Ilf, Ilya; Petrov, Yevgeny "The Twelve Chairs" (Russian: Двенадцать стульев/Dvenadtsat stulyev) - 1928
This was our international online book club novel for March 2022.
I love Russian literature. So, I was quite happy when my book club chose this novel. Funnily enough, I remembered a German TV show from the seventies where they were looking for thirteen chairs and I found out that it was based on this novel. I remember that being quite funny.
And yes, this is a satirical novel with quite some funny bits but it didn't really excite me very much. The plot is nice and the writing is interesting but somehow it didn't do much for me.
So, yes, unfortunately not my favourite Russian story.
However, here is a very positive remark by one of the other book club members.
"Amazing that all these decades later the characters, situations and humour still hold charm. This book took me right out of my usual reading paths onto an enjoyable side trail. Authors Ilf and Petrov seem like a couple of fun guys."
From the back cover:
"Ostap Bender is an unemployed con artist living by his wits in postrevolutionary Soviet Russia. He joins forces with Ippolit Matveyevich Vorobyaninov, a former nobleman who has returned to his hometown to find a cache of missing jewels which were hidden in some chairs that have been appropriated by the Soviet authorities. The search for the bejeweled chairs takes these unlikely heroes from the provinces to Moscow to the wilds of Soviet Georgia and the Trans-caucasus mountains; on their quest they encounter a wide variety of characters: from opportunistic Soviet bureaucrats to aging survivors of the prerevolutionary propertied classes, each one more selfish, venal, and ineffective than the one before."
I'm not familiar with this novel. But then, I'm not familiar with very many Russian novels. I do have one checked out of my library right now that I intend to read this month.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read many Russian novels (and have never even heard of this one!), but I do have one checked out of the library right now that I'm planning on reading this month. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, lovely. May I ask which on that is, Lark? Maybe I have read it.
DeleteAnd yes, there are many Russian authors that we never heard of but who are still highly interesting. One of my favourites is Valentin Rasputin and he is not that widely known.
I checked out A Double Life by Karolina Pavlova. Have you ever read that one?
DeleteI've had this a couple of times that your answer shows up in my list but not on the post itself, I will answer here to your last remark that you read A Double Life by Karolina Pavlova. No, I have never read it. Or heard of it. I'll have to investigate, I'm always interested in Russian authors I haven't hear of. Thanks, Lark.
DeleteI have never heard of these author, or is it authors. Russian literature is always interesting, but they don't always for you. I am just reading short stories by Gogol. He is not my favourite Russian author. I find them quite boring. Will go through them anyway, since it is only a few short stories, and I have already read one.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, Lisbeth. I have read a short story by Gogol, "The Overcoat" which I found quite interesting but I prefer the big tomes some of his compatriotes have written.
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