RUSSIAN LITERATURE of the early XXI century Postmodernism as a literary movement that emerged in the West in the 20th century came to Russia later and reached its peak in the 90s. Postmodernism is what is happening to us now, this is the reality of modern culture. The emergence of postmodernism is associated with the general spiritual, cultural and social situation in the world. “This situation is characterized by increasing atomization, separation, alienation of people, worldviews, loss of integrity both in the inner world of a person and in human communities,” an ever-increasing “sense of global loneliness of a person in the home, in the country, on Earth, in space and, accordingly, the feeling hopelessness and defenselessness." (Karen Stepanyan “The Crisis of Speech on the Threshold of Freedom”). This provokes the loss of a common scale of values, any authorities or guidelines. The central points of the postmodernist picture of the world are the devaluation of reality, destroyed hierarchy, mixing of styles, the closest connection with modern subculture, polyphony of cultures, an obligatory element of the game, intertextuality.
Dominance of prose (“The End of the Age of Lyrics”, M. Lipovetsky): Loss of reader attention; Extreme complexity of the language; Elitism and focus on poetry Silver Age and the ever-growing interest in the work of I. Brodsky; Postmodernist trends and materialism as one of the leading trends in the development of modern poetry. Contemporary Russian poets: Timur Kibirov: “Intimate Lyrics”, “Three Poems”, “Kara-Baras”, “Lada, or Joy”; Dmitry Prigov: “Variety of everything”, “Katya of China (someone else’s story)”, “Only my Japan”; Lev Rubinstein: “Most Likely”, “Regular Letter”, “Cases from Language”, “From May to May”; Elena Schwartz: “Poems and poems”, “Savagery of recent times”, “Wine of the seventh year”; Sergey Gandlevsky: “Find the Hunter”, “Thoughtless Past”, “Experiments in Prose”, “Experiments in Poems”; RUSSIAN LITERATURE of the early XXI century
Lev Semyonovich Rubinstein is a Russian poet, literary critic, publicist and essayist. Winner of the literary award "NOS-2012" for the book "Signs of Attention". “Regular Letter” The book is an expanded reissue of the 1996 collection. Since the early 1970s. Lev Rubinstein develops the style of minimalism. He created a unique genre that combines the features of poetry, prose, drama and performance. In his texts Speaking is adjacent to fragments of classical verse, and verbal cliches are interspersed with philosophical reflections. Rubinstein's poems have been translated into many European languages.
“Other prose” The term “other prose” appeared in Russian literature in the late 1980s. This trend is characterized by a negative reaction to officialdom, the portrayal of the world as absurd and illogical. In the world of “other prose” there is no ideal, no one is going to repay good for good, and life is a petty mess in everyday affairs without a particular goal. The author's position is disguised or absent: the writer is not obliged to judge the characters or give spiritual instructions. “Other prose” includes the following writers: Tatyana Tolstaya: “They sat on the golden porch,” “Two,” “Kys,” “Don’t kys,” “Easy worlds”; Lyudmila Petrushevskaya: “Time is Night”, “Book of Princesses”, “Black Butterfly”; Lyudmila Ulitskaya: “The Case of Kukotsky”, “Daniel Stein, translator”, “People of our Tsar”; Dina Rubina: “Syndicate”, “On the Sunny Side of the Street”, Cycle “Russian Canary”; Victor Pelevin: “Chapaev and Emptiness”, “Omon Ra”, “Generation “P””, “S.N.U.F.F.”; Pavel Sanaev: “Kilometer Zero”, “At the Game”, “Bury me behind the plinth” RUSSIAN LITERATURE of the early XXI century
Tatyana Nikitichna Tolstaya is a Russian writer, publicist and TV presenter. The writer’s most famous novel is “Kys”, which received the “Triumph” award. The works of Tatyana Tolstoy, including the collections of stories “If you love - you don’t love”, “Okkervil River”, “Day”, “Night”, “Raisin”, “Circle”, “White Walls”, have been translated into many languages of the world. Tatyana Tolstaya wrote the post-apocalyptic dystopia “Kys” for 14 years. So far this is the only novel in her work, most of which are short stories. Two hundred years after nuclear explosion, the settlement of Fedor-Kulmichsk, once Moscow, is trying to live in a new mutated world. Not only nature, humans, animals and plants have mutated; people’s consciousness, society, and the Russian language itself have also mutated. The city is inhabited by freaks with various “consequences”, who keep “Reborns” as livestock, eat mice, “worms”, “shea mushrooms”, “fires”, drink and smoke “rust”. There is darkness in the souls of people, only glimmers of light are brought in by the “Formers”, who survived the explosion, but have stopped aging. Kys is an invisible creature that rips out the soul with its claw, after which the person, seemingly both living and inanimate, does not appear on the pages of the novel, but looks into the back every second, making the hearts of both the hero and the reader beat faster... RUSSIAN LITERATURE of the early 21st century
Pavel Vladimirovich Sanaev is a Russian writer, actor, screenwriter, director, translator. This story has been translated into German, Finnish, Italian and French languages. The story was awarded the October magazine prize for 1996 and was nominated for the Booker Prize. In May 2013, the first part of the novel-dulogy “Chronicles of the Razdolbaya” was published. The writer himself asked not to call his novel autobiographical. The release of the second part of “The Chronicles of Razdolbaya” was expected in October. But on November 5, 2014, Pavel Sanaev announced on his page that the release of the book was delayed for another year. RUSSIAN LITERATURE of the early XXI century “Bury me behind the baseboard” - a story first published in 1996 in the magazine “October” and written from the memories of his grandmother, with whom he lived for several years, while his mother began her relationship with Rolan Bykov .
