"Brisbane" by Evgeny Vodolazkin, summary Automatic translate

This book tells the story of world-renowned guitarist Gleb Yanovsky, who is losing his ability to perform due to a serious illness. The novel was written in 2018. The narrative alternates between the successful artist’s present and memories of his search for his own path. The protagonist’s musical career is cut short at the height of his fame, forcing him to seek new meaning through helping a terminally ill teenager.

The novel won the 2019 Bolshaya Kniga (Big Book) national literary prize, taking second place. It also received the Book of the Year award in the Prose of the Year category.

Kiev childhood

On a plane en route from Paris to St. Petersburg, the famous guitarist Gleb Yanovsky meets the writer Nestor. The writer offers to write a biography of the musician. Gleb agrees and begins sharing his memories. He grew up in Kyiv in the 1970s. His parents are divorced. His mother, Irina, works in an aircraft design bureau and dreams of one day moving to the distant Australian city of Brisbane. His father, Fyodor, teaches violin, is a frequent drinker, and suffers from a lack of fulfillment.

Gleb enrolls in a music school to study the four-string domra. He has a poor ear but a unique sense of rhythm. His grandmother, Antonina Pavlovna, is primarily responsible for his upbringing. She takes him to cafes, where one day Gleb accidentally picks up a plastic spoon, triggering a panicky fear of arrest. Living in a communal apartment with neighbors like the aggressive Uncle Kolya teaches the boy to observe people. Over time, Gleb masters the guitar, and his musical abilities develop rapidly.

Teenage years and first losses

Gleb’s adolescence is marked by love affairs. Initially, his crushes are on his music teachers — solfege instructor Klavdiya Vasilyevna and music literature teacher Elena Markovna. Later, the young man experiences a strong physical attraction to the young cellist Anna Lebed. Their brief, whirlwind romance ends with Anna’s departure for Moscow. She leaves Gleb heartbroken.

Death invades Gleb’s consciousness early on. He witnesses the death of a girl he doesn’t know, Arina, on a beach on the Dnieper. This event instills in the young man a panicky fear of death. Grandfather Methodius helps his grandson overcome this crisis, leading him to faith. Gleb is secretly baptized by Father Peter. Antonina Pavlovna dies after a serious illness. Gleb grapples with this loss. Soon, Fyodor has a new wife, Galina, and a son, Oles, while Gleb’s half-brother, Yegor, nearly kills the infant with gas.

Students in St. Petersburg

After graduating from high school in 1981, Gleb moved to Leningrad. He enrolled in the university’s philology department. Dormitory life brought him into contact with a variety of people, including the flamboyant Bulgarian Krasimir Duychev, nicknamed Dunya. One day, Dunya accidentally breaks a plaster bust of Lenin during a sexual encounter in the Lenin room. On New Year’s Eve, Gleb meets a German student, Katarina. The young people spend the night together in the deserted dorm, drinking champagne from enamel mugs, and falling in love. Katarina asks him to call her Katya.

Gleb defends his thesis on Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of polyphony. He is offered a postgraduate position, but declines. He begins working as a Russian language and literature teacher at a school on the Petrogradskaya side. Katya also gets a job at the same school as a German teacher. After a clash with a teenager named Kryuchkov, Gleb becomes disillusioned with teaching. Feeling at a dead end, the couple seeks new ways to earn a living.

Musical adventures and relocation

His school friend Kleshchuk invites Gleb to move to Kyiv and perform in businessman Ivasik’s band. The group performs criminal songs, and Ivasik is given the nickname "Bergamot." The concerts are accompanied by food distribution packages for pensioners to create an artificial buzz. The scam collapses after Ivasik is arrested, revealed to be the fugitive creator of a financial pyramid scheme from Vladivostok. Gleb and Katya are left homeless.

The couple is forced to move to Berlin to live with Katya’s parents. Relations with their German relatives are strained by domestic quarrels. Uncle Kurt rescues the young couple, helping them move to Munich. Gleb gets a job as a tutor at the Catholic College of St. Thomas, teaching Russian and guitar. Among his students is the eccentric Beate, and among his acquaintances is the mentally ill Franz-Peter, who imitates television presenters.

Vertical takeoff

At an art gallery soiree, Gleb is accidentally spotted by music producer Stefan Meier. The German expert praises the performer’s energy. The guitarist’s performance style is complemented by a distinctive hum — a closed-mouth vocal accompaniment that perfectly matches the sound of the strings. After extensive preparation, Gleb begins touring with a classical repertoire. The fusion of virtuoso playing and mystical vocals brings the artist worldwide fame.

Gleb enjoyed success for many years. He filled huge audiences around the world, performing works by Bach, Chopin, and folk melodies. On a London tour, the musician suffered a nervous breakdown and spent the night with Femen activist Hanna. Soon, Hanna’s colorful mother, Lyudmila, arrived from Melitopol to visit the Yanovskys, announcing her daughter’s pregnancy. The conflict was resolved when Hanna admitted to lying and the women departed for their homeland.

Illness and New Hope

At the height of his success, fifty-year-old Gleb is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. His right hand stops functioning, and he cancels his tour. Professor Wentz confronts him about the irreversibility of brain neuron damage. At this difficult moment, his ex-girlfriend, Anna Lebed, approaches him. Her thirteen-year-old daughter, Vera, suffers from a severe form of liver cancer. Anna has been stripped of her parental rights due to mental illness. Gleb and Katya take Vera into their family.

The girl turns out to be a gifted pianist. To support her will to live, Gleb decides to sing on stage with Vera. Meyer organizes a grand concert at Munich’s Olympia-Hall. Illness has deprived Gleb of the ability to play, but his voice still obeys him. The performance is a resounding success. The girl plays the piano masterfully, and Gleb sings Albinoni’s "Adagio" and Bach’s "Toccata" with the symphony orchestra.

Tragic ending

Gleb flies to Kyiv for the funeral of his father, Fyodor. In the city, gripped by unrest, he narrowly escapes death from a bullet fired by revolutionary patrolman Mykola. The musician is saved by his half-brother, Yegor, who is soon shot in the back. Gleb returns to Germany to be with his wife and adopted daughter.

Soon after the concert, Vera’s condition deteriorates sharply. A donor organ from Augsburg becomes available, and the clinic’s doctors perform an emergency liver transplant. The transplant is successful, but Vera’s heart fails to withstand the strain. She dies on the operating table. Grief-stricken, Gleb and Katya leave for the Italian town of Scalea, trying to cope with their loss. There, they meet a Russian priest, Nektariy, who consoles them with thoughts of eternity.

In the fall of 2014, Gleb took to the stage at London’s Royal Albert Hall for a charity performance. The orchestra began to play Vera’s song about ducks, but due to a spasm, the musician was unable to produce a sound. Gleb wept in front of a crowd of thousands. Conductor Santorini and the press called it a performance of the perfect music of silence.

Years later, a criminal investigation uncovers the fate of Gleb’s mother. Irina never made it to Brisbane to be with her fiancé. On the way to the Kyiv airport, she was driven into the woods by thug taxi drivers. When the driver asked why no one was seeing her off, Irina replied, "Seeing her off is like breeding dampness." The book ends with an early childhood memory of the protagonist. Irina carefully carries little Gleb down a steep slope above a cliff, covering the abyss with her hand and descending to the tragic music of her soul.