ivanov and a boorish neighbor through the joint priming of a damaged wall and the mutual exchange of blows.

The humorous story "From What, From What?" tells the story of a father who tries to disassemble his son’s talking toy, until the android opens fire on the persistent researcher with a real machine gun.

In "Trial," the suspicious Semyon regularly rehearses his own death for the sympathy of his loved ones. His wife, Lena, stops paying attention to her husband’s manipulations and decides to hand the talkative "dead man" over to the doctors for cremation.

The story "Vandalism" depicts a conflict between a hot-tempered pedestrian, Pyotr Stepanovich, and a caustic LED road sign, which culminates in the device being completely destroyed with a construction hammer.

The cycle concludes with the miniature "The Poet" about an uninvited rhymer who settled in Vasily’s kitchen, gradually turning into a tame pet for the family and children.

Memory and service of Svyatoslav Kasavchenko

The story "The Falcon’s Trail" transports the reader to a Kuban village in the first half of the 1980s. Under the watchful eye of their stern grandfather, the former head teacher Ivan Evlampievich, boys dry dried apricots, craft Indian bows, and declare war on the neighbors’ chickens, who are destroying their tomato plants.

In the short story "White Wolves," young brothers selflessly strip and whitewash the clay walls of an adobe house, earning the right to go on a morning fishing trip to the Beysug River with their cheerful uncle, Slava Prytyka. The difficult day culminates with a large family feast featuring the village’s signature fish dish, salamur.

The autobiographical essay "Grandfather" is dedicated to a road trip they took together in a VAZ-2101 from Krasnodar to the village of Brinkovskaya. The grandson enthusiastically attempts to manually count all the roadside utility poles, but the grandfather, a physicist, uses mathematical extrapolation to calculate an absolutely precise figure in advance.

The story "The Harmonica and the Missing Piano" describes the everyday life of the army in the mid-1990s. Regimental conductor Igor Izmirsky connects with his soldiers through music. The soldiers’ attempt to carry an antique Bechstein piano through a window to the fourth floor for the divisional political officer ends with the bulky instrument falling and being destroyed. The conductor’s intercession saves the hero from a disciplinary tribunal.

The story "Nikola the Scoundrel" introduces the character of special forces warrant officer Nikolai Petrenko, nicknamed Geseen. This fearless soldier constantly commits reckless acts: kidnapping sleepy sentries, rescuing a cow from a minefield, and accurately shooting at the car of daring traffic violators on the highway. His company commander, Major Percheron, invariably shields his subordinate from a court martial.

The Army Life of Alexander Chumovitsky

The story "Press Day" unfolds on a remote steppe military training ground. Sergeant Sergei Zhukov faces the harassment of the deputy commander of technical affairs, Buinosov, nicknamed "Sly Eye." The thrifty Sergeant Major Shkarupa accidentally steals the regimental seal from the safe of the drunken political officer, Papkin, one night.

To cover up the loss and return the relic, the soldiers devise a whole operation. The political officer is treated to buns at a teahouse and persuaded to sing at a holiday concert. Zhukov manages to stamp a fake, flawless character reference for his future university application.

Dramas by Vitaly Seroklinov

The novella "Astronomer" depicts the tragedy of former schoolteacher Ktorov, who was unfairly imprisoned. He lets a neighbor girl into his house to fix her torn sandal, and enthusiastically shows the child his homemade galaxy models. Suspecting something is wrong, security forces storm the apartment, shattering the researcher’s fragile world.

In the story "Sanitary Zone," passengers in a long-distance train compartment discuss the phenomenon of serial criminals and the theory of the "mask of normality." The listener, Andrei, suffering from severe internal trauma, gets off at the platform in Kurgan and voluntarily lies down head first on the tracks in front of a shunting train.

The plot of "Concert on Demand" chronicles a woman’s loneliness: the heroine spends her entire life hiding in a soundproof bathroom, mourning childhood grievances, failed love, and her mother’s passing to the sounds of an old radio.

The study "Numerology" is dedicated to a design engineer who has subordinated his own fate to a fanatical belief in the magical properties of numbers. He breaks off his engagement due to his fiancée’s unfortunate birthdate, leaving him in absolute existential loneliness.