Conditional-metaphorical direction: Writers of this direction build an artistic world based on various types conventions (fairy-tale, fantastic, mythological); They are not characterized by deep psychologism and three-dimensional character; In conventionally metaphorical prose there is a strong playful element: characters play a given role; Writers of this direction often turn to the genres of parables and legends. Writers: Anatoly Kim: “Squirrel”, “Bow to the Dandelion”, “Onlyria”, “Father-Forest”, “Ivin A” Victor Pelevin: “Chapaev and Emptiness”, “Omon Ra”, “Generation “P””, “ S.N.U.F.F.”; Dmitry Bykov: “ZhD”, “Decommissioned”, “Ostromov, or the Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, “X” RUSSIAN LITERATURE of the early XXI century
Victor Olegovich Pelevin Victor Olegovich Pelevin Russian writer, author of the novels “Omon Ra”, “Chapaev and Emptiness”, “Generation P” and “Empire V” Winner of numerous literary awards, including “Small Booker” (1993) and “National Bestseller” (2004). “Omon Ra” is a story about how the Soviet government fooled its people and global community, launching ships into space on a nameless, destined human thrust to give the victim the impression that she had been to the Moon... “Omon Ra” - Omon Krivomazov, together with his friend Mitka, decides to cast his lot in with the sky and enters the Red Banner Flight School named after Maresyev in the city of Zaraysk. The teenagers then had no idea that they would become the main characters of a new secret space project, within the framework of which they would fly to the Moon... RUSSIAN LITERATURE of the early XXI century
Literary postmodernism is often called "quotational literature." Affirming the postulate about the “end of literature”, when nothing new can be written, postmodernism perceives foreign languages, cultures, signs, quotes as its own and from them, like from fragments or puzzles, builds a new artistic world. RUSSIAN LITERATURE of the early XXI century
RUSSIAN LITERATURE beginning of the XXI century Zakhar Prilepin (real name Evgeniy Nikolaevich Prilepin) Russian writer Winner of the Big Book Award (2014) for the novel “The Abode”. The main character of the novel, Artyom, is one of the prisoners of this camp. Together with him, the reader gets acquainted with the life and customs of the Solovetsky camp, will go through all its circles, and will see how colorful and heterogeneous the prisoners and representatives of the camp administration were. He will live with him for several months, which will contain as many events as many people never experience in their entire lives. Novel “Abode” After the victory in the Civil War, a place was needed where counter-revolutionaries, disgraced communists, and even ordinary criminals could be gathered, so the Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp arose on the site of the Solovetsky Monastery.
Boris Akunin (real name Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili) Russian writer, Japanese scholar, literary critic, translator, public figure. Also published under the literary pseudonyms Anna Borisova and Anatoly Brusnikin RUSSIAN LITERATURE of the early 21st century “Genres,” a series of novels by Boris Akunin, in which the writer attempted a unique experiment in genre literature, where each type is represented by a separate work. This collection includes: Books in the “Children’s Book” series “Spy Novel” “Fiction” “Quest” Boris Akunin explained the idea of “Genres” this way: “If the series “New Detective” - “The Adventures of Erast Fandorin” is a collection of varieties detective novel: conspiracy theories, picaresque, high society, political, criminal, etc., then the task of this series is much broader. “Pure” examples of different genres of fiction will be presented here, and each of the books bears the name of the corresponding genre.”
RUSSIAN LITERATURE of the early 21st century Erast Petrovich Fandorin is the hero of the series of historical detective stories by the Russian writer Boris Akunin “The Adventures of Erast Fandorin”. In this series, the writer set himself the task of writing one detective story of different styles: a conspiracy detective, a spy detective, a hermetic detective, an ethnographic detective, etc. The character of Fandorin embodied the ideal of an aristocrat of the 19th century: nobility, education, devotion, integrity, loyalty to principles . In addition, Erast Petrovich is handsome, he has impeccable manners, he is popular with the ladies, although he is always lonely, and he is unusually lucky in gambling.
RUSSIAN LITERATURE of the early 21st century Dmitry Bykov is a Russian writer and poet, journalist, film critic, screenwriter. Biographer of Boris Pasternak, Bulat Okudzhava and Vladimir Mayakovsky. Together with Mikhail Efremov, he regularly published literary video releases as part of the projects “Citizen Poet” and “Good Mister.” “Justification” “Justification” is the first novel by Russian writer Dmitry Bykov, published by Vagrius publishing house in 2001. The novel was nominated for a National Bestseller Award in 2001 and an ABS Award in 2002. “Justification” is the first prose work by Dmitry Bykov, and it reflects the paradoxical nature of the author’s thinking. The writer offers his own fantastic version of sad events Russian history of the last century: the victims of Stalin's terror (who survived the interrogations) were not shot, but exiled to special camps, where a breed of superhumans was forged - unbending, invulnerable, insensitive to heat and cold. And after Stalin’s death, they began to emerge from oblivion - strange sounds were heard in the apartments of relatives and friends. phone calls, secret meetings are scheduled. One of the “survivors” is the famous writer Isaac Babel...
RUSSIAN LITERATURE of the early 21st century Elchin Safarli is a modern writer, journalist. He writes in Russian, talking about Eastern traditions, culture and life, love. Shells are usually cool to the touch. Zeynep’s gift filled her clenched palm with warmth, as if a small flame was burning inside it. “I put my love into this piece of the Bosphorus. When you’re sad, squeeze a shell in your palm.” Elchin Safarli. Many years have passed, but the Zeynep talisman still saves me. From despair, lack of faith. My grandmother often repeated: “Bosphorus is a healer. Helps to let go of the past and accept the present. And if love is applied to him, then miracles will happen at every step!” In the colorful nooks and crannies of childhood, my grandmother’s words seemed to me like just another oriental fairy tale. Now I understand: in the East, all legends and fairy tales are life itself,” Elchin Safarli. “Legends of the Bosphorus” “Legends of the Bosphorus” - “On the first anniversary of our acquaintance, she gave me the heart of her love. A mother-of-pearl shell from the bottom of the Bosphorus. Bizarrely shaped, with ingrained grains of sand on the rough surface.
