Novel
Otamdan qolgan dalalar
Not translated into English
Togʻay Murod · 1993
Synopsis
Dehqonqul, a peasant from Surkhan, tells his life story, and he begins with his ancestors: his grandfather Jamoliddin, known as the Ketmon, who rises up against the tsar's soldiers, then his father Aqrab, who takes up arms against Soviet power. He himself lacks their pride. A brigade leader in the cotton fields, docile toward his superiors, he rents a suit for meetings and beats a child over two dates set aside for guests. Cotton comes before everything, even before the children and his wife, who works in the fields even while pregnant.
Context
Its author said he wanted to raise with this book a monument to the Uzbek people, and he had prepared for it for years, living and working in the fields of Surkhan and Denov, dressed like the peasants. The novel appeared in 1993, then as a volume in Tashkent, from Sharq, in 1994. Ozod Sharafiddinov hailed it on its publication as the finest work written in honour of independence. A film of nearly four hours was made from it in 1997; placed on a blacklist, it never returned to the screens.
Who it is for
In Uzbek, with no French version. A simple, popular language, made of repetitions. Better to know what the cotton affair was, at the end of the Soviet period, which the book evokes.
Prizes and reception
Unanimously recommended in 1994 by the Writers' Union for the Abdulla Qodiriy State Prize, which its author received.
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