Prose by Gennady Bashkuev

The story "The Thing" revolves around the memory of a heavy leather raglan coat belonging to a father who served in the front lines. The expensive purchase nearly bankrupted the family, but it preserved warm memories of his father’s love, the smell of tobacco, and his childhood skates for his grown son.

"Air Kiss" depicts the youth of a street urchin: teenagers burn the property of a harmless local madwoman at the behest of a shop assistant, Inga. Decades later, degraded and abandoned by her lover, Inga herself suffers the same fate as the spurned madwoman on the train platform.

The story "Romance with a Suitcase, or a Boat Without Oars" explores the history of a massive fiber suitcase that accompanied the protagonist throughout his adult life, served as evidence of his youthful love, and nearly provoked a divorce.

In the short story "The Secret," the hero is unexpectedly given a hunting dog, Dina, after the untimely death of her owner, Nadezhda, a modest woman with whom the character once had a brief affair out of pity.

The youth and coming of age of Yuri Karakurchi

The story "The Secret" recreates a world of childhood prohibitions, first encounters with the adult secret of gender, yard games of Argentine soap operas in a spruce forest, and timid embraces in an empty apartment.

In the work "Or There and Back Again," the hero’s personal experiences are connected with a trip to the village to visit his friend Misha, the tragic death of a neighbor’s boy, Mitenka, in a sand quarry, and the sad visit of an aging grandmother to a childhood home on the shores of the Sea of Azov that was destroyed by relatives.

Satire by Mikhail Shakhnazarov

The story "Dead Janitors" recounts the misadventures of journalist Vadim. Suffering from a hangover, the reporter publishes a fictitious, mournful obituary for his living neighbor, Klavdia Semyonovna, a street sweeper. To make amends, the author is forced to write a city column about street sweepers. Lacking real heroes, Vadim passes off his drinking buddies as accomplished street sweepers, until one of the vagrants in the newspaper photo turns out to be a fugitive thief from Klin.

Alexey Kartashov’s past

The essay "Walks in the Village of Vorontsovo" recounts the discovery of an antique brochure in an American émigré community. The text evokes memories of the narrator’s Soviet childhood in southwest Moscow and the music school that was housed in the dilapidated building of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord before the area’s demolition.

In the story "Gypsy with Maps, Long Journey," a geologist recalls a Mexican prophecy about three black cats in his destiny. Having survived the death of his first two pets and a severe heart attack, the hero finds meaning in caring for his third rescued cat, Yashka, and literary translations.

Relationships and reflections of Andrey Ladoga

Andrey Ladoga’s series of short stories explores the daily life of a Moscow screenwriter. In the novella "Rain in Moscow," the protagonist balances calls from flighty lovers and financial grievances against the ne’er-do-well producer Nakazykin, all while listening to Led Zeppelin.

The story "Zuriko has arrived!…" depicts the visit of Zuriko’s generous Georgian friend, accompanied by an endless feast, a night trip to the Tretyakov Gallery, and friendship with police patrols.

In the story "Vaska’s Universe," the narrator babysits his friends’ four-year-old daughter, Vasilisa, while discussing black holes in space and drawing an unusual black hare.

In the text "How Svetlana Preobrazhenskaya Got Divorced," a longtime acquaintance leaves her husband to marry an elderly, wealthy co-owner of a film studio.

The final sketch, "Teatromania," describes the experiences of an elderly provincial actor, Anglikanov, who painfully awaits an email with the casting assignment from a young director.

Sketches of St. Petersburg by Alex Tumansky

In the short story "Ivan Ivanovich," the hero meets a down-and-out beggar at a tram stop on his birthday, who touchingly cares for his sick companion.

The story "April Fools’ Day" connects the life of school teacher Maxim, the murder of a commercial enterprise director in the courtyard of his house, and a shocking massacre between classmates during the holidays.

In the short story "Light Walk," an autumn evening in 1998 and news of a sharp jump in the exchange rate are intertwined with the memories of a neighbor in a communal apartment in St. Petersburg about the tragedies of the Leningrad siege and the image of a deceased young actress.