According to Dmitry Glukhovsky, the novel, among other things, describes modern Russian political reality. Dmitry Alekseevich Glukhovsky is a Russian correspondent, journalist, radio host, TV presenter and writer. RUSSIAN LITERATURE of the early 21st century He made his debut as an online writer with the post-apocalyptic novel “Metro 2033”, chapters of which were regularly posted on the Internet on the website m-e-t-r-o.ru, thus receiving appreciation from a wide range of readers. The text of the novel was also posted in several large online libraries and on the author's Live Journal.
"Metro 2033" and "Metro 2034" "Metro 2033" and "Metro 2034" year. The whole world lies in ruins. Humanity is almost completely destroyed. Moscow has turned into a ghost town, poisoned by radiation and inhabited by monsters. The few surviving people are hiding in the Moscow metro, the largest anti-nuclear bomb shelter on earth. RUSSIAN LITERATURE of the early XXI century
Modern Russian literature is books from the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. The culture and art of our day is usually called the postmodern era. The number of Russian postmodernist authors included many talented writers. We have prepared a selection of eight significant names of modern Russian and, in many ways, world literature.
- Victor Pelevin – This is an author mysterious to the media and the public, who wrote the cult novels “Generation P”, “Chapaev and Emptiness”, “Omon Ra” and others. He has been awarded many literary awards, including Big Book, National Bestseller and Little Booker. The pen of the classic of modern prose paints surreal pictures of the artistic world, where post-perestroika space is combined with mythological space, forming a new chaotic super-reality.
- Zakhar Prilepin - author of modern military prose and representative of neorealism, contributing to the establishment of a new type of hero in Russian literature. Prilepin's character comes from the writer's autobiography. He is a brutal boy, an outcast with many contradictions, one of which is most often the search for God. The author is a laureate of such literary awards as the Russian Government Prize in the field of culture, “Big Book”, “Super-Natsbest”, as well as a member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.
- Lyudmila Ulitskaya - representative of women's modern Russian prose. The first woman whose novel was nominated for the Russian Booker Award. Ulitskaya’s books, which focus on family, children’s and Christian issues, have been translated into many languages around the world.
- Tatiana Tolstaya - the writer, whose name was included in the list of “100 most influential women in Russia,” won the hearts of readers with a special narrative style, replete with the author’s comparisons and metaphors. Tolstaya actively uses the mythical and poetic tradition. The main character of her works is “ small man“, a sick person, a fool - always faces harsh reality and reveals his own “I”, exposing the existing contradictions in himself and in the world. Tolstoy’s calling card is the novel “Kys,” written in the original dystopian genre of our generation.
- Aleksey Ivanov - author of a number of books about the Ural land, such as “The Heart of Parma”, “Cherdyn-Princess of the Mountains”, “The Geographer Drank the Globe Away”, who turned his work into a sociocultural phenomenon. The promotion of Ivanov’s works influenced the formation of a unique brand Perm region and for the development of tourism in it: the ethno-cultural festival “Heart of Parma” appeared, was filmed documentary“The Ridge of Russia” with Leonid Parfenov, as well as the familiar feature film based on Ivanov’s book “The Geographer Drank His Globe Away.”
- Lyudmila Petrushevskaya. The work of this writer is considered as a complex phenomenon in Russian literature. As a continuer of the traditions of A.P. Chekhov, Petrushevskaya writes in the genre a short story accessible to every reader. However, her author's style is characterized by the fusion of many genre and thematic components, which is also characteristic of writers of the postmodern era.
- Vladimir Sorokin - one of the prominent representatives of the social art movement in Russian literature. Sorokin’s works are scandalously naturalistic, physiological, ridiculing and parodying the Soviet and post-Soviet system and its leaders. The language of Sorokin’s text arouses interest among both researchers and readers. Incredibly complex structures, filled with references, allusions, metaphors, combined with naturalism, require reader effort in order to get through the externally ugly and disgusting narrative to the meaning intended by the author.
- Mikhail Shishkin. Characteristic features of Shishkin’s work are fragmentation and polyphony of the chronotope. His works are built on the principle of a patchwork quilt, where all parts are sewn with a single thread. The author makes the interaction of his characters possible, despite temporal and spatial boundaries. The specificity of the writer’s prose is attractive because he himself never manages to indicate the place of action, because “it happens always and everywhere.”
1. Gabriel José de la Concordia "Gabo" García Márquez(b. March 6, 1927, Aracataca, Colombia) - famous Colombian prose writer, journalist, publisher and politician; winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 1982. Representative of the literary movement of “magical realism”. His novel One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad, 1967) brought him worldwide fame.
2. Umberto Eco(b. January 5, 1932, Alessandria, Italy) - Italian scientist-philosopher, medievalist historian, semiotics specialist, literary critic, writer. The most famous novels are The Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum.
3. Otfried Preusler(b. October 20, 1923) - German children's writer, by nationality - Lusatian (Lusatian Serb). The most famous works: “Little Baba Yaga”, “Little Ghost”, “Little Waterman” and “Krabat, or Legends of the Old Mill”.
4. Boris Lvovich Vasiliev(born May 21, 1924) - Soviet and Russian writer. Author of the story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” (1969), the novel “Not on the Lists” (1974), etc.
5. Ion Druta(b. 09/03/1928) - Moldavian and Russian writer and playwright.
6. Fazil Abdulovich Iskander(03/06/1929, Sukhum, Abkhazia, USSR) - an outstanding Soviet and Russian prose writer and poet of Abkhaz origin.
7. Daniil Alexandrovich Granin(b. January 1, 1919, Volsk, Saratov province, according to other sources - Volyn Kursk region) - Russian writer and public figure. Knight of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, Hero Socialist Labor(1989), President of the Society of Friends of the Russian National Library; Chairman of the Board of the International Charitable Foundation. D. S. Likhacheva.
