A summary of "The Other Way" by Boris Akunin Automatic translate

This philosophical novel was published in 2015. The narrative alternates the protagonist’s theoretical reflections on the nature of true feeling with everyday scenes from Moscow in 1925–1926. The reader sees the underbelly of the early Soviet era through the prism of human attachments, professional duty, and agonizing moral choices. The novel is part of the "Family Album" series. This historical and philosophical cycle tells the story of one family. This book continues the story begun in "Aristonomy" and precedes the novel "Happy Russia."

Theory of True Feeling

Anton Klobukov works as an assistant anesthesiologist in a surgical clinic. In his free time, he fills a notebook with a philosophical treatise. He previously developed the law of "aristonomy" — the desire for self-development and service to the Big World. Now, the doctor explores the Small World of personal relationships.

Anton studies the phenomenon of True Love. True Love is a federation of two equal individuals who expand the boundaries of their own selves. Partners create a new community, harmoniously complementing each other. The Thinker seeks an answer to a complex question: Is a person capable of remaining faithful to a great Cause, preserving their ideals, while still allowing room for personal happiness? The ideal becomes True Love, combining duty and spiritual intimacy.

A physician analyzes the historical evolution of romantic feelings. The doctor examines in detail ancient, medieval, and Eastern interpretations of emotional attachment. He defines the craving for love as an existential "Hunger." The soul experiences a need to fulfill its own incompleteness, striving to unite with its other half. This hunger is unique to each person. We constantly seek someone who can satisfy it.

The doctor relies on the classifications of philosopher Vladimir Solovyov, dividing love relationships into descending, ascending, and equal. True love can only be formed on a foundation of equality and mutual exchange of energy. Klobukov identifies 13 essential signs of deep attachment. Lovers must be willing to change, able to share grief, and courageous in the face of inevitable loss. A person must maintain vulnerability with their loved one and remain completely sincere. Relationships must survive physical transformation, everyday trials, aging, and crises.

Anton argues against Schopenhauer’s ideas, which assert that attraction is driven by a blind, natural will to procreate. The medical philosopher argues for the primacy of spiritual resonance. Klobukov also explores the differences between male and female perceptions of affection. Women exhibit greater courage, selflessness, and a willingness to sacrifice principles for the sake of a loved one. Men, on the other hand, are more often subject to conflict between service to the Idea and family duty.

Moscow weekdays

Mirra Nosik, a fifth-year medical student, lives in the dorm. She has an energetic, proletarian approach to life. The future surgeon dreams of making people beautiful. She condemns bourgeois behavior, believes in communist ideals, and despises old-fashioned manners. She has a sharp personality, doesn’t give in to boors, and is always ready to stand up for her beliefs.

A student meets Anton Klobukov late one evening in a photo lab. The intelligent, polite assistant, with impeccable manners, initially irritates Mirra. It turns out that Anton served under Baron Wrangel and then transferred to the Red Army. Mirra sincerely believes the medic to be a weak-willed, slippery individual. Klobukov hates physical pain. He chose the profession of anesthesiologist to relieve the sick from unbearable suffering, practicing an individual approach to each patient.

Mirra gradually becomes attached to the strange doctor. The Komsomol member is captivated by his professionalism, tact, and incredible ability to win over even the most critically ill patients. She listens, captivated, to his stories of saving the hopelessly wounded in field hospitals. She realizes she’s fallen in love, experiencing the excruciating awkwardness of her own girlish experiences. Anton seems indifferent to romantic encounters. Klobukov’s mentor, the brilliant surgeon Klavdy Loginov, preaches blatant misogyny and demands total concentration on science. The anesthesiologist begins to follow the precepts of past thinkers, eschewing physical intimacy for absolute spiritual freedom.

Fates and Tragedies

Several subplots unfold simultaneously. High-ranking Bolshevik Pankrat Rogachov suffers a painful separation from his lover, Vera Barmina. Vera belongs to the Trotskyist opposition and openly accuses the party leadership of betraying their ideals. Ideological differences forever destroy their love affair. Barmina promises to shoot without hesitation the former comrades who betrayed the world revolution. Rogachov understands the inevitability of a final break.

