Novel
Сястра
Not translated into English
Kuzma Chorny · 1927
Synopsis
Near the Minsk railway station, Kazimir Irmalevich reads the sign of Abram Vatson, hairdresser and former commissar. On the neighbouring square the threads of the book cross: Vacia Branislavets, who wonders whether he is a stranger to the whole world, Mania, Kazimir's cousin, whose letters weigh on the inner life of men, and Radzivon Civunchyk, who lives only for his own affairs. The plot depends less on events than on the changes in each person's way of seeing and remembering.
Context
Written in 1926 and 1927, the novel appeared in 1927-1928; it was reprinted in 1973 in the third volume of the eight-volume works. The critic L. Kanon called it the first Belarusian intellectual novel; Iryna Chasnok sees in it a prose that was new for its time, which makes the inner event the axis of the book. Opinions have varied: I. Navumenka found the characters rather static, M. Tychyna the action slow, while V. Kavalenka, D. Bugaiou and V. Zhurauliou have ranked it higher.
Who it is for
A psychological novel in Belarusian, in which the characters' thoughts matter more than the action; no French translation.
Prizes and reception
Yanka Bryl judged it “brilliant in places”, and Uladzimir Niakliajeu ranks it among the best books of Belarusian prose.
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