8. Milan Kundera(b. April 1, 1929) is a modern Czech prose writer who has lived in France since 1975. He writes in both Czech and French.
9. Thomas Tranströmer(b. April 15, 1931 in Stockholm) is the largest Swedish poet of the 20th century. Winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the way his brief, translucent images give us a renewed view of reality."
10. Max Gallo(b. January 7, 1932, Nice) - French writer, historian and politician. Member of the French Academy
11. Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa(b. 03/28/1936) - Peruvian-Spanish prose writer and playwright, publicist, politician, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature.
12. Terry Pratchett(b. April 28, 1948) is a popular English writer. The most popular is his satirical fantasy series about the Discworld. The total circulation of his books is about 50 million copies.
13. Yuri Vasilievich Bondarev(b. 03/15/1924) - Russian Soviet writer. Author of the novel “Hot Snow”, the story “Battalions Ask for Fire”, etc.
14. Stephen Edwin King(b. September 21, 1947, Portland, Maine, USA) is an American writer working in a variety of genres, including horror, thriller, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and drama.
15. Victor Olegovich Pelevin(born November 22, 1962, Moscow) - Russian writer. The most famous works: “The Life of Insects”, “Chapaev and Emptiness”, “Generation “P””
16. Joan Rowling(b. July 31, 1965, Yate, Gloucestershire, England) is a British writer, author of the Harry Potter series of novels, translated into more than 65 languages and sold (as of 2008) more than 400 million copies.
Yesterday, April 23, was World Book Day, we invite you to familiarize yourself with the list of reading preferences of 56 experts. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the list of reading preferences of experts from the literary magazine The Millions, which included famous journalists, critics and writers. They selected the most noteworthy books of the century. The rating was prepared by 56 experts of the publication and was presented and compiled by the magazine's readers who voted in a special group on Facebook. Surely, anyone who reads can name their ranking of the best books, but this study by The Millions is worth taking note.
"The Middle Sex" Jeffrey Eugenides
"Middlesex" Jeffrey Eugenides The life story of a hermaphrodite, frankly and frankly told in the first person. The novel, written by Greek-American Jeffrey Eugenides in Berlin, won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. The novel is the story of several generations of one family through the eyes of a hermaphrodite descendant."The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Waugh" by Junot Diaz
(“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Díaz)
The 2007 semi-autobiographical novel, written by Dominican-American Junot Díaz, tells the story of an overweight and deeply unhappy child growing up in New Jersey and dying untimely in his early youth. The work was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. A notable feature of the book is the mixture of literary English, “Spanglish” (a mixture of English and Spanish) and street slang of Latin Americans who settled in America. "2666" Roberto Bolaño
"2666" Roberto Bolano
Posthumously published novel by Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño (1953–2003). The novel consists of five parts, which the author, for economic reasons, intended to publish as five independent books, in order to thus ensure the life of his children after his death. Nevertheless, after his death, the heirs appreciated the literary value of the work and decided to publish it as one novel. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
"Cloud Atlas" David Mitchell
Cloud Atlas is like a mirror maze in which six voices echo and overlap: a mid-nineteenth-century notary returning to the United States from Australia; a young composer forced to trade body and soul in Europe between the world wars; a journalist in 1970s California uncovering a corporate conspiracy; a small publisher - our contemporary, who managed to break the bank on the gangster autobiography “Knuckle Knuckles” and is fleeing from creditors; a clone servant from a fast food company in Korea - the country of victorious cyberpunk; and the Hawaiian goatherd at the end of civilization. "The Road" Cormac McCarthy
"The Road" Cormac McCarthy
A book by Comrak McCarthy, whose works are distinguished by harsh realism and a healthy view of our human essence, without masks, without hypocrisy, without any romance. A father and his little son wander through a country that has survived a monstrous catastrophe, desperately trying to survive and maintain a human appearance in a post-apocalyptic world. "Atonement" Ian McEwan
"Atonement" Ian McEwan
“Atonement” is a “chronicle of lost time”, striking in its sincerity, written by a teenage girl, overestimating and rethinking the events of her “adult” life in her own whimsical and childishly cruel way. Having witnessed a rape, she interprets it in her own way - and sets in motion a chain of fatal events that will come back to haunt her in the most unexpected way many, many years later. "The Adventures of Cavalier and Clay" Michael Chabon
"The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" Michael Chabon
Two Jewish youths become the kings of comics in America during World War II. With their art they try to fight the forces of evil and those who hold their loved ones in slavery and want to destroy them. "Corrections" Jonathan Franzen
"The Corrections" Jonathan Franzen
This is an ironic and deep understanding of the eternal conflict between fathers and sons in the era of the bravura “end of history,” impenetrable political correctness and the ubiquitous Internet. Following the sad and funny life collisions of the family of former railway engineer Alfred Lambert, who is slowly losing his mind, the author builds a multi-character novel about love, business, cinema, “haute cuisine”, the dizzying luxury of New York and even the lawlessness of New York. post-Soviet space. The book has been declared "the first great novel of the 21st century." "Gilead" Marilynne Robinson
The novel takes place in 1956 in the town of Gilead, Iowa. The book consists of letters written in diary form by a 76-year-old priest and addressed to his 7-year-old son. Accordingly, the novel is a series of inconsistent scenes, memories, stories, and moral advice. "White Teeth" by Zadie Smith
"White Teeth" by Zadie Smith
One of the brightest and most successful debut novels to appear in history. last years in British literature. A brilliant comic tale that tells of friendship, love, war, an earthquake, three cultures, three families over three generations and one very unusual mouse. "Kafka on the Beach" by Haruki Murakami
"Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami
At the center of the work is the fate of a teenager who ran away from home from the gloomy prophecy of his father. The amazing fates of the heroes, residents of Japan in the second half of the 20th century, are influenced by prophecies, messengers from the other world and cats. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