Rogachov’s assistant, Philip Blyakhin, is making far-sighted career plans. The official attends a secret meeting of the party elite at a dacha in Kuntsevo, where the fate of the oppositionists is being decided. Blyakhin lives with the priest’s sweet, homely daughter, Sofa. She keeps the house clean, cooks deliciously, and is happily expecting a child. The influential party boss, Myagkov, tactfully advises Blyakhin to get rid of his "non-proletarian" partner to preserve his promising position. Philip demands that the pregnant Sofa undergo an illegal abortion. She flatly refuses to kill the living child and secretly leaves, disappearing forever from the life of the cowardly apparatchik.

Mirra’s roommate, the noblewoman Lydia Eisen, is unrequitedly in love. Her betrothed is a married Soviet diplomatic courier, Theodore Nette. Lydia works around the clock in the X-ray room, spends her earnings on clothes, and suffers, watching her beloved from afar. By chance, Lydia encounters her former school friend, Princess Obolenskaya, who has sunk to the very bottom of society. In the spring of 1926, Theodore dies heroically in a shootout with White Guards while protecting diplomatic mail on a train. After reading a newspaper article about this incident, Lydia throws herself out of the dormitory window, unable to bear the weight of her earthly trials.

Meetings from the past

Former philosopher Innokenty Bach works as a simple caretaker at the Kalitnikovskoye Cemetery. He lives in a tiny gatehouse, prays for the souls of those who committed suicide and attends political debates. Innokenty Ivanovich tells Mirra the story of his sacrificial devotion. He rejected the beautiful Ariadne’s love, giving her up to a young officer, so as not to divide his heart between God and an earthly woman.

Innokenty Ivanovich attends the trial of the Tsar’s hangmen. A guard shows Mirra how the defendants justify their bloody crimes with the need to feed their large families. Former prison guards and doctors weep as they remember the executed victims. The court delivers guilty verdicts, evoking mixed feelings in the audience.

Anton Klobukov is found by White officer Tikhon Sokolnikov. The saboteur secretly brings his mortally wounded comrade Kolychev to Moscow. Sokolnikov asks Klobukov to provide immediate medical care. Mirra volunteers to assist in the underground operation. The young émigré Kolychev shoots himself through a pillow, relieving his friends of a heavy burden. Mirra is tempted to report Sokolnikov to the GPU. She stops at the last moment, fearing to cast suspicion on Anton and accuse him of aiding armed counterrevolutionaries.

Finding harmony

Anton invites Mirra to a consultation with a hopeless patient. Academician Kuzevich is preparing to die under general anesthesia, refusing to fight for his life. The old man shares a memory of a chance encounter at Bologoye station, where he forsook his one true love for the sake of preserving his career and stability. Kuzevich survives the operation safely and leaves Anton photographs with a message urging him not to repeat his fatal mistakes.

Mirra takes matters into her own hands. The student gives up her vulgar habits, uses imported cosmetics, and learns to be more physically attractive. The Komsomol member conducts exploratory conversations with the dean’s secretary, uncovering Professor Loginov’s weaknesses. She gradually dismantles Klobukov’s wall of asceticism. Anton confesses his reciprocal feelings, timidly asking to maintain a "white marriage" without intimacy, following the theories of European thinkers.

The practical woman easily overcomes this imaginary theoretical barrier. She explains to the doctor the naturalness of physiological needs and the absurdity of suppressing living nature. The couple divides the desk in half for the convenience of evening study and achieves complete erotic harmony.

Mirra successfully assists in a complex surgery, offering Professor Kleimenov an innovative cosmetic suture. Anton makes a bold professional move. The anesthesiologist breaks off their working relationship with Professor Loginov. The reason is a cold rebuke from his mentor. Loginov claimed that Kleimenov put his wife above the case. Anton chooses True Love, refusing to sacrifice personal happiness for the dry, career-driven devotion to science.

In the final entries of his philosophical diary, Klobukov sums up his reflections. Paradise cannot exist without hell. Earthly hell is an empty, wasted life. Tragedy occurs when a person’s destiny leaves no room for either growth or genuine emotional attachment. The plot concludes with an affirmation of the value of a full, meaningful human existence, filled with light and genuine feelings.