Sonechka
| Author | Ludmila Ulitskaya |
|---|---|
| Original title | Сонечка |
| Translator | Arch Tait |
| Country | Russia |
| Language | Russian |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Publisher | GLAS Publishers |
|
Publication date
|
1998 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 71 |
| ISBN |
Sonechka is a novella and collection of short stories by Russian writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya. It was originally published in Russian in the literary journal Novy Mir in 1992, and translated into English by Arch Tait in 2005.Sonechka was nominated for the Russian Booker Prize.
The novella Sonechka tells the life story of a Russian booklover. Sonechka spends her youth immersed in the world of Russian literature, living her life vicariously through the characters in books. One day, when Sonechka is working at the local library, a man named Robert Viktorovich inquires about an ensemble of French books. The 50-year-old man, who is a member of the intelligentsia, returns to the library 3 days later and abruptly proposes to Sonechka. She accepts and embarks on a new life with her husband. She lives a fulfilling life as she moves around Russia with her husband and her daughter Tanya. Eventually, the family settles in the Montmartre of Moscow. Sonechka’s husband gets a studio to work on his paintings and Tanya tumbles around in her studies and distances herself from her mother. However, when Tanya enters afternoon classes, a new girl, Jasia, enters the life of the family. Jasia, a beautiful Polish girl, charms Tanya and Robert. One Christmas Jasia and Robert start an affair. Despite this, Sonechka views the girl as a fragile individual, who becomes the daughter Sonechka always dreamed of having. Suddenly, Robert has a heart attack and dies, leaving Sonechka and Jasia alone. Sonechka prepares for the funeral and takes care of Jasia. By the end of the story, Sonechka rediscovers her love of literature while Tanya relocates to St. Petersburg and Jasia marries a European aristocrat.
Ludmila Ulitskaya gives a novel that is distinctly Russian and a part of the growing literary tradition in Russia of works somewhere between pop culture and intellectual literature. The novella was well-received just shortly after its initial release.Sonechka was nominated for the Russian Booker Prize in 2005. Sonechka is in line with other Sonechkas from Russian literature – such as Dostoyevsky's characters – in kindness and magnanimity. The English translation was shortlisted for the Rossica Translation Prize in 2007.
Sonechka is an early work of Ulitskaya's. It was published in 1992 in the journal Novyi mir (New World) after the author had written literature based on Jewish life and her own childhood experiences.
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