Amir and Hassan were separated by an abyss. One belonged to the local aristocracy, the other to a despised minority. One's father was handsome and important, the other's was lame and pitiful. One was a voracious reader, the other was illiterate. Everyone could see Hassan's harelip, but Amir's ugly scars were hidden deep inside. But you can't find people closer than these two boys. Their story unfolds against the backdrop of a Kabul idyll, which will soon give way to menacing storms. The boys are like two paper kites that were picked up by this storm and scattered in different directions. Each has their own destiny, their own tragedy, but, as in childhood, they are connected by the strongest ties. "Don't Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
"Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
From Japanese-born literary graduate Malcolm Bradbury, winner of the Booker Prize for The Remains of the Day, the most astonishing English novel of 2005. Thirty-year-old Katie recalls her childhood at the exclusive Hailsham school, full of strange omissions, half-hearted revelations and latent threats. This is a parable novel, this is a story of love, friendship and memory, this is the ultimate embodiment of the metaphor “to serve with your whole life.” "Austerlitz" W. G. Sebald
"Austerlitz" W.G. Sebald
Jacques Austerlitz, who devoted his life to studying the structure of fortresses, palaces and castles, suddenly realizes that he knows nothing about his personal history, except that in 1941 he, a five-year-old boy, was taken to England. And now, decades later, he rushes around Europe, sits in archives and libraries, bit by bit building within himself his own “museum of lost things,” “a personal history of disasters.” "Empire Falls" Richard Russo
A novel by Richard Russo, in a comedic vein, it tells the story of the blue-collar life of the small town of Empire Falls, Maine. The main character is Miles Robie, the manager of a grill bar that has been considered the most popular establishment in this place for 20 years. "Runaway" Alice Munro
A collection of short stories by the famous Canadian writer, based on which films are already being made in Hollywood, and in 2004 the book received the Giller Prize. "The Master" Colm Toibin
Irish writer Colm Tóibín's The Master, which chronicles the life of the famous 19th-century novelist and critic Henry James, has won the world's largest literary prize for a work of English-language fiction. "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda
"Half a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Full of intense drama, the novel tells the stories of several people - stories that are intertwined in the most amazingly. Readers called Adichie’s novel “the African Kite Runner,” and British critics awarded it the prestigious Orange Prize. "Uncommon Earth" by Jhumpa Lairi
Unaccustomed Earth: Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri
“An Unusual Earth” is a book by Indian-American writer Jhumpa Lairi. In it, she directly continues the theme of Indian emigrants, which she also began in her first book, “Interpreter of Maladies.” Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Suzanne Clarke
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" Susanna Clarke
Magical England of the Napoleonic Wars. England, in which wizards are in the secret service of the government and defend the British Empire in their own ways. But, fighting the “ordinary” enemy and using their Power as another weapon in the “human” war, the wizards forgot about their true, eternal enemy and adversary - Ancient People, remembering how he once ruled human lands and souls. And now, when magic has begun to weaken and dry up, fairies are returning from the depths of extreme antiquity, led by their New Hope - the changeling Raven King. The list of experts also included the books “The Known World” by Edward P. Jones, “Pastoralia. Devastation in Civil War Park" by George Saunders, "Time to Lead the Horses" by Per Petterson, "Bastion of Solitude" by Jonathan Lethem, a collection of short stories by Kelly Link "It's All Very Strange", as well as the untranslated books "Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage" Alice Munro, "Twilight of the Superheroes: Stories" Deborah Eisenberg, "Mortals" Norman Rush, "Varieties of Disturbance: Stories" Lydia Davis, "American Genius: A Comedy" Lynne Tillman. We offer a selection of twenty works of art from the beginning of the new century, with which mandatory Every educated person should get to know him.
Understand what are the most significant books first decades XXI century - a difficult task and, perhaps, in some sense impossible. Outside the boundaries of any ratings there will always be works that for some reason did not make it into them. The formation of a literary canon of a particular era is a complex process that requires polishing over time. Our top 20 is also somewhat imperfect. If only because it cannot be limited to the number “20”. From year to year this list continues to grow: new works correct it and change it. For example, we understand that the selection presented must necessarily include the ones we told you about earlier. We deliberately omitted some important modern authors and their works in order to talk about them in our subsequent materials. Today we will focus only on some novels, collections of stories and poems, plays that will allow us to at least slightly outline the contours of the current literary process on a global scale, and only partially reflect the complex and constantly changing face of our time. In our selection of materials, we relied on comments from critics and literary scholars, shortlists of famous awards, and publications in reputable literary magazines. In compiling this selection, we decided not to build a ranking hierarchy, determining which works are more significant and which are less, but to limit ourselves to chronological order their release.
1. “The Corrections” by Jonathan Franzen (The Corrections, 2001)
We previously told you about Jonathan Franzen and his last novel“Sinlessness”, however, it is “Amendments” that remain the main calling card of the writer and one of the most major literary events of our days. “Corrections” has more than once been called “the best novel of the beginning” XXI century,” and critics and literary scholars have every reason for this. Today, Franzen is clearly aiming to become the number one novelist. “Amendments” is a large-scale study of the processes occurring with the institution of the family. At the center of the story is the story of the Lambert family, which we have been following for several decades. The inner worlds of the characters in the novel are so turned inside out that Franzen can easily be called the main expert on psychology in modern literature. The writer paints life without any embellishment. His book is toxic, it tears away all veils and illusions. The level of literary excellence reaches its culmination here. Through the study of the Lambert family, diagnoses are made for modern society, its pain points are identified and identified. Be sure to decorate your home libraries with Corrections to read and re-read. It is worth doing, for rarely has anyone come so close to a knowledge of human nature and psychology as Franzen did in his celebrated work.
2. “Austerlitz” by Winfried Georg Sebald (Austerlitz, 2001)
Sebald's Austerlitz is also one of the most notable books of the beginning of the century. Perhaps the most important phenomenon of modern German literature. Killed in a car accident a few months after the release of Austerlitz, Sebald remains one of the idols of European intellectuals to this day. His most famous novel consists of conversations between the narrator and one Jacques Austerlitz. Gradually, a picture of his tragic past is built from them. The themes of memory and unconsciousness come under the writer's lens. Critics never tire of comparing Sebald's Austerlitz with the prose of V. Nabokov and M. Proust. Of course, it is a must-read, although it is not easy, and in some places very ponderous. It is worth reading for anyone who is interested in the problem of historical memory and understanding the traumas of the 20th century. It also contains brilliant observations in the field of architecture.
3. Atonement by Ian McEwan (Atonement, 2001)
“Atonement” is recognized as the best novel in the work of the British Ian McEwan, a writer who, together with J. Barnes, K. Ishiguro and M. Amis, claims to be the main figure of modern English literature. The style of “Atonement” is polished and transparent, surprisingly light and precise. McEwan unfolds the narrative in several times, depicting the path of redemption of the writer Briony, who once in her youth slandered an innocent man. This smart, skillfully executed and intriguing story is sure to give the reader a fascinating evening.
4. “House of Leaves” by Mark Danilevsky (House of Leaves, 2001)
Perhaps one of the most intricate books not only began XXI centuries, but throughout the entire history of literature. Some will call this novel a bold masterpiece, others - literary hooliganism. “House of Leaves” is a pure experiment, an attempt to make fonts and graphic organization of text an important stylistic device. For example, when describing a white TV screen, the writer simply inserts and breaks the text with a blank page. He either makes the letters jump vertically or shrinks them when the pace of the plot should be accelerated. Some fragments even need to be read using a mirror. “House of Leaves” begins in the best traditions of classic horror films: main character, photographer and filmmaker Will Navidson, moves into a new house and places cameras everywhere to make a documentary about his family's life. Naturally, something strange and scary begins to happen very quickly: new doors appear in the house, leading to rooms and rooms that were not there before. While remaining visually unchanged on the outside, the house is constantly growing inside. Finally, an eerie corridor appears in it, the darkness of which leads into the emptiness itself. Then we learn that everything that happened was filmed on camera, and now a certain film expert Zampano writes a commentary on the film, his commentary is commented on by a whole bunch of editors. As a result, the novel itself is likened to Navidson’s house, which is constantly growing, expanding, acquiring new plots, turning it into a kind of nesting doll. The line between reader and hero is blurred: the reader of the book also wanders in an expanding labyrinth of plots, just as Will Navidson wanders in his scary house.
“The House of Leaves” is a must-read because it is, without exaggeration, a unique event in the history of literature. You will not find anything similar either in plot or form, and the impressions from what you read can hardly be compared with anything else. You will definitely find yourself in the reality of Danilevsky’s novel, become its hero and solve its riddles, either holding a mirror in front of the text to find out a new secret, or painfully making your way through experiments with fonts.
5. “Pastoralia” by George Saunders (Pastoralia, 2001)
"Pastoralia" by George Saunders is a good collection of stories, sketches of life modern society, thoroughly permeated with sarcasm, satire and caustic irony. Saunders is, in a sense, the new Evelyn Waugh. His stories are always very funny, but at the same time they cleverly play on the interweaving of tragedy and comedy, relax with humor, and then suddenly cause pain to the reader. The writer deftly maneuvers between the reader's opposing emotions, and is always accurate and interesting in detail. You need to get to know Saunders to understand what a modern story is capable of and to see that there are practically no boundaries between the tragic and the comic.
6. “The Middle Sex” by Jeffrey Eugenides ( Middlesex, 2002)
A sensational thing in its time, it originally developed the canons of the family saga. Eugenides says in his magnum opus about the fate of several generations of a Greek immigrant family, which is traced against the background of historical events of the twentieth century. Frankly and bluntly, the story of the life of the main character, a hermaphrodite, born with both male and female sexual characteristics, is told here. The family saga and the inner world of the main character constantly intersect. The reader tries to find the causes of the narrator's genetic disease in the history of his ancestors. The male and female hypostases of the narrative constantly alternate and intersect. Human nature is explored with detachment and pedantry. The novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and included in many lists of the most important works. modern literature. It is worth reading for all fans of the family saga genre, as it is one of best works in its genre. And don’t let the “exoticism” of the main character scare off the potential reader: there is no escape from issues of gender identity in contemporary art. At first XXI For some reason they have been especially tormenting humanity for centuries.
7. “The Little Friend” by Donna Tartt (The Little Friend, 2002)
Donna Tartt, like Franzen, is at the origins of the Great American Novel, but to a greater extent than her eminent colleague, she flirts with genre literature. This annoys some, but Tartt is read and discussed, and her novels generate controversy and fierce interest. What is very important for the average reader is that they are easy to understand and appeal to his worldview. Tartt is trying to lead modern literature away from complexity, to bridge the gap between professional fiction and the mass reader. Sebald, for example, will not be mastered by everyone, but Tartt will be interesting and accessible to the widest audience. "Little Friend", one of her important books, which revolves around a detective story, begins with a nine-year-old boy being found hanged in his parents' house. At the center of the plot is his sister, Harriet, a bookish a child with his own fears and problems. As a result, “Little Friend” turns out to be a tight ball storylines and leitmotifs. You may not like Tartt very much, you may criticize her writing style, but she is definitely worth reading. “Little Friend” is a fascinating book that you literally can’t put down. All fans of Twin Peaks will appreciate the suspense of the novel, its atmosphere of a small sleepy town filled with mysteries.
8. “2666” by Roberto Bolaño (2003)
The novel by the Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño “2666” is a whimsically organized book, consisting, in essence, of five independent books, intertwining the destinies of people of several nationalities and living in different parts of the world: a Chilean philosophy professor, a New York journalist, a German writer, several literature teachers from France, Spain, Italy, Great Britain. The result is a puzzle book, a puzzle book. Another exotic dish at your literary feast, which is recommended reading for all lovers of the unusual and new in art. Reading “2666” will not be easy, but it’s definitely worth a try. This is a truly important event in the history of literature. Unfortunately, “2666” has not yet been published in Russian. To read it, you will have to enroll in a course. Spanish.
9. “It’s Time to Lead the Horses” by Per Petterson (Ut og stjæle hester, 2003)
One of the most famous Norwegian novels of recent times is the story of the main character about his life: memories of childhood and youth alternate with the story of the love of his parents during the Second World War. Slowly a picture emerges of the pastoral, rural life of the Norwegian countryside. A leisurely narrative, beautiful, enveloping language, a pleasant aftertaste - all this will be offered to you by Per Petterson and his novel “It’s Time to Lead the Horses Away,” which is good for its atmosphere and the writer’s command of words.
10. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas, 2004)
You've certainly heard about Cloud Atlas, and even if you haven't read it yet, you've definitely seen the film adaptation. Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas" is a highlight of events in the history of English postmodernism, an encyclopedia of forms, genres and styles of modern literature. That is why it is worth reading: here, perhaps, the entire history of literature, language, and humanity comes together. The writer embodied in his novel the idea of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche about the “eternal return” and created an entire universe on its basis. According to Nietzsche, every event is repeated in eternity an infinite number of times. So, after many years new person will experience everything that someone has already experienced before him, the same thoughts that have already occurred to his ancestors will come to his head, and in general he will be in every way similar to someone who already existed before him. Implementing this idea, Mitchell created six stories of people who lived in different times, from the past through the present to the future. Through “Cloud Atlas,” he paints a chronicle of the development of human civilization, existing according to the laws of “eternal return,” repeating the same motifs forever, but in different variations, wandering from sunset to dawn and vice versa. Like Bolaño's 2666, Cloud Atlas is several books that embody the same motif in the canons of various literary genres. The picaresque novel gives way to adventure, thriller to comedy, dystopia to post-apocalypse. Each part of the book is executed in a new form: sometimes as a diary, sometimes in the form of letters, sometimes through interviews. Mastering different styles, genres and forms, the writer traces the history in English, from its obsolete forms to the latest word formation. In the last part, he is engaged in the construction of a new language based on English, which is spoken by humanity of the future, which has fallen into archaism. Here, the key idea for postmodernism is the merging of the “elite” and “mass” principles of culture. Mitchell brings the “up” and the “down” together, delivering intelligent work of entertaining genre fiction. At the same time, he uses the latest literary writing techniques such as metafiction and hypertext. The appeal to metafiction is that the reality of the novel is built extremely whimsically. "Cloud Atlas" is the story of a shepherd on a dying Earth, who watches a hologram with an interview with a legendary figure of the past, who watches a film about an adventurer writer, who reads the script of a crime thriller about the investigation of a journalist, who reads letters from an undeservedly forgotten brilliant composer, who reads a traveler's diary notary... Reality is questioned every time and exists only in the mind of the perceiver. Using hypertext principles results in non-linear text that can be read different ways. You can read it in the usual way, “from cover to cover,” with the stories broken into two parts. You can read the beginning and end of each story, combining the two parts into one, and then just move on to the next episode. And you can arbitrarily select any moment, and from it, using a hyperlink, go to the stories of other characters.
11. "Runaway" by Alice Munro ( Runaway, 2004)
In 2013, Alice Munro received the Nobel Prize in Literature for “the master of the modern short story.” Indeed, today no one works better in small form than her. Therefore, it is also recommended for reading. Munro is distinguished by a rare ability to tell seemingly banal stories in such a way that depths are revealed behind their façade, to which only a very attentive and sensitive reader will break through. The writer has a subtle manner of depicting characters, building his stories entirely on nuances and shades. No sudden movements, only the lightest touches of the brush. By abandoning the linear narrative, mixing the past with the present and the future, the writer creates not literature, like music. Munro's stories are autumnal, northern, similar to the climate of her native Canada. They capture the reader and carry him along in a stream of thoughts, images, and feelings. There are no tense intrigues here, these are mood stories, executed masterfully and tastefully. Reading Munro, it’s like you’re lying at the bottom of a boat, which the wind carries across the waters of the lake, and you too are carried away - into the grayish, restless distance. One or two details in the finale, and now the plot is turned upside down, and it’s itching inside.
12. “The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana” by Umberto Eco (La misteriosa fiamma della regina Loana, 2004)
This novel by the great Italian, who once changed the course of the development of literature with his “Name of the Rose,” is perhaps the most original of those written by him, but at the same time one of the most complex. “The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana” is an attempt to answer what literature is today, where its boundaries are and what new forms it can take. Eco defined the genre of his work as an “illustrated novel”: its graphic part is confused here into a direct dialogue with the textual one. The illustrations, gradually intruding into the text, are fragmentary at first, but towards the end they complement it more and more insistently. In the finale, entire pages will be devoted exclusively to the visual component. Indeed, literature of a completely new kind. The plot of “Mysterious Flame” tells the story of a man who lost his memory as a result of a stroke. He completely forgot his life, but remembers everything he read and saw. Now his main task is to try to regain his lost memories.
13. “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)
The name of Kazuo Ishiguro, a British writer of Japanese origin, is among the best modern prose writers who are always interesting to read and good for the mind and soul. “Never Let Me Go” is a prominent literary event, marked by inclusion in all sorts of must-read book lists. Ishiguro cleverly plays with science fiction here, but in the end he builds more of a parable. Her characters are clones created and bred to become organ donors. And nothing more can be said about the plot. Get reading and discover the power of contemporary British literature.
14. “Half of a Yellow Sun” by Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda (Half of a Yellow Sun, 2006)
A treasure for those who want to get acquainted with African literature. The novel by Nigerian writer Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda talks about civil war in her country, traces the fates of several people against the background of historical cataclysms: a representative of the privileged Nigerian class Olanna, a village boy Ugwu, a young Englishman Richard, who came to write a book under the cruel sun of Africa. All of them will have to pass the test of time in order to look at themselves and the surrounding reality differently. A canvas of amazing strength and power that lifted the veil over the literature of an entire continent.
15. The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, 2007
It is also one of the iconic works of modern literature, which periodically appears on the list of the main books of the beginning of the century. Often “A Brief Fantastic Life” is succinctly called “the best novel of the 21st century,” taking the palm away from “Corrections.” Diaz's work has received a Pulitzer Prize, a John Sargent Award, a National Critics' Award, and was shortlisted for the Dublin Prize. Written in an intricate mixture of English and Spanish, the so-called Spanglish, it combines Latin American and American cultural traditions. The writer talks here about the life of an overweight boy, Oscar de Leon, who lives in the ghetto in New Jersey and is obsessed with comics and science fiction. He is both absurd and tragic. We follow the history of his family, learn about life in the Dominican Republic during the Trujillo era. Díaz's prose is often compared to the "magical realism" of García Márquez. It amazes with uncontrollable imagination and is tinged with humor, but at the same time full of sadness and pain. “A Brief Fantastic Life” is truly unusual, good and immensely touching.
16. “Adventures of a Bad Girl” by Mario Vargas Llosa (Travesuras de la niña mala, 2006)
“Adventures of a Bad Girl” by world-famous Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa is one of best works in modern literature touching on the topic love relationship. The action takes place on different continents, throwing the reader from Lima's elite Miraflores district to Paris, Tokyo, London, stretches across several decades to tell the story of two, one of whom loves and the other allows love. A long, long life stretches out before the reader with a series of partings, slaps, and forgiveness. And as a result, those who have been abandoned so many times come to die. But it would be too banal to expect an ordinary love story from Llosa: here another, subtextual question arises about choice life path between passive unambitiousness and active adventurism. The heroines of the book embody two extreme positions of existence. He, the “good boy”, is a modest translator whose main dream is to live in a quiet, unremarkable way in Paris. She, the “bad girl,” is ready to change names and biographies, be a hypocrite, move from country to country and from continent to continent. Life within four walls would drive her crazy. And in the end? As a result, any path crumbles to dust. Life flows away, seeps through your fingers. Several hundred pages are taken from the 50s of the twentieth century to the 90s, depicting the most ordinary life, where they live from job to job, and find joy in watching films and reading books. And love? Love is the burden of the world. Saving the world. Glimpses of meaning. And - slavery, disease, masochism.
17. August: Osage County by Tracy Letts (August: Osage County, 2007)
“August” by Tracy Letts, which was once awarded the Pulitzer Prize and then brilliantly filmed in Hollywood, is called the first great play written in the 21st century and the best theatrical work of the 2000s. Letts inherits in his work the best traditions of psychological drama. In terms of genre, it is a tragicomedy, compactly fitting into a small volume a family saga, one of the most popular genres of modern literature. Again digging into the history of one family, again alienation, quarrels, screams and such different destinies, connected by a web of blood ties. Tracy Letts managed in his famous play to create a universal mirror in which more than one family will see their own reflection.
18. “Museum of Innocence” by Orhan Pamuk (Masumiyet Müzesi, 2008)
The action of the novels of the Turkish Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk almost always takes place in Istanbul, which at the same time appears as both a magnificent mirage that has risen from the darkness of centuries, and a city that combines the echoes of the West and the East, multiplying them with the polyphony of its bazaars and squares. “The Museum of Innocence” also invites the reader to an enchanted city on the Bosphorus, tells the poignant story of the protagonist’s love for his distant relative, and about those “museums” that human memory creates in attempts to preserve certain moments, appearance features, and intonations of voice. The “Museum of Innocence” gave Istanbul not only another myth, but also wove a real museum into the pattern of its streets, created “based on” the novel. This novel is highly recommended to anyone in love with Istanbul and its atmosphere.
19. “Here” by Wislawa Szymborska (Tutaj, 2009)
Modern poetry, unfortunately, is undergoing a crisis. It exists, but the reader is practically cut off from it and cannot be found on bookstore shelves. Try looking for publications of the best poets of the turn of the 20th century XXI centuries, be it Derek Walcott, Tumas Tranströmer, Louise Gluck or Wislawa Szymborska. Finding them won't be easy.
Wislawa Szymborska is a bright innovator, paving new paths in the development of modern poetry. Her free verses are special. By topic. By the richness of topics. They certainly fall in love with themselves and, what is very important, change their perception of reality, and this is precisely the main indicator of real poetry as a literary phenomenon. Szymborska’s experiments are quite classic enough to become textbook ones, but at the same time they explode poetry from the inside. The author, for example, constructs one of his poems on the principle of a meteorological forecast, but this, at first glance, utilitarian text is filled with such philosophical content that its original meanings and purposes move into the plane of metaphysics.
Wisława Szymborska is a must-read to understand the possibilities of modern poetry. The poet shows it in all its strength and beauty.
20. “The Childhood of Jesus” by John M. Coetzee (The Childhood of Jesus, 2013)
The latest novel from one of the pillars of modern literature, John M. Coetzee. An allegory novel, a mystery novel and a parable novel, filled with so many symbols that the reader will have a fascinating and difficult job of deciphering the proposed rebus. The main characters of the book, the man Simon and the boy David, arrive in a fictional city called Novilla. Where did they come from and why? Where is Novilla located on the map? How can emigrants assimilate in a foreign country? And most importantly, what does Jesus have to do with it? The reader will have to look for answers to these and other questions himself. However, do not flatter yourself: it is almost impossible to solve this Rubik’s cube, faceted to perfection, to the end, but new novel Coetzee is wonderful. The book is filled with numerous philosophical questions and allusions to world culture, almost claiming to become a weighty word in the history of the genre of literary parabola. Recommended for reading to all thinking people and simply connoisseurs of good literature.
